Evidence Cases
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Evidence

TexasCriminalEvidencePost-Conviction Relief
Texas Court of Appeals, Eighth District (El Paso)
Uncategorized

Johnson v. State — Post-Conviction DNA Retesting Denied Where Law-of-Parties Conviction Leaves Third-Party DNA Non-Exculpatory

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The Eighth Court of Appeals affirmed denial of a second post-conviction DNA testing motion in a capital murder case, holding that Chapter 64 does not permit comparison of a DNA specimen to a specific named individual, and that third-party DNA on the murder weapon is not exculpatory where the defendant was convicted under a law-of-parties theory and substantial evidence of guilt exists independent of the DNA.

South CarolinaCriminalEvidenceSelf-Defense
Court of Appeals of South Carolina
Uncategorized

State v. Barry W. Jones — Armed Return After “Kill” Text Defeats Stand Your Ground Immunity; Suicide Attempt Evidence Properly Admitted

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The South Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed a murder conviction, holding that the defendant’s decision to return to the confrontation site while armed — minutes after texting “I’m gonna kill that BBoy” — defeated Stand Your Ground immunity under the Protection of Persons and Property Act; suicide attempt evidence was properly admitted under the Cartwright framework; and the self-defense jury charge adequately covered the law.

New YorkEvidenceLabor LawPersonal Injury & Tort
Appellate Division, First Department
Uncategorized

Villanueva v. J.T. Magen — Summary Judgment Denied on Scaffold Law Claim Where Medical Records Suggest Lifting Injury, Not Falling Object

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The First Department affirmed denial of § 240(1) summary judgment where a 350-pound duct fell on a construction worker, because medical records recorded by a treating physician described the injury as occurring during manual lifting—raising a triable issue on whether an elevation-related hazard was involved.

MassachusettsAdministrative LawCriminalEvidence
Massachusetts Appeals Court
Uncategorized

Doe v. SORB — Appeals Court Holds Hearsay Challenge Moot After Subsequent Convictions, Affirms Level 3 Reclassification

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The Massachusetts Appeals Court held that a sex offender’s subsequent criminal convictions rendered moot his challenge to the reliability of hearsay evidence used in his SORB reclassification from level 2 to level 3, affirming the board’s decision in a case of first impression for published classification appeals.

UtahCriminalEvidenceIneffective Assistance of Counsel
Court of Appeals of Utah
Uncategorized

State v. Collard — Convictions Reversed After Counsel Failed to Redact Domestic-Violence Finding from Protective Order Exhibit

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The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed denial of a motion to arrest judgment on protective-order-violation convictions — holding that the State sufficiently proved the permanent order’s terms through testimony and a docket entry — but reversed all three convictions on ineffective-assistance grounds because defense counsel failed to seek redaction of a domestic-violence finding in the temporary protective order admitted as a trial exhibit, a finding the court had already ruled irrelevant and whose admission undermined confidence in the verdict.

UtahCivil ProcedureEvidencePersonal Injury & Tort
Court of Appeals of Utah
Uncategorized

Holmes v. Smith — New Trial Ordered After Collateral Source Misrule and Improperly Admitted Medical Records

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The Utah Court of Appeals reversed an automobile accident verdict and remanded for a new trial after the trial court misapplied the collateral source rule by excluding evidence of employer-provided workplace accommodations, admitted medical records without proper business-records foundation under Utah R. Evid. 803(6), and improperly excluded life care planner testimony on work-life expectancy based on inconsistencies that went to weight rather than admissibility.

OhioCivil ProcedureCriminal LawEvidence
Ohio Court of Appeals (Eighth District)
Uncategorized

State v. Mercado — Eighth District reverses dismissal for preindictment delay in 2002 rape case, finding no actual prejudice

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The Eighth District reversed the trial court’s dismissal of a rape and kidnapping indictment for preindictment delay, holding that the defendant failed to establish actual prejudice from the 16-year gap between the offense and indictment despite the deaths of two potential witnesses.

OregonEvidenceFamily Law
Court of Appeals of Oregon
Uncategorized

Westbrook v. Hubbard — Custody Order Reversed Where Child’s Recorded Statement About Sexual Abuse Was Admitted Without OEC 803(18a)(b) Notice or Reliability Showing

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The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed an order denying father’s motions to enforce parenting time and modify custody after the trial court admitted a child’s recorded statement about sexual abuse without requiring the proponent to comply with OEC 803(18a)(b)’s mandatory prerequisites of 15 days’ advance notice and an affirmative reliability showing, and found the error harmful because the statement was the only evidence of the sexual nature of the alleged abuse.

OregonAppellate ProcedureCriminalEvidence
Court of Appeals of Oregon
Uncategorized

State v. Escalante — Domestic Violence Convictions Reversed Because Trial Court Failed to Re-Read Constitutional Jury Instructions After Close of Evidence

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The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed convictions for domestic violence strangulation and harassment because the trial court failed to reread constitutional jury instructions—including the presumption of innocence and proof beyond a reasonable doubt—as part of its oral charge to the jury at the close of evidence, applying State v. Shine, 375 Or 112 (2026), and holding the error was plain, not harmless, and warranted discretionary correction even without a trial-level objection.

North CarolinaAdministrative LawEvidenceMunicipal Law
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

Hall v. Henderson County — Board of Adjustment Properly Permitted Addiction-Recovery Facility as Assisted Living Residence; Quasi-Judicial Body Not Bound by Rules of Evidence

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The North Carolina Court of Appeals reversed the superior court and reinstated Henderson County’s grant of a special use permit for a residential addiction-recovery facility, holding that the Board of Adjustment properly classified the facility as an Assisted Living Residence because the county code’s use table enumerated ALR but not Mental Health Facility, and clarifying that a quasi-judicial body’s evidentiary rulings are reviewed for due process violation (on exclusion) or competent-evidence support (on admission)—not as errors of law under the Rules of Evidence.

New MexicoCriminalDouble JeopardyEvidence
New Mexico Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

State v. Kahla — Firearm Enhancement on Shooting-at-Vehicle Conviction Does Not Violate Double Jeopardy

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The New Mexico Court of Appeals affirmed convictions for battery, shooting at or from a motor vehicle with a firearm enhancement, and conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence — formalizing as published precedent that the firearm enhancement under NMSA 1978, § 31-18-16 does not violate double jeopardy when applied to a shooting-at-vehicle conviction, and holding for the first time in a published opinion that identifying bullet-impact marks in photographs constitutes lay, not expert, testimony.

MississippiCriminalEvidenceHomicide
Court of Appeals of Mississippi
Uncategorized

Harris v. State — First-Degree Murder Affirmed; Combined Self-Defense/Accident Jury Instruction Not Plain Error After Defendant’s Acquiescence

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The Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed first-degree murder and aggravated assault convictions for a drive-by shooting, holding that a combined self-defense and accident-and-misfortune jury instruction was not plain error where the defendant argued self-defense at trial, explicitly agreed to the instruction three times, and the instruction expanded—rather than restricted—the jury’s basis for acquittal.

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