News

The Federal Defender’s Office for Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, working in collaboration with the Federal Capital Trial Project, will host a regional training on the Fundamentals of Federal Capital Defense on January 15, 2026,…

Sigh. "There is unrebutted evidence that [defendant's] lead counsel at trial fell asleep, more than once, during direct examinations of witnesses counsel then cross-examined in this capital murder trial." Which, sadly for the defendant, is the first line of the dissent in this…

You know when there’s a chart in the procedural history section of a habeas case that you're going to need to buckle up. And so it is in the Fourth Circuit this week, where a Baltimore drug deal was broken up by cops and the…

Today, the Supreme Court reversed the Eleventh Circuit in an important win for federal prisoners seeking collateral relief. See Bowe v. United States, No. 24538 (Jan. 9, 2026) opinion.

In 2008, Mr…

Federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty for Matthew Farwell, accused of killing 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore while she was pregnant. See…

A judge disqualified John Sarcone, the “acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York,” from overseeing investigations into New York Attorney General Letitia James,…

The Florida Supreme Court upheld Florida’s law allowing non-unanimous juries to sentence people to death upon a vote of 8-4.

The court’s decision came in a pair of cases,…

The hourly rates for CJA representation increase from $175 to $177 for non-capital cases and from $223 to $226 in capital cases for work performed on or after January 1, 2026. The case compensation maximum for appellate representation in direct criminal appeals and in appeals in 28 U.S.C.…

Julian Ortiz, who last year faced a potential life sentence in federal prison for allegedly selling methamphetamine, has had his charge dismissed and is no longer in federal custody (article available here).

His case is…

In 2017, off-duty Baltimore cop, who is walking in plainclothes near his Columbia, Md. home, sees two teens standing (innocently, it turns out) in carport outside another home. He demands that they account for themselves; they politely suggest he mind his own business; he … pulls a gun!? and…