Criminal Procedure

• Weston v. State
  CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2025) James Blair In Weston v. State, 574 P.3d 1173 (Alaska 2025), the Court of Appeals of Alaska held that when a legal intern’s participation in a criminal defense complies with Alaska Bar Rule 44 and a licensed attorney supervises the intern, a criminal defendant’s right to counsel is not infringed. ...
• State v. Estate of Powell
  CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Supreme Court of Alaska (2025) Jordan Scott In State v. Estate of Powell, 563 P.3d 50 (Alaska 2025), the Supreme Court of Alaska held that Alaska Criminal Rule 6(s)(1) governing admissibility of evidence before the grand jury permits the presentation of evidence if the requirements for admissibility at a future trial would be met, and does ...
• Office of Public Advocacy v. Superior Court, First Judicial District
  CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Supreme Court of Alaska (2025) Jordan Scott In Office of Public Advocacy v. Superior Court, First Judicial District, 566 P.3d 235 (Alaska 2025), the Supreme Court of Alaska held that a public defender agency’s lack of capacity resulting from excessive caseload, which prevents the agency from providing effective representation, constitutes a conflict of interest requiring the ...
• Macasaet v. State
  CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2025) Mike Galane In Macasaet v. State, 566 P.3d 287 (Alaska Ct. App. 2025), the Court of Appeals of Alaska held that warrants authorizing a search of a cell phone’s “app data” are too broad and therefore violate the Fourth Amendment’s particularity requirement, but a warrant authorizing a search for “text ...
• Lorenz v. City and Borough of Juneau
  CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2025) Lily Skopp In Lorenz v. City & Borough of Juneau, 576 P.3d 675 (Alaska Ct. App. 2025), the Court of Appeals of Alaska determined that a nuisance-barking ordinance was not unconstitutionally vague as it provided adequate guidance to both pet owners and enforcement officials regarding the scope of its prohibitions. ...
• Lookhart v. State
  CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2025) Tommy Nowak In Lookhart v. State, 570 P.3d 949 (Alaska Ct. App. 2025), the Court of Appeals of Alaska held that a search warrant giving officers the right to seize dental and healthcare records, computers and any “removable or loose computer storage media such as … cell phones” was not ...
• Aketachunak v. State
  CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2025) Alison Tobin In Aketachunak v. State, 563 P.3d 622 (Alaska Ct. App. 2025), the Court of Appeals of Alaska held that Alaska Criminal Rule 7(e) does not bar the state from introducing a new charge against a defendant three days before the defendant’s scheduled trial. (Id. at 629). Aketachunak was ...
• Middleton v. State
  CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2024) Grace Koh In Middleton v. State, 556 P.3d 276 (Alaska App. 2024), the court of appeals held that an amendment to AS 33.16.220(i), a provision authorizing the parole board to revoke all or a portion of a defendant’s remaining parole, was not fully retroactive. (Id.). In 2006, Middleton was sentenced ...
• Dixon v. State
  CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2024) Brendan Genaw In Dixon v. State, 553 P.3d 1273 (Alaska Ct. App. 2024), the court of appeals held that a criminal defendant has the right to be physically present in the courtroom for a restitution hearing under the United States Constitution, the Alaska Constitution, and Alaska R. Crim. P. 38. ...
• Fletcher v. State
  CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Supreme Court of Alaska (2023) Justin T. Reed In Fletcher v. State, 532 P.3d 286 (Alaska 2023), the supreme court held that Article I, Section 12 of the Alaska Constitution requires a sentencing court to affirmatively consider a juvenile offender’s youth before sentencing a juvenile to the functional equivalent of a life sentence without the possibility ...