More than a dozen cases were dismissed after defense attorneys asked to examine, or raised doubts about, computer programs that track illegal images to internet addresses.
by Jack Gillum, ProPublica
Using specialized software, investigators traced explicit child pornography to Todd Hartman’s internet address. A dozen police officers raided his Los Angeles-area apartment, seized his computer and arrested him for files including a video of a man ejaculating on a 7-year-old girl. But after his lawyer contended that the software tool inappropriately accessed Hartman’s private files, and asked to examine how it worked, prosecutors dismissed the case.
Near Phoenix, police with a similar detection program tracked underage porn photos, including a 4-year-old with her legs spread, to Tom Tolworthy’s home computer. He was indicted in state court on 10 counts of committing a “dangerous crime against children,” each of which carried a decade in prison if convicted. Yet when investigators checked Tolworthy’s hard drive, the images weren’t there. Even though investigators said different offensive files surfaced on another computer that he owned, the case was tossed.
At a time when at least half a million laptops, tablets, phones and other devices are viewing or sharing …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed that raising one’s middle finger without the four other fingers showing is an expression protected by the First Amendment.
In doing so, the Court also affirmed the district court’s denial of Officer Matthew Wayne …
by Attorneys Kent Russell and Tara Hoveland
This column provides “Habeas Hints” to prisoners who are considering or handling habeas corpus petitions as their own attorneys (“in pro per”). The focus of the column is on “AEDPA,” the federal habeas corpus law, which now governs habeas corpus practice …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Connecticut held that the state constitution requires police to clarify an ambiguous request for counsel before continuing to interrogate a suspect.
In 2013, Robert John Purcell was arrested on multiple counts of sexual assault and risk of injury to a …
by Ed Lyon
Popular country music singer Charlie Daniels’ first hit was a song called The Ballad of the Uneasy Rider. The singer-narrator told a story about a hippy who barely escapes a redneck bar and was so spooked he “drove to L.A. by way of …
by Michael Berk
The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office has put 117 criminal cases on hold in response to suspected misconduct involving DNA testing by a Fort Worth forensic scientist.
On February 27, 2019, Amanda Schaffner’s supervisor at the crime lab noticed that there was no digital …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that a district court must provide its rationale when denying a motion seeking a sentence reduction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2).
In this case, the Court consolidated the appeals of Paulette Martin and …
by David Reutter
Physically intruding on the cutilage of an apartment to conduct a dog sniff of the threshold is a violation of the Fourth Amendment, the Illinois Supreme Court held. The court’s holding expanded its precedent to include an unlocked apartment building.
Acting on a …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that a search wherein FBI agents lied about an emergency in order to gain consent to search a suspect’s computers violates the Fourth Amendment.
On October 23, 2013, ten FBI agents arrived at the …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that a district court must state the factual basis for a continuance or use language that invokes a particular provision of the Speedy Trial Act (“Act”) in order to exclude the delay from the 70-day …
by Douglas Ankney
U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall of Chicago ruled that it is unconstitutional for Illinois to hold sex offenders in prison after their release date when they are so poor they cannot find a home placement that complies with state requirements.
Many sex …
by Chad Marks
February 4, 2003, forever changed my life. That’s when, at the age of 24, the federal government charged me with numerous federal offenses related to my involvement in a crack-cocaine conspiracy case.
Specifically, the Government charged me with conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Georgia held that due process requires the appointment of a person to read questions submitted by a visually impaired defendant.
Richard Bishop was 76 years old when he shot and killed his girlfriend and injured her other boyfriend in …
by Douglas Ankney
In a case of first impression for the Supreme Court of Georgia, it held that an unreasonable delay in obtaining a search warrant after items were lawfully seized requires suppression of the evidence.
In December 2015, police seized from Jennifer and Joseph Rosenbaum their …
by David Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that where an erroneous career offender designation raises a defendant’s mandatory prison term, the resulting sentence is fundamentally defective.
The Court further ruled that when a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 petition is inadequate …
by Ed Lyon
In November 2013, Hickory, North Carolina, police Sergeant Robert George allegedly removed a woman driver from her auto and slammed her face-first onto the ground. She required corrective surgery.
Charged by local prosecutors in 2014, the case then languished in an unadjudicated …
by Punch & Jurists
In Bey, District Judge Mark Kearney of the E.D.Pa., presented a timely review of a the growing reluctance of many Federal judges to a hardline approach in the rapidly escalating conflict between state laws (many of which authorize the use of medical marijuana) …
by Sandy Rozek
The Arkansas legislature recently passed a law imposing various restrictions on those who are on a sexual offense registry in regard to Halloween. The primary provisions make it a crime for anyone on the registry to give out candy at Halloween or to wear masks …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a delay of 68 months between arrest and trial violates the right to a speedy trial enshrined in the Sixth Amendment when most of the delay is attributable to the Government.
On March …
by Matt Clarke
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed and vacated a federal prisoner’s special conditions of supervised release prohibiting the consumption of alcohol and setting a curfew.
Under a binding plea agreement, David Bell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana and …
by Anthony Accurso
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated and remanded the revocation sentence of Adrián Vázquez-Méndez because the sentencing judge likely extended the sentence for the purposes of rehabilitation.
In 2001, Vázquez-Méndez pleaded guilty in a federal district court in Puerto …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of New Jersey ruled that when police obtain a suspect’s waiver of his right not to incriminate himself before informing the suspect of “the essence of the charges filed against him,” the State cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect …
by Dale Chappell
An experienced Kentucky trial attorney who found himself on the wrong end of counsel’s table was granted a new trial by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit after the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that he wasn’t entitled to the assistance of …
by Chad Marks
The Supreme Court of Delaware held that a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to assistance of counsel was violated by trial counsel’s near-total absence during the pretrial stage of proceedings.
Everett Urquhart found himself on the wrong side of the law when he was …
by Ed Lyon
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that all criminal defendants have a lawyer’s assistance to prepare and present a defense against whatever crime a prosecutor is accusing him or her of committing, as a matter of right. If a defendant cannot afford …
by Mark Wilson
The Supreme Court of Oregon held that the Oregon Constitution prohibits prosecutors from using a criminal defendant’s refusal to submit to a breath test as evidence against him in a prosecution for driving under the influence of intoxicants (“DUI”).
Under Oregon’s Implied Consent …
by Ed Lyon
The human body is an incredible machine. It heals itself from many injuries and illnesses. It turns food into calories that help build muscles and store fat for lean times. In some cases, a person’s body may even metabolize certain yeasts, sugars, and carbohydrates into …
by Dale Chappell
In a case where defense counsel, the Government, and the court all dropped the ball and led a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 movant to believe he did not face the possibility of deportation, his guilty plea based on that advice is invalid, the U.S. Court …
by Steve Horn
After a years-long federal court dispute, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (“EFF”) and Electronic Privacy Information Center (“EPIC”) won a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) lawsuit, which forced the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) to fork over hundreds of pages of records revealing the machinations of …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that a defendant’s misprision of felony conviction for failing to report a felony in which the defendant was herself involved violates the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
Elsa Solis was convicted of conspiring to …
by Ed Lyon
In the late 1960s, Dr. Leonard McCoy of the science fiction television series Star Trek could wave a small device over a patient to find out all he needed to know about them. A similar device now exists in this 21st-century science reality …
by Mark Wilson
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that Washington state’s accomplice liability statute renders the state’s drug trafficking law too broad to serve as an Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”) predicate offense.
The ACCA requires a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence …
by Anthony Accurso
The Supreme Court of Kansas overturned a decision of the Court of Appeals and vacated the defendant’s sentence because the district court’s only reason for lengthening his sentence on remand was defendant’s successful appeal.
Wyatt G. Brown pleaded no contest to one count …
by Dale Chappell
A Dallas County, Texas, judge who cops said would sign a blank warrant allowing them to do whatever they wanted was called into question by the District Attorney’s Office, which chose to drop the issue. But not before at least one case was dismissed …
by John W. Whitehead, Commentary, The Rutherford Institute
In too much of policing today, officer safety has become the highest priority. It trumps the rights and safety of suspects. It trumps the rights and safety of bystanders. It’s so important, in fact, that an officer’s subjective fear of …
Loaded on
May 15, 2019
published in Criminal Legal News
June, 2019, page 37
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed into law in October 2018 three new provisions that will help convicts. Calling it “commonsense legislation,” Wolf said he intended to promote “smart sentencing reform” by approving the bipartisan bills.
The first law eliminates driver’s license suspensions for non-driving infractions. Part of a …
by Chad Marks
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an order remanding a habeas case so that the district court could conduct an analysis of the substantiality of petitioner’s ineffective assistance of counsel (“IAC”) claims.
Kyle J. Rodney petitioned a district court in …
by David Reutter
As a matter of first impression, the Court of Appeals of New York ruled that a noncitizen defendant charged with state crimes that carry a maximum penalty of less than six months in jail but subject him or her to deportation is entitled to a …
by Douglas Ankney
A new report from the U.S. Sentencing Commission reveals that the length of a defendant’s prison sentence increasingly depends on the whims of the judge. For example, in Philadelphia, some of the judges ordered sentences 63 percent longer than their colleagues for identical crimes. …
Loaded on
May 16, 2019
published in Criminal Legal News
June, 2019, page 39
The U.S. has seen a rise in exonerations in recent years. The National Registry of Exonerations (law.umich.edu) reports at least 139 exonerations in 2017, 166 in 2016 and 149 in 2015.
But wrongfully convicted Ronald Stewart did not live to see his record set straight: A court filing …
by Ed Lyon
Anyone who has ever watched a police drama on television is acquainted with the way suspect lineups are supposed to be conducted. The key words here are “supposed to be conducted.”
While many agencies probably conduct lineups properly, the system is subject to …
by Derek Gilna
A December 2018 report by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury after its audit of the state’s Private Probation Services Council found that it “did not adequately oversee private probation entities, putting probationers at risk.” The period was for July 1, 2013, through October 31, …
by Douglas Ankney
A law in Illinois that requires data to be reported from state and local police to the Illinois Department of Transportation is set to expire this July. Because “[t]ransparency is the first step toward police accountability and reform,” there are calls to make the law …
by Ed Lyon
Most people are aware that slander and libel are civil torts for which they may be sued. In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court set the standard of proof to be “actual malice” to prevail in civil libel cases.
Many states also have …
by Douglas Ankney
Prosecutors in Los Angeles are using computer algorithms to wipe out or reduce up to 50,000 old marijuana convictions, years after the drug was legalized by voters in California. The county is teaming up with Code for America, a nonprofit tech organization that …
Loaded on
May 16, 2019
published in Criminal Legal News
June, 2019, page 42
Delaware: Wilmington police Corporal Thomas Oliver Jr. faces charges of second-degree rape, extortion and official misconduct. The 11-year police department veteran allegedly pulled up to a female pedestrian in October 2018 and told her to sit in the patrol vehicle passenger seat, according to delawareonline.com. According to court …
