Mubarak may soon be freed, his lawyer says

Former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak could be released from prison this week, according to his lawyer. News stories differ on the reasons for the release, its timing and whether it will actually happen. Lawyer Fareed El-Deeb told CBS News that Mubarak was acquitted on Monday on charges that he stole…

Aug 19, 2013 3:30 PM CDT

Swiss lawyer pleads guilty in tax probe; indictment details how he helped US clients hide money

Edgar Paltzer, a lawyer with U.S. and Swiss citizenship who is licensed to practice in New York, has pleaded guilty to helping American clients hide assets from the IRS. Indicted in April with Swiss banker Stefan Buck, Paltzer testified today in federal court in New York, Bloomberg reported. Paltzer admitted…

Aug 16, 2013 9:20 PM CDT

Landmark ruling restricts ‘certification’ of teen offenders as adults

A Texas appeals court overturned the the adult certification of a juvenile in a murder case this week, the first certification overturned in the state in nearly 25 years. The decision of the 1st Court of Appeals in Houston represents a significant change in how the Texas county deals with…

Aug 9, 2013 8:06 PM CDT

Dog poop sting operation ID’d scofflaw owners, sent them ‘special delivery’ of offending deposits

In the battle against dog poop, government officials, as well as managers of condominium associations and rental units, have resorted to some innovative methods, including the use of DNA testing of offending deposits on public areas. Now a middle-class suburb of Madrid has found an especially effective one, the New…

Aug 7, 2013 7:20 PM CDT

6th Circuit judge condemns death penalty as ‘arbitrary, biased and broken’ in parting opinion

In his 34 years on the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Boyce Martin was sometimes accused along with his liberal colleagues of being prone to issue stays in death penalty cases. Prisoners could file just about anything—even a “hot dog menu”—and a majority of the court’s active…

Aug 5, 2013 10:45 AM CDT

No warrant is needed for records showing general location of prior cellphone calls, 5th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has ruled that the federal government doesn’t need a warrant to obtain historical data showing the general location of cellphone calls. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of a provision of the Stored Communications Act that allows the government to…

Aug 1, 2013 11:35 AM CDT

Witness harassment has gone digital, and the justice system is playing catch-up

Aug 1, 2013 9:40 AM CDT

Courts in a muddle over 4th Amendment’s community caretaking exception

Aug 1, 2013 8:09 AM CDT

DNA from arrested suspects is like any valid booking process, SCOTUS says

Aug 1, 2013 8:00 AM CDT

Lawyer accused of killing ex-wife on Italian cruise can be tried in California, judge rules

A California judge has ruled he has jurisdiction to try a lawyer accused of killing his ex-wife and throwing her overboard while on a cruise off the coast of Italy. Judge Gregg Prickett of Orange County stayed his ruling to allow an appeal by the defendant, Lonnie Loren Kocontes, report…

Jul 30, 2013 12:09 PM CDT

US won’t seek death penalty for Snowden, Holder tells Russians

Attorney General Eric Holder wrote in a letter this week to the Russian government that National Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden won’t face the death penalty if he returns to the U.S. The letter, dated July 23 and sent to Alexander Vladimirovich Konovalov, the Russian minister of justice, follows…

Jul 26, 2013 6:42 PM CDT

Forensics review reveals hair evidence was possibly exaggerated in 27 capital cases

A review of thousands of FBI laboratory files has uncovered 27 death penalty cases in which experts may have exaggerated the reliability of hair analysis. FBI lab reports dating back to at least the 1970s assert that hair analysis can’t be used to make a positive identification, but some FBI…

Jul 19, 2013 10:45 AM CDT

‘Fnu Lnu’ defendants cause confusion for courts and at least one reporter

Fnu Lnu is an acronym rather than a name, but the fact isn’t always apparent. There are hundreds of people in the court system identified as Fnu Lnu, which means “first name unknown, last name unknown,” the New York Times reports. Some Fnu Lnus are never identified, but that doesn’t…

Jul 15, 2013 3:45 PM CDT

Zimmerman prosecutor fires IT director who testified about missing exculpatory material

The prosecutor in the George Zimmerman case has fired an information technology director who testified he was concerned that the office had failed to give exculpatory materials to defense lawyers. IT director Ben Kruidbos learned about his dismissal in a letter dispatched by the managing director of the office overseen…

Jul 15, 2013 1:52 PM CDT

Pretrial strategy in Zimmerman case may have been gambit to assert stand-your-ground in civil suits

George Zimmerman’s lawyers may have been thinking about the possibility of a future civil suit when they decided not to pursue a stand-your-ground hearing before their client’s criminal trial. The defense could have asked a judge to dismiss the criminal case based on Florida’s stand-your-ground law, which allows the use…

Jul 15, 2013 12:24 PM CDT