In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Brady v. Maryland that police and prosecutors are legally bound to turn over so-called "exculpatory" evidence to the defense before trial. Exculpatory evidence is most anything favorable to the defense. It can be evidence that...
US Supreme Court
Supreme Court: ‘Excessive fines’ prohibition may apply to states
The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads, "excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." An Indiana man is testing the excessive fines rule by appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. The...
Should a history of prosecutor misconduct be considered on appeal?
Curtis Flowers was convicted of murdering the owner of a furniture store he once worked in, along with three employees. The alleged motive was revenge -- the store owner had fired him and withheld most of his final paycheck to pay for merchandise he had supposedly...
Supreme Court updates law on access to cellphone location data
If the police want to track you through your cellphone's location history, should they have to get a warrant?Requiring that law enforcement officers get a warrant is meant to protect people from unduly intrusive searches and seizures. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S....
When emails are stored abroad, can a US warrant reach them?
The U.S. Supreme Court has just heard arguments in a case involving emails Microsoft stores on servers in Ireland. In a 2013 drug trafficking case, Drug Enforcement Administration investigators sought the emails using a warrant authorized by the 1986 Stored...
Can your lawyer say you’re guilty if you insist you’re innocent?
Louisiana death penalty defendant Robert McCoy insists on his innocence in the crime of murdering his mother-in-law, her husband and her 17-year-old grandson. However, there is substantial evidence against him, including claims that the victim's cellphone and the gun...
Supreme Court rules appeal warranted in case of racist juror
When appellate attorneys for a Georgia man, Keith Tharpe, found evidence that one or more of his jurors had been racist, they hoped to show that racism affected the outcome of the trial. They tried to bring a habeas corpus petition to get the man's conviction or...
Supreme Court to determine eligibility for reduced sentences
In the federal justice system, most criminal sentences are determined by formulas in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The guidelines are determined by an agency called the U.S. Sentencing Commission.Sometimes the Sentencing Commission determines that the sentencing...
Supreme Court to rule on admissibility of cellphone location info
Digital rights advocates are criticizing the telecom industry's silence on one of the great controversies of our day: whether police need a warrant to track people's location via their cellphones. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case on the issue on Nov. 29.In the...
Supreme Court asked to rule on reach of email warrants
After a panel of federal judges ruled that the 1986 Stored Communications Act does not apply outside the United States, the Trump Administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.The issue arose in relation to a 2013 drug trafficking case. Federal...