Appellate panel hears argument in State v. Cruz over counsel substitution and allegedly prejudicial evidence At oral argument in State v. Cruz, appellant counsel Christine Tian argued the trial court improperly blocked a request to discharge counsel and admitted prejudicial evidence — including a no-contact order and a multi-minute arrest video — while the prosecutor urged waiver and urged development of the record; the court submitted the case for decision.

In a pivotal court battle, counsel argues that the trial court’s mishandling of Mr. Cruz's rights could overturn a life sentence for a crime with no victims.

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Appellate panel weighs whether dying declaration naming 'Seth' should have been admitted in Denton murder appeal At oral argument, defense urged that a dying declaration identifying the shooter lacked the necessary perception and foundation; the state argued that naming an assailant creates a rebuttable presumption of perception and urged the court to affirm. The panel questioned burden and whether seeing a gun implies seeing the shooter.

An appellate panel is debating if a dying declaration identifying a shooter in a chilling triple-homicide case should be admissible—will justice prevail or will doubts overshadow the truth?

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Tennessee appellate argument centers on whether rap‑style writings could corroborate murder evidence At oral argument in the appeal of State v. Charlie Martinez, defense counsel argued that rap‑style writings admitted at trial were prejudicial and not sufficiently tied to the charged crime, while the State said the writings closely mirrored the facts and were properly admitted; the court took the matter under advisement.

In a gripping legal battle, the Tennessee appellate court weighs the controversial admission of rap lyrics as crucial evidence in a murder case—could these writings make or break the defense?

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Judge flags two evidentiary disputes — IFT report and 2018 lake‑level adjudication — and schedules Dec. 5 argument At a status conference the presiding judge identified two key pretrial evidentiary issues: plaintiffs moved to exclude the Independent Forensic Team (IFT) report and defendants moved to bar evidence related to a 2018 circuit‑court lake‑level adjudication. He declined to rule at the conference, said he was "perplexed" by exclusion arguments where an

A Michigan judge is grappling with crucial evidentiary battles over the Independent Forensic Team report and a 2018 lake-level ruling, setting the stage for a high-stakes oral argument this December.

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