Evidence

Are DNA Tests as Accurate as We Thought?

Trumpeted for years as virtually infallible, DNA tests may not be as accurate as we thought. Questions raised by an Arizona lab worker who stumbled across several close DNA matches that seemingly defied the odds of a match, as described in court, have led to more extensive efforts to test…

Jul 23, 2008 10:39 PM CDT

Jury Deadlocks in Trial of Man Accused of Killing Ex-Bar President

A jury has deadlocked in the trial of homeless man accused of killing a former president of the California State Bar during a sexual tryst two years ago. The defendant, Michael Salvador Anunciation, was accused of killing Garvin Shallenberger, who was state bar president in 1977-78, the Daily Journal reports.…

Jul 22, 2008 4:24 PM CDT

Judge’s Ruling on Interrogation Evidence Could Affect Sept. 11 Trial

A military judge’s evidence ruling yesterday in the case of Osama bin Laden’s former driver could have an impact in the case against the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. The judge, Navy Capt. Keith Allred, refused to admit statements of Salim Ahmed Hamdan that were obtained under “highly…

Jul 22, 2008 12:18 PM CDT

Two Judges Refuse to Delay First Guantanamo Trial

Judges in Washington, D.C., and Guantanamo Bay yesterday turned down last-minute attempts to delay the military commissions trial of the driver for Osama bin Laden. Lawyers for Salim Ahmed Hamdan had argued the military commission process is unconstitutional, the New York Times reports. U.S. District Judge James Robertson of Washington,…

Jul 18, 2008 12:19 PM CDT

Jury Rules Bratz Doll Created During Designer’s Stint at Mattel

A California jury has ruled that the popular Bratz doll was created by a designer when he was working for Mattel, a blow for the doll’s maker, Mattel rival MGA Entertainment Inc. Mattel had claimed designer Carter Bryant took the idea for the hip, multi-ethnic doll to MGA even though…

Jul 18, 2008 11:14 AM CDT

Did Lawyer in Wiretap Case Hear Opposing Counsel’s Talks With Client?

Ever wanted to listen in as a divorce lawyer talks with a high-profile client? A trial memo filed yesterday by federal prosecutors in the wiretapping case against attorney Terry Christensen suggests that his trial may offer the next-best opportunity. It says former private investigator to the stars Anthony Pellicano allegedly…

Jul 16, 2008 8:11 PM CDT

True-Crime Book Wins $60K Prize

A non-fiction novel about a notorious unsolved murder of a child that happened more than 100 years ago has won a pricey prize from the BBC. Kate Summerscale says she got the idea for The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: or the Murder at Road Hill House when she happened to…

Jul 16, 2008 7:08 PM CDT

Judge Orders Arrangement for Testimony of Guantanamo Detainees

The judge overseeing the prosecution of Osama bin Laden’s driver has told lawyers in the case to work out an arrangement to allow requested testimony by the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and seven other detainees. The military commission trial of the driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, is scheduled to…

Jul 15, 2008 11:14 AM CDT

E-Law Rock Stars?

When electronic discovery disputes get heated in his courtroom, Magistrate Judge David J. Waxse of the U.S. District Court in Kansas has a simple strategy: “If someone comes to me and says, ‘So and so is impossible to deal with and we can’t get a deal done,’ I tell them,…

Jul 11, 2008 7:00 PM CDT

Accused Sept. 11 Plotters Want Secret Evidence and a Chance to File Motions

At least four out of five Guantanamo detainees accused of planning the Sept. 11 attacks are rejecting lawyers, but they are facing some difficulties as they try to represent themselves. One detainee known by his alias, Ammar al-Baluchi, told the judge he had written two letters and a legal motion,…

Jul 11, 2008 11:36 AM CDT

Suspect ID’d by DNA in JonBenet Ramsey Murder Case

Cleared by the local district attorney of any involvement in the murder of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey in 1996, her family now has one goal: to see her killer apprehended. “We still don’t have our killer yet. That’s our final goal, and that’s the goal that we’re still striving toward, and…

Jul 10, 2008 6:48 PM CDT

Deadlocked Jury Had Favored Accused Fen-Phen Lawyers

The foreman of a deadlocked jury that heard the case against three fen-phen lawyers accused of defrauding their clients says the vote was 10-2 in favor of acquitting the remaining two defendants. Foreman Donald Rainone told the Louisville Courier-Journal that the vote had been 10-2 for much of the deliberations…

Jul 7, 2008 10:32 AM CDT

Judge Tosses Suit Claiming Government Wiretapped Lawyers’ Conversations

A federal judge in San Francisco has dismissed a lawsuit that claimed the government illegally wiretapped conversations between lawyers and a client, a now-defunct charity suspected of terrorism. The lawsuit relied on a classified call log the government turned over by mistake to the client, the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation. U.S.…

Jul 3, 2008 1:49 PM CDT

Problems and Genesis of State Secrets Privilege Detailed in Book

An Air Force accident report that was shielded from litigants because of the state secrets privilege turned out to carry no secrets but instead information indicating negligence. The plaintiffs were three widows whose husbands were killed 60 years ago on a secret mission aboard a B-29 bomber that crashed. Their…

Jul 2, 2008 4:02 PM CDT

U.S. Interrogation Model: Chinese Korean War Techniques

Military trainers teaching interrogators about possible techniques to use on detainees at Guantanamo Bay relied on Chinese methods used during the Korean War that often elicited false confessions, the New York Times reports. An interrogation expert told the Times that a chart showing the effects of “coercive management techniques,” part…

Jul 2, 2008 12:53 PM CDT