Evidence

Secret GPS Tracking of Suspects, Without Warrants, OK’d By Courts

In what one critic describes as a signpost of our “always-on, surveillance society,” police departments increasingly have been secretly using GPS, without seeking search warrants, to track the movements of uncharged suspects. The satellite technology can be highly effective for this purpose: Although authorities are reluctant to discuss their investigative…

Aug 13, 2008 6:58 PM CDT

When Expert Witnesses Disagree, ‘Hot-Tubbing’ is a Possible Solution

When expert witnesses have opposing views of the same evidence, even the judge can be daunted. And, unfortunately, the American system of having each side hire its own expert too often creates such a situation. But approaches used in other countries, if tried here, could help eliminate such routine disagreements…

Aug 11, 2008 8:28 PM CDT

Jury to Decide if Md. Defense Attorney Tried to Get Witness to Change Story

A jury will decide whether a veteran Maryland defense lawyer tried to get a prosecution witness to change his testimony in a murder case, because “there is enough there” that the jury in the murder case should hear the evidence, a judge has ruled. “Baltimore Circuit Judge Timothy Doory said…

Aug 8, 2008 6:53 PM CDT

Calif. Appeals Court Rebukes Judge for Allowing Affair Evidence in Tire Case

Reversing a jury verdict for the defendant tire manufacturer that it described as resulting from a “miscarriage of justice,” a California appeals court rebuked the trial judge for allowing into evidence information about the plaintiff’s alleged extracurricular activities. “The now-retired superior court judge, David Workman, allowed Michelin to introduce evidence…

Aug 8, 2008 6:24 PM CDT

Gov’t. Puts Car in Court in Murder Trial

In an unusual effort to prove a murder case, prosecutors in Washington state have persuaded a judge to let them bring a car into the courtroom. The 2000 Ford Mustang in which victim Ronald Whitehead, 61, allegedly was shot to death “was hauled into the King County courtroom of Judge…

Aug 8, 2008 12:26 AM CDT

New Fingerprint Test IDs What Suspect Has Touched

It costs a lot more more. But a new type of fingerprint test, mass spectrometry, can identify not only the individual who left the print but what that person has been touching. “The equipment to perform such tests is already commercially available, although expensive. Smaller, cheaper, portable versions are probably…

Aug 7, 2008 7:35 PM CDT

Judge Approves Request to Release Anthrax Evidence

A federal judge has approved a request to release the contents of 14 search warrants issued in an investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth approved release of the sealed materials this morning, the Washington Post reports. The contents are being made…

Aug 6, 2008 4:08 PM CDT

Gun-Control Activist Accused of Being NRA Spy

A gun control activist on the boards of two gun control groups was a spy for the National Rifle Association, according to deposition testimony. The two groups are expelling the activist, Mary Lou McFate, and are checking their offices for bugs, report the Associated Press and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Mother…

Aug 6, 2008 2:32 PM CDT

Evidence Against Anthrax Scientist Is Mostly Circumstantial

The government scientist who killed himself before he could be indicted in the 2001 anthrax attacks was linked to the crime by the DNA of an anthrax strain he handled at a government laboratory. Anthrax spores were found on a bookcase and several other locations in or near the office…

Aug 4, 2008 10:47 AM CDT

Lawyer Willie Gary Fights Rape Claim With Sex Tapes of Accuser

Florida trial lawyer Willie Gary has submitted two tapes to a court overseeing a civil suit alleging he raped a woman. The two DVDs show his accuser having sex with his son. Gary’s lawyer, Michael Pike, says the tapes show the accuser, Jillian Nedd, had sex with Gary’s son Kenneth…

Jul 31, 2008 2:03 PM CDT

Court TV Video May Be Evidence in New Phil Spector Murder Trial

Video footage taken by a Court TV camera as a witness was testifying last year in the murder trial of legendary music producer Phil Spector probably will be admitted in a new trial scheduled to start in October. The witness, Dianne Ogden, who testified that Spector threatened her with a…

Jul 30, 2008 4:06 PM CDT

Tracking a Serial Rapist, via Cell Phone Records

It was the green gloves the suspect often wore as he raped women at gunpoint, after meeting them through escort advertisements in the Washington, D.C., area, that initially caught detectives’ attention. But it was cell phone records that eventually put Mark Humphries in their sights, leading to his suicide earlier…

Jul 28, 2008 11:12 PM CDT

Perry Mason Moment in Patent Trial: Inventor Died, Then Signed Application

Oops. As a witness was testifying earlier this week in a patent infringement case in California, a slight discrepancy between documents came to light. Testifying for tiny MultiMetrixs, one of the inventors said that another of the inventors, David Margulis, had signed the relevant patent office declarations in 2003 and…

Jul 25, 2008 11:02 PM CDT

Pa. Plans Law to Protect Prosecutors’ Cell Phone Records

Legislators in Pennsylvania are scurrying to close a loophole in state law that recently allowed a cell phone provider to give prosecutors’ personal records to a defense lawyer in a criminal case, even though Sprint Nextel apparently has promised not to do so again. “Sprint Nextel handed over the records…

Jul 25, 2008 9:14 PM CDT

GCs Fear Litigation Strategies Would Be Revealed if Rule Changes

The ABA is among the critics of a proposed accounting rule change that would require public companies to disclose more details about the risks of litigation. In-house lawyers and other critics say the rule change would force companies to reveal details that could provide opponents with a preview of their…

Jul 24, 2008 10:49 AM CDT