Easton Thompson Kasperek Shiffrin LLP - Criminal Defense Team

https://etksdefense.com/etks-partners-brian-shiffrin-donald-m-thompson-and-lawrence-kasperek-were-recently-included-in-the-2025-edition-of-the-best-lawyers-in-america-for-criminal-defense-general-practice/

ETKS Partners Brian Shiffrin, Donald M. Thompson, and Lawrence Kasperek were recently included in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for Criminal Defense: General Practice. | ETKS ETKS Partners Brian Shiffrin, Esq., Donald M. Thompson, Esq., and Lawrence Kasperek, Esq. were once again recognized for their tremendous work by their induction into the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for their exceptional work in Criminal Defense: General Practice. The Best Lawyers ...

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/philadelphia-police-james-pitts-obina-onyiah-wrongful-conviction-william-glatz-murder/3914112/

Ex-Philly cop violently forced false confession of wrongfully convicted man A former Philadelphia homicide detective was found guilty of violently coercing the false confession of a man who spent more than a decade in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Police lies during interrogation are very effective in getting suspects to confess. After police lies, this young man confessed to killing his father. The police did not realize that the father was still alive.

Fontana’s widely condemned interrogation helps fuel efforts to stop police from lying California is shifting to police interrogation training based on empathy and honesty rather than deceptive and psychologically manipulative techniques seen in this video.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/05/shaken-baby-syndrome-cases-sad-truth.html

The Horrible Truth About Shaken Baby Syndrome Cases Junk science has put people on death row.

Prosecutors Buried Evidence and Misled the Court. Ten Years Later, They Got a Slap on the Wrist. Supervisory error justified leniency, a court ruled. One supervisor now runs the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility.

Some of the many ways in which the current Supreme Court might eliminate defendants' rights, based on the Justices' prior writings:

The Supreme Court’s Right Flank Is Laying Groundwork to Dismantle Defendant Rights In case after case, Thomas has been inviting new challenges.

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/judge-orders-new-trial-frees-niagara-falls-man-convicted-in-2010-robberies/article_b3c46bd0-2bbc-11ee-af76-3b9785de58e9.html

'It's 10 years of his life gone': Judge orders new trial, frees Niagara Falls man convicted in 2010 robberies A Niagara Falls man who's been behind bars 10 years for a robbery and an attempted robbery was "denied a fair trial" 11 years ago, a judge ruled Wednesday, overturning

Attorneys trying to overturn conviction of Niagara Falls man say prosecutors withheld evidence Darius M. Belton testified at a hearing Wednesday in Niagara County Court that Michael D. Agee did not participate in either crime for which a jury convicted him 10 years

It has been nearly two years since Gov. Cuomo signed into law the creation of the New York Prosecutor Conduct Commission which is charged with investigating misconduct by prosecutors and referring findings of misconduct to the appropriate state disciplinary agency. So far, seven of the 11 commissioners have been appointed by the chief judge and the legislative leaders. But critically, four vacancies remain that must be filled by Governor Hochul. Until the Commission is fully staffed, it cannot function. It is unclear why the governor has delayed in making the commission operational.

Governor Hochul: To Be Tough on Crime, Get Rid of Bad Prosecutors | New York Law Journal One thing is inescapably clear. Just as New York state’s Judicial Conduct Commission dramatically reformed the way judges in New York state conduct themselves, the Prosecutor Conduct Commission will almost certainly produce the same positive result.

What is Fog Reveal? A legal scholar explains the app some police forces are using to track people without a warrant Some US law enforcement agencies are using a commercial app that tracks people all day long via their phones – without a court order or oversight.

How Merrick Garland Can Put the Supreme Court’s Originalists On Notice If Dobbs is correct from an originalist position, a wide range of Supreme Court doctrine is not.

https://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/rochester/rochester-enters-the-era-of-the-250000-police-officer/Content?oid=14978748

Rochester enters the era of the $250,000 police officer Rising crime and a labor shortage means no shortage of overtime for police officers.

http://www.newyorkcourtwatcher.com/2022/07/the-incredible-shrinking-docket-court.html

The Incredible Shrinking Docket: The Court of Appeals' CRIMINAL Caseload (with graphs!) We've previously looked at the reduction in the caseload at New York's highest court. (See The Incredible Shrinking Docket: The Court of App...

Forensic Science is Rarely Science.

Did James Parsons Kill His Wife? A bloodstain expert’s testimony helped put him in prison. But can forensic science be trusted?

Why Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court Nomination Is Good for Forensic Science The author of a new book explains how junk evidence rules criminal trials.

https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-police-lie-consequences-20220315-l4jubiydbvbg5l6iym7ln3sqdq-story.html?s=03

When police lies fuel racist fearmongering The photo shows a Black teenager on a hospital gurney, blood seeping through his gray sweatpants. There are tears on his face, and he is sweating. His arms are handcuffed behind his back, and blue-gloved hands clutch at his sweatshirt.

Why Is ICE Still Detaining Abigail Hernandez? This case calls for the humanity that President Joe Biden promised—and has yet to deliver.

Op-Ed | Follow the facts – bail reform is working | amNewYork The recent rise in gun violence has left New Yorkers searching for answers on public safety. The safety of each and every New Yorker is paramount, and the

Reversing the Malcolm X Convictions: How It Happened, How Far We’ve Come, How Far We Need To Go - New York State Bar Association The Malcolm X case has two of the features that pervade wrongful conviction cases: faulty identification procedures and police and prosecutorial misconduct. This case is fascinating to analyze, not only to expose what was done wrong 55 years ago, but also as a basis for showing how far we have come.

NY prisons used false-positive drug tests to punish inmates, investigation finds A state inspector general's investigation found the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision used false-positive drug tests to penalize more than 1,600 incarcerated individuals, including some who were placed into

Anthony Broadwater was wrongfully convicted four decades ago — and fought to get his life back Last week Anthony Broadwater was exonerated for the r**e of author Alice Sebold, a case that has exposed inequities in the criminal justice system.

Opinion | The pandemic might be producing juries that are more likely to convict How the politics of covid-19 is leading to more law-and-order jurors.

What Does the Recent Set of Exonerations Tell Us About the Criminal Justice System? Wrongful convictions are a feature of, not an aberration within, our justice system.

Judges Keep Accepting Nonsensical Reasons to Exclude Black People From Juries Justice Thurgood Marshall decried “race-neutral” explanations for striking jurors as one of “the greatest embarrassments” in the criminal justice system.

Do Prosecutors Get Special Treatment From Bar Disciplinary Agencies? | New York Law Journal Prosecutors are the most powerful public officials in America and have the power to destroy people’s lives. But prosecutors are rarely sanctioned when they break the rules.

DOJ finds Bureau of Prisons failed to apply earned time credits to 60,000 inmates The Department of Justice Inspector General found that 60,000 inmates potentially did not properly receive credits for time under the First Step Act.

The officer who slapped a handcuffed man dying of a drug overdose and shoved a baton in his mouth was suspended 6 days. But the officer who revealed this abusive conduct was expelled from the cop union and faces 20 years prison for whistleblowing

Whistleblower featured in USA TODAY 'Behind the Blue Wall' series ousted from police union Two months after Joliet Police Sgt. Javier Esqueda was featured in a USA TODAY investigation, officers voted to remove him from a supervisor's union.

Qualified immunity permits police to act with impunity,

Five Times Police Used Qualified Immunity to Get Away with Misconduct and Violence Throughout the United States, law enforcement officers have stolen money and valuables, shot children, attempted to harm family pets, killed vulnerable people, and, worst of all, they have gotten away with it — all because of qualified immunity.

Ahmaud Arbery’s killing in Georgia puts an unusually bright spotlight on prosecutor accountability While many killings that sparked racial justice protests in 2020 cast a harsh spotlight on police, Arbery's case brought a flood of attention to another powerful part of the justice system: prosecutors.

No bad deed goes unrewarded.

Top Rikers Judge Got a Promotion from New York Democrats After Years of Persecuting Parolees By rewarding judges who take a punitive approach toward criminal defendants, the legislature further incentivizes others to do the same.