CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2022) Sam MacDuffie In Hinshaw v. State, 515 P.3d 129 (Alaska Ct. App. 2022), the court of appeals held that a criminal defendant must be allowed to knowingly and intelligently waive his or her right to counsel for any reason, regardless of the trial court’s own opinion. (Id. Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Sasha Kahn In Burton-Hill v. State, 500 P.3d 1016 (Alaska Ct. App. 2021), the court of appeals held that in order to prevent a miscarriage of justice, an appellate court has the authority to request supplemental briefing, and effectively used that authority in requesting supplemental briefs regarding the definitions of terms and phrases Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Hannah Rogers In State v. Azzarella, 483 P.3d 905 (Alaska Ct. App. 2021), the court of appeals held that a civil compromise is not effective unless and until it is approved by the court. (Id. at 906). The State charged Azzarella with four felony assault charges. (Id. at 905). However, at Azzarella’s preliminary Continue Reading »
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW & CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Sasha Kahn In Perozzo v. State, 493 P.3d 233 (Alaska Ct. App. 2021), the court of appeals held that a police officer’s request for a vehicle passenger’s identification before subsequently conducting a warrants check is not part of a “routine” traffic stop, meaning it cannot be done “without a reasonable Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Sloane Bessey In Mollica v. State, 500 P.3d 1002 (Alaska Ct. App. 2021), the court held that when a defendant faces termination from a therapeutic court program, he or she is entitled to due process protections including written notice concerning the grounds for discharge, disclosure of the relevant evidence, and the chance to Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Emma Giusto In Lee v. State, 503 P.3d 811 (Alaska Ct. App. 2021), the court of appeals held that neither an Alaska statute requiring the conservation of biological material in homicide and sexual assault cases for later DNA testing nor due process are violated when non-DNA biological evidence is destroyed, but that the Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Sasha Kahn In Compton v. State, 485 P.3d 56 (Alaska Ct. App. 2021), the court of appeals held that a trial judge’s ruling that parties could not play recordings of conversations for the jury unless the witness who made the statement denied having made that statement was in violation Rule 613(b) of the Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Melissa Gustafson In Phornsavanh v. State, 481 P.3d 1145 (Alaska Ct. App. 2021), the court of appeals held that when trial courts rule on motions for a new trial based on the weight of the evidence, they must independently weigh the evidence and use their discretion to make their own credibility determination about Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Sloane Bessey In Gosuk v. State, 484 P.3d 130 (Alaska Ct. App. 2021), the court of appeals held that a police-citizen contact can become an investigative stop due to repeated accusatory questioning and that when the State claims a consent exception to the warrant requirement it has the burden of proving that consent Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Melissa Gustafson In Phornsavanh v. State, 481 P.3d 1145 (Alaska Ct. App. 2021), the court of appeals held that when trial courts rule on motions for a new trial based on the weight of the evidence, they must independently weigh the evidence and use their discretion to make their own credibility determination about Continue Reading »