The top prosecutor in Orange County, California, has withdrawn charges in 67 criminal cases after he found sheriff’s deputies had mishandled evidence. District Attorney Todd Spitzer and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department reviewed more than 22,000 cases handled by...
Evidence is the cornerstone of every trial, criminal or civil. This evidence can be documents, video evidence, photos, eye-witness testimony and other “direct” proof, and then there is forensic evidence based on the scientific examination of a crime. For years,...
Despite substantial proof that traditional eyewitness identifications are often mistaken, police departments continue to rely on them as primary evidence against suspects. The Innocence Project reports that nearly 70% of more than 375 wrongful convictions in the U.S....
An anticipated U.S. Supreme Court ruling could invalidate hundreds of criminal convictions in Oregon and Louisiana over challenges to Jim Crow jury laws. In a Louisiana case, the high court ruled last April that allowing convictions by nonunanimous juries violates the...
When you are convicted of serious criminal charges, your whole life gets turned upside down. You most likely will serve jail time, maybe for years, and have a difficult time rebuilding your life when your sentence is complete. You wonder how your situation would be...
Prosecutors know that every step and every piece of evidence in a legal process must be properly followed and accounted for to secure a conviction in a criminal case. Missing pieces in this equation can lead to cases going off the rails. Just look at the case of an...
A guilty verdict in a criminal case can feel like the end of the line, but that’s not always true. If your trial was tainted by errors or misconduct, you can pursue a criminal appeal or otherwise seek post-conviction relief. There are only a limited number of...
Technology touches every aspect of our lives at this point. The criminal justice system is no exception, and attorneys must adapt. A patchwork of tech devices, apps and other consumer hardware tracks many of our daily activities, even when we may not realize it. These...
You’ve been convicted of a crime in Oregon and you know you will be going to prison, paying heavy fines and facing other serious consequences. Of course, everyone in this situation is unhappy about it, but the problem is even more difficult if you know you would have...
Prosecutors build their cases on evidence. If that evidence is incomplete, however, they may not be giving the jury the full picture. When new evidence comes to light, even after a conviction, the court may grant the defendant a new trial. How is new evidence...
