Evidence

IRS E-Mail Advice to Be Disclosed

A federal appeals court has ruled that the Internal Revenue Service must release e-mail advice prepared by the Office of Chief Counsel for field personnel. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit disagreed with the IRS, which contended that e-mails prepared in less than two hours…

Jul 25, 2007 7:52 PM CDT

Hypnosis Hearing Stuns Petitioner

A federal judge has granted a hearing to determine if the children who agreed to testify in a high-profile sexual abuse case were influenced by hypnosis. U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert of Central Islip, N.Y., issued the order in response to a habeas petition by Jesse Friedman, the New York…

Jul 24, 2007 3:31 PM CDT

Gov’t Tracks Individual Pharmacy Buys

If you don’t want the police at your door unexpectedly, it’s best not to have too many colds and allergies. Several Kentucky residents found themselves explaining Sudafed purchases to authorities recently, after buying the non-prescription medicine to treat their symptoms, reports National Public Radio. Unbeknownst to them, the government had…

Jul 24, 2007 1:02 AM CDT

Depravity Scale Categorizes Murders

What is evil? The question bedevils philosophers, but that hasn’t stopped a forensic psychiatrist from trying to figure out an answer for the legal system. Michael Welner is a psychiatry professor at New York University who has created a depravity scale that separates run-of-the-mill murders from those that are vile,…

Jul 23, 2007 8:21 PM CDT

Mistaken IDs Spur Most Bad Convictions

A study of 200 wrongful convictions has found that most were the result of mistaken eyewitness identifications. Bad witness IDs occurred in 79 percent of the cases studied, Adam Liptak reports in his Sidebar column for the New York Times (sub. req.). The next leading cause of wrongful convictions was…

Jul 23, 2007 3:52 PM CDT

NY Court Bars Broadcast of Teen’s Name

At least for now, a New York appellate court has foiled an attempt to publish the name of a then-teenage girl who was allegedly sexually abused by an actor backstage after a Broadway show, to solicit information about others she might have accused in the past. A state appeals court…

Jul 20, 2007 11:04 PM CDT

Harvard Study Details Doctors’ Race Bias

In a study that has obvious implications for the legal profession, too, Harvard University researchers have detailed how unconscious bias can significantly affect life-and-death decision-making by doctors. Although previous studies have documented that the bias exists, this is the first time researchers have explained how it happens that a doctor…

Jul 20, 2007 9:16 PM CDT

Ex-Madam Can’t Testify in Spector Trial

A number of potential witnesses are eager to testify for the defense in the televised murder trial of music producer Phil Spector. But they may never get their time in the spotlight because of rulings by Los Angeles Judge Larry Paul Fidler. The witnesses want to talk about actress Lana…

Jul 19, 2007 8:09 PM CDT

Camera ‘DNA’ May Nab Potter Bookjacker

Add digital cameras to the ever-lengthening list of modern technology that can be used as evidence to help prove a criminal or civil case. Experts say they have already identified the serial number of the three-year-old digital Canon Rebel 350 apparently used to take bootleg photos of the not-yet-released Harry…

Jul 19, 2007 6:47 PM CDT

Measure Cages ‘Rat’ Web Site

A second federal court has taken steps to protect the identities of defendants who cooperate with authorities. The Eastern District of Pennsylvania will no longer post sentencing and plea dockets to its Web site, making it more difficult to learn whether defendants agreed to cooperate, the Legal Intelligencer reports. The…

Jul 17, 2007 1:28 PM CDT

Gitmo Lawyer: U.S. Agents Seized Notes

A Canadian attorney representing an accused enemy combatant held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison says he was harassed and had his legal notes reviewed on Saturday by U.S. authorities. On his way home after meeting with his client, Omar Khadr, 20, Dennis Edney was singled out by U.S. customs…

Jul 17, 2007 12:56 AM CDT

Cell Phone Calls Can Make, Break Cases

When Paul Cortez was tried for the murder of the stripper he had been dating, there was an unexpected witness against the New York actor—his cell phone. Records showed he had called her more than a dozen times in the two hours before her death, and then never again. Plus,…

Jul 16, 2007 9:33 PM CDT

St. Louis Prosecutor: Right Man Executed

Friends of Larry Griffin and death penalty opponents have been eagerly awaiting a report by the chief St. Louis prosecutor on whether Griffin was innocent of the 1980 murder for which he was executed in 1995. But now Chief Prosecutor Jennifer Joyce says the state of Missouri imposed the ultimate…

Jul 13, 2007 5:28 PM CDT

Mistrial in Rape Trial With R-Word Ban

Updated: Ruling from the bench, a Nebraska judge today declared a mistrial in a controversial acquaintance-rape case in which the accuser was barred from using the word “rape,” among other specific language, when testifying. Defense lawyers said they believe Lancaster County District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront declared the mistrial just before…

Jul 12, 2007 11:26 PM CDT

Spector’s Ex-Lawyer Says She Will Testify

Bowing to the California Supreme Court’s effective decision that attorney-client privilege doesn’t apply, a lawyer who formerly represented music producer Phil Spector says she will testify in his ongoing murder trial. Sara Caplan is expected to testify today about whether she saw an expert mishandle evidence at the crime scene…

Jul 12, 2007 10:05 PM CDT