David Asa Villarreal v. Texas, USSC No. 24-557, certiorari granted 4/7/25 SCOTUS added to its 2025-26 docket this week when it granted the petitioner’s cert. petition to address the following: Question presented: Whether a trial court abridges the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel by prohibiting the defendant and his counsel from discussing the defendant’s… Read more
44. SCOTUS
While we don’t usually cover SCOTUS’s order list unless there’s something special going on, the most recent order clocked in at nearly 60 pages and featured a number of interesting dissents that we thought our readers would be intrigued by. First off, everyone’s favorite topic: restitution. Justice Gorsuch, a sometimes unpredictable member of the court’s… Read more
Andrew v. White, USSC No. 23-6573 (per curiam), 1/21/25, vacating Andrew v. White, 62 F.4th 1299 (10th Cir. 2023); Scotusblog page (with links to briefs and commentary) In a rare defense win (of sorts) on federal habeas in the US Supreme Court, SCOTUS clarifies that its decision in Payne v. Tennessee “clearly established” the rule that when… Read more
In addition to the SCOTUS cases to which we devoted individual posts (Smith v. Arizona, Erlinger v. U.S., U.S. v. Rahimi, Garland v. Cargill), below is a summary of criminal or criminal-adjacent cases decided by SCOTUS in the 2023-24 term that we consider of interest to criminal practice in Wisconsin state courts. City of Grants… Read more
Smith v. Arizona, USSC No. 22-899, 6/21/2024, vacating and remanding Arizona v. Smith, No. 1CA-CR 21-0451 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2022) (unreported); Scotusblog page (with links to briefs and commentary) SCOTUS unanimously holds that expert witness testimony restating an absent lab analyst’s factual assertions to support his or her own opinion is hearsay. However, the Court… Read more
Erlinger v. United States, USSC No. 23-370, June 21, 2024, vacating United States v. Erlinger, 77 F.4th 617 (7th Cir. 2023); Scotusblog page (with links to briefs and commentary) Whether offenses committed on three “occasions different from one another” for purposes of federal Armed Career Criminal Act must be found by a jury beyond a… Read more
United States of America v. Rahimi, USSC No. 22-915, 6/21/2024, reversing United States v. Rahimi, 61 F.4th 443 (5th Cir. 2023); Scotusblog page (with links to briefs and commentary) In a much-anticipated Second Amendment decision, SCOTUS tries to clarify its turbulent precedent regarding firearm restrictions and offers a limited holding upholding a federal statute disarming… Read more
Garland v. Cargill, USSC No. 22-976, June 14, 2024, affirming Cargill v. Garland , 57 F.4th 447 (5th Cir. 2023) (en banc); Scotusblog page (with links to briefs and commentary) ATF exceeded authority when it defined “machinegun” to include bump stocks. The National Firearms Act of 1934 prohibits possessing or transferring a “machinegun,” which is… Read more
