Criminal Procedure

Indiana judge shot at White Castle during judicial conference enters guilty plea

Judge Andrew Adams of Clark County, Indiana, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery Monday for his role in a fracas at a White Castle parking lot that left him hospitalized for 16 days with a gunshot wound to his stomach.

Sep 10, 2019 9:49 AM CDT

Lawyer who pleaded guilty to possession of child porn gets 1-year sentence

A San Francisco lawyer accused of keeping more than 600 images of child pornography on his electronic devices, including images of young girls who appear to be as young as 3 years old, has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison after a guilty plea.

Sep 5, 2019 2:58 PM CDT

Judge rejects prosecutor bid to drop charges against ‘straight pride’ protesters; defense lawyer handcuffed

Updated: A district attorney in Boston is asking the state’s highest court to step in after a judge refused her office’s bid to drop charges against protesters and observers at a “straight pride” parade. Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins filed an emergency petition Wednesday. She contends in a press…

Sep 5, 2019 10:59 AM CDT

Pain doc is accused of discussing plot to drug or kill opposing counsel whose lawsuit cost him $60K

A pain doctor who works in Ohio and Michigan was arrested on a federal drug charge last Friday after discussing with a patient various plans to kill or drug a lawyer with fentanyl, according to an FBI criminal complaint.

Aug 29, 2019 2:43 PM CDT

Global general counsel fired after accusations of blackmailing woman he met online

Steven Fabrizio, the global general counsel of the Motion Picture Association of America, has been fired after his arrest for allegedly blackmailing a woman he met on a “sugar daddies” online dating site.

Aug 29, 2019 10:20 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Parking lot shooter’s self-defense bid fails; lawyer charged in alleged Mercedes attack

Shooter of unarmed black man found guilty of manslaughter; sheriff hadn’t charged him Michael Drejka’s self-defense argument didn’t succeed when Florida jurors convicted him of manslaughter Friday for fatally shooting a black man who shoved him to the ground. Prosecutors brought charges after the Pinellas County sheriff declined to charge…

Aug 26, 2019 4:17 PM CDT

Signing use-of-force bill, governor vows more changes to ‘biased, random’ justice system

In his first few months as California’s governor, Gavin Newsom made some critics question his commitment to fixing the state’s troubled prison system. Though he had run as a reformer, Newsom stopped the release of dozens of prisoners eligible for parole after he took office in January and attempted to…

Aug 21, 2019 3:23 PM CDT

Former paralegal at US attorney’s office accused of using prosecutor info to expose informants

A paralegal in the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey has been indicted for allegedly using government information to identify informants and help her gang member son. Tawanna Hilliard of Brooklyn pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that include witness tampering, obstruction of justice and conspiracy, NJ.com reports. She was…

Aug 16, 2019 2:29 PM CDT

Study finds decline in racial gap in federal criminal sentences; ethnicity gap varies with citizenship

Disparities in sentencing based on race are on the decline, according to a new study. “These results show we have a reason for optimism,” said Ryan King, one of the study authors and a sociology professor at the Ohio State University.

Aug 16, 2019 12:27 PM CDT

Contentious resolution seeking to redefine consent in sexual assault cases is postponed

The ABA House of Delegates has postponed indefinitely a resolution that would call on legislatures and courts to redefine the consent standard in sexual assault cases, after contentious debate Monday at the ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Aug 12, 2019 10:20 PM CDT

A smoking-gun document offered by ex-employee of opposing party? Beware ethical risks, opinion says

The scenario: A lawyer is offered access to a document from an opposing party’s former employee, who is not represented by counsel. The lawyer is told that the document will show that the opposing party is withholding documents in discovery. May the lawyer read and use the document? It depends…

Aug 5, 2019 4:24 PM CDT

Justice of the peace accused of longtime domestic abuse is suspended from the bench

The Louisiana Supreme Court has suspended a justice of the peace accused of abusing his former live-in girlfriend and her children for more than a decade. The court said Aug. 1 that 55-year-old Moses Evans Jr., a former Baton Rouge police officer, was disqualified from any judicial function while proceedings…

Aug 5, 2019 12:49 PM CDT

What lawyers can learn about criminal liability from MTV’s ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’

I was born and reared (you “raise” crops, you “rear” animals) in a small town in western Oklahoma. My upbringing was somewhat sheltered when you consider that I was an hour and a half from any major metropolitan areas. We weren’t secluded from society, though. I’m young enough that I…

Aug 1, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

Appeals court allows defamation suit for comments by Cosby lawyer day after ‘epic’ settlement

A California appeals court has ruled against actor Bill Cosby’s bid to toss a defamation lawsuit by former model Janice Dickinson. The ruling comes just one day after Dickinson’s lawyer announced that the case had settled for “an epic amount.” California’s Second District Court of Appeal ruled Friday in the…

Jul 29, 2019 12:53 PM CDT

Lawyer held in contempt for recording defendant’s mouth being taped shut on judge’s orders

A public defender in Louisiana has been found in contempt of court for taking out his cellphone and recording a talkative defendant’s mouth being taped shut on a judge’s orders. Judge Marilyn Castle of Lafayette found lawyer Michael Gregory in contempt Friday, fined him $100, and banned him from bringing…

Jul 29, 2019 11:39 AM CDT