Criminal Procedure

Judge Critical of ‘Broken’ Pretrial System in Fla. Faces Discipline

The future of an outspoken Florida judge is in the hands of the state judicial ethics authorities. At issue is whether St. Lucie County Judge Cliff Barnes is a champion of justice trying to fix a system with too many pretrial defendants in lockup because they can’t afford counsel or…

Apr 24, 2008 1:46 PM CDT

9-0 Court Allows Search & Seizure in Va. Case

The U.S. Supreme Court held Wednesday that police have the power to search and seize evidence, even when the arrest turns out to have violated state law. The high court’s decision stems from the Virginia case of David Lee Moore. City police seized crack cocaine from Moore’s vehicle after he…

Apr 23, 2008 3:44 PM CDT

Man’s Death Penalty Request Unlikely to Be Granted

Seeking to forgo a trial for the killings of his mother and grandparents, an Indiana defendant wrote to the judge handling his case and asked to “enter a plea for the death penalty.” But the Indianapolis Star reports that such requests are relatively common and rarely lead to such an…

Apr 23, 2008 12:28 PM CDT

Judge’s Mom on Jury Didn’t Violate Defendant’s Rights

A Wisconsin judge acted appropriately when he allowed his own mother to serve as a juror in a criminal traffic case in his courtroom, a state appeals court has ruled. Judge Robert Eaton did not deny defendant Mark Tody Jr. his constitutional right to a fair trial by allowing his…

Apr 22, 2008 4:47 PM CDT

Lawyer Throws Open Secretive Sect’s Gates to Media

Before authorities raided their western Texas compound, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was a closed, secretive community. All inquiries from the media were uniformly rejected. But, as the Associated Press reports, when hundreds of children from the polygamous sect were rounded up and removed from…

Apr 21, 2008 6:44 PM CDT

Judge Orders DNA Testing of 416 Kids; Sect Reconsiders Sex With Minors

More than 400 children removed from a polygamous sect on suspicions that they are being subjected to abuse or are at risk will undergo DNA testing this week so their complicated family connections can be sorted out. Judge Barbara Walther, who is presiding over what is considered the largest, most…

Apr 21, 2008 3:26 PM CDT

26-Year Inmate Freed After Lawyers Reveal Real Killer

A Chicago-area judge has ordered a new trial for a man serving a life sentence for the murder of a security guard. He walked out of the Cook County, Ill., jail after relatives quickly raised the $1,000 bail in the case. Alton Logan, 54, had little hope of being freed…

Apr 21, 2008 9:52 AM CDT

Group Wins Jury Instructions Award; Here is the Plain-Language Text!

A California task force has won a first-time award for jury instructions from the National Center for State Courts. The group’s revision, starting in 1998, of the state’s civil and criminal pattern jury instructions has created plain-language jury instructions that are now widely in use throughout California and much easier…

Apr 18, 2008 5:53 PM CDT

Law Profs Propose New Federal Court for Gitmo Detainees

As the countdown continues toward controversial military trials starting next month for terrorism suspects being detained by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay, two prominent law professors at major universities are proposing another approach to the problem of providing a fair tribunal yet at the same time protecting national security. In…

Apr 9, 2008 6:12 PM CDT

Fed. Judge Says Jurors Should’ve Weighed Sentence in Kiddie Porn Case

Prosecutors vowed to appeal a child pornography sentencing that’s sure to raise eyebrows in New York’s legal community. U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein was supposed to sentence pizza-maker Pietro Polizzi to a mandatory minimum of five years for downloading thousands of child porn images. Instead, Weinstein tossed out the harsher…

Apr 9, 2008 5:02 PM CDT

Citing ‘Extreme’ Juror Animus, Flamboyant Mich. Lawyer Asks for New Venue

Embattled Michigan lawyer Geoffrey Fieger is scheduled to face trial Monday on criminal campaign finance and obstruction of justice charges. But the well-known plaintiffs’ lawyer is asking for an eleventh-hour change of venue because he won’t be able to get a fair trial in Detroit or the Eastern District of…

Apr 9, 2008 2:51 PM CDT

Quadruple Murder Conviction Tossed Because of Trial Delays

An Indiana appellate court has tossed a man’s conviction for a quadruple murder, saying the trial judge should have granted the defendant’s speedy trial motion to dismiss the case. The Indiana Court of Appeals overturned the 160-year conviction of Jeffrey Pelley, who was accused of using a shotgun to kill…

Apr 9, 2008 12:19 PM CDT

J.D./Journalist Slapped With Restraining Order for Posting Pellicano Audio

Lawyer/journalist Allison Hope Weiner may have thought she was getting a scoop when she exited a Los Angeles courtroom during a break in the racketeering trial of P.I. for the stars Anthony Pellicano. Indeed, it was a hot story. But it was about her. Weiner was handed a restraining order…

Apr 3, 2008 9:06 PM CDT

Judge Says Kicking White Lawyers Out of Courtroom Was ‘Mistake’

An Atlanta judge who told white lawyers to leave his courtroom so he could lecture African-American defendants last week now says he regrets the move. “In retrospect, it was a mistake,” Judge Marvin Arrington told CNN. “Because my sheriff said to me, ‘Judge, that message should be given to everybody’—‘Don’t…

Apr 2, 2008 7:04 PM CDT

Grand Juror Spots Conviction Error in Unusual Oregon Case

A former Oregon man who was jailed for sex abuse, but never actually indicted is suing state authorities for $3.5 million. The federal suit filed in Portland arises from an unusual case involving David Lee Simmons, who was jailed for 30 days in 2006 after pleading guilty to felony charges…

Apr 1, 2008 10:49 PM CDT