Criminal Procedure

Justices to VA: What’s the Hurry to Execute?

Two U.S. Supreme Court justices had a message for the state of Virginia: Slow down the machinery of death. Justice John Paul Stevens issued a statement questioning Virginia’s rush to execution as the court declined to review a death-row inmate’s claim of ineffective counsel, the Washington Post reports. Justice Ruth…

Oct 2, 2007 11:43 AM CDT

Stranger Posted Bell’s Bond in Jena 6 Case

Although he had never met Mychal Bell, a doctor living elsewhere in the state posted the bond the 17-year-old needed to get out of jail and return home to the tiny town of Jena, La. Meanwhile, others also offered to do so, too, according to Bell’s lawyer. As a result,…

Sep 28, 2007 11:17 PM CDT

‘Legal Wonk’: What Larry Craig Wants, Court Can’t Give

If Sen. Larry Craig is lucky, a Minnesota judge, as expected, will refuse to let him revoke his guilty plea to a disorderly conduct charge. That’s because a trial over the charge will only serve to further embarrass the embattled Republican from Idaho, without giving him what he wants—public proof…

Sep 28, 2007 5:11 PM CDT

State Backs Down in Jena 6 Case

The prosecution in a controversial case against one of the so-called Jena Six defendants has accepted a Louisiana appellate court ruling that he should be tried as a juvenile. Mychal Bell, who was 16 at the time that he and five other black high school students allegedly attacked a white…

Sep 27, 2007 12:50 AM CDT

Court: Lawyer Lied in Firm Fight ... But Which One?

A recent ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal offers a startling view of the hard-hitting office politics at a venerable Toronto law firm. When attorney Benjamin Moss trudged back to Pinkofskys from a criminal trial on May 14, 2004 and reported to his colleagues that the firm’s client had…

Sep 26, 2007 9:35 PM CDT

Mistrial as Phil Spector Jury Deadlocks

Updated: A mistrial has been declared in the second-degree murder trial of Phil Spector, after the judge polled the jury, who all agreed they were deadlocked. The foreman said the panel was split 10-2, in a live broadcast of the trial. But, at the judge’s request, he did not say…

Sep 26, 2007 8:46 PM CDT

No Ruling on Craig Restroom Plea Issue

After a hearing today over Sen. Larry Craig’s request to withdraw his guilty plea in a Minnesota restroom sex sting case, the judge is not expected to rule until next month. Demonstrators—a few equipped with toilets on which to sit—gathered outside the suburban Minneapolis courthouse as lawyers argued about whether…

Sep 26, 2007 8:28 PM CDT

5th Circuit OKs Super-Long Enron Brief

Ordinarily, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals looks with “great disfavor,” according to its own rules, on long-winded briefs. But the appellate court should make an exception in the unusually complex case of former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s appeal of his conviction in a securities fraud…

Sep 26, 2007 7:29 PM CDT

Suit: Feds’ Raids Violate Constitution

Warrantless searches allegedly are being conducted by armed U.S. immigration authorities on Latino-occupied homes in the New York City area where they have no good reason to believe immigrant fugitives are living. A federal class action lawsuit filed in Manhattan yesterday by 15 plaintiffs contends the feds are conducting such…

Sep 21, 2007 11:26 PM CDT

KPMG Prosecutors Claim Secret Defense Pact

Prosecutors battered in an illegal tax shelter case involving accounting firm KPMG have turned the table on defense lawyers. They claim that two lawyers for defendants who worked for Presidio Advisory Services may have had a secret joint defense agreement, the New York Times reports. The Presidio defendants are accused…

Sep 21, 2007 4:24 PM CDT

Pain-Patient Pardon Ends 25-Year Term

The wife of a disabled Florida man serving a 25-year sentence for trafficking in drugs–the medication he needs to suppress his pain–was stunned yesterday when the state pardoned him at a scheduled hearing on his request for a sentence commutation. Richard Paey, 48, who suffers from chronic fiery pain in…

Sep 20, 2007 6:43 PM CDT

Spector Jurors Say They’re Deadlocked

A week after deliberations began, jurors in Phil Spector’s second-degree murder trial say they can’t agree on a resolution. But although the panel reports it’s divided almost equally between those who believe the famed music producer is guilty and those who don’t, the case isn’t over yet, reports the Los…

Sep 19, 2007 12:02 AM CDT

Chicago 7 Trial Sketches Spark Memories

With his feet propped up, 1960s activist Abbie Hoffman reads a book. Blue-jeans-clad cohorts munch snacks and catch up on their sleep. No, this wasn’t some student-lounge gathering but one of Chicago’s most famous trials, at which at least one celebrity poet testified in Sanskrit. Arrested after a violent confrontation…

Sep 18, 2007 10:14 PM CDT

ACLU Backs Craig in Restroom Case

The ACLU has filed a supporting brief in Sen. Larry Craig’s effort to revoke his guilty plea to a disorderly conduct charge in a restroom sex sting. The conviction violates Craig’s right of free speech under the First Amendment and is unconstitutionally vague, the American Civil Liberties Union says says…

Sep 18, 2007 12:29 AM CDT

Novel Court Order: No Gang Loitering

In an unusual and controversial approach to criminal activity by street gangs, a California judge issued a preliminary injunction today prohibiting more than 100 alleged members of a notorious Riverside street gang from gathering together in certain public areas. If it is made permanent by Superior Court Judge Edward D.…

Sep 14, 2007 11:38 PM CDT