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On April 28, 2009, the United States Supreme Court held in Cone v. Bell , 129 S. Ct. 1769 (U.S. 2009) that a habeas corpus claim for a Tennessee death row inmate is not barred from federal review, creating precedent that could bring hope to inmates...

According to the U.S. Supreme Court in Bobby v. Bies , 129 S. Ct. 2145 (U.S. 2009) , if a criminal defendant has been found to be mentally retarded prior to Atkins v. Virginia , 536 U.S. 304 (U.S. 2002) , the Double Jeopardy Clause...

In District Attorneys Office of Alaska v. Osborne , 129 S. Ct. 2308 (U.S. 2009) , the Supreme Court ruled that prisoners do not have a due process right to DNA testing, even if such testing will definitively prove their innocence. The case specifically...

In a decision construing the Confrontation Clause in light of Crawford v. Washington , 541 U.S. 36 (U.S. 2004) , the U.S. Supreme Court in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts , 129 S. Ct. 2527 (U.S. 2009) , clarifies that criminal defendants...

On March 3, 2009 in Garner v. Mitchell , 557 F.3d 257 (6th Cir. Ohio 2009) , the Sixth Circuit ruled on when a suspect’s lack of capacity to understand rights guaranteed under the Fifth Amendment and Miranda v. Arizona , 384 U.S....

In New York v. Belton , 453 U.S. 454 (U.S. 1981) , the search incident to arrest exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement was extended to vehicle searches. However, in Gant v. Arizona, 2009 U.S. LEXIS 3120 (April 21,...

In Garner v. Mitchell , 557 F.3d 257 (6th Cir. Ohio 2009) , the petitioner, who had a below average IQ and other mental impairments, argued that his confession, which occurred when he was 19, was inadmissible because he did not have the requisite...

On February 25, 2009, in State v. Pena-Flores, 198 N.J. 6 (N.J. 2009) , the New Jersey Supreme Court addressed a Fourth Amendment question related to criminal safeguards: Under the New Jersey Constitution, may a police officer with probable...