Criminal Procedure

Cop’s DUI Cases Tossed After Prosecutor Ride-Along

A Chicago police officer, celebrated for writing the most DUI tickets in Illinois, is seeing his record blemished. Some 50 of his DUI cases have been dropped because improper procedures were followed, the Daily Southtown reports. The paper reports that John Haleas, who has been honored three of the past…

Oct 24, 2007 7:24 PM CDT

Exonerated But Still Struggling

Twenty years after he was convicted of rape based on an inaccurate witness identification, Marcus Lyons has finally been cleared by DNA evidence. His conviction has been dismissed by the DuPage County state’s attorney, and his name will soon be expunged from a database of convicted sex offenders, reports the…

Oct 22, 2007 3:52 PM CDT

High Court to Hear Confrontation Case of Convicted Lawyer

This month the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the case of a disbarred lawyer convicted of child sexual abuse who claims he never got to confront his 6-year-old accuser in court. The boy testified against Stephen Danforth via videotape, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The Minnesota Supreme Court had…

Oct 22, 2007 2:00 PM CDT

Speedster Crosses US at 90 mph, No Tickets

Even though Alexander Roy has published a book about his illegal speeding, authorities apparently can’t throw the book at him. The 35-year-old outlaw racer describes in detail the 2,794-mile trip he claims to have made from New York to Los Angeles last year in 31 hours at an average speed…

Oct 17, 2007 11:57 PM CDT

Law Firm to Clients: Feds Tapped Our Phones

Lawyers at a Vermont firm that represents clients being held in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay and in Afghanistan believe the federal government may be wiretapping their law office phones. So Gensburg, Atwell & Broderick sent a letter to other clients of the firm on Oct. 2, warning…

Oct 11, 2007 6:48 PM CDT

ACLU: Feds’ Drugging of Immigrants Torture?

In a motion filed yesterday in an asylum case, the American Civil Liberties Union calls for a halt to an admitted federal policy of forcibly injecting some immigrants with psychotropic medication and putting them aboard commercial airlines for deportation. It says the practice violates federal law and the Bill of…

Oct 10, 2007 4:10 PM CDT

Brain Secrets Study Could Change Courts

A $10 million multidisciplinary brain secrets study launched today could eventually bring big changes to the nation’s courtrooms. With the help of 25 participating universities, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is bringing “lawyers, judges, philosophers, legal scholars and scientists together to address how to use in the…

Oct 9, 2007 4:18 PM CDT

14 Years, No Trial: Retarded Man Freed

Relatives expressed relief today after a judge ruled that a retarded North Carolina man who was never tried, yet had been held 14 years in a state mental institution concerning a crime it is doubtful he committed, would be freed. However it still isn’t clear exactly when Floyd Lee Brown,…

Oct 8, 2007 11:34 PM CDT

Attys Ask for One More Year of Trial Prep

Attorneys representing triple murderer Joseph Duncan in Idaho have asked for a one-year delay to prepare for his federal death penalty trial. The case already has been moved from July to January. But attorneys for Duncan say they need much more time because a lead attorney stepped down and investigators…

Oct 5, 2007 11:50 AM CDT

Judge: Moving Detainee Requires Notice

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler this week ordered the U.S. not to transfer a detainee in Afghanistan without giving his attorney at least 30 days’ notice. The ruling, considered a “milestone” in challenges to indefinite detention, comes on behalf of Haji Rohullah has been in U.S. custody since August 2006,…

Oct 5, 2007 11:16 AM CDT

House Moves to Expand Courts’ Reach to War Contractors

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have approved a bill that, if enacted, will bring U.S. contractors in Iraq under the jurisdiction of American criminal courts. That means private contractors, including the armed security force Blackwater USA, could face investigations by the FBI if there is alleged wrongdoing. The House approved the…

Oct 5, 2007 10:56 AM CDT

Man Accused of Shooting Divorce Judge Gets New Venue

After three days of unsuccessful jury selection, a judge in Nevada has ordered a venue change in the case of a man accused of killing his estranged wife and shooting the judge handling their divorce. Judge Douglas Herndon cited a list of special factors that led to the decision to…

Oct 5, 2007 10:27 AM CDT

Congress Probes Latest Torture Concerns

Congressional committees are launching investigations, after a New York Times article today revealed that two secret Department of Justice opinions in 2005 endorsed prisoner interrogation techniques some consider tantamount to torture. However, the White House has reiterated prior assertions that the U.S. doesn’t torture prisoners. The Democratic chairs of both…

Oct 4, 2007 9:22 PM CDT

Judge: Sen. Craig Can’t Withdraw Guilty Plea

Updated: In a ruling that could sound the death knell for Sen. Larry Craig’s career in office, a Minnesota judge has ruled that the Idaho Republican can’t withdraw his guilty plea to a disorderly conduct charge. However, Craig reportedly says he won’t resign, despite the urgings of many members of…

Oct 4, 2007 6:16 PM CDT

20-Year CA Judge Removed from Bench

A former prosecutor who was appointed a California state court judge nearly 20 years ago has been removed from the bench for “misconduct” and “gross neglect” of his judicial duties. Superior Court Judge Robert Spitzer, who sits in Riverside County, was removed from the bench today by the California Commission…

Oct 2, 2007 10:20 PM CDT