Herzog v. State — Pursuit defeated self-defense claim
The Indiana Court of Appeals held that evidence Herzog pursued fleeing teenagers rather than disengage allowed the jury to find he acted with fault and reject self-defense.
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Sentencing
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Hunt v. State — Court rejects speedy-trial and obstruction challenges
The Indiana Court of Appeals held that later speedy-trial requests displaced earlier pro se requests and affirmed Hunt’s attempted-obstruction convictions and 35-year sentence.
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Commonwealth v. Sharpe — Superior Court vacates extreme downward sentencing departure
The Superior Court vacated a sentence more than six years below the mitigated guideline range because the record did not support the trial court’s reasons for immediate parole and house arrest.
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Commonwealth v. McAllister — Superior Court upholds elder-exploitation and theft convictions
The Superior Court upheld a caretaker’s convictions for theft by deception and financial exploitation of an older adult based on checks obtained beyond her agreed compensation.
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Commonwealth v. Mitchell — Superior Court requires a defendant’s own motion for discretionary probation termination
The Superior Court held that a probation department petition did not preserve a defendant’s separate request for discretionary early termination under Section 9771.
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Vamos v. State — Full probation revocation affirmed despite challenge to unalleged arrest evidence
The Indiana Court of Appeals held that a revocation petition gave adequate notice of the requested sanction and that consideration of a later, unalleged arrest did not require reversal.
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Frankson v. State — Sentence vacated after State undermined plea deal
The Alaska Court of Appeals vacated Nick Frankson’s sentence because the State undermined its plea agreement and the trial judge failed to obtain Frankson’s personal decision to maintain his pleas.
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Frankson v. State — State Breaches Plea Agreement When Successor Prosecutor Argues Against Agreed Sentence on Remand; Sentence Vacated for Failure to Obtain Defendant’s Personal Plea Reaffirmation
The Alaska Court of Appeals vacated Nick Frankson’s assault sentences on two grounds: the successor prosecutor breached the plea agreement by actively arguing against the parties’ agreed 720-day sentence on remand, and the superior court failed to personally address Frankson before proceeding to open sentencing after rejecting the sentencing agreement under Alaska Criminal Rule 11(e)(3). The court separately held that using Frankson’s nine prior assault convictions to find AS 12.55.155(c)(8) did not violate the Sixth Amendment under Erlinger v. United States, because determining that multiple dated assault convictions constitute ‘repeated instances of assaultive behavior’ requires examining only the bare conviction record — not the fact-laden inquiry that Erlinger held must go to a jury.
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People v. Delarosa — First Department Vacates Sentence Where Plea Deal Improperly Waived Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act Hearing
The Appellate Division, First Department vacated defendant’s sentence and remanded for a Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA) eligibility hearing after the People conceded that conditioning her guilty plea on waiver of a Penal Law § 60.12 hearing was improper under People v. N.H.
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People v. Narvaez — First Dept. Strikes Four Probation Conditions Including Surcharge on Indigent Defendant and Baseless Gang-Association Ban
The First Department modified a probation sentence, striking four conditions as not reasonably necessary under Penal Law § 65.10(1): a financial surcharge on an indigent defendant relying on public assistance, a dependent-support condition where the defendant had no dependents, an order-of-protection compliance condition with no supporting history, and a gang-paraphernalia ban with no evidence of any gang connection.
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Hughes v. State — Plea Agreement “Sentencing Cap” Is a Non-Binding Recommendation, Not a Stipulated Sentence Under W.R.Cr.P. 11(e)(1)(C)
The Wyoming Supreme Court unanimously affirmed consecutive sentences for a former Casper police officer who pleaded guilty to five counts of aggravated assault and battery following a prolonged armed standoff, holding that a plea agreement capping the State’s “sentencing argument” was a non-binding recommendation under W.R.Cr.P. 11(e)(1)(B)—not a stipulated sentence under 11(e)(1)(C)—and that Wyoming district courts need not make specific findings when deviating from a sentencing recommendation.