142 results for 'cat:"Witnesses"'.
J. Cavanagh finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of murder for personally discharging a firearm that killed a woman and severely injured a man. The court reasonably allowed two detectives to offer lay opinion testimony identifying defendant was the shooter from the surveillance video. While there is no evidence showing the perpetrator disguised himself, defendant wore a Covid mask during some portions of the trial, and he may have changed his hairstyle from the style worn in the video. Further, the detectives had in-person contact with defendant in weeks prior to the shooting that made it more likely for them to clearly identify him as the person shown in the surveillance footage. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Cavanagh, Filed On: May 16, 2024, Case #: 230501, Categories: Evidence, Murder, witnesses
J. Pagan finds the trial court properly declined to acquit defendant for witness tampering. Evidence was “sufficient to find that defendant was attempting to induce a witness to disobey a legal obligation to testify.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Pagan, Filed On: May 15, 2024, Case #: A177990, Categories: Evidence, witnesses
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of criminal contempt and witness tampering and sentenced him to up to 14 years in prison. Juror misconduct did not require a mistrial here since there was simply a misunderstanding between two jurors that led one to conclude that the other had conducted outside research about defendant. The state failed to preserve the recording of the 911 call in question, but this was not due to bad faith or any intention to prejudice defendant's case. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 15, 2024, Case #: 02673, Categories: witnesses, Contempt
J. Kistler finds the trial court erred by declining to acquit defendant of witness tampering and conspiracy. “No reasonable juror could infer from those text messages that defendant was asking [his son] either to give false sworn testimony in an official proceeding or to unlawfully withhold sworn testimony in an official proceeding.” Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Kistler, Filed On: May 15, 2024, Case #: A178060, Categories: Evidence, Conspiracy, witnesses
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J. Moore affirms the defendant's second-degree murder conviction, finding that while the district court abused its discretion in admitting evidence that a witness received threatening phone calls from an unknown caller, the defendant has not demonstrated that there was a reasonable possibility that this evidence significantly impacted the verdict. Affirmed.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Moore, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: A22-0316, Categories: Evidence, Murder, witnesses
J. Thissen reverses the Court of Appeals' reversal of the defendant's second-degree murder conviction, which was premised on a finding that potential exposure to Covid-19 did not make a witness unavailable for Confrontation Clause purposes and that allowing that witness's prior testimony to be read aloud for the jury without cross-examination was erroneous. While the Court of Appeals was correct as to that issue, the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Reversed.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Thissen, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: A21-1101, Categories: Confrontation, Murder, witnesses
J. Blake affirms the denial of the defendant’s motion for a new trial. The defendant failed to meet her burden to prove there was no good reason for the in-court identification procedure, where a man who witnessed her assault another woman and who had also seen pictures of the defendant before the crime occurred, identified her as the person he saw commit assault. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Court Of Appeals, Judge: Blake, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 22-P-550, Categories: Assault, Battery, witnesses
J. Smith finds the district court properly convicted defendant for distributing child pornography. A large collection of pornography was found at the home defendant shared with his parents after agents detected suspicious activity from an IP address in the home. Though defendant had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia, he was found competent to stand trial. There was a "genuinely mixed bag" of evidence from skilled witnesses as to the nature of defendant's mental illness, providing for no plain determination, and, therefore, deferment must be made to the district court’s "reasonable assessment of the complex record." Affirmed in part.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith , Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 22-50987, Categories: Competence, witnesses, Child Pornography
J. Hamilton finds that the lower court properly revoked defendant's probation, finding that he possessed a firearm in violation of the terms of his supervised release. While the trial judge should not have allowed defendant's probation officer to narrate a police surveillance video showing defendant with the gun without permitting defendant to cross-examine the officer, the error was harmless. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Hamilton, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 22-3282, Categories: Firearms, Probation, witnesses
J. Halligan finds that the appellate division improperly accepted non-eyewitness testimony from a police detective to identify defendant in grainy surveillance video as the party who fired three shots into a van on a city street. The detective contends he knew defendant's build and mannerisms from their interactions, but the detective's familiarity with defendant was not likely superior to the jury's ability to determine identity. Reversed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Halligan, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 23, Categories: witnesses, Identification
J. Christopher finds that defendant was properly convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child. There was no error in allowing the detective to testify as an outcry witness since the victim was seventeen at the time of her outcry and thus "qualified as a child declarant under the outcry statute." Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Christopher, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 14-23-00209-CR, Categories: Sex Offender, witnesses
J. Guerrero finds that the appeals court properly reversed defendant's conviction for dissuading a witness. The subject statute is ambiguous about whether the offense requires an attempt to prevent the filing of a criminal complaint or to prevent a witness from providing evidence in support of conviction, or both. So, the rule of lenity requires a reading that favors defendant, who tried to dissuade only after the underlying charges were filed. Affirmed.
Court: California Supreme Court, Judge: Guerrero, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: S273797, Categories: Criminal Procedure, witnesses
The instant court finds the lower court properly denied defendant’s motion for post-conviction relief. Defendant argues they are entitled to post-conviction relief on grounds that there is new evidence to be considered, as a witness is recanting their original testimony. The instant court finds an evidentiary hearing is necessary to consider the defendant’s claim of newly discovered evidence. Reversed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 2023-0134, Categories: Evidence, witnesses
J. Van Cleef affirms the trial court’s defendant's conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child and sentence of 99 years in prison. The trial court properly allowed defendant to impeach a witness - the mother of the child victim -- who had a prior conviction for receiving stolen property from more than 10 years ago. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Van Cleef, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 06-23-105, Categories: witnesses, Child Victims
J. Barrett finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder. After receiving an anonymous tip, officers discovered the victim's decomposing body inside a vacant building. Witness' interviews implicated defendant and an accomplice. The accomplice agreed to testify in exchange for a plea agreement, saying defendant told him he was going to kill the victim for being a snitch. Multiple witnesses saw defendant with a handgun on the day of the murder, saying he was seeking ammunition, while the accomplice said defendant shot the victim in the chest and twice in the face. The accomplice's testimony was sufficiently corroborated. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Barrett , Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: CR-23-661, Categories: Evidence, Murder, witnesses
J. DeWine finds the trial court erred when it allowed a witness to testify by video in this sexual relations case of a father with his minor adopted child. The father argues that the video testimony should have been face-to-face, and since it wasn’t, this violated his constitutional right to confront a witness. The appeals court and this one found that the use of video conferencing was a harmless error, and it had no bearing the father’s conviction of sexual battery. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: DeWine, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1247, Categories: Sex Offender, Battery, witnesses
J. Lipinsky finds the jury improperly acquitted defendant of attempted murder and assault, and found him guilty of attempted reckless manslaughter. Defendant argues the trial court erred by restricting his counsel from cross-examining the victim about his own pending criminal charges as being a biased violation of the confrontation clause. If the victim could have been cross-examined on bias or motive, it may have left a different impression on the jury. This case is remanded for a new trial. Reversed.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lipinsky, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 2024COA33, Categories: Jury, Manslaughter, witnesses
J. Lynch finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of assault and weapon possession after he shot his cousin in a case of mistaken identity. Under a theory of accomplice liability, defendant could be found guilty of acting in concert with codefendant even if he did not possess or shoot the weapon based on witness statements that the two were mad and "wanted to find people" following a fracas at a music venue. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Lynch, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 112910, Categories: Assault, witnesses, Accomplice Liability
J. Pritzker finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of weapon possession after a gun was fired during a fight outside a restaurant because evidence supported the verdict, including testimony from a restaurant employee who restrained defendant until police arrived after seeing him on the ground with a gun in his waistband, and eyewitness accounts contending that someone snatched the gun and fired it before walking away. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Pritzker, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 113391, Categories: Evidence, Weapons, witnesses
J. Dowd finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of murder and armed criminal action, and sentenced him to 26 years in prison. The court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the late endorsement of witnesses who examined DNA evidence at the crime scene. Defendant did not object to their testimony or even cross-examine them. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Dowd, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: ED111454, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Murder, witnesses
J. Howard upholds the trial court's admission of testimony from the mother of defendant's child during his trial on gun possession and related charges. The mother's testimony was "'direct and substantial proof'" of the charge. Affirmed.
Court: DC Court of Appeals, Judge: Howard, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 22-CF-0761 , Categories: Weapons, witnesses
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of intimidating a victim after defendant drove to the victim's house and yelled threats and racial epithets days before he was scheduled to provide grand jury testimony against one of defendant's sons. There is no evidence that uniformed police officers in the courtroom presented a risk of "impermissible factors coming into play," and there is no evidence the prosecutor had improper motives in trying the case. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: KA 22-01659, Categories: witnesses
J. Lynch finds that the district court properly denied defendant habeas relief from his murder conviction after an eyewitness recanted testimony and two new alibi witnesses came forward. Details of the 30-year-old case are "troubling" and the conviction was "weakly supported," but deference should be given to state's denial of post-conviction vacatur and the inmate's claim of actual innocence was insufficient. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Lynch, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 21-2582-pr, Categories: Habeas, Murder, witnesses
J. Thacker finds the lower court properly denied the defendant's post-trial motion to vacate his conviction or order a new trial. The defendant, convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, believed he deserved a new trial after he learned that the government’s key witness had changed his story two weeks before trial. The government failed to disclose that information. The witness is irrelevant to the jury's decision because the evidence demonstrated that he had been sitting on the magazine, the gun was beside him, and he had a history of illegally possessing firearms. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Thacker, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 22-4617, Categories: Fair Trial, Firearms, witnesses