Criminal Procedure

$1M Bond for $25 Theft Lowered After Prosecutor Calls Amount ‘Silly’

The jail in Hamilton County, Ohio, is already overcrowded. But that didn’t stop a local municipal court judge from setting a $1 million bond for Gary Weaver. So what is Weaver accused of doing? The charge is that he stole about $25 by paying for items with what looked like…

Apr 1, 2008 6:13 PM CDT

Former DA on Mission to Eliminate Closed-Door Sentencing Review Panels

Bolstered by support from the legislature, prosecutors in Georgia are mounting a full assault against the state’s system of judicial review panels that, in some cases, reduced prison terms. The challenge, which is being reviewed by the state supreme court today, could impact dozens of inmates whose sentences have already…

Mar 31, 2008 5:34 PM CDT

Kansas Strikes ‘John Doe’ Rape Warrants

The Kansas Supreme Court has struck down arrest warrants in seven rape cases—reportedly the first in the country to charge someone’s DNA with a crime. In its ruling Friday, the high court said the warrants weren’t specific enough to meet legal standards, the Wichita Eagle reports. The paper notes that…

Mar 31, 2008 4:17 PM CDT

Court: Son Can’t Represent Dad in Gambino Case

With a decision that came as a surprise to both sides, a federal judge in Brooklyn ruled Thursday that the son of a reputed Gambino consigliere can’t represent his father at his racketeering trial. U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein made the ruling without hearing testimony from Lewis Kasman, the…

Mar 28, 2008 9:00 PM CDT

Martians and the Mentally Ill Discussed at Arguments on Pro Se Right

A majority of the justices on the U.S. Supreme Court appear to support the idea that judges can bar mentally ill defendants from representing themselves, even if they are deemed competent to stand trial, according to the Washington Post. The Post wrote that Justice Antonin Scalia was a “notable and…

Mar 27, 2008 11:54 AM CDT

Man Wins Murder Trial, But Gets Almost 9 Years

Tyrone Jones didn’t have much time to celebrate after a Connecticut jury acquitted him of murder Tuesday. The next day, the judge in the murder case sent Jones to prison for violating his probation in a previous assault case. The basis of his decision to do so? Testimony by a…

Mar 20, 2008 6:34 PM CDT

Supreme Court Rules Prosecutor’s Exclusion of Black Juror Was Improper

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled a trial court erred when it allowed a prosecutor to remove a black juror partly on the ground that he appeared nervous. The prosecutor, Jim Williams, had cited nervousness and the juror’s obligations as a student teacher when he exercised a peremptory challenge to…

Mar 19, 2008 3:03 PM CDT

Ky. Judge Ordered to Allow Prosecutors to Make Objections

A Kentucky judge who had an unwritten no-objections policy as far as prosecutors in his courtroom were concerned is going to have to reverse course. A Jefferson County Circuit Court ruled today that District Judge Sean Delahanty must allow prosecutors to object when he is hearing criminal cases, reports the…

Mar 11, 2008 10:52 PM CDT

Scruggs Gets Contempt Prosecution Tossed

After repeated press accounts about charges that Richard “Dickie” Scruggs conspired to bribe a judge, the plaintiffs lawyer finally has some good news. A federal judge on Friday tossed a criminal contempt charge against the lawyer for failing to return documents about State Farm’s Hurricane Katrina claims practices, the Associated…

Mar 3, 2008 12:57 PM CST

ABA Files Amicus Brief Supporting Habeas Corpus in Iraq

Weighing in on an issue that has created concern among lawyers, journalists and human rights advocates, among others, the American Bar Association has filed a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief on behalf of U.S. citizens arrested by the American military and held in Iraq without U.S. court proceedings. At issue…

Mar 1, 2008 2:43 AM CST

ABA Offers Gitmo Tribunal Help, UK Bar Groups Voice Fairness Concerns

The president of the American Bar Association has written the president of the United States, expressing concern that six terrorism suspects detained at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in capital cases may not receive fair trials under current military tribunal procedures that don’t comply with established standards for…

Feb 28, 2008 7:55 PM CST

Scalia Edges Out Roberts, Votes With Majority in Every Decision This Term

Justice Antonin Scalia is having a good year, while Justice Anthony M. Kennedy isn’t quite the influential swing voter he used to be. Those conclusions can be drawn from statistics released today (PDF) by SCOTUSblog. They show that Scalia is the only justice to vote with the majority in all…

Feb 22, 2008 7:34 PM CST

Britney’s Lawyers: She Can’t Assist in Traffic Case Defense

Lawyers for Britney Spears persuaded a California judge today to postpone a misdemeanor traffic case against the troubled pop star, saying that she isn’t able to participate fully in her own defense. Attorney J. Michael Flanagan told Superior Court Judge T.K. Herman that Spears’ lawyers don’t believe the 26-year-old is…

Feb 20, 2008 10:29 PM CST

Supreme Court Gives Convicted Lawyer a Second Chance to Exclude Accuser’s Tape

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled its criminal procedure decisions can be applied retroactively under state laws or constitutions, even when federal courts follow a different standard, SCOTUSblog reports. The court ruled in the case of Stephen Danforth, a lawyer who was convicted of child molestation based partly on a…

Feb 20, 2008 4:24 PM CST

After 2 Months, Man Mistakenly Arrested Is Freed

After being flown in from Texas and held in a Florida jail for two months, protesting all the while that he was not the man authorities thought he was, the wrong Jose Garcia has finally been freed. Although he shares the name—and birthday—of the Jose Garcia that Miami-Dade authorities were…

Feb 12, 2008 8:33 PM CST