Case James C. Wenzler v. United States Coast Guard Court U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Judge SCUDDER
Case His Majesty the King v. Shane Suman Court Court of Appeal for Ontario (Canada) Date Decided June 1, 2026
The Louisiana Supreme Court upheld Act 15 of the 2026 Regular Session, which abolished the office of clerk of criminal district court for Orleans Parish and consolidated it with the civil clerk’s office, holding the Legislature’s plenary authority under La. Const. Art. V, § 32 is unconstrained in scope and timing.
The Twelfth District affirmed a community control condition that effectively barred the defendant from his residence, finding the restriction was reasonably related to preventing future criminal conduct given the defendant’s history of altercations with neighbors.
The Twelfth District affirmed a murder conviction arising from a shooting during a domestic dispute, holding that the trial court properly admitted the defendant’s prior violent acts as character evidence under Evid.R. 404(A) and that the State’s grant of immunity to a key witness did not render her testimony unreliable.
The California Supreme Court affirms a double gang-murder defendant’s convictions but reverses his 1994 death sentence under the retroactive California Racial Justice Act of 2020, requiring a new penalty-phase trial in a case that has been on automatic appeal for over three decades.
The California Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the death sentence of a Los Angeles father convicted of the torture-murders of two young children, holding that months of deliberate beatings, starvation, and medical neglect provided sufficient evidence of premeditated torturous intent, and that con
The California Supreme Court reverses a death-row defendant’s convictions entirely because his attorney conceded guilt over the client’s explicit objection — a structural constitutional error requiring automatic reversal — while affirming the co-defendant’s death sentence and vacat
The California Supreme Court affirms a death sentence for the 1999 rape-murder of an Oakland 11-year-old, holding that a suspect who voluntarily accompanies police to the station and is briefly placed in a lockable interview room has not been seized under the Fourth Amendment — and clarifying when v
Case State of West Virginia ex rel. State of West Virginia v. The Honorable Debra McLaughlin, Judge of the Circuit
Case State of Nebraska v. Keiandre T. Kellogg Court Nebraska Supreme Court Judge Freudenberg (Pete Ricketts, 2018) Date Decided May
The Sixth District affirmed a 13-to-16.5-year prison sentence for attempted RICO, burglary, and related offenses, holding that the trial court did not violate the defendant’s right to allocution by refusing a mid-hearing request to consult with counsel and that burglary and attempted grand theft of a motor vehicle are not allied offenses of similar import.
The Fifth District affirmed convictions for gross sexual imposition against a minor, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by ruling a child victim incompetent to testify without an in-person hearing and that the Confrontation Clause does not guarantee the right to comment on a witness’s absence at trial.
The Ninth District partially reversed a criminal trespass conviction, holding that a represented defendant’s pro se motions did not toll the statutory speedy trial clock and remanding for a determination of whether the State violated the 45-day time limit.
The Ninth District affirmed a domestic violence conviction, holding that the trial court’s failure to advise the defendant of his right to a jury trial and right to remain silent at arraignment was not prejudicial where the defendant later knowingly waived a jury trial through written motion.
The Ninth District reversed the suppression of OVI evidence, holding that a state trooper’s observations of slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, and the odor of alcohol during a valid traffic stop gave rise to reasonable suspicion to expand the stop into an OVI investigation.
The Second District affirms a 14-year UPWF sentence after a shooting, rejecting the necessity defense where the defendant advanced toward the victim and refusing to disturb the within-range sentence.
The Texas Supreme Court held that the constitutional forfeiture remedy for home equity loan violations applies only to breaches of constitutionally mandated loan conditions, not to every contractual breach by a lender.
The Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed drug and firearm convictions, holding that a free-air dog sniff conducted while a traffic citation was still being prepared did not unlawfully prolong the stop under the Fourth Amendment.
Case Frederick D. Jackson v. City of Madison, et al. Court United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Case Kathleen Hayes v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago and Matthew Lyons Court U.S. Court of Appeals
The Eighth District reversed the juvenile court’s denial of mandatory bindover, holding that a juvenile’s own recorded confession admitting he ‘put a gun on’ a victim established probable cause for the firearm display element without requiring victim testimony.
The Eighth District reversed the dismissal of a felony OVI enhancement, holding that the defendant failed to make a prima facie showing that a prior uncounseled conviction was constitutionally infirm where signed written waivers documented a knowing waiver of counsel.
In a published opinion, the Commonwealth Court declares that simple assault is not a crime of violence under Act 235 and that PSP exceeded its statutory authority by creating a regulatory catch-all allowing denial of lethal-weapons certification for “any other crime” beyond the enumerated crimes of violence.