Queens Justice: Borough’s DAs Criticized for Probing Suspects Before Miranda Rights

Nov 1, 2012 8:30 AM CDT

NY Appeals Court OKs Retrial for Convict Who Waived Conflict re Lawyer’s Civil Work for Witness Cop

Attorney Michele Bergevin told a New York man she was defending in a child sex-abuse case that she also had as a client, in an unrelated civil matter, a police officer who was a witness in the criminal case. Although she obtained defendant Michael Soloman’s consent to a waiver of…

Oct 31, 2012 4:52 PM CDT

Sixth Grader Sentenced in Adult Court for Murder Conspiracy Seeks Juvenile Court Do-Over

Lawyers for an Indiana youth sentenced at age 12 in adult court for a murder conspiracy are asking a state appeals court to send the case back to juvenile court for a new hearing. Paul Henry Gingerich was a sixth-grader when he was accused of helping kill a friend’s stepfather…

Oct 31, 2012 1:05 PM CDT

NY Top Court Upholds Murder Conviction Despite Alleged Sleeping Juror

New York’s highest court has ruled a trial judge didn’t abuse her discretion when she refused to dismiss a juror accused of falling asleep during deliberations in a murder trial. The New York Court of Appeals upheld the second-degree murder conviction of Carlos Herring, convicted for a fatal shooting in…

Oct 31, 2012 12:16 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: The Fourth Amendment Goes to the Dogs

Franky and Aldo, two drug sniffing dogs, will be key canines in the U.S. Supreme Court Oct. 31, when the court hears two cases concerning whether police use of such dogs violates the Fourth Amendment. The cases are likely to be important in clarifying the law regarding this ubiquitous police…

Oct 30, 2012 1:50 PM CDT

Supreme Court to Decide if Actual Innocence Claim Excuses Late Habeas Filing

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether an inmate who claims actual innocence is excused from the time limit for filing a habeas claim. The court will consider whether Michigan inmate Floyd Perkins can appeal his 1997 murder conviction, report SCOTUSblog and Reuters. Perkins filed his habeas petition…

Oct 29, 2012 6:34 PM CDT

Federal Judiciary Faces ‘Fiscal Cliff’ if Budget Act Is Not Adjusted, Says Editorial

If the 2011 Budget Control Act goes forward, the federal judiciary faces an 8.2 percent cost reduction that would send it “over the fiscal cliff,” the American Judicature Society says in an editorial. Funding concerns, according to the nonprofit’s publication Judicature, have already caused the federal court to reduce staff…

Oct 25, 2012 4:25 PM CDT

Former US Atty Gave Whitey Bulger Immunity to Commit Crime, Says Defense Motion to Remove Judge

A former U.S. attorney gave murder defendant and alleged mobster James “Whitey” Bulger immunity to commit crimes, including murder, defense lawyers’ argued Wednesday. The accusation, which involves former Boston U.S. Attorney Jeremiah O’Sullivan, now deceased, came in a filing to recuse U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns from Bulger’s…

Oct 25, 2012 3:01 PM CDT

Plot in New Grisham Novel Is Based on Criminal Procedural Rule

Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure is central to John Grisham’s new book, The Racketeer. Rule 35 allows federal defendants to get their sentences reduced if they provide “substantial assistance in investigating or prosecuting another person.” The book’s main character, convicted ex-lawyer Malcolm Bannister, seeks to use…

Oct 22, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

After Appeals Court Nixes Reversed Conviction of Anna Nicole Smith’s Boyfriend-Lawyer, What Next?

Confusion reigned following news that a California appellate court has determined that a trial judge erroneously reversed the conviction of Anna Nicole Smith’s onetime boyfriend and lawyer, in a relatively minor criminal conspiracy case concerning prescription drugs supplied to the now-deceased celebrity and former Playboy bunny. Lawyers said they aren’t…

Oct 19, 2012 7:08 PM CDT

Class Action Seeks Hearings for ‘Forgotten’ Chicago Police Torture Victims

In what is being billed as a first-of-its-kind filing in Cook County, two legal clinics supported by big-name members of the legal community are pursuing a criminal court class action seeking hearings for all imprisoned individuals with “credible claims” of having been tortured into confessing to murder by Chicago police.…

Oct 16, 2012 9:23 PM CDT

Mass. Inmates Get Bond at Special Court Call, Boston Mayor Seeks $15M Over Crime Lab Test Issues

Two weeks of special court sessions began Monday in Boston to deal with inmates serving time in state cases based on drug evidence provided by an alleged rogue chemist at a state crime lab—and one individual after another was released on bond while new appeals of their convictions are pending.…

Oct 16, 2012 5:00 PM CDT

Lead Drew Peterson Defense Lawyer Stays on Case, Calls Competing Attorneys ‘Bottom Feeders’

A court hearing Friday in suburban Chicago seemingly provided at least a temporary answer to a question that has been hotly debated in news articles lately: Is lead defense lawyer Joel Brodsky still representing now-convicted murderer Drew Peterson? Or has Brodsky been axed, in favor of the outside lawyers who…

Oct 12, 2012 8:38 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Media Getting Rape Case Wrong, Bloggers Say; Will LinkedIn Take Over?

In 2008, a Connecticut jury found Richard Fourtin Jr. guilty of sexually assaulting a woman with severe cerebral palsy. But in 2009, state appellate court, considering “the sole issue of whether the jury reasonably could have found that the state introduced sufficient evidence to prove that the victim was unable…

Oct 12, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Lead Drew Peterson Lawyer Seeks Court Nix re ‘Completely Unauthorized’ Motion, Contempt for Filers

In the latest salvo in a bizarre battle to determine which attorneys represent the recently convicted defendant in a high-profile murder trial, the lead defense counsel for Drew Peterson on Thursday asked a suburban Chicago judge to strike a post-trial motion filed by two other lawyers who hitherto have not…

Oct 11, 2012 7:24 PM CDT