The South Carolina Supreme Court held that the execution-secrecy statute does not cover public or nonconfidential identifying information and does not punish its later repetition.
The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed an order barring an alleged victim from testifying, holding that a missing interview recording caused no demonstrated substantial prejudice and no due-process violation without police bad faith.
The Massachusetts SJC preserved an injunction against Quincy’s saint statues and reaffirmed the state-specific Article 3 framework for government religious displays.
The Massachusetts SJC held that White Stadium was no longer Article 97 parkland because pre-1972 legislation had converted the parcel to a school facility.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court vacated convictions because the defendant took over core trial advocacy without a knowing and intelligent waiver of counsel under article 12.
The Massachusetts SJC held that 109- and 123-day delays in seeking cell phone search warrants were reasonable under article 14’s totality-of-the-circumstances test.
The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed Albany County’s 2023 amendments to its Aquifer Protection Overlay Zone — including a 35-acre minimum lot size within the Casper Aquifer recharge area — holding that counties may use general zoning authority under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 18-5-201 to protect groundwater without displacing WDEQ’s water quality jurisdiction. The court also established, for the first time in a published Wyoming opinion, that the arbitrary and capricious standard of review applies to all agency legislative action (rulemaking) under WAPA, resolving a gap left open by Bienz v. Board of County Commissioners, 2024 WY 102. Justice Hill dissented on authority, arguing the EQA grants WDEQ exclusive jurisdiction over water quality regulation.
The Second Department affirmed a murder conviction despite a Confrontation Clause violation in fingerprint evidence, finding the error harmless because the testifying detective independently reached the same conclusions.
The Second Department affirmed a weapon possession conviction, holding that the Bruen decision did not invalidate New York’s criminal possession of a weapon statutes and addressing Confrontation Clause and Sandoval issues.