Category: Federal Criminal Law

No one would ever accuse Curtis Taylor, Antonio Rosario and Sam Vasquez of being rocket scientists. The trio was convicted in Federal court for conspiring to commit Hobbs Act robbery, brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and a…

911, “Anonymous Tip” Not Enough To Give Police Reasonable Suspicion for Stop
Police rely heavily on anonymous tips to solve crimes. But anonymous tips can be highly inaccurate and misleading because they are motivated by a wide range of intentions—civic…

Inmates released on parole by state parole authorities must sign “conditions of release” forms. One of the specified conditions is that the parolee consents to having his residence and any property under his control searched without a warrant. The consent…

The American Civil Liberties Union last fall released a comprehensive report about life sentences that must be served without the benefit of parole. The report, titled “A Living Death: Life without Parole for Nonviolent Offenses (Report),” offers a disturbing view…

The American Civil Liberties Union last fall released a comprehensive report about life sentences that must be served without the benefit of parole. The report, titled “A Living Death: Life without Parole for Nonviolent Offenses (Report),” offers a disturbing view…

On February 26, 2014, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in State v. Granville addressed the issue of whether a person retains a legitimate expectation of privacy in the contents of his cell phone when the phone is being temporarily…

Judges are ruled by the law. But judges are also human (some more than others), and they sometimes view the law through the human lens. This occurred in Fernandez v. California, a “consent to search” case decided by the Supreme…

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Jones held that attaching a magnetic GPA tracking device to the exterior of a vehicle constituted a “search” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.
 
So what to do…