Background: The South Carolina Supreme Court held that the State's execution-secrecy statute does not cover information already available to the public. Answering two questions certified by the federal district court, the justices concluded that publicly available or nonconfidential information is not “identifying information” under section 24-3-580(A)(2), and that a person cannot “knowingly disclose” such information within…
Held: Justice Hill, writing for a unanimous court, began with the statutory definition. The General Assembly defined identifying information as a record or information that “reveals” specified personal data, including a name, address, contact information, professional qualifications, or social-media account. The court treated the legislature's choice of the verb “reveals” as decisive. In ordinary usage, revealing something means making known what…
Background: Robert Ebert was convicted in Hong Kong of causing death by dangerous driving after losing control of a Ferrari 458 Spider in a 2015 crash that killed a security guard. Although speeding was undisputed, Ebert maintained that a sudden brake failure caused the accident. Ferrari personnel and other experts gave evidence about the braking system…
Held: Mrs Justice O’Farrell set aside the order permitting service out and held that the court lacked jurisdiction over the pre-action disclosure application. Properly construed in light of the presumption against extraterritorial legislation, section 33(2) does not authorize proceedings against a party outside England and Wales concerning documents located outside the jurisdiction. Ebert therefore could not bring the application within the…
Background: The Humanitarian Actions Association appealed a May 5, 2026 decision of the Central District Court in Lod ordering its liquidation and appointing attorney Evyatar Kramer as liquidator. Alongside its appeal, the association sought exemptions from the filing fee and security for costs, permission to expand its notice of appeal to 20 pages, and leave to…
Held: Registrar Moran Yahav denied both financial-exemption requests because the association failed to establish inability to pay through a complete and current evidentiary record. Its accountant’s declaration concerning the blocked account and lack of assets was insufficient because, after the liquidation order, estate funds could not be used to challenge that order at creditors’ expense. The association also failed to explain…
Background: The defendant was indicted in the Gifu District Court for allegedly conspiring with an accomplice to steal ten stuffed toys, with a total retail price of ¥34,210, from a store in Gifu Prefecture. Before that indictment, the defendant had been charged in the Ichinomiya Branch of the Nagoya District Court with two similar thefts allegedly…
Held: The Supreme Court first held that the grounds asserted in the special appeal, including the claimed constitutional violation, amounted in substance only to allegations of ordinary statutory error and therefore did not qualify as grounds for a special appeal under Article 433 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It nevertheless reviewed the matter on its own authority.
Background: Mme [D] had rented an apartment owned by RIVP since 1998. In May 2020, Enedis replaced several electricity meters in the building’s common areas with Linky smart meters. Claiming electromagnetic hypersensitivity and objecting to the collection of her personal data, she sued Enedis and RIVP. She sought, among other relief, removal or relocation of all…
Held: The Court of Cassation upheld the jurisdictional ruling concerning removal or relocation. An electricity meter forms part of the individual connection into which it is incorporated, serves to record consumption, and is therefore an appurtenance of the electricity network and a public work. That classification applies even if the meter can be removed without damaging the connection. Because requests to…
Background: Samuel Marvin Kuykendall was convicted in 2010 of aggravated sexual battery of a 10-year-old girl and received a 20-year sentence, with 5 years and 1 month suspended on conditions that included good behavior and compliance with probation requirements. Special instructions applicable to sex offenders restricted social networking and required him to obtain prior approval before…
Held: The Supreme Court of Virginia reversed and entered final judgment for the Commonwealth. It held that the circuit court did not violate the First Amendment by revoking and resuspending part of Kuykendall’s sentence based in part on his violation of the internet-use conditions.
Background: Jing Xue, aged 16, had lived with her prospective adoptive parents, Sarah and James, for more than 10 years and consistently expressed a firm wish to be adopted by them. Her birth mother opposed adoption before Jing turned 18, while her putative birth father, George Smith, opposed it but did not participate in the proceedings.…
Held: McGrath J declared that George was Jing’s birth father and that Jing was an Aboriginal child because she was lineally descended from a Tasmanian Aboriginal man. The Court found that the Secretary had made reasonable inquiries under s 34 and had undertaken the consultation required by s 33, including consultation with an approved person and relevant Aboriginal organisations and community…
Background: A jury found Stefan Lee Hannon-McGinn and Ethan Howe guilty of murdering Sydney Ross Bridson. Howe was also found guilty of arson, while Hannon-McGinn had pleaded guilty to arson at the beginning of trial. The offending followed disputes between Bridson and Hannon-McGinn’s father, who lived on a neighbouring rural property in the Waitaanga Valley.
Held: McQueen J held that the strong statutory presumption of life imprisonment for murder applied to both defendants and that neither case made a life sentence manifestly unjust. The Court found that the murder involved a high level of callousness under s 104(1)(e) of the Sentencing Act 2002 and that Bridson was particularly vulnerable under s 104(1)(g). Section 104(1)(c), concerning unlawful…
Background: Charles Davis Mooney, Jr., drove while under the influence of alcohol and oxycodone, intending to crash his car and take his own life. In doing so, he collided with a minivan carrying a family of six, each of whom suffered bodily harm. Mooney pleaded guilty to six counts of aggravated battery, four counts of injury…
Held: The Idaho Supreme Court held that the district court had subject-matter jurisdiction and authority under Idaho Criminal Rule 35(a) to correct the sentence. The oral pronouncement was ambiguous because it described both credit on each aggravated-battery count and a total credit of 477 days. Rule 35(a) therefore authorized correction of the ambiguous oral sentence and the resulting discrepancy with the…
Background: Priscilla W. Allen bought a farm in Temple, New Hampshire, in 2012. Her son Peter lived there, and in 2015 Priscilla executed and recorded a deed transferring an undivided one-half interest in the property to Peter without consideration. Priscilla later died, leaving her estate equally to her four children.
Held: The New Hampshire Supreme Court held that the probate court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over David’s challenge to Priscilla’s lifetime conveyance. Although jurisdiction may be challenged at any time, including on appeal after trial, probate-court jurisdiction is limited by statute and must be narrowly construed.
Background: An Indiana State Police trooper stopped Sharon McLain in Clark County after observing traffic violations and an obscured temporary plate. McLain appeared nervous, while her passenger had a label-free pill bottle and a partially concealed wallet. As the trooper checked records, McLain moved from side to side in the driver's seat. A police dog alerted…
Held: The Court of Appeals affirmed. Judge May explained that Rule 704(b) prohibits opinions about the truth or falsity of allegations and whether a witness testified truthfully. Under Indiana Supreme Court precedent, however, courts distinguish an officer's factual assertion of guilt or untruthfulness from an investigative prompt intended to elicit a response. Comments asking McLain to give a coherent account fell…
Background: Frederick Pinney was charged with first-degree murder after TayClair Moore was found dead in his Springfield bedroom in March 2014. The Commonwealth's theory was that Pinney, after drinking and using cocaine, strangled Moore with a ligature. Pinney argued that Moore's boyfriend, Christopher Podgurski, was responsible and later moved her body. Pinney's first trial ended in…
Held: The Appeals Court vacated Pinney's conviction and set aside the verdict. Writing for the panel, Justice Walsh concluded that the substitute analysts' testimony violated Pinney's confrontation rights under the Sixth Amendment and article 12 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. The Commonwealth conceded the error. Because Pinney preserved the objection at trial, the Commonwealth had to establish that the constitutional…