2024 Criminal Procedure Survey Archive


Oct. 2024 - Nov. 2024

Charges Dismissed, or Just Amended? The Answer May Cost Wrongfully Convicted Defendants

Nov. 16, 2024

In claims for wrongful conviction and imprisonment, is Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-5004’s requirement—that “the charges [be] dismissed”—satisfied when the criminal accusation presented are terminated and the defendant is relieved of the accusation’s criminal liability?

To Group or Not to Group: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Warrant Lenity when Grouping Charged and Uncharged Conduct

Nov. 13, 2024

Whether, having grouped two obstruction counts together under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, a court must further group those counts with the underlying offense at which the obstructive conduct was directed under § 3D1.2(c).

Addressing Egregious Misconduct: The Kansas Supreme Court holds that criminal defendants can forfeit the right to counsel

Oct. 10, 2024

Can a criminal defendant forfeit the right to counsel through misconduct as a matter of law?

The “Jigsaw Puzzle” of Determining Law Enforcement Misconduct: The Kansas Supreme Court finds no misconduct where interrogation utilized both the Reid Technique and deception

Oct. 3, 2024

Are there circumstances in which investigators can use both the Reid Technique and deception during interrogations?

May 2024 - Sept. 2024

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo? Kansas Court of Appeals Finds the Romeo and Juliet Defense Inapplicable to K.S.A. § 21-5510(a)(4)

Sept. 23, 2024

Does the Romeo and Juliet defense apply to attempted sexual exploitation of a minor as defined under Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-5510(a)(4)?

But Did the Jury Know? The Kansas Supreme Court’s Narrow Interpretation of “Proper” Defensive Admissions When Determining Criminal Punishment

Sept. 9, 2024

Can a sentencing court rely on a defendant’s admission to increase his or her sentence when the facts contained in the admission were never presented to the jury, and the defendant did not waive his or her jury trial right?

Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: Tenth Circuit Finds That a Party Must Provide Grounds to Preserve a Request for Action Under Criminal Rule 51(b)

Sept. 2, 2024

Under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 51(b), can a party preserve an argument for appeal by merely asking the court to take action without explaining the grounds for the request?

Correcting Clear Error: Kansas Supreme Court Says That Unpreserved Jury-Instruction Issues Can No Longer Dodge the Plain Text of K.S.A. § 22-3414(3)

May 13, 2024

Can an unpreserved jury-instruction issue that is not clearly erroneous dodge Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22-3414(3) and become part of cumulative-error analysis?

Apr. 2024 - May 2024

A Window to the Public Eye: Tenth Circuit Holds Using a Pole Camera Does Not Violate the Fourth Amendment If It Captures Activities Performed in Public View

May 13, 2024

“Does the Fourth Amendment permit the government to surveil a home for months on end without a warrant?”

Breaking the Age Limit: Compensating Juveniles for Wrongful Incarceration in Kansas

May 1, 2024

Forum Post

RICO, We Have a Problem: Kansas Court of Appeals Finds That Juvenile Adjudications Are Included in the Definition of “Racketeering Activity” Under the Kansas RICO Act.

Apr. 19, 2024

Under the Kansas Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“Kansas RICO Act”), does the definition of “racketeering activity” include juvenile adjudications?

Lost in Translation? Interpreters’ Out-of-Court Statements Should Be Admissible Under Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-460(d)(1)

Apr. 19, 2024

Forum Post

Mar. 2024 - Apr. 2024

Lucky Number 13: Why Courts have Discretion to Allow Debtors to Cure Chapter 13 Arrearages after Five Years

Apr. 15, 2024

Forum Post

Resolving Ambiguity: Kansas Supreme Court Says “Lesser Crime” in Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-5109(b)(2) Means “a Crime with a Lesser Penalty”

Apr. 11, 2024

Is possession of methamphetamine a “lesser included crime” of no drug-tax stamp under Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-5109(b)(2)?

(Unallocated) Space, the Final Frontier: New Interpretations of What Constitutes Possession of Child Pornography

Mar. 28, 2024

Does child pornography stored within a computer’s unallocated space constitute possession of child pornography?

G.O.[ing] Away from McCarther: Kansas’s Reliability Standard as a Test for the Voluntariness of Confessions is Inapposite to the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause

Mar. 28, 2024

Does Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-460(f)(2)(B)’s hearsay exception—or its reliability standard—apply when courts decide whether a defendant’s confession to police was involuntary?

Jan. 2024 - Feb. 2024

No Slack for Flack: Context, Clarity, and Pleading The 5th through an Aggregate of Statements in Kansas

Feb. 13, 2024

Can a defendant invoke his right to remain silent by repeating “take me to jail” and similar statements?

What’s Your Motive: Kansas Court of Appeals Extends Relevant Impeachment Evidence to a Witness’s Contemplated Civil Action Against a Criminal Defendant

Jan. 26, 2024

Is a witness’s contemplation of filing a lawsuit against the defendant relevant impeachment evidence that a defendant may explore on cross-examination?

A Continuance by Any Other Name: Kansas Court of Appeals Finds that Trial, not Dismissal with Prejudice, is Appropriate Remedy for State’s Abuse of Process

Jan. 26, 2024

Did the district court abuse its discretion when it dismissed the State’s case with prejudice to sanction the prosecutor for abuse of process?

Beyond Age Limits: Parental Discipline as a Defense for Parents of Majority Aged Children

Jan. 10, 2024

Is the parental-discipline defense to a domestic-battery charge available when the child is 18 years old, living at home, and attending high school?

Jan. 2024

Timing is Everything: When is it Proper to Invoke the Right to Post-Evidentiary Breath Test Counsel?

Jan. 10, 2024

Can a person properly invoke the statutory right to post-evidentiary breath-test counsel before the administration of the test under Kan. Stat. Ann. § 8-1001(c)(1) (2019)?