by Richard Resch
On October 11, 2018, the Supreme Court of Washington issued an opinion in which the Court struck down the state’s death penalty, announcing: “we hold that Washington’s death penalty is unconstitutional, as administered, because it is imposed in an arbitrary and racially biased manner.” The …
by Richard Resch
The Supreme Court of Idaho held that prosecution of the defendant under a state statute that imposes a duty on anyone who discovers or has custody of a body to promptly notify authorities, based on the facts of this case, would violate the defendant’s Fifth …
by Richard Resch
The Supreme Court of Iowa announced a stricter legal framework for warrantless inventory searches and seizures of vehicles being impounded under the Iowa Constitution than required by the U.S. Supreme Court under its recent case law interpreting the Fourth Amendment.
On October 30, 2015, …
by Richard Resch
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania adopted a new rule governing nonconsensual entry into a residence to effectuate an arrest warrant. The Court rejected the constitutional framework utilized by lower state courts that differentiated between a third-party’s residence and that of the subject of an arrest …
by Richard Resch
In a May 29, 2018 opinion, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) held that the automobile exception to the Fourth Amendment does not permit law enforcement to enter the curtilage of a home, without a warrant or consent, in order to search a …
by Richard Resch
In a February 28, 2018, opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that U.S. District Courts may not base a revocation of supervised release upon violations that (1) were not alleged prior to the expiration of the supervisory period and (2) …
by Richard Resch
On May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) issued a major decision affirming criminal defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to assert their innocence at trial. The Court determined that Robert McCoy’s “right to autonomy” had been violated when his attorney conceded his …
by Richard Resch
In an April 12, 2018 opinion, the Supreme Court of Florida announced that a statute of limitations (“SOL”) defense must be raised in the trial court in order to preserve the issue for direct appeal.
In 2011, DNA evidence linked Earvin Smith to a …
by Richard Resch
In an opinion issued on April 4, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the suppression of evidence ostensibly obtained pursuant to an anticipatory search warrant where the triggering event never occurred.
This case was set in motion when a …
by Richard Resch
On April 17, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) issued an opinion in which it instructed that federal courts are required to “look through” an unexplained decision of the last state court to rule on the merits of a state habeas petition …
