Criminal Procedure

Retired Lawyer Must Serve Time for Holding $30M in Art Stolen By Client, 1st Circuit Says

It was reportedly the biggest art theft in Massachusetts state history, and Robert Mardirosian’s client committed it. When David Colvin brought the paintings—including a Cezanne still life which eventually sold at auction years later for nearly $30 million—to Mardirosian shortly after the 1978 heist, the lawyer initially held them for…

Apr 16, 2010 12:28 AM CDT

Military Jury Convicts Soldier of Murder 20 Years After his Civilian Acquittal

More than 20 years after his acquittal in civilian court, a soldier has been convicted of a triple murder by a military jury. This time prosecutors relied on DNA tests that had not been available in the earlier trial of Master Sgt. Timothy Hennis, according to stories in the New…

Apr 9, 2010 1:13 PM CDT

Must Criminal Contempt Occur in Court? 7th Cir. Mulls Judge’s Reaction to E-Mail Flood

As lawyers today debated before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals whether a federal district judge should have sentenced an informercial pitchman to 30 days for flooding his in-box with e-mail, the three-judge panel honed in on whether criminal contempt can occur outside the physical boundaries of a courtroom.…

Apr 8, 2010 9:35 PM CDT

Judge Sues Newspaper for $50M, Claims Breach of Promised Anonymity re Web Comments

Under fire over anonymous comments reportedly made from her private e-mail account about defendants and at least one lawyer in cases she is overseeing, an Ohio judge has blasted back by filing suit against the Cleveland newspaper that broke the story. Cuyahoga Court of Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold…

Apr 7, 2010 10:19 PM CDT

Judge Accused of Case-Related E-Mail Declines to Step Down, Blames Media

An Ohio judge accused of making anonymous comments about her cases online under the moniker “Lawmiss” has denied a motion to recuse herself by a lawyer representing a defendant in a serial murder case. Although Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold said today that she hasn’t yet decided…

Apr 5, 2010 10:39 PM CDT

NSA Illegally Wiretapped 2 Lawyers for Islamic Charity, Judge Rules

Federal authorities violated the law by wiretapping two United States lawyers for an Islamic charity without obtaining a warrant, a federal judge in San Francisco has just ruled. The government will almost certainly appeal the much-awaited ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker of the Northern District of California…

Mar 31, 2010 7:54 PM CDT

Supreme Court Says Lawyers Must Inform Clients of Deportation Risks

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that lawyers have a Sixth Amendment obligation to warn their clients when their guilty pleas can result in deportation. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the majority opinion (PDF) finding that the lawyer for Jose Padilla should have advised him that a guilty plea to…

Mar 31, 2010 2:50 PM CDT

Boy, Now 12, Will Be Tried as Adult in Murder of Dad’s Pregnant Girlfriend

An 11-year-old boy who police say shot and killed his father’s eight-months-pregnant girlfriend in the family home early last year will be tried as an adult in the homicides of the Pennsylvania woman and her unborn baby. Jordan Brown, now 12, has been charged with criminal homicide and homicide of…

Mar 29, 2010 9:14 PM CDT

Up in Smoke? Scalia Disputes Law Prof’s Pollution Analogy in Capital Appeal

The co-director of Stanford Law School’s Supreme Court litigation clinic used a smoke analogy to make a point Wednesday about a death row inmate’s right to appeal after a second sentencing, but the issue was more cloudy for Justice Antonin Scalia. Stanford’s Jeffrey Fisher argued that a death penalty appeal…

Mar 25, 2010 4:52 PM CDT

Judge to Review 1,100 Crime Lab Docs; PD: ‘This Could Be Pandora’s Box’

A California judge has ordered the San Francisco police crime lab to turn over for a relevance review some 1,100 pages of documents related to an investigation of a veteran technician suspected of stealing cocaine evidence during her 29-year career there. Depending on what Judge Anne-Christine Massullo sees, the review…

Mar 24, 2010 8:50 PM CDT

As Dognapping Suspect Is Extradited, Beloved Pet Is Still Missing

When Brian Dotort celebrated a friend’s birthday at a South Florida gay bar last year, he took his pal, Hudson Hayward Hemingway along with him. Hudson happens to be a dog, a small Chihuahua to be specific, and as the pup with the pink earrings was passed from one guest…

Mar 23, 2010 5:28 PM CDT

Is DA ‘Turning the Scalpel of Recusal Into a Chain Saw’?

About two months ago, a California state-court judge not only freed a convicted child molester but accused the assistant Santa Clara County district attorney on the case of testifying falsely about the evidence. After that, what had been a somewhat strained relationship at the San Jose courthouse between Judge Andrea…

Mar 22, 2010 9:08 PM CDT

KKK Leader Excused from Jury Duty; Threatened to Appear in Full Klan Uniform

Lawyers, even judges regularly serve on jury duty when called these days. But at least one ironclad excuse apparently can apparently still be offered: When Railton Loy called an Indiana judge’s chambers to point that he is Imperial Wizard of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and could…

Mar 19, 2010 8:15 PM CDT

Judicial Conference Quadruples Free PACER Access, Chops Cost of Digital Audio

In a closed-door meeting today at the U.S. Supreme Court, the policymaking body for the federal judiciary decided to quadruple the amount of free legal documents available through the PACER system. Previously limited to $10 worth of free documents per year, users will now be allowed $10 worth per quarter,…

Mar 16, 2010 8:30 PM CDT

Lawyer Wins New Trial for Client Because Judge Didn’t Put Jury Under Oath

Sentenced to 15 to 40 years after being convicted of assault with intent to commit murder by stabbing an acquaintance in his apartment in what the prosecution described as a drunken frenzy, Timothy Lawrence Becktel has won a new trial. Because the judge in his case apparently forgot to put…

Mar 5, 2010 7:29 PM CST