Claimed fake lawyer in theft case accused of plotting copycat prosecutor slaying

Dorothy Canfield, 84, had been facing merely a theft case, accused of bilking clients by posing as an immigration lawyer, when she is in fact not an attorney. But now she’s charged as well with solicitation of capital murder and solicitation to commit aggravated assault on a public servant over…

Apr 15, 2013 7:39 PM CDT

Courthouse screeners enforce ban on cellphones ... and a pet duck

In Chicago on Monday, security guards at the criminal courthouse at 26th Street and California Avenue, billed as the nation’s busiest, were implementing a new policy against cellphones and other electronic devices. The ban was imposed because of concerns that individuals taking cellphone photos were intimidating witnesses, according to the…

Apr 15, 2013 6:27 PM CDT

What personal safety measures do you take at work, at home and in between?

The recent slayings of two prosecutors in Kaufman County, Texas, and other fatal courthouse shootings in 2013 have put courthouse security in the spotlight. But aside from what the courts you practice in are doing to protect you and your clients—what do you do to protect yourself? What personal safety…

Apr 10, 2013 8:30 PM CDT

Man accused of Facebook threats of ‘Columbine’ shooting at Illinois courthouse is arrested in Denver

A little over a month ago, Daniel McDade was facing only a driving-under-the-influence case in suburban Chicago. Now he is being held in Denver for extradition to Illinois, charged with two new felonies over posts the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office says he put on Facebook threatening a “Columbine”-style shooting at…

Apr 9, 2013 6:10 PM CDT

Man arrested in clerk’s office as he was trying to file a federal suit pleads guilty in assault case

Arrested nearly two years ago in the clerk’s office when he went to file a lawsuit at the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a pro se plaintiff has now pleaded guilty in the assault case that resulted. A guard noticed when Larry Paul Delaney went through security at the…

Apr 5, 2013 6:56 PM CDT

Texas will punish those responsible for prosecutor slayings, governor vows; $200K reward offered

The governor of Texas vowed at a press conference today that the state would hunt down and punish those responsible for slaying two prosecutors within a two-month period and announced that the state is adding $100,000 in reward money to the $100,000 already put up by Kaufman County. “We’re going…

Apr 4, 2013 10:24 PM CDT

Courthouse locked after county sheriff is shot to death outside; ‘nobody’s safe,’ magistrate says

A West Virginia courthouse was on lockdown Wednesday afternoon after the county sheriff was shot to death outside. Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum liked to eat lunch in the same spot within a block of the courthouse in Williamson while sitting in his patrol vehicle, according to the Associated Press,…

Apr 3, 2013 8:49 PM CDT

53 dead in suicide attack on Afghan court intended to free 15 Taliban prisoners headed to trial

At least 53 people died Wednesday in an attack by suicide bombers on a court in Western Afghanistan. They reportedly sought to free 15 suspected members of the Taliban who were headed to trial in the Farah courthouse, according to Al Jazeera and the BBC News. It isn’t clear whether…

Apr 3, 2013 6:15 PM CDT

Put on probation in earlier case, man is now charged with making telephone threats to judge

Sentenced in 2011 to 18 months of probation for making telephone threats to a corporation, a suburban Chicago man is facing new charges for allegedly making new telephone threats—this time to the judge who presided over the case. Alexander Wood, 25, left a message March 7 on the work telephone…

Apr 3, 2013 4:20 PM CDT

Capital murder trial begins for man accused of slaying bystander in shooting outside courthouse

Jury selection began Tuesday in the Galveston, Texas, capital murder trial for a man accused of slaying a bystander when he also shot family members outside the Jefferson County courthouse in Beaumont last year. Investigators say Bartholomew Granger shot Minnie Ray Sebolt, 79, outside the courthouse door as he was…

Apr 2, 2013 10:44 PM CDT

Another Texas DA steps in to help 10-prosecutor office cope after Kaufman County DA is slain

In the wake of a weekend slaying of a Texas district attorney and his wife that has put law enforcement officials there and elsewhere on high alert, a district attorney from another jurisdiction has gone to Kaufman County to help the 10-prosecutor office cope with the situation. Randy Reynolds, who…

Apr 1, 2013 7:33 PM CDT

Gun violence issue surfaces at House of Delegates

Apr 1, 2013 5:50 AM CDT

Traffic court sting results in arrest of 2 unlicensed drivers, impound of vehicles

A police sting on Wednesday at a California traffic court session resulted in the arrest of two drivers and the impound of their vehicles. San Pablo police officers attended the Richmond Superior Court call and then followed those whose licenses had been suspended out of the hearing to see how…

Mar 29, 2013 6:57 PM CDT

Probe of Colo. prisons chief murder focuses on other slayings, possible gang involvement

A continuing investigation into the killing of the Colorado prisons superintendent is focusing on at least two questions: Whether the deceased suspect in the case, Evan Spencer Ebel, could be responsible for any other murders. And whether 211 Crew, the white supremacist gang of which Ebel was said to be…

Mar 29, 2013 6:22 PM CDT

Man angry over stripper’s $750 debt made death threats to judge and prosecutor, feds say

A scheme that federal prosecutors say Amin Abbas Eltayeb launched to try to collect on the $750 loan he had made to an exotic dancer allegedly resulted in threats against a Florida judge, prosecutor and sheriff’s deputy. Warned by the woman’s boyfriend to leave her alone after she had repaid…

Mar 26, 2013 4:26 PM CDT