Story of New Law Grad’s Work on Tim McVeigh’s Defense Team Is Headed to Hollywood

As 1996 neared an end, Chad Wold’s life course seemed set. The recent law school graduate was getting settled in Montana, where he was about to get married and study for the bar exam. But then, in a stunning development that illustrates the power of networking, came a phone call…

Mar 17, 2011 7:52 PM CDT

DEA Seizes Lethal Injection Drug from Ga. Corrections Department

Georgia’s Department of Corrections turned proactive when a limited supply of a lethal injection drug delayed some executions in the United States. The state imported the sedative sodium thiopental from England and used it two months ago in a three-drug execution cocktail to execute Emmanuel Hammond, convicted of the shotgun…

Mar 16, 2011 11:22 AM CDT

Death Penalty Is Banned in Illinois

With Gov. Pat Quinn’s signature today, a bill banning the death penalty in Illinois is now official. The legislation will take effect July 1, Reuters reports. He also commuted the sentences of all 15 inmates on death row to life imprisonment without the possibility of release, calling the decision the…

Mar 9, 2011 7:56 PM CST

Supreme Court Allows State Prisoners to Seek DNA Evidence Through US Civil Rights Law

A Texas death-row inmate seeking a right to DNA evidence may pursue his claim under the federal civil rights law, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. The Supreme Court ruled in 2009 in District Attorney’s Office v. Osborne that inmates have no constitutional right to DNA evidence but left open…

Mar 7, 2011 3:38 PM CST

Novel New Indictment Hits Loughner with 49 Counts, Including Murder Charge re Chief Judge Roll

A federal grand jury in Arizona has issued a sweeping new superseding indictment against suspect Jared Lee Loughner, who is accused in a January supermarket parking lot shooting rampage in Tucson. It left six dead, including Chief U.S. District Judge John Roll, and more than a dozen injured, including U.S.…

Mar 4, 2011 8:00 PM CST

Accused WikiLeaks Source, Now Accused of Aiding the Enemy, Was Left Naked in His Cell, Lawyer Says

The Army intelligence analyst accused of leaking secret information to WikiLeaks was forced to sit naked in his cell for seven hours on Wednesday, his lawyer says. Pfc. Bradley Manning is being held at a Marine brig in Quantico, Va. His lawyer, David Combs, made the allegations in a post…

Mar 4, 2011 12:21 PM CST

Prosecution to Seek Death Penalty for Abortion Doc Accused of Murdering Woman and 7 Viable Babies

The government has announced that it will seek the death penalty in the case of a 70-year-old abortion doctor accused of murdering a woman patient and seven viable babies. However, a lawyer for Kermit Gosnell, 70, points out that he likely would die of old age before the penalty was…

Mar 2, 2011 8:06 PM CST

Lawyer’s Attempt to Keep His Head Above Water Landed a Client on Death Row

Mar 1, 2011 11:49 AM CST

Charged with a Misdeed? Drop the Hero Strategy and Opt for Victimhood, Study Says

Some people trying to escape blame for misdeeds try the hero strategy. The idea, often employed by defense lawyers, is to emphasize a person’s past good deeds as a rescuer of orphans, perhaps, or a pillar of the community, according to an article to be published in the March issue…

Feb 22, 2011 12:00 PM CST

Guilty Plea in Elderly Ex-Lawyer’s Murder Includes Promise to Testify Against Another Defendant

At first, authorities thought former Illinois attorney Carl Kuhn might have died of natural causes. However, his home was in disarray and an autopsy showed that the 82-year-old suburban Chicago resident had been smothered. Today, Keith Allen, 22, pleaded guilty to the 2009 murder and agreed to testify against a…

Feb 18, 2011 8:25 PM CST

Accidental Cell Call Not Only Put Suspect at Scene of Murder But Recorded Crime, Prosecutor Says

Somehow, as Ronald Earl Williams was stabbing his wife to death in 2007, he accidentally hit the send key on his cellphone, a prosecutor says. And the call he allegedly made was to his wife, the St. Petersburg Times reports. So Williams’ threat to kill her, along with Mariama Williams’…

Feb 8, 2011 10:58 PM CST

Law Prof Nominates Imprisoned Gov. for Nobel Peace Prize, Sees Message in No. 167

Imprisoned former Illinois Gov. George Ryan deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for halting executions in the state, according to a University of Illinois law professor who nominated him for the honor. Francis Boyle is allowed to make nominations for the prize because he is an international law professor, according to…

Feb 2, 2011 1:17 PM CST

Expanding Field of Forensic Botany Helps Point Detectives to Suspects

When it comes to pointing the finger at a murder suspect, plants are gaining an increasing role in the criminal justice community. Although the use of expert testimony by botanists dates back at least to the 1935 “trial of the century” in New Jersey over the kidnapping and slaying of…

Feb 1, 2011 12:07 AM CST

1-Year State of Emergency Declared in Ariz. Federal Courts, Allowing 6-Month Criminal Trial Delay

A one-year state of emergency has been declared in the federal courts of Arizona, following the slaying earlier this month of Chief District Judge John Roll. He was shot along with State. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 17 others as she was meeting with constituents in Tucson on Jan. 8. Last…

Jan 26, 2011 3:18 AM CST

No-Nonsense Calif. Federal Judge Tapped for Ariz. Shooting Trial

A federal judge in California with experience in death-penalty trials has been tapped to preside over the trial of the suspect in the Tucson, Ariz., shooting spree that left six people dead and 14 injured. U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns of San Diego is known as a no-nonsense judge…

Jan 14, 2011 12:56 PM CST