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 …

D.C. Circuit Orders New Trial Due to Brady Violations Involving Source of Information, Not Withholding of Information Itself by Richard Resch by Richard Resch The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the prosecution violated its Brady disclosure obligations by withholding multiple law enforcement reports from the …

Hawaii Supreme Court: Due Process Violation to Exclude Evidence of Victim’s BAC in Assault Case in Which Defendant Claims Self-Defense by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The Supreme Court of Hawaii held that a trial court erred by excluding evidence of the victim’s blood alcohol concentration (“BAC”) in a first-degree …

Eighth Circuit Affirms Habeas Relief Decades After Conviction Because Prosecutor Destroyed Evidence Prior to Trial by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed habeas relief to two codefendants on April 29, 2020, after an Arkansas state prosecutor (now a state supreme court …