NEWS IN BRIEF by Alabama: WABM in Birmingham reported that former Eleventh Judicial Circuit Presiding Judge Gilbert P. Self, 64, was sentenced to 51-­1/2 years in state prison on December 17, 2025, following his conviction the previous month on public corruption charges. As CLN reported, a jury found him guilty …
Jury Returns Record $80 Million Verdict for Wrongful Conviction Based on DA Misconduct by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott A federal jury in New York awarded the estate of Darryl Boyd a record-breaking $80 million on November 19, 2025, for the more than 27 years he spent incarcerated …
NEWS IN BRIEF by Alabama: In a rare victory for ethics enforcement in the Cotton State, a Lauderdale County jury returned a guilty verdict on November 7, 2025, against a former state judge accused of public corruption. According to the Alabama Political Reporter, Gilbert Porterfield Self, Sr., former presiding judge …
NEWS IN BRIEF by Alabama: The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama sentenced former Centre Police Department (CPD) Off. Michael Kilgore, 41, to four years in federal prison on October 8, 2025, after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in a wild evidence-­planting scheme to …
NEWS IN BRIEF by California: Former Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew Joseph Dessert, 42, was sentenced to nine years in prison on August 8, 2025, for sexually abusing his teenage daughter. According to The Modesto Bee, County Superior Court Judge Jeff Mangar said that the lawman violated his office’s trust …
NYC Murder Convictions Vacated After Withheld Evidence Reveals “Factually Impossible” Coerced Confession by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott A Manhattan judge vacated the convictions of Brian Boles and Charles Collins for a 1994 Harlem murder, the Innocence Project reported. Judge Ruth Pickholz ended the nearly three-decade ordeal, which …
Mercado v. Noem, NY, Opinion, Immigration-Inhumane Conditions, 2025 Case 1:25-cv-06568-LAK Document 96 Filed 09/17/25 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK --------------------------------------x SERGIO ALBERTO BARCO MERCADO, etc., Page 1 of 84 USDSSDNY DOCUMENT ELECTRONICALLY FILED DOC#: _ _ _ _ __ DATE FILED: 9/17/25 Plaintiff, -against- 25-cv-6568 (LAK) …
Mercado v. Noem, NY, Preliminary Injunction, Immigration-Inhumane Conditions, 2025 Case 1:25-cv-06568-LAK Document 97 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK --------------------------------------x SERGIO ALBERTO BARCO MERCADO, etc., Filed 09/17/25 Page 1 of 6 USDCSDNY DOCUMENT ELECTRONICALLY FILED DOC#: DATE FILED: ~ _ ''\ -~ / I 7I ?I Plaintiff, …
News in Brief by Alabama: Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith faces six misdemeanor counts after a grand jury indicted him on May 30, 2025, for knowingly employing uncertified personnel. WBRC in Birmingham reported that Smith’s second-in-command, Chief Deputy Ralph Williams, was also indicted on one count of providing false or …
News in Brief by Arkansas: The downward spiral of former Hot Spring County Sheriff Derek “Scott” Finkbeiner, 47, continued with his fourth arrest on May 2, 2025, reported KATV out of Little Rock. The arrest stemmed from Finkbeiner’s attempt to contact a witness, co-­defendant Jordan Hammond, through the Signal app, …
SCOTUS Announces Knowingly or Intentionally Causing Bodily Injury or Death by ‘Omission’ Necessarily Involves ‘Use’ of ‘Physical Force’ for Purposes of § 924(c) by David Kim The Supreme Court of the United States held that knowingly or intentionally causing bodily injury or death by failing to take action—that is, by …
News in Brief by Alabama: On March 31, 2025, in State of Alabama v. Mac Marquette, Morgan County Circuit Judge Charles Elliott denied former Decatur Police Department officer Marquette’s motion for self-defense immunity in the fatal shooting of Steve Perkins. According to the Associate Press, the denial depended legally on …
NYPD Responds to 911 Calls with Drones by James Mills by James Mills The NYPD now has Drone First Responders (“DFRs”) and has begun deploying them in response to 911 calls. On Nov. 13, 2024, the Mayor’s office announced the new program: 10 drones, deployed across three boroughs—Brooklyn, the Bronx, …
Study Confirms New York City’s ShotSpotter Deployment Was a Costly Misstep by Michael Thompson by Michael Dean Thompson SoundThinking’s ShotSpotter technology, which uses echolocation to alert police and emergency medical services (“EMS”) to potential gunshots detected by microphones across a city, has faced mounting scrutiny. While sales and public relations …
NEWS IN BRIEF by Alabama: On February 19, 2025, a grand jury called for the immediate abolition of the Hanceville Police Department for its “rampant culture of corruption” that turned it into a criminal enterprise. The New York Post reported that an investigation followed the death of dispatcher Christopher Willingham, …
News in Brief by Alaska: In a rare move, federal prosecutors asked an Alaska judge to vacate the 2019 assault conviction of long-time felon Johnny-Lee Preston Burk, citing a concealed relationship between the presiding judge and a prosecutor in the case. The Alaska Beacon reported that United States District Judge …
News in Brief by Arizona: Phoenix resident Penny McCarthy, 66, endured a terrifying ordeal after United States Marshals arrested her at gunpoint in her home, mistaking her for a fugitive, according to KNXV. Body camera footage shows officers refusing to confirm her identity despite McCarthy repeatedly asking them. “I truly …
News in Brief by Alabama: A former Huntsville, Alabama police officer, William “Ben” Darby, was sentenced again on October 26, 2024, to 25 years for the fatal shooting of a suicidal man in 2018, according to the Slate Report. Darby was convicted for the second time in May 2024 of …
Second Circuit Holds Full De Novo Resentencing Hearing Required Based on Partially Successful Habeas Petition Where Resentencing Judge Not Original Judge and Changed Circumstances Plausibly Alleged by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a prisoner was entitled to a full …
Wrongfully Convicted Actor Exonerated After 24 Years in Prison by Jon-Adrian Velazquez’s wrongful conviction for the 1998 murder of retired NYPD detective Albert Ward was vacated on September 30, 2024, after spending over 23 years behind bars. Leaving court on that momentous Monday, Velazquez, now 48, wore a baseball cap …
