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You are here: Home / Archives for Cases

Cases

State v. Sasek: Importance of making 702 challenges at trial

May 27, 2020 //  by Alec Rees

On May 19th, 2020 the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued its opinion State v. Sasek. Mr. Sasek was convicted in March of 2019 of possession with intent to sell or deliver a schedule II controlled substance and sale of methamphetamine, which led to the revocation of his probation. Defense counsel should be aware of …

State v. Sasek: Importance of making 702 challenges at trialRead More

Category: CasesForensic Discipline: Drug Recognition Experts

Noteworthy NC COA fingerprint opinion

April 15, 2020 //  by Sarah Olson

Defenders should take note of State v. Koiyan, COA19-951, an April 7, 2020 decision where the NC Court of Appeals found that the trial court erred by admitting fingerprint testimony where the examiner “failed to demonstrate that he ‘applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case,’ as required by Rule 702(a)(3).” …

Noteworthy NC COA fingerprint opinionRead More

Category: CasesForensic Discipline: Fingerprints

Testimony regarding an inconclusive DNA mixture

February 27, 2020 //  by Sarah Olson

Attorneys handling cases involving DNA evidence should be aware of a recent NC Court of Appeals decision, State v. Phillips, COA19-372. In Dec. 2019, the Court of Appeals found that the admission of testimony about an inconclusive DNA mixture was expert testimony, was not based on sufficient facts or data nor is the product of …

Testimony regarding an inconclusive DNA mixtureRead More

Category: Cases, Practice TipsForensic Discipline: DNA

MI federal judge disallows testimony about DNA mixture interpretation

November 6, 2019 //  by Sarah Olson

Counsel should be aware of the Oct. 2019 ruling in which a United States District Judge found that in a case involving interpretation of a complex DNA mixture where the relevant contributor contributed 7% of the DNA in the mixture, the STRmix software report did not meet the Daubert reliability standard for admissibility as evidence. …

MI federal judge disallows testimony about DNA mixture interpretationRead More

Category: CasesForensic Discipline: DNA

Granting of new trial in capital case with unreliable DNA evidence affirmed

October 7, 2019 //  by annmt

In 2010, Michael Ryan was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death for a 2007 homicide. While the case was on direct appeal and as a result of the Motion for Appropriate Relief hearing, an order issued by Judge W. Erwin Spainhour granted Michael Ryan a new trial in 2017. The State appealed …

Granting of new trial in capital case with unreliable DNA evidence affirmedRead More

Category: CasesForensic Discipline: DNA

New Trial Ordered in DNA Case

June 6, 2019 //  by Matt Ruby

Superior Court Judge Chris Bragg has overturned Mark Carver’s murder conviction and ordered a new trial. Mr. Carver had been convicted in 2011 of the murder of a UNC Charlotte student. Chris Mumma, executive director of the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence, represents Mr. Carver. She argued and the court ruled that Mr. Carver …

New Trial Ordered in DNA CaseRead More

Category: CasesForensic Discipline: DNA, Mental Health

Happy National DNA Day!

April 25, 2018 //  by Sarah Olson

If you handle cases involving DNA evidence and don’t know the story of Lukis Anderson, stop what you are doing and take a few minutes to observe National DNA Day by reading this great article by Katie Worth of The Marshall Project. Mr. Anderson was a homeless man living in San Jose, CA whose DNA was found …

Happy National DNA Day!Read More

Category: Cases, Practice TipsForensic Discipline: DNA

Rare medical condition, not shaking, caused baby’s death

March 13, 2018 //  by Sarah Olson

Murder charges were dropped recently against a father in Randolph County charged with the death of his 11-week-old daughter. The baby’s treating physician indicated the death was caused by shaking or blunt force trauma. The defendant spent 158 days in jail prior to the charges being dismissed. The charges were dismissed when the forensic pathologist, …

Rare medical condition, not shaking, caused baby’s deathRead More

Category: CasesForensic Discipline: Child Abuse Allegations

Mass. Supreme Court Considers Relevance of FSTs for Marijuana Impairment

November 29, 2017 //  by Phil Dixon, Jr.

Any practitioner that handles driving while impaired charges knows the significance of field-sobriety tests (“FSTs”) to the investigation and prosecution of drunk driving. Scientific research supports the basic idea behind the tests — that test performance on FSTs is an indicator of alcohol impairment. What about when the impairing substance isn’t alcohol at all? Do …

Mass. Supreme Court Considers Relevance of FSTs for Marijuana ImpairmentRead More

Category: CasesForensic Discipline: Toxicology

Admissibility of field test kit results

November 19, 2014 //  by Sarah Olson

In State v. Carter, 237 N.C. App. 274 (2014) the NC Court of Appeals found that a trial court abused its discretion by admitting an officer’s testimony that narcotics indicator field test kits indicated the presence of cocaine on various items. The court cited State v. Ward, 364 N.C. 133, 142 (2010) which held that “expert witness testimony required …

Admissibility of field test kit resultsRead More

Category: CasesForensic Discipline: Drug Analysis

Stingrays and Privacy

October 29, 2014 //  by stellaak

The Florida Supreme Court recently issued an opinion holding that the Fourth Amendment protections apply to real time cell site location information. The court distinguishes real-time cell site location records from historical data, emphasizing that historical cell site location records are not at issue in this case. This real time location surveillance is done with …

Stingrays and PrivacyRead More

Category: CasesForensic Discipline: Digital Evidence

Shaken Baby Syndrome: How Bad Science Can Result in False Confessions

August 29, 2014 //  by astandardncpls

For the past decade, the theory of shaken baby syndrome has been under attack. See here and here.  In January, the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois granted Defendant Jennifer Del Prete’s habeas corpus petition where her conviction for first degree murder was based on faulty evidence of shaken baby syndrome.  Del …

Shaken Baby Syndrome: How Bad Science Can Result in False ConfessionsRead More

Category: CasesForensic Discipline: Child Abuse Allegations

Using cell tower data to track a suspect’s location

July 2, 2014 //  by Sarah Olson

With the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision Riley v. California, the topic of cell phone forensics is on the mind of many attorneys. Cell tower location tracking is a related area where investigators gather information about a cell phone’s location using data from cellular towers contained in phone records. Attorneys should be aware that location …

Using cell tower data to track a suspect’s locationRead More

Category: CasesForensic Discipline: Digital Evidence

Hinton v. Alabama: Effective Counsel and Forensic Expertise

March 17, 2014 //  by Sarah Olson

by Sarah Turberville, Senior Counsel, Criminal Justice Program, The Constitution Project on Tuesday, February 25, 2014 This article is re-posted from the National Association for Public Defense (NAPD) March newsletter. Please view the NAPD newsletter, available here, for additional articles relevant to effective criminal defense.   On February 24th, the United States Supreme Court issued a per curiam reversal in the case …

Hinton v. Alabama: Effective Counsel and Forensic ExpertiseRead More

Category: CasesForensic Discipline: Foundations of Forensics

Defense attorney taps into the NSA’s surveillance of telephone metadata in hopes of finding exculpatory evidence

July 19, 2013 //  by sarahsheridan

Among the documents leaked by Edward J. Snowden to the Guardian in June 2013 was an April 2013 order by the FISA Court directing Verizon to provide the National Security Agency (NSA) records of “telephony metadata” for all foreign calls between the U.S. and other countries and all domestic calls within the U.S, including local …

Defense attorney taps into the NSA’s surveillance of telephone metadata in hopes of finding exculpatory evidenceRead More

Category: CasesForensic Discipline: Digital Evidence

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