Activist ex-prosecutor ‘indicts’ Obama, Holder, Justice Roberts and others

Claiming that a so-called citizens grand jury has the power to indict and try top U.S. officials, a former federal prosecutor well-known for his conservative activism and views has convened such a panel in Ocala, Fla. It has now “indicted” a number of top members of the Obama administration, including…

May 30, 2013 4:12 PM CDT

SCOTUS rules for Texas inmate who didn’t raise claim of ineffective counsel on direct appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled for a Texas death-row inmate who claimed in his federal habeas appeal that his trial counsel failed to adequately investigate and present mitigating evidence during the penalty phase of his trial. In a 5-4 decision (PDF), the court ruled that inmate Carlos Trevino may…

May 28, 2013 4:49 PM CDT

Reports: AG Eric Holder vetted search of Fox News reporter’s personal email

The decision to issue a federal search warrant for a Fox News reporter’s personal email account was made by a magistrate judge. However, the Department of Justice said it was vetted at the highest levels, including by Attorney General Eric Holder, leading Republicans in Congress to object Sunday to having…

May 28, 2013 4:46 PM CDT

SCOTUS: Actual innocence may excuse blown habeas deadline; Scalia blasts ‘shiny new exception’

A blown deadline isn’t an automatic bar to habeas review for an inmate who shows actual innocence of the crime, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. In a 5-4 opinion (PDF), the court said a missed deadline isn’t an absolute bar to review, but “unjustified delay” does count against the…

May 28, 2013 3:12 PM CDT

Even after 911 caller’s assault when no cops were on duty, counties vote to keep budget cuts

Last August, a 911 dispatcher told a distressed woman caller that authorities were unable to help minutes before the woman’s ex-boyfriend broke into her home, choked and sexually assaulted her. Despite the chilling event, two Oregon counties this week rejected property tax increases that would have funded law enforcement and…

May 24, 2013 9:15 PM CDT

Jodi Arias jury hangs on whether she should get death penalty

It didn’t take long for an Arizona jury to convict Jodi Arias of first-degree murder in the grisly death of her former boyfriend. But it wasn’t able to agree Thursday on whether the 32-year-old should get the death penalty in the Maricopa County case. That leaves the prosecution with two…

May 24, 2013 10:45 AM CDT

Ex-judge charged with stealing drug evidence while on the bench

A former Pennsylvania court judge has been charged on multiple counts of theft and drug possession. The charges against retired Washington County Common Pleas judge Paul Pozonsky, who stepped down last year after he was stripped of all criminal cases by President Judge Debbie O’Dell-Seneca, follow a state police investigation…

May 23, 2013 7:54 PM CDT

Judge reveals dispute about whether prosecutors withheld critical evidence in Chandra Levy case

Federal prosecutors and defense lawyers in the Chandra Levy case have been battling in sealed proceedings over the existence of a prosecution witness’s history of cooperating with law enforcement, District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher revealed yesterday. In early 2012, prosecutors learned that government witness Armando Morales previously…

May 22, 2013 8:18 PM CDT

T. rex suit takes Texas lawyer to NYC and Mongolia

A victory in civil and criminal litigation over the New York City auction of a smuggled Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton last year hasn’t just earned legal fees for Texas attorney Robert Painter. It’s taken him to Mongolia, where evidence was collected in the Gobi desert, and from his Houston law office…

May 22, 2013 2:05 PM CDT

Suspended and facing ethics case, judge blames president jurist, claims she rebuffed advances

An Alabama judge facing a legal ethics case over the unlawful arrest orders she is accused of entering against parties and witnesses in divorce cases is now blaming the jurisdiction’s former top jurist for her plight. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Dorothea Batiste denies in court filings that she abused her…

May 21, 2013 3:18 PM CDT

OJ Simpson was ‘somewhat intimidated’ by his lawyer, witness says in new trial bid

Former football great O.J. Simpson was back in a Las Vegas courtroom Monday in a quest for a new trial based on alleged bad advice by the lawyer who represented him on charges he robbed two sports memorabilia dealers in a casino hotel room. Simpson wore a blue prison jumpsuit…

May 13, 2013 6:53 PM CDT

Lawyer with little experience can’t withdraw at 11th hour from death-penalty defense, judge says

Gerald Bettman runs a two-attorney law office in Jacksonville, Fla. In addition to criminal defense, the lawyers also focus on divorce and personal injury matters. He has never represented a defendant sentenced to the death penalty during the flurry of appeals that precedes a scheduled execution once the death warrant…

May 9, 2013 6:00 PM CDT

Arkansas seeks return of ailing and aging convict who fled in 1970

The state of Arkansas wants the return of Lester Stiggers, convicted of murder at the age of 15. The 63-year-old Stiggers, who fled to Michigan while on a furlough in 1970, was surprised when an Associated Press reporter informed him of the extradition request. Stiggers no longer works after suffering…

May 9, 2013 2:04 PM CDT

Lawyer who started on pro bono capital appeal as summer associate hopes to take it to top US court

When William Ernest Kuenzel got married to a social worker in 2008, attorney David Kochman was his best man. He’s also Kuenzel’s pro bono appellate counsel in a death-penalty case in which the attorney is asserting that his client is actually, factually innocent. Kochman, a 33-year-old commercial litigation associate at…

May 3, 2013 5:10 PM CDT

Attorneys push for change in debt collection

May 1, 2013 8:20 AM CDT