Weekly Briefs: Murder cases move slowly in Chicago; Neuriva decision could limit attorney fees

Justice is slow in Chicago Most murder cases in the county that includes Chicago take four years or longer to resolve, according to a series of investigative stories by the Chicago Tribune. “As defendants sit in jail, police can take years to turn over all their evidence to prosecutors,” the…

Apr 14, 2023 2:21 PM CDT

Federal judge’s ‘rubberstamp’ orders repeat strings of citations with no specifics, 9th Circuit dissenter says

A defendant should get a new chance to argue that his confession was coerced after the trial judge failed to discuss specifics in a “boilerplate order” that adopted a magistrate judge’s report, according to a federal appeals judge’s partial dissent.

Apr 12, 2023 11:24 AM CDT

DC Circuit spares DOJ ‘immediate disaster’ in Jan. 6 prosecutions but raises concerns about obstruction charges

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 on Friday that the government can prosecute alleged Jan. 6, 2021, rioters for corruptly obstructing an official proceeding—even in cases that did not involve tampering with documents.

Apr 11, 2023 11:54 AM CDT

Why Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records for one $130K hush-money payment

Former President Donald Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election and mischaracterize payments for tax purposes.

Apr 5, 2023 8:36 AM CDT

Meet Judge Juan Merchan, a Colombian immigrant who’s presiding in Trump’s arraignment; not guilty plea is entered

Updated: The New York judge who is presiding Tuesday over the arraignment of former President Donald Trump, Judge Juan Merchan, is a Colombian immigrant who came to the United States with his family at age 6.

Apr 4, 2023 10:26 AM CDT

ABA asks Supreme Court to review Alabama case involving fixed bail amounts

Apr 3, 2023 4:00 PM CDT

Former Cohen Milstein partner who led firm’s sex-abuse team charged with child-porn possession

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll has fired a Florida partner after he was charged with possession of child pornography.

Apr 3, 2023 9:30 AM CDT

Meet Joseph Tacopina, the outspoken lawyer defending Trump in ‘political prosecution’

New York lawyer Joseph Tacopina began been defending former President Donald Trump in multiple TV appearances even before news of the indictment broke Thursday.

Mar 31, 2023 1:36 PM CDT

Experts see these problems with felony-records case against Trump over hush-money payments

The prosecution of former President Donald Trump could pose even more problems than that of former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, a former Democratic presidential candidate. Experts saw these potential problems with the prosecution.

Mar 31, 2023 11:24 AM CDT

What will the grand jury indictment mean for Trump?

Former President Donald Trump’s reported indictment in the Stormy Daniels hush-money case raises questions about the impact on his new presidential campaign and the likelihood of a conviction.

Mar 30, 2023 5:23 PM CDT

Alex Murdaugh and whether to testify in your own defense

“At the end of the day, I do believe juries want to see someone get on the stand and say, ‘I didn’t do it.’ But at what cost?” writes ABA Journal columnist and Oklahoma lawyer Adam Banner.

Mar 23, 2023 9:30 AM CDT

Georgia lawyer who bragged of shutting down ‘stolen election shenanigans’ is found guilty in Jan. 6 case

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., found a Georgia criminal defense lawyer guilty of several charges Monday for entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and pounding on doors with other rioters before making it to outside the office of Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mar 21, 2023 9:21 AM CDT

Is this a court of record or ‘Nothing But Trouble’?

I’ve always been a fan of those movies that are so bad they’re good. They come in various forms. Sometimes it’s your standard low-budget “B-movie” that owes its appeal to the fact that, despite its low budget, a great deal of effort was put into the production only to yield a subpar result. The 2003 film The Room starring Tommy Wiseau and Juliette Danielle is a great example (and a must-watch for any fan of this genre).

Mar 15, 2023 2:09 PM CDT

Southern Poverty Law Center attorney charged with domestic terrorism was legal observer at demonstration

A lawyer with the Southern Poverty Law Center who was accused of being one of 23 “agitators” during an Atlanta demonstration was actually a legal observer, according to the group and his defense lawyer.

Mar 8, 2023 9:14 AM CST

ABA partners with law schools to advance new approaches to policing and public safety

Kendall Anderson, a 3L at the Syracuse University College of Law, is a fellow in the third class of the Legal Education Police Practices Consortium. He plans to study cases in which police stops end in physical altercations. “I’ll try to get insight from officers as to the training they do that is preparing and equipping them to be able to handle those situations better.”

Mar 7, 2023 11:43 AM CST