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Criminal Justice News This Week (week of 02-17-20)
When Will a Criminal Lawyer Report His Client? "In his Ethics and Criminal Practice column, Joel Cohen explores a lawyer's dilemma of whether to inform the court of a concern that there is an intent by a client to commit perjury."
How Witness Identifications Send Innocent People To Prison. "Mistaken identifications have been involved in nearly 70 percent of post-conviction exonerations based on DNA evidence."
Federal prosecutors question 'integrity and competence' of D.C. crime lab. "An investigation by federal prosecutors into the District’s crime lab raised questions about 'integrity and competence' and revealed lapses in ballistics examinations, including some that lacked supporting documentation and an instance in which an analyst studying bullet fragments never removed them from a plastic bag."
The world’s scariest facial recognition software, explained. "Clearview AI built a massive database of faces that it’s making available to law enforcement, and nobody’s stopping it."
Michael Avenatti Convicted of Federal Fraud, Extortion Charges in Nike Shakedown. "'This is what extortion looks like,' assistant U.S. attorney Matthew Podolsky said during the government's closing arguments Tuesday."
Continuous Representation and the Statute of Limitations in Legal Malpractice. "It can be complex to assign a definite date to the 'mistaken act or departure.'"
He Attempted Suicide And Ended Up In Jail. "Arthur’s story speaks to a troubling tendency in the legal system, reform advocates say: to treat mental health crises as criminal matters, rather than matters of public health."
Texas man close to exoneration after computer algorithm leads to new suspect. "Lydell Grant was supposed to be in prison for murder. But an emerging form of DNA technology, which has also come under scrutiny, is helping to free him in an unprecedented case."
