by Sam Rutherford
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that a defendant did not knowingly and voluntarily waive his right to counsel under the Massachusetts Constitution when he decided to represent himself at arraignment and during a change of plea hearing but nonetheless upheld his guilty plea because the ...
by Sam Rutherford
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted a federal prisoner’s 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion for habeas relief based on his claim that defense counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to move to suppress evidence acquired after a police officer trespassed onto the curtilage of ...
by Sam Rutherford
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a defendant’s prior California conviction for assault with a deadly weapon under Cal. Penal Code § 245(a)(1) does not qualify as a “crime of violence” for purposes of a career offender sentence enhancement under the U.S. Sentencing ...
by Sam Rutherford
The California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate, held that a defendant’s prison prior enhancement based on an offense that may no longer serve as a predicate for the sentence enhancement under Senate Bill No. 483 (2021–2022 Reg. Sess.) may not be affirmed based on the existence of ...
by Sam Rutherford
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that an asylee’s convictions in Florida state court for possession of marijuana under Fla. Stat. § 893.13(6)(b) and for lewd and lascivious battery under Fla. Stat. § 800.04(4) (2008) does not subject him to removal under the Immigration and ...
by Sam Rutherford
The Supreme Court of Vermont abrogated the common-law year-and-a-day rule, under which the victim must die within one year and a day of the defendant’s criminal conduct to support a murder charge, thus reinstating a murder prosecution initiated against the defendant nearly two decades after his criminal ...
by Sam Rutherford
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the U.S. District Court for the District of Eastern Washington’s order excluding a key Government witness’ testimony and imposing monetary sanctions against the Government based on its failure to disclose to the defense evidence material to the ...
by Sam Rutherford
The Criminal Court of Appeals of Texas, the state’s highest court in criminal cases, granted a prisoner’s habeas corpus petition based on advances in science that undermined the validity of evidence concerning Shaken Baby Syndrome that played a key role in his prosecution and conviction for abusing ...
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 Illinois reversed and dismissed Empire actor Jussie Smollett’s felony disorderly conduct convictions because the State previously entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the actor in exchange for his promise to forfeit the bond he posted and complete community service. The Court held that ...
