Criminal Procedure

Suspended judge’s bond revoked after she tests positive for cocaine

A suspended criminal court judge has been booked into a Memphis, Tennessee, jail after she tested positive for cocaine while awaiting a trial on charges of coercing a witness and harassment.

Mar 29, 2024 9:47 AM CDT

DNA issues ‘cast a pall’ over murder conviction, warranting SCOTUS review, ABA amicus brief says

The U.S. Supreme Court should once again consider the case of a Texas death row inmate whose conviction was based on DNA evidence tested by a lab that “consistently and egregiously mishandled DNA evidence,” the ABA has said in an amicus brief.

Mar 28, 2024 9:02 AM CDT

Prosecutors seek to revoke Alex Murdaugh’s federal plea deal over $6M in missing money

Federal prosecutors want to revoke their financial-crimes plea deal with disbarred South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh because they think that he has not been truthful about the location of more than $6 million in missing money and the possible involvement of another attorney in wrongdoing.

Mar 27, 2024 2:02 PM CDT

Should lawyers always practice ‘by the book’?

I recall as a kid growing up in Montreal, we had difficulties with a next-door neighbor. Among other things, Madame Poirier owned a large mut, Roger, which she allowed the run of the land. This included Roger doing his business on our land. It often led to confrontations with my mother, as Madame Poirier insisted that Roger was just doing what dogs do.

Mar 21, 2024 10:19 AM CDT

James Patterson dishes on his new legal thriller, ‘The #1 Lawyer’

James Patterson has written bestsellers in many genres. But as he tells the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles in this episode of The Modern Law Library podcast, he has always been fascinated by legal thrillers, courtroom dramas and crime novels. He even considered becoming a lawyer—before his literary career took off.

Mar 20, 2024 9:46 AM CDT

Cannon tells lawyers to weigh if Trump conduct can’t be reviewed by courts

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s classified-documents case issued an unusual order late Monday regarding jury instructions at the end of the trial—even though she has not yet ruled on when the trial will be held, or a host of other issues.

Mar 19, 2024 2:30 PM CDT

Georgia judge dismisses six charges in Trump election interference case

The judge overseeing the election interference case against former president Donald Trump and several of his allies dismissed six counts in the sweeping 41-count criminal racketeering indictment, ruling that the charges lacked specific detail, but declined to dismiss the case.

Mar 13, 2024 10:00 AM CDT

Killings by police brought reforms. Fear of crime is unraveling them

RowVaughn Wells traveled to the Tennessee Capitol last week hoping to preserve the small silver lining that emerged from the death of her son, who was fatally beaten last year after being pulled over by Memphis Police. In his memory, the city passed the Tyre Nichols Driving Equality Act, barring officers from conducting certain traffic stops for low-level violations, among other measures. But now state lawmakers are advancing legislation that would nullify the Memphis law.

Mar 11, 2024 11:00 AM CDT

Was wrong person executed in death of Lindbergh baby? Ex-judge’s book and DNA quest raise issues

Updated: A court case and a book by a former judge are raising questions about the guilt of German immigrant Bruno Richard Hauptmann, a man convicted and executed in the 1932 kidnapping and death of the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles A. Lindbergh.

Mar 11, 2024 10:22 AM CDT

New true-crime docuseries sheds light on how polygraph tests are misused

“Most are unfamiliar with how often polygraphs are misused and abused in our criminal justice system because they’re the dirty little secret that never makes it to the public. Why is that?” writes lawyer and ABA Journal columnist Adam Banner.

Mar 8, 2024 10:40 AM CST

‘Rust’ armorer found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in shooting

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the “Rust” armorer accused of failing to ensure gun safety on the set of the low-budget Western movie in 2021, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and not guilty of evidence tampering in Santa Fe, N.M., on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. It was the first trial verdict related to the fatal shooting.

Mar 7, 2024 9:45 AM CST

Appeals court ruling means over 100 Jan. 6 rioters may be resentenced

A federal appeals court on Friday overturned a sentencing enhancement used against Jan. 6 defendants charged with felony obstruction, a decision that means that over 100 convicted rioters may have to be resentenced.

Mar 1, 2024 1:27 PM CST

What happens next after Supreme Court agrees to hear Trump immunity case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to weigh Donald Trump’s claim that he is immune from criminal prosecution on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election while president, setting historic oral arguments for the week of April 22 and further delaying his trial in Washington, D.C., during this presidential election year.

Feb 29, 2024 10:00 AM CST

Only 1 out of 5 defendants in this Mississippi county get court-appointed lawyers before indictment

The right to counsel is “tenuous” in a small Mississippi justice court in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, where two judges appointed lawyers for felony defendants in only 20% of the cases opened in 2022, according to an investigative report.

Feb 27, 2024 8:22 AM CST

Former Texas lawyer accused of bilking clients for at least $20M is sentenced for ‘Ponzi-type scheme’

A former lawyer in San Antonio has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for depositing client money into his accounts and then using it to pay other client debts and support his “extravagant lifestyle,” according to federal prosecutors and court records.

Feb 23, 2024 9:42 AM CST