Criminal Procedure

Top Baltimore prosecutor is indicted for allegedly lying to get money for Florida home purchases

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby was indicted Thursday for allegedly committing perjury and filing false mortgage applications to buy two homes in Florida.

Jan 14, 2022 10:26 AM CST

Ex-film industry lawyer gets prison time for blackmailing woman he met on ‘sugar daddies’ website

A fired top lawyer for the film industry has been sentenced to a year in prison for blackmailing and sexually abusing a woman he met through an online “sugar daddies” website.

Jan 10, 2022 4:16 PM CST

Judge gives ‘Nirvana Baby’ ‘one last opportunity’ to revive lawsuit over child porn, trafficking claims

A federal judge in California has dismissed on a technicality the child pornography and sex trafficking claims of a man who appeared nude as a baby on the cover of rock band Nirvana’s 1991 grunge album Nevermind.

Jan 5, 2022 12:39 PM CST

Lawyer pens book about multiple personality disorder murder case that haunts him

“Just in the Nick of Time” is part memoir, part courtroom drama and part medical mystery that examines whether David Savitz’s handsome, charming client had a real psychiatric disorder or was a crafty manipulator trying to fake his way out of a murder conviction.

Jan 4, 2022 10:28 AM CST

Relax with our favorite long reads of 2021

Feel like curling up next to the fireplace with a good read? Kevin Davis, the ABA Journal's managing editor, has curated a selection of our favorite feature stories that ran in the magazine and online in 2021.

Dec 23, 2021 10:41 AM CST

Some states seek to eliminate racial bias in jury selection with peremptory-challenge changes

Some states are changing the rules for peremptory challenges—and in one case, eliminating them altogether—in an effort to eliminate racial bias in jury selection.

Dec 22, 2021 3:32 PM CST

Rapper who called attention to high-billing prison phone service is killed at music festival

The rapper who recorded a mixtape over a high-billing prison phone service was fatally stabbed backstage at a music festival Saturday.

Dec 20, 2021 11:55 AM CST

Meet 12 ABA members who inspired us in 2021

The ABA Journal regularly profiles exceptional ABA members in its Members Who Inspire series. In the past year, we featured many in the legal field who are encouraging and energizing others with their good work, including advocating for inmates on death row, mentoring prospective law students of African descent and fighting to stop bullying in the workplace.

Dec 17, 2021 9:34 AM CST

Novelist James Patterson tells the stranger-than-fiction story of criminal defense attorney Barry Slotnick

James Patterson, long known as a master of make-believe, took on nonfiction a few years ago. So he may be more qualified than anyone to confirm one of the oldest adages in the book: Truth is stranger than fiction.

Dec 16, 2021 9:38 AM CST

Lawyer accused of threat to release judge’s nude photos can be sued for punitive damages, court rules

A Florida judge can seek punitive damages against a lawyer she accused of threatening to release her nude photos unless she acquiesced to his demands in her child custody case, according to a Dec. 9 decision.

Dec 14, 2021 2:20 PM CST

New database tracks gender-based violence sentencing decisions in the Pacific

“The training not only showed us information about the trends in sentencing decisions, but it definitely got us thinking about a lot of things,” said Loukinikini Vili, a lawyer and the director of human rights at Samoa’s Office of the Ombudsman/National Human Rights Institution.

Dec 9, 2021 8:49 AM CST

Prosecutions of parents of school shooters are ‘almost unheard of’

Prosecutors in Michigan will have to prove that the parents of alleged school shooter Ethan Crumbley were grossly negligent or reckless to obtain a conviction for involuntary manslaughter, experts have told Reuters.

Dec 7, 2021 2:45 PM CST

New prosecutors reopen investigations into deadly police shootings

Progressive prosecutors are reopening investigations of deadly police shootings that resulted in no charges under their predecessors, spurring pushback from police unions.

Dec 2, 2021 11:55 AM CST

Former homicide prosecutor is charged with subpoenaing phone records to stalk women

A former homicide prosecutor in Baltimore is accused in an 88-count indictment of using grand jury subpoenas and other investigative tools to obtain information that he used to stalk two former romantic partners.

Dec 1, 2021 11:20 AM CST

For some civil rights lawyers, police body camera video can be hard to come by

Many civil rights attorneys seeking body camera video find police departments, officials and judges can stand in their way. Sometimes, according to lawyers and legal experts, the video is selectively released or edited. That can leave lawyers with little choice but to file a lawsuit and use discovery and subpoena power to obtain recordings, delaying justice for families wanting a more complete picture of what happened to their loved ones. Even so, police say there are good reasons to withhold, edit or redact footage to protect the privacy rights of people who appear on camera and prevent interference in ongoing investigations.

Dec 1, 2021 2:00 AM CST