Evidence seized by police officer as part of his search incident to arrest is admissible because his discovery of the arrest warrant attenuated the connection between the unlawful stop and the evidence seized incident to arrest.
C. Thomas
Montgomery v. Louisiana, No. 14-280, ___ U.S. ___, (Jan. 25, 2016).
Miller v. Alabama’s prohibition on mandatory life without parole for juvenile offenders announced a new substantive, not procedural, rule. Miller is therefore retroactive in cases of state collateral review.
Musacchio v. United States, No. 14-1095, ___ U.S. ___, (Jan. 25, 2016).
Sufficiency of evidence review does not depend on how jury was instructed; it is judged against essential elements of the offense, not against erroneous jury instruction that included an additional element.
Statute of limitations defense was not jurisdictional and therefore could not be raised for the first time on appeal.
Johnson v. United States, No. 13-7120, ___ U.S. ___ (June 26, 2015).
Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA)’s definition of “violent felony” is unconstitutionally vague as to its residual clause, which covers any felony that “involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another”; clause leaves uncertainty about how to estimate the risk posed by a crime or how much risk it takes for a crime to qualify as a violent felony. (Overruling James v. United States, 550 U.S. 192 (2007) and Sykes v. United States, 564 U.S. 1 (2011).)
Glossip v. Gross, No. 14–7955 , ___ U.S. ___ (June 29, 2015).
Use of the sedative midazolam for lethal injections does not violate the Eighth Amendment, despite claims that it cannot reliably render an inmate unconscious before administering the lethal drugs.