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, Continue Reading »
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. Continue Reading »
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 Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2023) Hannah Berg In Martinez v. State, 550 P.3d 1131 (Alaska Ct. App. 2023), the court of appeals held that a lack of a translator in a criminal defendant’s native language does not automatically render involuntary a waiver of the right to testify. (Id. at 1133). Martinez was Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2023) Sarah Edwards In Taylor v. State of Alaska, 536 P.3d 247 (Alaska Ct. App. 2023), the court of appeals held that defendants cannot raise a claim that they were denied the right to self-representation for the first time on a direct appeal from a guilty plea. (Id. Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2023) Justin T. Reed In Maxie v. State, 530 P.3d 380 (Alaska Ct. App. 2023) the Alaska Court of Appeals ruled that a jury instruction which fails to comport with judicial precedent is nevertheless insufficient to overturn a conviction where that error would not appreciably affect the resultant Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2023) Allyson Barkley In Larson v. State, No. A-13731, 2023 WL 2783943 (Alaska Ct. App. Apr. 5, 2023), the court of appeals held Alvarez-Perdomo v. State did not create a new rule on admissibility of juror affidavits. (Id. at 1). Loren J. Larson Jr. was convicted of a Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL LAW / CRIMINAL PROCEDURECourt of Appeals of Alaska (2022)Joseph PerryIn Perez v. State, 521 P.3d 592 (Alaska Ct. App. 2022), the court of appeals held that a trial courthas an affirmative duty to act when it becomes clear that a criminal defendant has not been assignedan attorney, but that a defendant may consent to Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDUREUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Scott AndersonIn United States v. Spayd, 2022 WL 4220192 (D. Alaska Sept. 13, 2022), the district court heldthat an indictment sufficiently alleges an element of a crime when it applies the relevant mens rea(state of mind) requirement to the definition of the element. (Id. at *3). Prosecutors Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2022) Sam MacDuffie In Lee v. State, 507 P.3d 483 (Alaska Ct. App. 2022), as revised on reh’g (Apr. 25, 2022), the court of appeals held that (1) a witness’s lack of memory does not make him unavailable for purposes of the Confrontation Clause, and (2) voluntary felony guilty pleas Continue Reading »
