Articles Posted in Criminal Law

On Tuesday, December 10, 2019, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania ruled against actor Bill Cosby in his appeal to overturn three counts of aggravated indecent assault. Cosby and his lawyers presented eight (8) grounds for appeal. The appeal was denied in a nintey-four (94) page order, written by President Judge Emeritus, John T. Bender.

Detroit police plan to use facial recognition technology to help investigate allegations of home invasions and certain violent crimes, despite concerns over accuracy and fairness.

On Wednesday, June 5, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that Washington State police officers lacked reasonable suspicion to arrest Daniel Brown after the police received an anonymous report of a black man possessing a gun in Washington, a concealed-carry state. After the police received the anonymous report, the police saw Brown, activated their police lights, and then pursued him going the opposite direction down a one-way street. Brown ran for about a block before being arrested at gunpoint. Police found a gun in Brown's waistband, prompting a further search finding drugs and cash. The Ninth Circuit found that the officers lacked reasonable suspicion of criminal activity when they stopped and frisked Brown and, thus, granted Brown's motion to suppress the evidence of drugs and cash.

Immigrants in California can still be deported if they were convicted of a crime involving marijuana before voters approved the legalization of the drug in 2016.

Connecticut motorist Jason Stiber claimed that he was eating a McDonald's hash brown when police gave him a ticket for distracted driving last year.

Attorney General William Barr has released a redacted version of the Mueller Report today.  Read a copy of the report here. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com/Mark Van Scyoc…

The NYPD has sent a letter to Google demanding that it remove a feature that allows users to post drunk-driving checkpoints on its Wave navigation app. In the letter, the NYPD argues that the feature is irresponsible because it allows impaired and intoxicated drivers to avoid checkpoints and therefore encourages reckless driving. Those users who post such checkpoints on the Waze app, the NYPD says, may be engaging in criminal conduct since such actions hinder the NYPD from enforcing DWI laws and other criminal and traffic laws.

Florida congressmen Ted Deutch and Vern Buchanan have proposed a bill that will make animal cruelty a federal felony.

On Friday, January 11, 2019, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Gerald P. Mitchell v. State of Wisconsin (Docket No. 18-6210). The case questions whether a civil implied-consent statute in Wisconsin, permitting police officers to draw the blood of an unconscious driver, without consent, is constitutional.

In what will potentially become a landmark decision, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California gave the order as a part of a denial of a search warrant for a property in Oakland.