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Criminal Practice
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June 27, 2025
NY Man Wins New Trial Over Jury Instruction Issue
A man who was convicted of criminal weapons possession for firing a gun on a Brooklyn street was granted a new trial by the New York state appeals court, which found a trial court hadn't explained to the jury that it was sometimes legal to snatch a gun in self-defense.
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June 27, 2025
Pregnancy Loss Draws Police Scrutiny Following Dobbs
The nation's abortion debate has played out in civil courtrooms and state capitols across the country since the overturning of Roe v. Wade three years ago. But the battle is also emerging in another arena: the criminal courts.
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June 27, 2025
How States Are Rethinking Life Without Parole For Youth
A wave of recent state high court rulings, including a landmark decision in Michigan in April, has curtailed the use of mandatory life without parole for defendants under 21, citing evolving standards of decency and brain science. Hundreds of incarcerated individuals in Michigan are now eligible for resentencing, but the reforms face resistance from prosecutors, victims’ rights advocates, and dissenting justices who warn of consequences for public safety and judicial overreach.
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June 27, 2025
Colo. Appeals Court Clarifies Meaning Of Molotov Cocktail
A Colorado state appeals court has ruled for the first time on the interpretation of state laws around explosives and incendiary devices, stating that lawmakers "intended 'explosive' to carry the same meaning as 'incendiary device.'"
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June 27, 2025
Mass. High Court Says Bias In Police Stop Taints Evidence
A Massachusetts judge should have granted a motion to suppress evidence — in this case, a bag of cocaine — found after a driver ran from police who had presumably racially profiled him, the state's highest court said Friday.
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June 27, 2025
Calif. Panel Tosses Hacking Case Against Ex-LA Prosecutor
A California state appeals court has ordered the dismissal of criminal claims against former Los Angeles Assistant District Attorney Diana Teran over her use of public sheriff's deputy files contained in a "confidential" database.
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June 27, 2025
DOJ Tax Division To Split Criminal, Civil Units, Official Says
The U.S. Department of Justice aims to finalize a reorganization plan for its Tax Division by summer's end that would separate the criminal and civil tax functions and relocate them to the department's main branches, a department official said Friday.
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June 27, 2025
Combs Defense Atty Blasts 'Fake Trial' In Closing Argument
A lawyer for Sean "Diddy" Combs on Friday attacked the legitimacy of the government's racketeering case, accusing prosecutors of invading the hip-hop icon's private sex life and saying two women he is alleged to have trafficked are motivated by money.
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June 27, 2025
NC Biz Court Bulletin: Last-Minute Settlements Head Off Trials
Untouched by the summer slump, the North Carolina Business Court kicked off June with a sanctions order against a biogas company caught spurning court orders and a new complaint by a former NFL player accusing his longtime financial adviser of defrauding him for decades.
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June 27, 2025
Justices Limit Universal Injunctions But Defer On Citizenship
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump can partially implement his executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship, in a ruling that significantly limits the ability of federal district court judges to issue nationally applicable orders against presidential edicts and policy initiatives.
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June 26, 2025
NY Court Suppresses Evidence Due To Cannabis Law Change
A man's guilty plea to possessing cocaine was vacated Thursday after a New York appeals court allowed suppression of evidence gleaned from a police search prompted by a cannabis smell, because the state barred this exact practice days after his indictment.
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June 26, 2025
Ex-Trump Atty Chesebro Disbarred In NY For Fake Elector Plot
President Donald Trump's former attorney Kenneth Chesebro, the so-called "architect" in the plot to use fake electors to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results, has been disbarred from practicing law in the state of New York, according to a unanimous decision issued on Thursday.
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June 26, 2025
Mass. Court Lets Man Try Again To Escape Ankle Monitor
A convicted rapist in Massachusetts who spent nearly 16 years in prison will get a second shot at challenging how long he must wear a GPS monitor now that he's been released, after a state appellate court on Thursday ruled a lower court did not properly weigh his constitutional rights.
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June 26, 2025
5th Circ. Revives Biz Records Law, Citing Review Safeguard
The Fifth Circuit on Thursday tossed a permanent injunction blocking a Texas statute requiring businesses to immediately comply with the state's demand to examine business records, saying the Texas Supreme Court recently "harmonized" the law in a way that addresses Spirit AeroSystems Inc.'s constitutional challenge.
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June 26, 2025
6th Circ. Backs Mich. Newborn Blood Testing Program
A Sixth Circuit panel reversed a win for a group of parents challenging a Michigan newborn health screening program, finding that the way blood samples are stored and used in the program does not violate the parents' right to make medical decisions for their children.
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June 26, 2025
Judge Casts Doubt On Plea Deals In Blood Test Defect Case
A set of plea agreements between Massachusetts federal prosecutors and former Magellan Diagnostics executives has been thrown into uncertainty amid a dispute over whether the executives admitted to fraud related to defective blood tests or merely an intent to mislead, a question a judge said Thursday might be "a very expensive rabbit hole."
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June 26, 2025
Combs Used Business 'Kingdom' For Crime Spree, Feds Say
Sean "Diddy" Combs used his power, wealth and a "small army" of employees to commit crimes including sex trafficking for 20 years, a prosecutor told a Manhattan federal jury Thursday as the hip-hop mogul's trial neared an end.
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June 26, 2025
Justices Expand Reach Of First Step Act In Resentencings
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that defendants can benefit from lighter sentences under the First Step Act if they were sentenced prior to the 2018 criminal justice reform law but later resentenced after their original sentences were tossed.
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June 26, 2025
Justices Allow Texas Death Row Inmate's DNA Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday said a Texas death row inmate can sue state officials in federal court to try to obtain post-conviction DNA testing, a decision that could open the door to broader challenges to how Texas provides access to forensic evidence after conviction.
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June 25, 2025
11th Circ. Backs Conviction In Bank Reporting Evasion Case
The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday upheld the conviction of a man accused of trying to prevent regulators from learning about his large withdrawals from Wells Fargo accounts, rejecting his claims that prosecutors charged him with one offense but tried him for another.
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June 25, 2025
Tulsa Inks Jurisdiction Pact With Tribe As Okla. Gov. Objects
The mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Wednesday settled a jurisdictional dispute with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation over law enforcement, saying the city will bring an end to the tribe's lawsuit by deferring to its criminal jurisdiction, despite Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt's objections that he's been cut out of the deal.
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June 25, 2025
Ga. High Court Allows Reviews Of Non-Capital Murder Cases
The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that it will retain the authority to exclusively hear appeals of non-death penalty murder cases, bypassing a need for the lower Georgia State Court of Appeals to weigh in.
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June 25, 2025
Colo. Justices Unsure If Law Covers AI-Made Child Images
The Colorado Supreme Court expressed uncertainty Wednesday over whether a state statute in place through 2024 made illegal the production of sexually explicit AI-generated images of minors, or if this month's revision to the law proves the 2024 statute did not cover those images.
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June 25, 2025
State Gets Second Chance Despite Delays, Pa. Court Rules
A trial court erred in dismissing a criminal case against a man who was accused of illegally possessing firearms due to excessive delays, the Pennsylvania Superior Court said, finding that lapsed time was not entirely attributable to the commonwealth and should therefore not prevent prosecution.
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June 25, 2025
Ex-Google Engineer Nixes Evidence Over Miranda Violation
A California federal judge has ordered that statements a former Google engineer made to federal agents investigating him for espionage and trade secret theft must be suppressed because they violated the Chinese national's Miranda rights.
Expert Analysis
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Tossed FIFA Bribery Convictions May Spur New DOJ Offense
After a New York federal court vacated the bribery convictions of two defendants in the U.S. Department of Justice’s sprawling FIFA probe, prosecutors may continue to pursue foreign commercial corruption through other means, albeit with some limitations, say attorneys at Cleary.
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Perspectives
A Judge's Pitch To Revive The Jury Trial
Ohio state Judge Pierre Bergeron explains how the decline of the jury trial threatens public confidence in the judiciary and even democracy as a whole, and he offers ideas to restore this sacred right.
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Perspectives
People In Prison Should Have Access To Digital Technology
There are a number of reasons why people who are incarcerated should have access to digital communication technology — from facilitating reentry to saving lives in a future pandemic — but they need the means and the necessary legal protections to do so, say NYU Law student Suchy Kahlon and First Amendment attorney Dan Novack.
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Micromobility Can Lead To Macro Liability For Cities, Cos.
E-bike and scooter manufacturers and rental operators, as well as the cities that host such services, must be aware of the major litigation risk associated with the growing number of serious accidents and injuries involving such micromobility devices — and should track emerging regulations in this area, says Arturo Aviles at Segal McCambridge.
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Opinion
Supreme Court Must End Acquitted Conduct Sentencing
While all three branches of government have shown reluctance to address the issue of acquitted conduct sentencing, including the U.S. Supreme Court in its recent denial of certiorari in a case addressing the topic, the court must — as only it can — put an end to this unconstitutional practice, say Alan Ellis at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis and Mark Allenbaugh at Sentencing Stats.
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Concerns Emerging On TM Cases Against Undisclosed Parties
There has been a dramatic increase in the number of cases filed by brands against hundreds of counterfeiters as undisclosed defendants, and given these suits' debatable success in curbing counterfeiting, courts and Congress could view them as a drain on judicial resources, say Bea Swedlow and David Roulo at Honigman.
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The Crucial Privilege Exception At Play In Trump Indictment
Following Donald Trump’s recent indictment for retaining classified documents, Hilary Gerzhoy at HWG explains how his attorney’s notes of their conversations became admissible in the case, what it means for the attorney's representation of Trump, and what obligations lawyers have in similar circumstances.
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Minn. 'Foreign Influence' Law May Bar US Cos. From Politics
Though Minnesota's new campaign finance law aims to curb foreign spending in state and local elections, its overly strict definition of what constitutes "foreign influence" will drastically limit how even American-controlled businesses can participate in politics, say attorneys at Akin.
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Peeling Back The Layers Of Rep. George Santos' Indictment
Federal prosecutors' recent 13-count criminal indictment of Rep. George Santos reflects a focused, even simplified approach, showing the kind of careful scrutiny that charges against sitting members of Congress always merit, and leaving open questions about potential charges other enforcers could bring, say Rob Walker and Caleb Burns at Wiley.
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Assessing Overlapping Boards After DOJ Crackdown
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent targeting of interlocking directorates raises questions about the scope of applicable antitrust law, including when companies will be considered competitors, whether the statute reaches potential competitors, and how companies can avoid price-fixing or market allocation charges, say attorneys at Cooley.
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Seeking Compassionate Release Under New Health Guidelines
Though the U.S. Sentencing Commission recently changed its guidelines to allow prisoners who claim they are receiving inadequate medical care to apply for compassionate release, defense counsel will need to come armed with the correct case law and supporting medical documentation to successfully file for sentence reductions, say Marissa Kingman and Krista Hartrum at Fox Rothschild.
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Lawyer Discernment Is Critical In The World Of AI
In light of growing practical concerns about risks and challenges posed by artificial intelligence, lawyers' experience with the skill of discernment will position them to help address new ethical and moral dilemmas and ensure that AI is developed and deployed in a way that benefits society as a whole, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.
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Prepare For Stricter Capital Rules: The Basel Endgame Is Nigh
With federal financial regulators made edgy by recent bank failures and likely to propose a strict U.S. version of the Basel III "endgame" capital requirements within the year, banks should expect complying with market risk management standards to become more daunting, say attorneys at Jones Day.
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3 Reasons Why Congress Should Stay Out Of NY Trump Probe
Congress members should reconsider their investigation of the Manhattan district attorney’s indictment of former President Donald Trump for several key reasons — and if they persist, future congressional leadership should adopt a rule prohibiting this kind of local interference, say Kenyen Brown and Kevin Carroll at Hughes Hubbard.
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Considering The Legal Hurdles Of Seizing State Assets
Though confiscating Russian state assets and using them for the reconstruction of Ukraine is a popular idea, a recent New York federal court case over the seizure of Afghan central bank assets illustrates the risks of violating international norms regarding sovereign immunity, especially if there is a lack of due process, says Angelika Hellweger at Rahman Ravelli.