Miranda rights

A 37-year-old man in Nashville confessed to sexually assaulting a young girl between the ages of 6 and 8 while under the influence of methamphetamine. Christopher Smoak faces multiple felony charges, including rape of a child and aggravated sexual battery, and has prior violent felony convictions from 2011.

The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that body camera video of Alexee Trevizo, a high school senior, cannot be used as evidence in her prosecution for the death of a newborn child, citing physician-patient privilege despite police and her mother being present during a doctor's disclosure. The court found Trevizo lacked the capacity to waive the privilege due to her medical condition and was not Mirandized.

The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that body camera video of Alexee Trevizo confessing to discarding a newborn in a trash can cannot be used as evidence due to physician-patient privilege. The court determined the privilege was not waived despite police and Trevizo’s mother being present during a doctor’s discussion about the dead infant, citing her compromised medical condition and lack of Miranda warnings.

The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that body camera video of Alexee Trevizo, a high school cheerleader, cannot be used as evidence in her prosecution for the death of a newborn found in a trash can. The court determined that physician-patient privilege was not waived despite police and Trevizo’s mother being present during a doctor’s discussion about the baby, citing her compromised medical condition and lack of Miranda rights.

The California Supreme Court is set to decide whether controversial Perkins operations—where law enforcement poses as incarcerated individuals to obtain incriminating statements—are legally and ethically acceptable. Critics argue these tactics are coercive, risk false confessions, and disproportionately target Black and Latino people, while prosecutors defend them as effective investigative tools.

CalMatters investigated Perkins operations, a controversial law enforcement tactic in California jails where undercover agents pose as inmates to extract incriminating statements from suspects. David Allen, who invoked his right to silence, was convicted based on statements from such an operation and is challenging his conviction in the California Supreme Court.

The article examines Miranda Rights through the lens of the Supreme Court's reinstatement of Pedro Hernandez's murder conviction in the 1979 case of 6-year-old Etan Patz's disappearance. Legal contributor Jessica Levinson analyzes how these rights influenced the court's decision.

A 51-year-old man named Juan Gabriel Reyes allegedly attempted to open a plane door and choke an off-duty flight attendant during a Frontier Airlines flight from Puerto Rico to Chicago, leading to an emergency landing at Miami International Airport. Passengers and crew intervened to restrain him before authorities arrested him and the FBI assumed the investigation.