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Here's why prosecutors didn't require a full confession from Bryan Kohberger (Professor Fan quoted)
Jul 24, 2025 | Source: Associated Press
The plea deal that spared Kohberger’s life required him to admit the elements of the crimes he committed, but it didn’t force him to provide a narrative or say why he did it. That has raised questions about whether prosecutors could have or should have insisted on a full confession — including motive — as a condition of the deal. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
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Podcast: Professor Fan talks to Law&Crime Sidebar
Jul 04, 2025 | Source: Law&Crime Sidebar Podcast
Professor Mary Fan spoke with the Law&Crime Sidebar podcast to talk about AI used to create exploitative content with images of real people.
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Judge orders venue change for Bryan Kohberger trial (Professor Fan quoted)
Sep 09, 2024 | Source: NBC10 Philadelphia
“Paramount is the concern for the right to a fair trial by jury, by an impartial jury,” said Mary D. Fan, a criminal law professor at the University of Washington. Often, victims' family members will want to attend every day of a trial as a way to signal support for the victim, or because they want to see for themselves if justice is being done. Prosecutors often consult with survivors and victims' families, and may give their concerns heavy consideration when crafting arguments against moving a trial, Fan said. “There are a number of potential adverse impacts, depending on where the change of venue occurs. Certainly it may be more of an inconvenience to witnesses, to family members who might want to attend every day of the trial,” said Fan.
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FOX13 Investigates when TBI releases videos when law enforcement kills or injures someone (Professor Mary Fan quoted)
Aug 21, 2023 | Source: FOX 13 Memphis
“Law enforcement officers have discretion in the sense that they hold the video (and) they control whether or not there is an ongoing investigation,” said Mary Fan, a law professor at the University of Washington School of Law and an expert on police body camera policies across the country.
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Trump, 18 others charged under Georgia’s RICO Act. Here’s what that means (Professor Mary Fan quoted)
Aug 15, 2023 | Source: Global News (Canada)
“RICO laws punish more severely the participation in a criminal enterprise to commit a series of crimes, recognizing the greater harms posed by a group of people acting with the purpose of committing multiple crimes,” Mary Fan, a law professor at the University of Washington, explained in an email.
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Seattle Residents Had Mail Stopped Because of Rising Crime
May 16, 2023 | Source: Newsweek
Mary Fan, a criminal justice expert and professor at the University of Washington School of Law, told Newsweek via phone that in a number of major U.S. cities, there was a regression back to the mean compared to the time during the pandemic.
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Man charged in murder of Leticia Martinez-Cosman (Professor Fan quoted)
Apr 24, 2023 | Source: KIRO
Prosecutors have filed charges for the murder of Leticia Martinez-Cosman, who was killed after attending a Mariners game in March. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is interviewed.
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Philadelphia City Council candidate floats drone policing program (Prof. Mary Fan quoted)
Mar 15, 2023 | Source: Axios Philadelphia
A proposal for Philadelphia Police to use drones as a crime-fighting tool could face opposition from privacy advocates who view it as an intrusion unlikely to reduce street violence. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
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New Mexico seeks limits on release of police body-cam video (Professor Mary Fan quoted)
Mar 10, 2023 | Source: Associated Press
New Mexico’s House of Representatives has endorsed new limitations on public access to police body-camera video when it captures images of nudity, violence, injury or death. The 46-19 vote Thursday sent the bill to the Senate for consideration. Proponents of the initiative include the New Mexico State Police and associations representing county and municipal governments, including sheriffs’ departments. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
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These companies say they can recover stolen crypto—that rarely happens (Professor Mary Fan quoted)
Feb 23, 2023 | Source: Forbes
Pig butchering, as it’s known, is a new type of online con perpetrated by overseas scammers who “fatten” up victims – making them believe they have made boatloads of money in cryptocurrency often using manipulated apps and websites – before absconding with all their money. Experts say billions of dollars are lost to this type of pernicious scheme each year. The hard truth is that recovering money lost to crypto scams is extremely rare, even when law enforcement does take up a case. But in recent years, a nascent industry has cropped up, offering services that promise to do just that. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
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Tyre Nichols: How releasing body-cam video of police brutality became a national event (Professor Mary D. Fan quoted)
Jan 28, 2023 | Source: Washington Post
The message from those who had seen the video of Memphis police officers beating a 29-year-old Black man was both clear and chilling: It would be heartbreaking to watch what happened to Tyre Nichols. Anticipation for the release of the video on Friday, which showed the Jan. 7 violence against Nichols three days before he would die, brought headlines about violence and another nationwide reflection on American policing and the use of body-cam footage to prevent fatal police encounters. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
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Who are body cameras really for? (Featuring Professor Mary D. Fan)
Jan 13, 2023 | Source: Why Don't We Know (podcast)
"This episode of Why Don’t We Know was done in collaboration with the Spencer Education fellowship at Columbia University, where host Sara Ganim was a fellow for the 2021-2022 academic year. Additionally, a companion piece ran in USA Today, elaborating on specific cases, with insight from other experts, lawyers and students who have been presented with these agreements."
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Idaho student killings: Tech advancements cause unraveling of mystery (Professor Mary Fan)
Jan 08, 2023 | Source: USA Today
Security cameras. Internet video streams. Cellphone towers. In the days after four college students were stabbed to death in their Moscow, Idaho, rental home in the early hours of Nov. 13, police traced the digital footprint of the victims and the man accused of killing them in exhaustive detail. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
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The white sedan: How police found suspect in Idaho slayings (Professor Mary Fan)
Jan 05, 2023 | Source: Associated Press
The white sedan cruised past the gray, three-story rental home on a dead-end street in Moscow, Idaho. Then again. And again. It was unusual behavior in the residential, hillside neighborhood in the quiet hours before dawn. And according to a police affidavit released Thursday, surveillance videos showing the vehicle that November night were key to unraveling the gruesome mystery of who killed four University of Idaho students inside the house. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
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Federal court reaffirms First Amendment right to film police (Prof. Mary Fan interviewed)
Jul 31, 2022 | Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
Mary D. Fan is a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of California, current law professor at the University of Washington School of Law, and author of “Camera Power: Proof, Policing, Privacy, and Audiovisual Big Data.” She discusses this recent court ruling and how widely accessible recording is shifting the relationship between the public and the police
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Race must be considered in determining legality of police stops and seizures, WA state Supreme Court rules (Prof. Mary Fan quoted)
Jun 10, 2022 | Source: Seattle Times
The Washington state Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a person’s race, and law enforcement’s long history of discrimination against people of color, should be taken into account when determining the legality of police seizures. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
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2 more charges filed against Ethan Nordean before Jan. 6 hearings (Prof. Mary Fan interviewed)
Jun 09, 2022 | Source: King 5
Days before Congress began its committee hearings into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the Justice Department announced a superseding indictment in the case of five members of the Proud Boys group, including Ethan Nordean of Auburn. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is interviewed.
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Pierce Co. council candidate shoots at suspected car thief (Prof. Mary Fan comments)
Jun 02, 2022 | Source: KIRO 7
Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, comments on the plausibility of a claim of self defense in the case involving a Pierce County council candidate.
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Video Evidence Played Key Role in Arbery Murder Trial (Prof. Mary Fan quoted)
Nov 24, 2021 | Source: The New York Times
“We lawyers, we don’t have a lock on the story anymore,” said Mary Fan, a professor of law at the University of Washington and a former prosecutor. “It doesn’t matter how dramatically I do my openings or closing or how my witnesses tell their accounts, because the jury is going to look at the visual evidence and my words are just going to be words. I can never match the drama of a video.”
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Kyle Rittenhouse’s Homicide Trial Will Be a Debate Over Self-Defense (Prof. Mary Fan quoted)
Oct 31, 2021 | Source: The New York Times
Mary D. M. Fan, a law professor at the University of Washington, said that while the trial would focus on the definition of self-defense, it would also be about the Second Amendment, race, politics and the role of free speech.
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Before Kyle Rittenhouse’s Murder Trial, a Debate Over Terms Like ‘Victim’ (Prof. Mary Fan quoted)
Oct 27, 2021 | Source: The New York Times
A judge’s decision that the word “victim” generally could not be used in court to refer to the people shot by Kyle Rittenhouse after protests in Kenosha, Wis., last year drew widespread attention and outrage this week. But legal experts say that determining who should be considered a victim — in a case that hinges on Mr. Rittenhouse’s assertion of self-defense — is at the center of what jurors must decide in his trial, expected to begin next week. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
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Homicides in Washington increased by 46% in 2020, new statewide data shows (Prof. Mary Fan quoted)
Sep 29, 2021 | Source: The Seattle Times
While homicides committed across the United States spiked by nearly 30% last year according to FBI data released this week, the surge wasn’t quite as pronounced in Washington, which saw a 21% increase in killings amid the pandemic. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
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Judge dismisses charge, warns he could dismiss more cases from Utah police dept. (Prof. Mary Fan quoted)
Sep 09, 2021 | Source: Fox 13 (Salt Lake City)
“Utah, in this case, is part of a trend across the country of judges trying to address concerns that video is missing,” said Mary Fan, a law professor at the University of Washington who has written a book on police cameras.
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Video still withheld after Lonoke County deputy’s fatal shooting of teen (Prof. Mary Fan quoted)
Aug 01, 2021 | Source: Arkansas Democrat Gazette
Fan said the answer to this issue is not something for an expert to decide; it's something for communities to decide. What the public wants will look different across the county and should be democratically decided.
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How Using Videos At Chauvin Trial And Others Impacts Criminal Justice (Prof. Mary Fan quoted)
May 07, 2021 | Source: NPR
Although there's been graphic video of police encounters, not all video makes it into a courtroom. The legal standards regarding rules of evidence about a video's credibility and authenticity are high. Even so, University of Washington Law School Professor Mary Fan, who studies how audio-visual technology is reshaping policing, says there's been a dramatic turn in how much video is used in court cases.
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As police body cameras become commonplace, a debate over when to release the footage (Prof. Mary Fan quoted)
May 03, 2021 | Source: New York Times
Mary Fan, a law professor at the University of Washington who has studied body camera policies, said that a number of states still had problematic laws on the books that overextend exceptions to public disclosure.
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Sentencing Derek Chauvin (Prof. Mary Fan)
Apr 21, 2021 | Source: KOMO 4
UW law professor Mary Fan explains how decisions about sentencing Derek Chauvin could be made.
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Derek Chauvin case different from others against cops (Prof. Mary Fan)
Apr 20, 2021 | Source: KOMO Radio
UW law professor May Fan says that the evidence in the Derek Chauvin trial indicated that a "depraved-heart murder" had taken place, resulting in a call to action from the community.
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Derek Chauvin murder trial was 'unusual,' UW professor says (Prof. Mary Fan)
Apr 20, 2021 | Source: KING 5
UW law professor Mary Fan explains what sets the case against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin apart from others.
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Derek Chauvin Appears Unfazed During the Proceedings (Prof. Mary D. Fan quoted)
Apr 10, 2021 | Source: Huff Post
Attempts to humanize Mr. Chauvin, the former police officer accused of murder in the death of George Floyd, are central to the defense’s effort to portray him as a responsible person who was only doing his job, legal experts say. Prof. Mary Fan is quoted.
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Derek Chauvin Trial: 4 Big Takeaways From Prosecution's 'Very Strong' Week (Prof. Mary D. Fan quoted)
Mar 30, 2021 | Source: The New York Times
Some of the week’s most stinging testimony came from a renowned pulmonologist and the chief of the Minneapolis Police Department. Mary Fan, a UW professor of law, is quoted.
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What We Learned on Day 2 of the Derek Chauvin Trial (Prof. Mary D. Fan quoted)
Mar 30, 2021 | Source: The New York Times
Emotional and sometimes combative witnesses dominated the second day of testimony Tuesday in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd. Legal experts expect the conversation to shift in coming days as the trial continues. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
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By throwing out drug law, Washington Supreme Court creates massive fallout (Prof. Mary D. Fan interviewed)
Mar 22, 2021 | Source: KUOW
In the wake of the Washington Supreme Court’s ruling in the “Blake” decision on Feb. 25, people can no longer be arrested for simple drug possession in Washington. Officials must now chart a new path to address past convictions and current substance use. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is interviewed.
