Appellate Practice

Sen. Craig Gets Hearing on Plea Change

An embattled Republican Senator from Idaho will get a hearing later this month on his request to withdraw his guilty plea to a disorderly conduct charge resulting from a Minnesota restroom sting operation. Sen. Larry Craig will get his day in court on Sept. 26, a few days before the…

Sep 11, 2007 9:39 PM CDT

Joel Steinberg Wants $15 M Award Tossed

Disbarred lawyer Joel Steinberg, convicted of manslaughter for killing his adopted daughter with a blow to the head, is asking New York’s highest court to overturn a $15 million civil judgment against him. Six-year-old Lisa endured “at most, eight hours of pain and suffering,” Steinberg says in legal briefs filed…

Sep 5, 2007 3:47 PM CDT

Fed’l Judge: Execute Inmates Efficiently

California’s death row is not only the biggest in the nation but perhaps the most backlogged. The average prisoner waits nearly 20 years to be executed, and, since capital punishment was reinstated in 1978, only 13 have been executed while 50 have died in prison, many of old age. Currently,…

Aug 30, 2007 6:14 PM CDT

Canadian Cleared in 1959 Murder

Concluding a case that has fascinated Canadians for decades, an Ontario appeals court yesterday acquitted Steven Truscott of a 48-year-old crime that originally resulted in a death sentence for him as a teenager. Sentenced at age 14 in 1959 to death by hanging for the rape and murder of a…

Aug 29, 2007 10:56 PM CDT

Who Will Close in Spector Murder Trial?

At the conclusion of five months of testimony in Phil Spector’s murder trial and with closing arguments scheduled to begin on Sept. 5, observers are asking an unusual question. Who is going to give his closing argument? Ordinarily, of course, that would be the lead defense lawyer at trial. But…

Aug 29, 2007 9:52 PM CDT

Two SG Lawyers Step Into Fray

U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement’s appointment to serve as acting attorney general has resulted in a temporary promotion for his deputy Gregory Garre, who will fill Clement’s post on an acting basis. SCOTUSblog cites the “real prospect” that the two Bush policy loyalists could get the jobs on a permanent…

Aug 28, 2007 2:15 PM CDT

Lawyer not ‘Client’s Puppet,’ Court Says

A federal appeals court has ruled a lawyer need not file an appeal that was waived by his client in a voluntary plea bargain, despite rulings to the contrary by six other circuits. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said lawyers in such cases have a duty to the…

Aug 17, 2007 11:47 AM CDT

Secret-Case Strategy: Guess US Argument

In 27 years of practice, Jon Eisenberg has never had a more difficult case than Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. George W. Bush. One reason why is the extraordinary secrecy imposed on the litigation process because of terrorism-related national security concerns. When it came time to file one brief in his…

Aug 15, 2007 3:12 PM CDT

Secrecy Shrouds Wiretap Case

A pending appeal in a wiretaps case is so secret that the lawyer for the plaintiffs wasn’t permitted to see the government’s full brief and had to write his own arguments under the watchful eye of a Justice Department security officer. Lawyer Jon B. Eisenberg says the government inadvertently disclosed…

Aug 13, 2007 2:52 PM CDT

NRA Had High Court Misgivings

The National Rifle Association may be a reluctant Supreme Court suitor in a Washington, D.C., case that challenges the district’s handgun ban. The lawyer who won a federal appeals court ruling striking down the ban says the NRA has joined him “ever so grudgingly” in the case, Legal Times reports.…

Jul 30, 2007 1:12 PM CDT

Are New Justices Rewriting Case Law?

Two new members of the U.S. Supreme Court reportedly have lost no time in overturning a number of settled precedents. And among those taking note of the situation are members of Congress, who are thinking about looking into whether the justices said one thing during confirmation hearings and did something…

Jul 25, 2007 9:22 PM CDT

Fla. Judge: No Execution; It’s Too Cruel

A Florida judge has refused to impose the death penalty on a specific prisoner, following a botched 30-minute execution of another inmate on Dec. 13. Ruling Sunday in Ocala, after an 11-day evidentiary hearing, Circuit Judge Carven D. Angel agreed with the defense, reports the Associated Press. It would be…

Jul 24, 2007 5:18 PM CDT

Bigger En Banc Panels Ditched

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided that bigger is not necessarily better. The San Francisco-based federal appeals court had tried using 15-judge en banc panels, but is reverting to its usual 11-judge panels, the National Law Journal reports. The experiment may have been prompted by efforts to…

Jul 24, 2007 1:32 PM CDT

KPMG Lawyers: Unchain Us from Clients!

Representing a high-profile client in a major white-collar case can be both a blessing and a curse for a criminal defense attorney. Such cases can bring in big bucks and offer lots of free publicity. But they can also result in enormous unpaid legal bills. That nightmare scenario is apparently…

Jul 18, 2007 10:46 PM CDT

Amicus Reporting Scaled Back

The U.S. Supreme Court has listened to the critics and scaled back a proposed rule that would have required groups filing amicus briefs to reveal whether parties in the case or their lawyers are members. The proposal was aimed at preventing a “double-dipping” situation in which a party belonging to…

Jul 18, 2007 1:24 PM CDT