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Police training in DUI eye test challenged 

By Nora Lockwood Tooher - Published: March 19, 2010
Tags: drunk driving, DUI, horizontal gaze nystagmus, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

A recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling may provide fodder for defense lawyers in other states seeking to challenge police testimony about an eye test widely used in DUI arrests.

The court held in State v. McKown that the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test is admissible for the purpose of proving that a defendant may have consumed [...]

Prior conviction can be used twice in calculating sentence 

Published: March 18, 2010
Tags: sentencing guidelines, sexual assault

A sentencing judge did not err in using a defendant’s prior conviction for sexual assault to calculate both the base offense level and the criminal history category, the 8th Circuit has ruled.

Senate votes to cut crack-powder sentencing gap 

Published: March 18, 2010
Tags: cocaine, sentencing, sentencing guidelines

WASHINGTON - The Senate has approved a bill that would significantly cut the disparity between sentences for powder cocaine offenses and those involving crack cocaine.

Federal courts ask for funding boost 

Published: March 18, 2010
Tags: caseload, federal funding, U.S. Judicial Conference

WASHINGTON - With asbestos litigation, class action suits over imported drywall and bankruptcy filings expected to boost federal courts’ caseloads, the Judicial Conference asked Congressional lawmakers for a 6 percent increase in funding for the next fiscal year.

Charge for unpaid child support not time-barred

Published: March 17, 2010
Tags: child support, Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act, statute of limitations

Because a violation of the Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act is a continuing offense, a charge against the defendant for more than $65,000 in unpaid child support was not time-barred, the 7th Circuit has ruled.

Police don’t need warrant to search trailer 

Published: March 11, 2010
Tags: Fourth Amendment, search and seizure, warrantless search

Police could search a detached trailer for drugs without first obtaining a warrant, the 2nd Circuit has ruled in reversing a suppression order.

Murder victim’s text message admissible 

Published: March 9, 2010
Tags: Confrontation Clause, Crawford v. Washington

A murder defendant’s constitutional right to confront witnesses was not violated by the admission at trial of the victim’s last text message to a friend, the Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled in affirming a conviction.

Justices rule in Speedy Trial case 

Published: March 8, 2010
Tags: Speedy Trial Act

The time granted to prepare pretrial motions is not automatically excluded from the 70-day limit to bring a defendant to trial under the Speedy Trial Act of 1974 unless the court grants a continuance, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled.

Texas judge says death penalty unconstitutional 

Published: March 8, 2010
Tags: death penalty

A Texas judge in the county that sends more inmates to death row than any other in the nation is apparently taking a stand. Saying he could assume that innocent people have been executed, state District Judge Kevin Fine ruled in a pre-trial motion in a capital murder case on Thursday that the death penalty was unconstitutional and found himself on Friday facing a torrent of criticism from a string of high-profile Texans including Gov. Rick Perry.

Sex offender registration rule invalid 

Published: March 4, 2010
Tags: Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, sex offenders, SORNA

The U.S. Attorney General improperly adopted a rule that retroactively applies the new federal sex offender registration statute, the 6th Circuit has ruled in vacating a conviction.