by Sam Rutherford
The Supreme Court of the United States unanimously held that the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause prohibits an expert witness from testifying about another non-testifying expert’s statements and conclusions made in connection with scientific analysis where the defendant had no prior opportunity to cross-examine the non-testifying expert and ...
by Sam Rutherford
The Supreme Court of Montana held that the presentation of expert witness testimony adverse to the defendant via two-way video conferencing technology during trial violated the defendant’s right to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses under both the state and federal constitutions. While such testimony is not impermissible ...
by Sam Rutherford
The Supreme Court of Washington prohibited trial courts from placing defendants in what it described as an “in-court holding cell” without first conducting an individualized, on-the-record hearing to determine the necessity of its use, explaining that routine use of this cell—which is essentially a cage in the ...
by Sam Rutherford
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, that state’s highest court of review in criminal cases, held that the prosecution violates a state court rule of discovery by failing to promptly disclose relevant evidence in the possession of law enforcement, even if unbeknownst to the prosecution, in response ...
by Sam Rutherford
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a prisoner was entitled to a full de novo resentencing hearing after he filed a successful 28 U.S.C. § 2255 habeas corpus petition vacating some but not all of his convictions. The Court noted that a de ...
by Sam Rutherford
The Supreme Court of Michigan held that it is fundamentally unfair to deny an indigent defendant’s request for funds to retain an expert on false or coerced confessions where the veracity of the defendant’s confession is a central issue at trial.
Background
In 2016, Damon E. Warner ...
by Sam Rutherford
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California’s order denying a prisoner’s habeas corpus petition based on his claim that the prosecutor allowed a jailhouse informant to falsely testify that he received no benefit in ...
by Sam Rutherford
A jury recently awarded a Missouri man $38 million dollars against Travelers Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries after the insurance company refused to pay an $11 million settlement the man reached with the city of Columbia and six police officers for wrongfully convicting and imprisoning him for murder. ...
by Sam Rutherford
The Supreme Court of California held that a trial court may not impose a sentencing enhancement that was neither pleaded and found true by the trier of fact nor admitted to by the defendant in open court when resentencing the defendant pursuant to California Penal Code § 1172.6. ...
by Sam Rutherford
The Supreme Court of Rhode Island held that a police officer lacked reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigative search where the initial detention was based on an unsubstantiated, anonymous tip from a citizen informant that was communicated by dispatch. The fact that the defendant matched the tipster’s ...
