The Maryland Board of Public Works has approved a $55,000 settlement with a Philadelphia man who claimed state troopers stopped him three times in two months because he is black and then pursued trumped-up charges that cost him 20 days ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law qualified immunity racial profiling tort

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court’s splintered ruling allowing a witness’ pre-arrest silence to be introduced at trial — its latest decision carving out more of the contours of defendants’ well-known right to remain silent — seemed at first blush ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law criminal procedure Fifth Amendment Miranda U.S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide just what elements are necessary to prove aiding and abetting liability for one of the most common federal crimes: the use or possession of a gun during a drug-related or ...

Tagged with: aiding and abetting circuit split Criminal Law firearms U.S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review a federal appeals court ruling striking down portions of Alabama’s immigration law, one of the most restrictive in the nation.

Tagged with: Criminal Law Employment Law immigration preemption U.S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last week that a defendant cannot be retried, even when his acquittal was based on a judge’s blunder, was cheered by defense attorneys. But others say that the ruling dealt a blow to ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law double jeopardy invited error U.S. Supreme Court wrongful acquittal

Could a state trial court retroactively apply a ruling from its supreme court that abolished the diminished-capacity defense? See “Can state retroactively abolish diminished-capacity defense?” Lancaster v. Metrish, No. 12-547.Certiorari granted: Jan. 18, 2013. Ruling below: 683 F.3d 740 (6th ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law diminished capacity habeas corpus retroactivity

Was a state court’s retroactive application of a rule abolishing the diminished-capacity defense so unexpected that it violated a defendant’s due process rights?

Tagged with: Criminal Law diminished capacity habeas corpus retroactivity

A year after ruling that a woman charged under an international treaty for the allegedly poisoning of her husband’s paramour had standing to challenge the application of the law, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide the merits of ...

Tagged with: Congress Criminal Law international law Tenth Amendment U.S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON – In a case that raises the question of whether judges, rather than juries, can constitutionally decide factors that could trigger an increase in the minimum sentence, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court seemed reluctant to shake up ...

Tagged with: Apprendi v. New Jersey Criminal Law judicial discretion jury trial Sixth Amendment U.S.

A criminal defendant bears the burden of establishing the defense that he withdrew from a drug distribution conspiracy outside the statute of limitations. See “Drug defendant must show withdrawal from conspiracy” U.S. Supreme Court. Smith v. U.S., No. 11-8976. Jan. ...

Tagged with: conspiracy Criminal Law statute of limitations U.S. Supreme Court