Court Security

Convicted rapist faces new case in courthouse attack on appellate attorney

A convicted rapist accused of breaking free from his restraints in a Cincinnati courthouse meeting room and repeatedly punching his appellate lawyer in the face earlier this month is now facing a new case over the alleged attack. Tony Pippin, 42, has been indicted by a Hamilton County grand jury…

Nov 13, 2015 3:59 PM CST

Slaying of social worker prompts state to move office to courthouse

The slaying of a Vermont social worker earlier this year, along with three relatives of a suspect accused of shooting all four victims to death over a child-custody dispute, has prompted the state to move all of the social worker’s colleagues to a safer location. The social workers will now…

Nov 6, 2015 5:00 PM CST

Hacktivist group’s ‘Million Mask March’ sparks protests at US federal courthouses

A “Million Mask March” on Thursday organized by the hacktivist group Anonymous on the anniversary of a failed British rebellion in 1605 reportedly created chaos in London. But it also sparked apparently non-violent protests in the U.S. by individuals wearing the white mask associated with Anonymous and would-be assassin Guy…

Nov 6, 2015 12:40 PM CST

Report: At least 5 civil judges in Chicago area get death threats in anonymous letters

At least five judges in Cook County, Illinois, recently received death threats in anonymous letters sent to their chambers. They had the word “frank” instead of a postage stamp and listed on the return address portion of the envelopes the names and addresses of other judges, said Chief Circuit Court…

Nov 3, 2015 10:15 AM CST

Reports: Attorney facing disciplinary matter shot bar chairman, then himself, at French courthouse

A French lawyer shot the local bar chairman at a courthouse office on Thursday morning, then turned the gun on himself, news reports say. The gunman, Joseph Scipilliti, is dead, but Henrique Vannier survived being shot multiple times and is hospitalized in critical but stable condition, according to Agence France-Presse,…

Oct 30, 2015 12:25 PM CDT

Bomb threat closes Wisconsin courthouse for much of day

A Wisconsin courthouse was closed for much of the day Monday as authorities investigated a bomb threat. It apparently was a hoax, and no one was injured. The Racine County Courthouse reopened at about 1 p.m., WITI reports. However, authorities are circulating a photo of a hooded suspect making a…

Oct 26, 2015 4:25 PM CDT

Alleged rape in courthouse restroom follows complaints of harassment by female lawyers

A defendant in a Vermont drug case has been charged with raping a female acquaintance in a women’s restroom at the Burlington criminal courthouse last week. However, authorities did not release news of the alleged courthouse sexual assault until a week later, on Thursday evening, after the Burlington Free Press…

Oct 23, 2015 9:00 AM CDT

Turn off security cameras in interview area of new $230M courthouse, federal judge says

A federal judge has ordered those in charge of a new $230 million courthouse in Staten Island, New York, to turn off video cameras that had been running in attorney-client interview rooms. Although the cameras do not record what is said during pre-arraignment meetings and were intended to enhance security,…

Oct 21, 2015 3:05 PM CDT

Judge brought grenade to courthouse parking lot, authorities say

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge triggered a bomb response outside the Torrance courthouse Tuesday by bringing a grenade to the parking lot, authorities said. The unidentified jurist had found the grenade while cleaning out personal belongings of a family member who had died and brought it to the courthouse…

Oct 21, 2015 9:15 AM CDT

Lawyer charged in incident at judge’s home was a crime victim minutes earlier, his counsel says

An Alabama attorney who is now facing a felony case over an incident last month outside a Louisiana judge’s home was himself a crime victim only a short time earlier, his defense lawyer says. Joshua Stemle, who was captured on surveillance camera footage scuffling in the home’s courtyard with the…

Oct 15, 2015 3:25 PM CDT

Judge found guilty of lying about attack outside courthouse gets 6 months

A former municipal judge found guilty of lying about being assaulted outside his Waterloo courthouse in 2013 has been sentenced to six months behind bars. Convicted in August of insurance fraud and other charges in the Seneca County case, Roger Barto could have gotten as much as 28 months to…

Oct 14, 2015 5:00 PM CDT

Man faces terrorism charge after driving through courthouse doors during traffic stop

It all began Tuesday morning with what might have initially seemed like a fairly routine traffic stop. The police chief in Jamestown, Tennessee, spotted a man whom he knew had a revoked license behind the wheel of a pickup truck. So Chief Ken Hancock pulled over 66-year-old Jacob Tinch–or tried…

Oct 14, 2015 4:00 PM CDT

Defense attorney holds his own in courthouse altercation with now-former client

It isn’t just in Chicago courtrooms that Joseph Lopez can hold his own. The Illinois attorney was involved in a recent altercation in a criminal courthouse holding cell with a now-former client facing probation-violation and weapon charges, the Chicago Sun-Times (sub. req.) reports. Lopez and the Cook County sheriff’s office…

Oct 1, 2015 4:55 PM CDT

Did prisoner put gun in trash container outside courthouse?

Judicial marshals at the courthouse lockup on Golden Hill Street in Bridgeport, Connecticut, don’t carry firearms. And, of course, prisoners aren’t supposed to, either. But somehow a gun wound up in a trash container outside the facility, which was on lockdown Tuesday as state police investigated, the Connecticut Post reports.…

Sep 29, 2015 5:00 PM CDT

Legal Aid threatens suit over interview-room cameras at new $230M courthouse

A new $230 million courthouse in Staten Island, New York, hadn’t been open to the public for a full day before a lawsuit was threatened by the Legal Aid Society on Monday. Despite its gleaming walls, handicapped accessibility, convenient proximity of civil and criminal courtrooms and modern technology, the five-story…

Sep 28, 2015 4:00 PM CDT