Court Security

DOJ investigates online posts about life sentence in Silk Road case that implied a threat to judge

Did online commenters mean it when they implicitly threatened the federal judge who last month gave Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht a life sentence? Or were the Reason.com posts simply trollish statements intended to get a rise out of readers? In either case, the comments, which have since been removed,…

Jun 10, 2015 1:39 PM CDT

Two men who met at Ferguson protests admit plan to blow up police chief, top prosecutor

Two men who met during protests in Ferguson, Missouri, over the police slaying of Michael Brown admitted Tuesday in federal court in St. Louis that they planned to blow up the county’s top prosecutor and Ferguson’s police chief. Neither target was injured, but federal agents and local police obtained phone…

Jun 3, 2015 3:50 PM CDT

After courtroom clash over DUI manual, judge bars top prosecutor from cases against opposing lawyer

In the latest reverberations from a courtroom clash last week over the possession of a DUI manual, a Virginia judge has barred Caroline County’s top prosecutor and other lawyers in his office from appearing in cases in which Melissa Danjczek is defense counsel. Granting a motion filed by Danjczek, Circuit…

May 21, 2015 11:10 AM CDT

Authorities investigate pill found at bottom of judge’s water glass

Authorities in Georgia are investigating a white pill found at the bottom of a judge’s water glass. Judge Phinia Aten, who sits in Rockdale County Magistrate Court, returned from a restroom break and spotted the dissolving pill at the bottom of the glass, WXIA reports. She poured out the water…

May 21, 2015 10:00 AM CDT

$50K fine recommended for judge over scuffle with public defender

A $50,000 fine and a 120-day unpaid suspension, among other disciplinary measures, have been recommended for a Florida judge who left the bench and engaged in a physical confrontation with an assistant public defender outside his courtroom last year. However, the Judicial Qualifications Commission in its Tuesday written opinion (PDF)…

May 20, 2015 4:30 PM CDT

Sheriff: Jailed man sends signed letter to courthouse about plan to plant bombs nearby

Jailed over allegations that he made a bomb threat to his own parents in April, a Florida man is now facing new charges. The St. Lucie County sheriff’s department says Robert Oliver recently sent a letter to the county courthouse. The letter allegedly said Oliver had arranged for a friend…

May 19, 2015 3:00 PM CDT

Dispute over DUI manual sparks courtroom clash between top prosecutor, defense lawyer

A dispute over who owns a DUI manual has sparked dueling allegations of criminal conduct and a courtroom clash between a Virginia prosecutor and defense lawyer. Tony Spencer, who works as Caroline County’s top prosecutor, says defense lawyer Melissa Danjczek took the manual when she was formerly employed by the…

May 19, 2015 10:45 AM CDT

Nearly 200 charged after 9 die in Texas biker brawl; courthouse, other buildings under heavy guard

Nearly 200 people have been arrested and charged with engaging in organized crime after a fight between rival motorcycle gang members at a Texas restaurant on Sunday. At least nine people were killed, and as many as 18 more were hospitalized. The courthouse, jail, hospital and a shopping center near…

May 18, 2015 11:00 AM CDT

2 lawyers charged after courthouse deposition erupts into fistfight

Two lawyers were charged with simple assault after a Wednesday afternoon deposition at a New Jersey courthouse erupted into a fistfight. Witnesses heard a commotion in a conference room in the Bergen County Courthouse before more than a dozen sheriff’s officers arrived to break up the battling attorneys, Costantino Fragale,…

Apr 30, 2015 8:25 AM CDT

Client hospitalized after asphyxiating himself with phone cord in courthouse meeting room

A Michigan man was hospitalized in critical condition Monday after apparently asphyxiating himself with a telephone cord in an attorney-client meeting area at the downtown Grand Rapids courthouse. Following a talk with his public defender, Troy Duane Peterson, 48, was left alone in the room, which provides a telephone hookup…

Apr 28, 2015 12:30 PM CDT

Lawyer’s routine day in court ends when car bursts into flames in parking lot

Attorney Rob Sutherland was having a routine day in court Monday morning. But out in the courthouse parking lot, his car was having a spectacular meltdown. A little after 9 a.m., Sutherland’s vehicle erupted into flames, officials in Truro, Nova Scotia, told the Hants Journal and the Truro Daily News.…

Apr 27, 2015 4:00 PM CDT

Courtroom incident shows why 6 security officers are needed at sentencings, lawman says

An incident in a Georgia courtroom this week shows why it’s important to have at least six security officers on hand for sentencings, as local policy requires, a lawman says. After hearing Monday that he was going to spend at least 20 years in prison for his role the armed…

Apr 23, 2015 2:40 PM CDT

Warned not to drive home after DWI conviction, man does and is charged with drunken driving

A New York man who reportedly smelled of alcohol when he was convicted Monday of driving while intoxicated was told by the judge, his lawyer and an Erie County sheriff’s deputy not to drive home from the Grand Island Town Court hearing. However, J.B. Silverthorn, 44, nonetheless got behind the…

Apr 10, 2015 4:10 PM CDT

Man’s false claims to have placed bombs in federal courthouse get him 6 years

A Nevada man who falsely claimed to have placed bombs under the desks of two federal judges in a Las Vegas courthouse last year was sentenced Tuesday to 75 months in prison. Clifford James Schuett, 60, pleaded guilty in December to threatening to kill or cause damage through the use…

Apr 9, 2015 3:55 PM CDT

Man who punched sister’s accused killer in court is held in contempt and fined $100

Initially told by a Louisiana judge that he faced jail time for punching a shackled murder defendant in a Jefferson Parish courtroom last week, 34-year-old Adam Dozier caught a break on Wednesday. Represented by a public defender, he apologized to Judge Lee Faulkner and was found in contempt of court…

Apr 9, 2015 9:00 AM CDT