Criminal Procedure

Double Jeopardy Precludes Retrial of Woman Prosecuted After Telling Police She Found a Wallet

Deborah Heinrich’s saga as an accused criminal reportedly began after she found a wallet last summer that the owner says he had carelessly left atop the pump at a Wyoming gas station. She called the numbers she found inside, she says, then contacted the police to seek their help in…

Jun 8, 2011 3:21 PM CDT

Supreme Court to Decide Right to Effective Assistance on Habeas Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear an appeal that involves claims of ineffective assistance of counsel at both the trial and habeas levels. SCOTUSblog calls the cert grant “a big deal in habeas law.” The issue is whether a defendant has a right to effective assistance of…

Jun 7, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Supremes Refuse to Hear Wesley Snipes Appeal in Criminal Tax Case; He Had Sought Venue Hearing

Actor Wesley Snipes will stay in jail, where he is serving a three-year sentence for failing to file federal tax returns for several years, after the U.S. Supreme Court today refused to hear his appeal of his conviction on venue grounds. Snipes argued that the feds should have brought the…

Jun 6, 2011 8:26 PM CDT

Blagojevich Tells of Senate Seat ‘Ugly’ Options; Lawyer Says Prosecutors Making Faces

A lawyer for Rod Blagojevich accused prosecutors on Tuesday of making faces during testimony by the former Illinois governor. Blagojevich, on trial for alleged political corruption, testified Tuesday that he considered a political “horse trade” in naming someone to President Obama’s former Senate seat, but he intended to stay within…

Jun 1, 2011 11:59 AM CDT

Defendant Judge Loses Motion to Remove DA from Fraud Case re Adoption of Twins

An Oklahoma judge facing fraudulent claims charges concerning the twins she and her husband adopted last year has lost her bid to have the district attorney removed as the prosecutor in the case. A judge from outside the county ruled today that DA David Prater would continue on the case…

May 31, 2011 8:17 PM CDT

NC Judge Faces Legal Ethics Case, Accused of Fixing Tickets for Friends, Church Members

A judge in North Carolina is facing a legal ethics case for allegedly fixing tickets for her friends and fellow members of her church. Forsyth County District Court Judge Denise Hartsfield is to appear before the state Judicial Standards Commission for a September hearing, reports the Winston-Salem Journal. In a…

May 31, 2011 6:22 PM CDT

Author Gets 6-Week Contempt Term for ‘Jolly Hangman’ Book re Singapore Justice System

A British author’s appeal of a contempt finding and six-week jail sentence for writing a book critical of the Singapore justice system has been unsuccessful. After the Singapore Court of Appeal’s affirmation of the sentence today, which also includes a fine of about $16,000 in U.S. dollars, author Alan Shadrake…

May 27, 2011 5:24 PM CDT

Suspect in Slaying of Chief Ariz. Fed’l Judge, Shooting of Congresswoman Found Incompetent for Trial

Jared Lee Loughner, the suspect in the slaying of Arizona’s chief federal district judge and the wounding of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords during a spree shooting earlier this year, has been found incompetent. Under the ruling today by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns, the 21-year-old Loughner will now spend up to…

May 25, 2011 7:37 PM CDT

San Francisco Cops, In Wake of Misconduct Allegations, Might Start Carrying Cameras During Arrests

The San Francisco Police Department is exploring the idea of officers carrying personal cameras, while the department faces numerous misconduct allegations involving footage from other sources. The department will consider a variety of camera models, which officers would be equipped with before going to a drug bust or other arrest…

May 18, 2011 5:23 PM CDT

FLDS Member Who Pled to Assault Appealing Today, Arguing Tainted Evidence

A Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints member, who last year pled guilty to sexually assaulting a 16-year old girl, is appealing the conviction. He says that he would not receive a fair trial in the rural Texas county where he was charged, and that the plea…

May 18, 2011 3:51 PM CDT

Death Penalty Lawyers Want Withdrawal of Pa. Chief Justice Opinion Calling Them Abusive

Ronald D. Castille, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, lashed out last month at defense lawyers representing death row inmate Mark Spotz, claiming that the mostly federally funded work for the accused murderer was intentionally “abusive,” taking up as much court time and resources as possible. The filing…

May 16, 2011 7:39 PM CDT

Vermont DUI Convictions May Be in Jeopardy Over Alleged Breath-Test Errors

Hundreds of Vermont DUI convictions are being challenged by defense lawyers, who claim there was a mistake in the breath analysis machine’s software setup. Whistler-blowers’ complaints about unethical lab work also figure in, the Associated Press reports. Human error resulted in one machine at the Royalton State Police barracks operating…

May 16, 2011 3:58 PM CDT

IMF Chief, Accused of Sexually Assaulting Maid, Represented by Lawyer for Michael Jackson

A lawyer hired to defend Michael Jackson on child molestation charges represents the chief of the International Monetary Fund on charges he tried to rape a hotel maid in Manhattan. The New York criminal defense lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, was co-counsel for Jackson on child molestation charges for three months in…

May 16, 2011 11:45 AM CDT

Defense Counsel in Murder Case Is Handcuffed and Jailed for Lunch Hour After Dispute with Judge

Corrected: A lawyer representing the defendant in an ongoing felony murder and child-abuse trial was taken from a Michigan courtroom in handcuffs and jailed over the lunch hour after refusing to comply with what the Jackson Citizen Patriot describes as a judge’s repeated “yelled” instructions to sit down. Attorney George…

May 12, 2011 6:36 PM CDT

In Mid-Trial Ruling, Federal Judge Axes Obstruction Case Against Ex-Glaxo In-House Lawyer

Saying that the government couldn’t prove its case, a federal judge in Greenbelt, Md., has dismissed midway through trial an obstruction prosecution against a former in-house lawyer for GlaxoSmithKline. “I conclude on the basis of the record before me that only with a jaundiced eye and with an inference of…

May 10, 2011 4:58 PM CDT