Complete Story
Criminal Justice News This Week (week of 12-07-20)
Law enforcement is using location tracking on mobile devices to identify suspects, but is it unconstitutional? "Privacy and civil rights advocates also say the geographic scope of these warrants gives police information about people in private locales, such as their homes or doctors’ offices. 'The technology doesn’t differentiate between inside and outside. It is, by definition, going to locate people inside of constitutionally protected spaces,' says Michael Price, who is senior litigation counsel for the Fourth Amendment Center at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and one of Chatrie’s attorneys."
Ohio Killer Asks En Banc Court to Keep Death Penalty Off the Table "An Ohio man whose death sentence was overturned earlier this year by a panel of judges argued before the full Sixth Circuit on Wednesday that his intellectual disabilities make capital punishment unconstitutional."
A Rush to Execute: What's the Urgency? "Ten federal executions under President Donald Trump in 2020 would be the most in any single year since 1896."
Key question in Cosby appeal: Does defendant’s past matter? "In taking the case, the justices appear eager to clear up the law on one of the murkiest questions plaguing criminal trials: When should a jury hear about someone’s past? Investigators say it can be crucial to show a signature crime pattern, but defense lawyers say it often amounts to character assassination."
Cuyahoga County’s former jail warden reveals all in recorded interviews with investigators: The Wake Up podcast "Former Cuyahoga County Jail Warden Eric Ivey had some stories to tell investigators in July 2019."
Due Process Protections Act Sends a Message to the Government "While the DPPA does not alter the government’s substantive 'Brady' obligations, it sends a meaningful message to federal prosecutors, lays the foundation for potential contempt-of-court and sanctions recourse for 'Brady' violations, and could therefore prove a useful tool for federal criminal practitioners."
Cleveland Settles With David Ayers 20 Years After Wrongful Conviction "The City of Cleveland has agreed to pay $4.85 million to David Ayers, 20 years after he was wrongfully convicted of murder."
Theft of $15, a 10-2 Verdict, Sent Man to Prison for 35 Years “Roderick Vidau turned down a plea deal in 2005 because he never expected a jury of 12 of his peers would convict him of committing armed robbery. He was right: Only 10 jurors found him guilty, but in Louisiana that was enough to send him to prison for 35 years. He allegedly stole $15. ‘I was devastated,’ Vidau, now 43, told Bloomberg Law in an interview from Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel, La. His best chance at freedom, or at least a new trial, hinges on Edwards v. Vannoy, a case for which the U.S. Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments on Dec. 2.”
A surprising number of government agencies buy cellphone location data. Lawmakers want to know why. "Private companies collect location data on millions of Americans and provide it to the DHS, IRS, FBI, and DEA — no warrants needed."
