A U.S. Supreme Court ruling has apparently shut the door on a potential wave of postconviction relief petitions, and the Eighth Circuit has deemed rap lyrics suitable as evidence in drug convictions.

Here, Law360 highlights access to justice stories arising from litigation, verdicts and judgments you may have missed.

U.S. Supreme Court

High Court Says First Step Act Not 'Vehicle' For Innocence Claim

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that judges lack wide discretion to pare down sentences for criminal defendants under the First Step Act based on questions about the validity of a conviction, shutting the door on a potential wave of postconviction relief petitions, experts said.

Justices Remain Unresolved On Execution IQ Limits

The Supreme Court declined to rule on a case challenging limits on executing people whose IQ test results indicate they may have intellectual disabilities, leaving justices at odds months after oral arguments over how courts should weigh such test scores.

State High Courts

Mass. Justices Keep 3 Murder Defendants Held Without Bail

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has affirmed that a high court justice had the discretion to deny bail to three men charged with first-degree murder, despite the fact that they had been incarcerated without a guilty verdict since 2021.

Pa. Justices Curb Philly DA Conviction Relief Concessions

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court slammed the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office for making "misleading" concessions of prosecutorial misconduct to favor convicted murderers seeking to overturn their convictions, ordering lower courts to give the state attorney general a chance to intervene in such cases.

Conn. Justices OK In-Court ID After Tainted Police Photo Array

The Connecticut Supreme Court has affirmed a man's murder and firearms convictions, ruling a trial judge properly allowed an eyewitness to point to the defendant in court after suppressing the same witness's earlier out-of-court identification as the product of "unnecessarily suggestive and unreliable" police questioning during a photo array.

Two Wrongly Jailed Awaiting Psych Beds, Mass. Justices Say

Massachusetts' highest court has ruled that criminal defendants who were ordered hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation should not have been held without bail when no hospital beds were immediately available.

Federal Appellate Courts

8th Circ. Backs Rap Lyrics As Evidence In Drug Convictions

Lyrics and a music video were properly admitted as evidence against two rappers accused of being a part of a Kansas City, Missouri, drug trafficking ring, the Eighth Circuit has ruled, saying the relevance of the lyrics was "obvious" when affirming their convictions and prison sentences.

6th Circ. Upholds Prison Term Despite Sentencing Amendment

A Sixth Circuit panel has affirmed that a Michigan man's 103-month prison sentence should not be shortened, despite a recent change to sentencing guidelines, because his modest rehabilitation was not enough to justify a reduction.

4th Circ. Revives Suit Accusing Cops Of Faking Evidence

The Fourth Circuit has ruled in a published opinion that two brothers who were wrongfully convicted of murder two decades ago can move forward with claims that detectives with the Baltimore Police Department coerced a key witness into falsely asserting their role in the crime.

Wrongful/Overturned Convictions

NY Appellate Court Tosses Conviction Over Discovery Lapse

A Brooklyn driver who pled guilty to failing to yield to a pedestrian, causing her death, has had the judgment against him reversed by a New York state appeals court, which found that he wasn't provided all discovery material by prosecutors in a timely fashion.

NY Appeals Court Tosses Gun, Drug Plea Over Illegal Search

A man sentenced to 16 years in prison had his guilty plea for drug and gun charges vacated after a New York state appeals court found that a trooper who searched his jacket pocket and discovered a gun had no right to frisk him in this manner.

Doctor's Sex Conviction Reversed Over Undisclosed Notes

A doctor convicted of sexually abusing his patient and other crimes is entitled to a new trial, a New York state appeals court has said, finding the state failed to disclose social work notes in a timely fashion, which substantially prejudiced the doctor's case.

Immunity

6th Circ. OKs Immunity In Louisville, Ky., Traffic Stop Shooting

The Sixth Circuit has ruled that a Louisville Metropolitan Police Department officer is shielded by qualified immunity from a civil rights lawsuit filed against the officer after he shot and killed an armed-robbery suspect who had driven his car into police during a traffic stop.

11th Circ. Backs Ga. Cops' Immunity In Drug Detention

The Eleventh Circuit has backed an early win for four Georgia police officers accused of unlawfully seizing and using excessive force against a woman suspected of overdosing, relying upon a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that the probable cause standard doesn't apply to "emergency aid" situations.

1st Circ. Says Mass. Police Head Immune Over Recording App

The First Circuit has ruled that the superintendent of the Massachusetts state police is immune from civil rights claims in a proposed class action over the use of a Motorola app that secretly records phone conversations.

6th Circ. Keeps Detroit Cops In Wrongful Conviction Suit

A Sixth Circuit panel has refused to shield two former Detroit police officers from key claims brought by two men who spent nearly 20 years in prison before their murder convictions were vacated, finding parts of the officers' appeal either lacked jurisdiction or failed on the merits.

5th Circ. Backs Texas Cop In Mistaken-Identity Shooting Suit

The Fifth Circuit has ruled that a man who was shot by police in a case of mistaken identity will not be able to move forward with his civil suit because the officer did not violate his civil rights and is covered by qualified immunity.

Immigration

DOJ Hid Grand Jury Misconduct In ICE Case, Ill. Judge Says

An Illinois federal judge stated that her trust in U.S. Department of Justice attorneys had been "broken" after reviewing unredacted grand jury transcripts in a criminal case against anti-ICE protesters that revealed prosecutorial misconduct, shortly after which Chicago's top federal prosecutor moved to dismiss the charges.

Ohio Panel Says Immigration Oversight Sinks Plea Deal

An Ohio state appeals court has ruled that an Uzbekistan national should be given a second shot at withdrawing his plea agreement after he claims his attorney did not properly explain the potential immigration consequences of his no-contest plea.

Capital Punishment

Justices Say 11th Circ. Wrong To Consider Posttrial DNA Test

The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated an Eleventh Circuit opinion that denied habeas relief to a Florida man on death row, saying the appellate court erroneously considered a posttrial DNA analysis that was never seen by the jurors who convicted him.

Justices Revive Mississippi Death Row Inmate's Batson Claim

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a Black Mississippi death row prisoner who argued racial discrimination tainted his jury selection is entitled to habeas corpus relief, finding that Mississippi's courts improperly rejected his challenge to the prosecutor's juror strikes.

3rd Circ. Backs Judge On Deadline For Death Penalty Bid

A man accused of killing a detective in the Virgin Islands won't face the death penalty because prosecutors missed a court-imposed deadline, but the crime qualifies for death, should prosecutors seek the penalty in similar cases, the Third Circuit said in a matter of first impression.

Calif. Justices Nix Death Verdict Over Atty's Guilt Concession

The California Supreme Court has reversed the convictions of a man sentenced to death, saying his defense attorney violated his rights at trial by conceding his guilt, over his objection, in a series of deadly shootings and other crimes.

Ga. High Court Ends COVID Execution Pause Agreement

Georgia can move forward with the executions of a number of incarcerated people on death row, with the state's highest court finding it made good on an agreement to pause the practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.

New Cases

DOJ Says Conn. Has No Right To Regulate Feds' Use Of Force

The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Connecticut in federal court over a recently enacted state law that subjects in-custody deaths to state oversight, requires federal agents to wear identifying badges and bans law enforcement officers from wearing facemasks, calling the act "blatantly unconstitutional."

Exoneree Says New Haven, Conn., Had DNA Proof For Decades

A Connecticut man who was exonerated of sex crimes is seeking compensation after at least one rape kit that the New Haven Police Department had long claimed was destroyed was located and tested, ruling him out as a suspect nearly 38 years after he was locked up.

--Editing by Alex Hubbard.