Criminal Procedure

Facebook’s bid to protect customer information in criminal probe fails in top New York court

Facebook can’t appeal a judge’s refusal to quash 381 warrants for customer information in a criminal investigation of Social Security disability fraud, New York’s highest court has ruled. New York law does not authorize an appeal, leaving the court without jurisdiction to address the “novel and important” privacy issues, the…

Apr 6, 2017 8:00 AM CDT

Jailhouse informant program used for decades, and sheriff’s dept. tried to cover it up, brief says

Judge Thomas Goethals of the Orange County, California Superior Court has threatened several times to send people at the county sheriff’s department to jail for shredding or playing discovery games with evidence about the department’s jailhouse informant program, the Orange County Register has reported in the past. But the 5,653…

Apr 4, 2017 1:36 PM CDT

Exposing the Bail Trap: New film campaign urges change for bail system

Brave New Films recently released the first short film in the campaign, Breaking Down Bail, which combines information about the bail system—such as the fact that about 500,000 people are in jail on any day, awaiting trial—with man-on-the-street interviews, highlighting the many misconceptions people have about the bail system.

Apr 1, 2017 4:00 AM CDT

When is someone too stoned to drive? The question is trickier than you’d think for courts to answer

There is no clear scientific consensus when it comes to smoking pot and driving. And few of the tools police officers have long relied on to determine whether a driver is too drunk to drive, such as the Breathalyzer, exist for marijuana.

Apr 1, 2017 3:10 AM CDT

ABE Opportunity Grants established to provide funding for urgent legal needs

The American Bar Endowment has launched a new grant program to help local, state and national organizations meet urgent legal needs. The ABE Opportunity Grants program is intended to “support new, boots-on-the-ground, innovative projects that address issues of critical importance to the public and the legal profession,” ABE president J.…

Mar 28, 2017 1:16 PM CDT

Virginia governor formally pardons ‘Norfolk Four’ wrongly convicted in 1997 rape and murder case

The so-called “Norfolk Four” Navy veterans convicted of rape and murder after being coerced into false confessions were formally pardoned Tuesday by Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, the Washington Post and the Associated Press report. The men served years in prison for the 1997 rape and murder of 18-year-old Michelle Moore-Bosko,…

Mar 22, 2017 3:30 PM CDT

Philadelphia district attorney indicted on bribery and corruption charges

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams is about to learn what life as a criminal defendant feels like. On Tuesday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the embattled prosecutor was indicted on more than 21 counts, including bribery, wire fraud and honest services fraud. According to the Inquirer, Williams is being accused…

Mar 21, 2017 4:01 PM CDT

Charlton Heston’s criticism of judge plays a part in 3rd Circuit decision

A defense lawyer in a murder case provided ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to seek the recusal of a judge who called an unusual in-chambers conference to inquire whether the victim’s family was happy with her, a federal appeals court has held. The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of…

Mar 1, 2017 1:23 PM CST

Risk-assessment algorithms challenged in bail, sentencing and parole decisions

With increased adoption of algorithmic sentencing tools, defense attorneys raise due process concerns, policymakers struggle to provide meaningful oversight, and data scientists grapple with ethical questions regarding fairness and accuracy.

Mar 1, 2017 1:30 AM CST

Miranda warning translations should be developed for non-English speakers, the ABA House resolves

The ABA House of Delegates has approved Resolution 112C, urging law enforcement at the federal, state and local levels to develop translations of Miranda warnings in as many languages as necessary to accurately inform criminal suspects of their Miranda rights. Miranda warnings stem from the 1966 decision Miranda v. Arizona,…

Feb 6, 2017 11:26 AM CST

Court allows suit claiming lawyer took $25K to file criminal appeals with no chance of success

A man convicted of rape can sue his appellate lawyer for allegedly taking $25,000 to file post-conviction petitions that had no chance of success, the Alabama Supreme Court has ruled. The supreme court said a trial judge should not have dismissed the malpractice case filed by Myron Timothy Yarbrough before…

Feb 1, 2017 8:00 AM CST

Kids in Chains: Juvenile advocates urge that shackling be limited

While juvenile justice advocates have been winning the battle to raise the age in courts that consider defendants as adults, they’ve also been winning a smaller but important reform: limits on the practice of shackling young people in court.

Feb 1, 2017 4:05 AM CST

Lawyer’s dogged search yields historic mug shots from John Lewis’ police file

“There are other mug shots, but this was his first,” historian and lawyer David Ewing says about the photos taken a day before John Lewis’ 21st birthday (right, bottom set). “I started looking for the photos 15 years ago and was always told they didn’t exist. The police department would say the library has it; the library would say the police department has it. It was a nonstop loop.” But Ewing didn’t give up. Finally, a law enforcement friend had an important clue.

Feb 1, 2017 3:30 AM CST

Top state court tells DAs to review 20,000 cases linked to lab scandal, decide which ones to toss

The top court in Massachusetts refused on Wednesday to order wholesale dismissal of more than 20,000 criminal cases linked to a chemist who faked drug test results to favor the government. Instead, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court took a middle ground in adopting a procedure to dismiss many of the…

Jan 19, 2017 1:15 PM CST

Lawyer questions whether FBI had probable cause after warrant for Clinton-Abedin emails is unsealed

The FBI did not have probable cause when it sought a warrant for Hillary Clinton’s emails, less than two weeks before the election, contends the lawyer who sued for the documents’ release. There’s “nothing at all in the search warrant application that would give rise to probable cause, nothing that…

Dec 21, 2016 2:30 PM CST