Court Security

Texas AG sues county that banned guns at building with courthouse, county offices

Corrected: Waller County, Texas, must allow guns in areas of a courthouse building where county offices are located, according to a lawsuit filed this week by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The suit (PDF) says Waller County’s policy conflicts with the state’s open carry law, which has an exemption for…

Sep 1, 2016 11:24 AM CDT

Two bailiffs die in courthouse shooting in Michigan; suspect is shot and killed

Updated: Police are investigating a shooting at the Berrien County Courthouse in St. Joseph, Michigan, on Monday afternoon that left three people dead, including the suspect. Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey said at a news conference that the gunman killed two bailiffs on the third floor of the courthouse, the…

Jul 11, 2016 3:09 PM CDT

Study finds a ‘gavel gap’ between diversity of judges and that of the populations they serve

A study by the American Constitution Society examines demographic diversity in every state’s courts—and finds that most states are falling short. For “The Gavel Gap: Who Sits in Judgment on State Courts?” two academic researchers looked at the race, ethnicity and gender of judges in 10,000 state courts of general…

Jun 23, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

Man acquitted of wife’s murder after four trials now charged with stalking police investigator

Last month, after being tried for the fourth time in his wife’s presumed homicide nearly 15 years ago, a New York businessman was acquitted on May 24 in a bench verdict. But the Tioga County resident now faces a misdemeanor stalking charge, concerning an alleged incident Thursday outside the Oneonta…

Jun 13, 2016 4:14 PM CDT

Judge who survived courthouse shooting now educates others about domestic-violence case risks

Almost exactly 10 years after he survived a sniper-style shooting by a man whose divorce case he was overseeing, a Nevada judge is still on the bench. But Reno Family Court Judge Chuck Weller has since educated himself about the threats posed by individuals in domestic violence cases and is…

Jun 13, 2016 10:00 AM CDT

Man gets 15- to 19-year prison term in nonfatal shooting on courthouse steps

A man accused of opening fire on two individuals he knew on the steps outside a North Carolina courthouse in 2014 entered an Alford plea Monday to two counts of attempted first-degree murder and was sentenced to about 15 to 19 years in prison. Brandon Morris, 33, had previously himself…

Jun 7, 2016 4:30 PM CDT

Angry at killer’s lack of remorse, dad sprints across courtroom and makes flying leap, video shows

A wild courtroom scene was captured by a television news camera on Thursday, after the father of one of the victims of convicted Ohio serial killer Michael Madison turned to stare at the defendant during a victim impact statement at a sentencing hearing. “Right now, I guess we’re supposed to,…

Jun 3, 2016 9:10 AM CDT

Pedestrian fatally injured as SUV driven by lawyer runs backward 100 feet from court parking lot

A veteran Massachusetts criminal defense attorney was so distraught she had to be hospitalized Wednesday after her SUV accelerated backwards out of a Brockton courthouse parking space and crossed multiple embankments and roads before fatally striking and dragging a pedestrian on a sidewalk. State police are investigating to see if…

Jun 2, 2016 11:45 AM CDT

Drew Peterson guilty of seeking contract hit on prosecutor in murder case

Already serving a 38-year prison term after his 2012 conviction for the murder of his third wife, Drew Peterson now faces an additional sentence that could add decades to his time behind bars. A downstate Illinois jury deliberated for less than an hour on Tuesday before finding the former suburban…

May 31, 2016 3:30 PM CDT

Strange things occur at New Mexico courthouse, and a ghost is blamed

Some employees believe a ghost is responsible for unexplained activity at the Otero County Courthouse in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Some report seeing a ghost wearing a suit from the early 1900s, doors closing on their own, and items falling to the ground for no reason, KRQE News 13 reports. The…

May 27, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

Woman who faced 6-year term for court lockup kick that caused no injury gets 1 year after plea deal

Tina Hunt was last convicted of a violent crime—robbery—some 20 years ago. But, because of that conviction, under sentencing laws in Illinois, she faced a minimum six-year prison term for kicking a Cook County sheriff’s deputy, essentially without leaving a mark on him. Now 49, she had been in the…

May 26, 2016 5:18 PM CDT

Misdemeanor defendant is charged with felony for allegedly spitting on judge

In court on Wednesday for a bond hearing in a misdemeanor trespassing case, a suburban Chicago man became upset when a bond reduction was denied. So Jonathan Pease cursed at Judge Mark Gerhardt. When held in contempt and given a 360-day jail term for doing so, Pease spit in the…

May 26, 2016 12:45 PM CDT

Angry over drug sentence, inmate filed false $5.8M debt claim against federal judge, feds say

Unhappy with his 11-year sentence over two drug cases, a convicted marijuana smuggler found a way to get back at the judge who imposed it, authorities say. While still imprisoned, Leandro Cardenas Luna, now 58, managed to file an involuntary bankruptcy petition in 2014 against U.S. District Judge Alia Moses,…

May 5, 2016 11:05 AM CDT

Court officers who got parking discount by paying at juror rate must pay up

The Massachusetts trial court system will pay $36,000 to reimburse the city of Springfield for a parking scam by employees. It primarily involved court officers at the Hampden County Hall of Justice who gave themselves discounts by validating chips for nearby city parking at a courthouse machine as if they…

Apr 26, 2016 4:46 PM CDT

Jailed for murder until at least 2033, woman ‘almost got out’ before fake court order was detected

Convicted in 2009 of murdering her lover and burying him in his back yard three years earlier, Kwaneta Yatrice Harris was sentenced to a 50-year prison term and scheduled to be considered for parole in 2033. But the Texas inmate, whose case has been “like a movie,” came very close…

Apr 18, 2016 11:30 AM CDT