The U.S. Supreme Court will take a closer look at a circuit split over the deference that should be allotted to U.S. Sentencing Commission commentary, and a man convicted in the killing of an infant has been released after 27 years served over evidence that points to pneumonia as the likely cause of death.

Here, Law360 highlights access to justice stories arising from litigation, verdicts and judgments you may have missed.

U.S. Supreme Court

Justices Take Up Sentencing Guidelines Commentary Dispute

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case poised to settle a circuit split over how much deference should be given to U.S. Sentencing Commission commentary that interprets federal sentencing guidelines.

Rulings and Settlements

Conn. High Court Says Brady Duty Reaches Old Case Files

The Connecticut Supreme Court has affirmed a man's murder conviction but overturned part of a lower court's decision that found state prosecutors were not obligated to disclose that a state's witness in his trial gave false testimony in another case.

9th Circ. Revives Death Sentence For Murder In Habeas Case

A man must face the death penalty for the rape and murder of a California woman, a Ninth Circuit panel has said, reversing the grant of a habeas petition and finding that his attorney was not constitutionally ineffective.

Pa. 'Cruel Punishments' Ruling Sets Up Sentence Challenges

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's recent ruling that struck down mandatory life sentences for second-degree murder marked the justices' clearest message yet that the state's constitution and history bar "cruel" punishments, which legal experts tell Law360 could tee up challenges to "three strikes" laws or the death penalty.

NY Court Nixes Assault Plea Over Unsuppressed Statements

A New York City man sentenced to three years probation in 2022 for assault should have been allowed to suppress statements he made to an arresting officer, a New York appeals court has said, vacating his guilty plea.

NY Robbery Conviction Revived Despite Absent Warning

A Jamaican man who pled guilty to robbery should have been afforded youthful-offender consideration, a New York state appeals panel has ruled, reinstating his robbery conviction despite his not receiving an immigration warning, but sending his case back for resentencing.

Exonerations

Colo. Man Ordered Freed After 27 Years In 'Shaken Baby' Case

A Colorado state court has thrown out the murder conviction of a man who spent 27 years in prison for fatally shaking his former girlfriend's infant daughter, ordering his release after prosecutors agreed with newly raised evidence that the baby actually died of pneumonia.

Boston Seeks Nix Of Exoneree's Suit Against City, Dead Police

The city of Boston has asked a Massachusetts federal court to dismiss a lawsuit against three police officers accused of helping to convict a man for a 1975 murder he didn't commit, who have since died.

Federal Appellate

Federal Agent Assault Cases Set Up Supremacy Immunity Test

Recently unveiled assault complaints against federal immigration agents in Minnesota and Colorado set the stage for relatively clean tests of a limited immunity that can shield federal officers from state criminal charges, experts said.

Federal Circuit Backs US In Utah Tribal Shooting Death

A Federal Circuit panel says the federal government is not liable for the death of a Utah tribal member who died nearly 20 years ago in a police-involved shooting on reservation lands, upholding a lower court's decision that his family failed to prove that a local officer fired the fatal shot.

4th Circ. Reverses, Says Bag Search Evidence Was Inevitable

A North Carolina man charged with drug and gun violations when he was arrested for interfering with a police investigation after riding his bike in and out of an active crime scene, cannot have evidence against him suppressed, a Fourth Circuit appeals panel has ruled.

3rd Circ. Upholds Trooper Immunity For Arrest After Shooting

A man acquitted of homicide and other charges for killing another man in a bar fight cannot continue his case against a Pennsylvania state trooper who he said violated his rights by arresting him and filing an affidavit in support of bringing charges despite knowing the suspect acted in self-defense, a Third Circuit panel has determined.

Federal Inmates Can Earn Credits In State Lockup, 1st Circ. Says

Federal prisoners may earn First Step Act time credit toward shortening their sentences during state custody before arriving at a federal prison, the First Circuit has ruled, deeming a contrary federal policy invalid.

State Appellate

Mass. Justices Uphold Jailing Despite Incompetency Finding

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that under state precedent, a man who was accused of a violent home invasion and other crimes but found to be incompetent to stand trial was not improperly kept incarcerated when he could not post bail.

Colo. Justices Back Discovery Copies For Indigent Defendants

The Colorado Supreme Court has held that lower courts can order prosecutors to provide free copies of pretrial discovery to indigent defendants who mount credible challenges to their convictions, saying it is necessary to protect the poorest defendants' due process rights.

Colo. Panel Says No Resentencing For Habitual Criminal

A man with an existing criminal record who was sentenced to 44 years in prison in 2015 under Colorado's habitual criminal statute, after firing a gun at someone he claimed was threatening his girlfriend, cannot be resentenced in light of a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision, a Colorado appeals court has ruled.

NY Panel Tosses Plea, Saying Judge Wrongly Blocked Appeal

A New York state court should never have made a man who pled guilty to weapons and drug charges waive his right to appeal, an appeals panel said in reversing his convictions and dismissing the indictment against him due to an illegal search by Buffalo, New York, police.

Ethics

Ex-Asst. Prosecutor Admits To Practicing After Disbarment

A disbarred former assistant prosecutor with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office in New Jersey has pled guilty to collecting about $70,000 in fees for legal work that he was unauthorized to do, the OCPO has announced.

Alleged Plea Breaches In Abuse Case Prompt New Judge Bid

The defendant in a child sexual abuse case in which a federal judge ordered the trio of attorneys then leading the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office to testify about who was in charge has asked for his sentencing to be reassigned to a new judge, arguing that the federal government has repeatedly breached his plea agreement.

Immigration

5th Circ. Vacates Injunction On Texas Migrant Arrest Law

A majority of the full Fifth Circuit has vacated a district court order that blocked a Texas law allowing state officers to arrest and deport migrants, saying immigrants' rights organizations that challenged the law's constitutionality lacked standing to sue.

7th Circ. Panel Split On Due Process For Ill. ICE Detainees

A split Seventh Circuit panel has rejected the Trump administration's argument that immigrants unlawfully in the United States have no due process rights, although every member of the panel had a different take on the issue.

Illinois Is Latest State To Probe Fatal ICE Shooting

Illinois State Police have launched an investigation into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents' fatal shooting of a man during last year's widespread federal crackdown on undocumented immigrants, joining other states that have filed or are considering bringing criminal charges against federal agents.

AI and Technology

Court Rule Changes Uncertain After Few Deepfake Challenges

Very few federal judges have handled challenges to audiovisual evidence that litigants claim has been faked by artificial intelligence, raising questions about whether changes to the rules of evidence are actually necessary.

Ga. Justices Sanction Asst. DA For AI Errors In Murder Case

The Georgia Supreme Court has sanctioned a Clayton County assistant district attorney for filing briefs that contained nonexistent case citations generated by artificial intelligence in a murder defendant's bid for a new trial, saying the prosecutor's misconduct has "sidetracked" the justices from delving into the merits of the appeal.

Judge Publicly Scolds 'Disgraced' Ex-Prosecutor For AI Errors

A North Carolina federal judge has eviscerated a former federal prosecutor in a public reprimand for his use of artificial intelligence to draft a response brief that was riddled with hallucinations, calling out the prosecutor's "lack of candor" and saying he "disgraced not only himself, but also the entire office he formerly served."