Criminal Procedure

Altruistic Filicide? Boy’s Drugging Death Was a Mercy Killing, Dershowitz and Kuby Assert

Lawyers defending a millionaire mom accused in the drugging death of her 8-year-old son claim the alleged crime was a justified mercy killing. The defendant, Gigi Jordan, is represented by Ron Kuby and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. They are not using an…

Aug 11, 2011 2:28 PM CDT

9 1/2 Years Lopped Off 10-Year Sentence Because State Turned Away Convicted Child Molester

A convicted child molester who tried without success to turn himself in 16 years ago won’t have to serve his 10-year sentence. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Wednesday on behalf of Stanley Blackwell, the one-time owner of an Austin funeral home, the Austin American-Statesman reports. The court said…

Aug 11, 2011 11:59 AM CDT

Man Gets 4 Days for Fatal DUI, Court Mix Up Blamed

When a Kentucky judge last month sentenced Brian Pollard to four days in jail for DUI, she apparently had no idea there’d been a fatality tied to the incident. Neither did the prosecutor. Family members are reeling over the short sentence and state police say new charges are possible, CBS…

Aug 10, 2011 12:15 PM CDT

Virginia Authorities to Appeal Reversal of Death Row Inmate’s Conviction

Virginia authorities plan to appeal a federal judge’s decision to throw out a death row inmate’s conviction and sentence in a murder-for-hire scheme. The state attorney general’s office filed notice of its intent to appeal Monday with the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Associated Press reported.…

Aug 9, 2011 6:05 PM CDT

Sofitel Hotel Maid Brings Civil Action Against Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Nafissatou Diallo, the Sofitel Hotel housekeeper who claims that she was sexually assaulted by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, filed a New York Supreme Court complaint today against the former IMF chief, the Associated Press reports. Strauss-Kahn was arrested in May, and he has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of attempted rape…

Aug 8, 2011 9:55 PM CDT

DA Asks for Special Prosecutor to Probe Alleged Altercation Between 2 Wis. Supreme Court Justices

After a reported claim by Justice Ann Walsh Bradley that fellow Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser put his hands around her throat during a heated debate about the timing of an opinion about a state anti-union law, the local district attorney is asking that a special prosecutor be appointed…

Aug 1, 2011 11:48 PM CDT

Warren Jeffs Channels Message to Trial Judge in Latest Recusal Motion: God Says Step Down

Unsuccessful in his earlier efforts to persuade the judge in his San Angelo, Texas, child sex-abuse trial to recuse herself, Warren Jeffs tried a new tack. In a new motion today, the 55-year-old leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints attached a transcript of what he…

Aug 1, 2011 10:04 PM CDT

Did Casey Anthony Serve 1-Year Probation in Fraud Case While Jailed Awaiting Child-Murder Trial?

Facing a new legal issue following her release after being acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Casey Anthony is returning to Orlando, Fla., for another court hearing. The question: Did she already complete her earlier, one-year probation in a check-fraud case while she was being held in jail prior to…

Aug 1, 2011 6:40 PM CDT

DA’s Office Can Prosecute Ex-Intern Who’s Now Person of Interest in Law Student Slaying, Judge Rules

Stephen McDaniel worked for about three months this spring as an intern in the Bibb County, Ga., district attorney’s office, during his third year in law school. But that won’t prevent the DA’s office from prosecuting the Mercer University law graduate on two burglary charges concerning the apartment building in…

Jul 25, 2011 4:10 PM CDT

Top NH Court Nixes $100 Fine; Lawyer Scheduled in 2 Courts at the Same Time Did the Best He Could

Fined $100 for failing to appear at a pretrial hearing in one county because he was attending a pretrial hearing in another county, a New Hampshire criminal defense lawyer appealed the sanction. Today, finding that Stuart Dedopoulos had made timely and diligent efforts to obtain the court’s permission to reschedule…

Jul 21, 2011 10:22 PM CDT

Lawmakers Call for Robo-Signing Probe After AP Reports Practice Is Still Widespread re Mortgage Docs

Federal lawmakers today called for hearings and a criminal investigation after a news report yesterday by the Associated Press that so-called robo-signing of mortgage documents continues to be a common practice. The attorneys general of Massachusetts and Minnesota this morning also contacted county officials in their respective states to get…

Jul 19, 2011 10:17 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: More Lawyers Working Via Smartphone; Can Poetry Help You Get to the Point?

Smartphones Taking Hold At iPhone J.D., Adams and Reese partner Jeff Richardson shared some stats from and thoughts on the results of the ABA’s Legal Technology Resource Center’s 2011 Legal Technology Survey Report. This year, 88 percent of the 838 lawyers who responded to the survey reported that they owned…

Jul 15, 2011 1:30 PM CDT

Prosecutor Refuses to Prosecute Man with Two Wives Because Second Marriage Is Outside State

A Florida prosecutor has declined to prosecute a man for bigamy because one of his marriages is allegedly outside the state. The man’s Florida wife, Heather Maria Bennett of Orlando, tells the Florida Sun Sentinel she discovered last year that her husband is also married to a woman in Las…

Jul 15, 2011 11:46 AM CDT

9th Circuit Extends Injunction Barring Forced Medication of Loughner

A federal appeals court has extended an injunction that bars the forced medication of Tucson shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay last week that barred prison officials from forcibly medicating Loughner with anti-psychotic drugs. On Tuesday, the appeals…

Jul 13, 2011 3:29 PM CDT

Slamming Court Door, Saying Curse Word as Victim Talked Costs Friend of Defendant 30 Days in Jail

A friend of a defendant being sentenced for his role in a Michigan gas station armed robbery had come to court expecting to see his 18-year-old buddy, Terrez Rashad Ivy, get time today. But Gemichael Malangy Gardner, 19, wound up in the slammer, too, after losing his cool as the…

Jul 11, 2011 10:28 PM CDT