Juries

Dissent Hits ‘Dysfunctional’ Jury in Ex-Gov’s Trial

A federal appeals court has affirmed former Illinois Gov. George Ryan’s conviction for fraud and corruption, despite jury problems during the trial. The Chicago-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled that the federal judge who oversaw the six-month trial acted within her authority when she replaced two…

Aug 21, 2007 5:10 PM CDT

Ruling Thwarts Perjury Prosecutions

A federal appeals court ruling permitting grand jury witnesses to review their testimony is winning praise from criminal defense lawyers. The June ruling could help witnesses clear up misstatements that can lead to perjury charges, defense lawyers told Legal Times. But prosecutors worry that co-defendants will share their testimony with…

Aug 21, 2007 11:09 AM CDT

Judge: Spector Lawyers Violated Rules

The judge in the ongoing Phil Spector murder trial has rebuked the music producer’s attorneys for a violation of discovery rules “so deliberate and so egregious” that it requires a remedy. Hence, Judge Larry Paul Fidler said Thursday, he is going to instruct the jury to take it into consideration…

Aug 17, 2007 7:36 PM CDT

Judge Tells Jurors: No ‘CSI’

A judge in Butler County, Ohio, thinks some TV crime shows have created unrealistic expectations for jurors—and she’s doing something about it. Judge Patricia Oney of Hamilton bars jurors from watching TV shows ranging from CSI to Law & Order, the Associated Press reports. “So many shows now are pulled…

Aug 14, 2007 2:53 PM CDT

No Ban on Copying Juror Notes

A federal appeals court has overturned a sanction of more than $14,000 against two lawyers who copied jury notes at the end of a case. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Richmond, Va., said there was no bad faith nor abuse of the litigation process since the…

Aug 13, 2007 1:36 PM CDT

Company Charged in ‘Big Dig’ Death Case

A grand jury has charged with involuntary manslaughter the Brewster, N.Y.-based company that provided the glue that is being blamed, in part, for the collapse of the “Big Dig” tunnel in Boston last summer. A passenger in a car underneath was crushed to death when the roof of the Interstate…

Aug 8, 2007 8:48 PM CDT

Katrina Hospital Murder Case Closed, But Civil Cases Continue

The criminal case against two nurses and a doctor accused of murdering hospital patients while working under horrendous conditions during Hurricane Katrina is now at an end, following a grand jury’s refusal to indict Dr. Anna Pou last month, prosecutors told the judge in the case yesterday. But it appears…

Aug 7, 2007 5:29 PM CDT

Bloomberg Not a Juror

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg showed up for jury duty yesterday and answered voir dire questions for an asbestos case. He wasn’t selected. Judge Helen Freedman said Bloomberg would be treated like any other juror, the New York Post reports. When asked if he would take over deliberations if chosen,…

Aug 7, 2007 2:54 PM CDT

NY Mayor Shows Up for Jury Duty

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg showed up for jury duty today and was being considered as a juror for an asbestos case. Bloomberg, who was accompanied by security guards and press aides, appeared slightly bored, the Associated Press reports. He gave an autograph to a woman who requested it. “It’s…

Aug 6, 2007 4:20 PM CDT

Verdict Stands Despite Lawyer-Foreman

A New Jersey judge has found that a lawyer and state senator who served on a jury did not improperly influence his fellow jurors, despite what he said in an article about his experiences. Sen. Robert Martin wrote for the New Jersey Law Journal last December about serving as a…

Aug 2, 2007 12:34 PM CDT

Shopping Leads to Jury Service

Only about 46 percent of people summoned for jury duty show up, and court systems are trying to do something about it. In Sanford, N.C., sheriff’s deputies rounded up some jurors in March by dispatching sheriff’s deputies to the parking lots of Food Lion and Wal-Mart, the Associated Press reports.…

Jul 30, 2007 2:58 PM CDT

Jurors Questioned re Masturbation Habits

Jurors were questioned about their own personal masturbation habits today at the outset of a Florida trial in which they must determine if a 20-year-old inmate is guilty of masturbating while alone in his jail cell. In response to a defense lawyer’s questioning, all nine men among the prospective jurors…

Jul 25, 2007 9:54 PM CDT

Are New Justices Rewriting Case Law?

Two new members of the U.S. Supreme Court reportedly have lost no time in overturning a number of settled precedents. And among those taking note of the situation are members of Congress, who are thinking about looking into whether the justices said one thing during confirmation hearings and did something…

Jul 25, 2007 9:22 PM CDT

No Murder Charges for Katrina Doctor

A grand jury in New Orleans has refused to indict a doctor accused of murdering four hospitalized patients by having them injected with a lethal drug cocktail in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. However, a prosecutor said after the announcement of the grand jury’s findings that investigators in her office…

Jul 24, 2007 6:56 PM CDT

Murderer Loses, Jurors Win Wedding

A murder trial led to matrimony for two Queens, N.Y., jurors who met while sitting on the same jury panel and are to be married next month by the presiding judge in the case. Given all the time that panel members spend together—while under strict instructions to say nothing about…

Jul 17, 2007 12:30 AM CDT