The Training Division and Defender Nation pay tribute to the contributions and dedicated service of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs), past and present, have played in our shared mission and commitment to equal justice under law, during May and throughout the year.
A first of its kind, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin has charged a man for allegedly producing and possessing images of child pornography. The images at issue were generated entirely through artificial intelligence using the generative artificial intelligence model Stable Diffusion and created using text prompts describing the images to be generated. Images of children are not alleged to have been used in generating the images.
As of July 1, 2024, 200 people in the U.S. have been exonerated and freed from death row since 1973 (access full article).
In 2021, the Death Penalty Information Center dubbed this national reality an “innocence epidemic” when the number of death row exonerations had reached 185 people. Two recent exonerations have brought the number to 200: the June 19, 2024 exoneration of Kerry Cook in Texas and the July 1, 2024 exoneration of Larry Roberts in California.
AH Datalytics has launched a “Real-Time” crime index, (RTCI), online. (access index). AH Datalytics launched the real-time crime index in an effort to “aid in the need for a faster understanding and visualization of national, state, and local crime trends.” AH Datalytics acknowledges certain crime data is under-reported to police and agencies can fail to provide complete or accurate information.
The United States Sentencing Commission releases new Quick Facts periodically, which give readers "basic facts about a single area of federal crime in an easy-top-read, two page format."
Quick Facts published in September include:
On October 14, 1964, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made history as the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize. At just 35 years old, Dr. King was recognized for his leadership and commitment to nonviolent resistance against racial injustice in America.
Mr. Roberson was convicted in 2002 of killing his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. At trial, the prosecution argued that the manner of death was “shaken baby syndrome,” a condition never scientifically validated. Per the Innocence Project, “Mr. Roberson’s case is riddled with unscientific evidence, inaccurate and misleading medical testimony, and prejudicial treatment.”
With warrant, Cleveland police searched a suspected drug dealer's house. Out on the street, an officer peers into the tinted windows of a car of a person found in the suspected dealer's home—but the car was not mentioned in the warrant—and sees what he suspects is a "bag of dope." Officers tow the car but don't get a warrant. Turns out it, indeed, was "dope." Man: the search of my car is unconstitutional because police need a warrant. Police: we don't need a warrant because drugs were in plain view and here's a video of officers peering into the car and the photo taken inside the car.
Arkansas man on parole absconds and law enforcement get a tip he's staying at a friend's place and dealing drugs. They arrest him leaving the house and then search the house without a warrant. Plenty of contraband found. Yikes! Man: this violates my rights because no probable cause to believe I live there. Suppress the evidence Gov't: there's reasonable suspicion, if not probable cause. District court: No probable cause, evidence suppressed.
Mother of minor children named as victims in an indictment testified that she believed her children and that her children wouldn’t “lie about anything like this.” You don't see many plain-error rulings that invalidate triple life sentences, but the Tenth Circuit takes the opportunity to remind us that you really super-duper can't have one witness vouch and testify that she believes other witnesses are telling the truth. No excuse for this. Conviction vacated. New trial.