Missouri

Deputy arrests disbarred lawyer a decade after taking report in child-abuse case

A decade ago, a Missouri sheriff’s deputy took a report in a child-abuse case. The suspect, attorney Laura Ann Sipes, was convicted of misdemeanor assault in the beating of her two sons, but disappeared before sentencing in the Lincoln County case, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (reg. req.). Monday night,…

Sep 11, 2014 10:05 AM CDT

St. Louis lawyer charged with hindering prosecution of wanted woman

A St. Louis lawyer has been arrested on charges that he is helping to hide a woman who is wanted on drug charges. Bryan Christopher Edwards, 44, was charged Thursday with one count of hindering prosecution, although additional charges are expected, the St. Louis Daily Journal. Edwards was charged in…

Sep 9, 2014 6:15 AM CDT

Protesters sue city of Ferguson, St. Louis County and their police chiefs for $41.5 million

Five protesters are suing the city of Ferguson and St. Louis County, Missouri, as well as their police chiefs, based on allegations that they were subject to excessive force and false arrest, among other things. The U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Missouri complaint (PDF) seeks $41.5 million in…

Aug 29, 2014 4:03 PM CDT

Holder, who has made police misconduct cases a priority, will travel to Ferguson

Attorney General Eric Holder travels to Ferguson, Missouri, on Wednesday where he will meet with community members and FBI agents conducting a civil-rights investigation. President Obama announced Holder’s plans on Monday, report the New York Times, the Washington Post and the National Law Journal. Holder’s visit comes after National Guard…

Aug 19, 2014 12:22 PM CDT

Harvard law prof calls for arrest of Ferguson cop; autopsy finds teen was shot at least six times

Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree is calling for the arrest of the police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on Aug. 9. Appearing Sunday on Meet the Press, Ogletree commented after host Andrea Mitchell noted that police still have not released details of the shooting,…

Aug 18, 2014 12:16 PM CDT

‘OK, let’s take him’: Post reporter recounts his arrest at Ferguson McDonald’s

A Washington Post reporter was arrested Wednesday at a McDonald’s in Ferguson, Missouri, while charging his cellphone. He says police asked him for identification; ordered him to stop recording video; then told him to leave and slammed him into a soda machine while cuffing him. Reporter Wesley Lowery recounts his…

Aug 14, 2014 1:15 PM CDT

Are police in Ferguson violating the Constitution?

Updated: Another night of confrontations between police and protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, is raising questions about the town’s response to unrest after an officer’s shooting of an unarmed teen. Police asked protesters to disperse before nightfall and responded to crowds Wednesday night with tear gas, rubber bullets, sonic cannons, smoke…

Aug 14, 2014 12:33 PM CDT

Family of teen fatally shot by cop hires lawyer in Trayvon Martin case; case spurs protests, looting

The family of a Missouri teen killed on Saturday in a police shooting has hired a lawyer who represented the family of Trayvon Martin, while the NAACP called for calm after the incident spurred looting Sunday night. Police say Michael Brown, 18, was killed after a scuffle with a Ferguson,…

Aug 11, 2014 3:06 PM CDT

Missouri execution takes 10 minutes; four SCOTUS justices would have granted stay

A Missouri inmate was executed early Wednesday in a lethal injection procedure that took 10 minutes, a marked contrast to the nearly two-hour execution of an Arizona inmate last month. Michael Worthington was executed for the 1995 rape and murder of a college student, the Associated Press reports. He was…

Aug 6, 2014 1:57 PM CDT

Woman sues after family dies at local Home Depot in Joplin tornado; retailer cites ‘act of God’

A Missouri woman whose husband and two young children died when they took shelter from a massive Joplin tornado at a local Home Depot in 2011 has filed a wrongful death suit against the store, the company that designed it and the property owner. Edie Howard Housel contends that the…

Aug 5, 2014 6:30 PM CDT

Once-missing lawyer pleads guilty to defrauding mom, clients

A disbarred Missouri lawyer who temporarily disappeared has pleaded guilty to fraud charges stemming from allegations that he obtained money using his mother’s identity and stole client funds. Jeffrey Witt, arrested in March upon his return from Instanbul, pleaded guilty on Friday to federal charges of bank fraud, aggravated identity…

Jul 28, 2014 1:29 PM CDT

Former Missouri justice is confirmed as federal judge, 15 years after Senate rejection

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Ronnie White as a federal judge in Missouri 15 years after rejecting his original nomination. White, the first black justice on the Missouri Supreme Court, was confirmed on Wednesday in a 53-44 vote, report the National Law Journal, the Washington Post and the St. Louis…

Jul 17, 2014 2:19 PM CDT

Inmate takes $4K settlement in suit alleging he was denied a toothbrush

An inmate who filed a handwritten federal lawsuit in 2009 alleging that Missouri prison employees had failed to provide him with toothbrushes and toothpaste has settled his case on the eve of trial. Eugene Kenneth Jones has agreed to accept $4,000 from the state to conclude both this lawsuit (PDF)…

Jul 16, 2014 10:44 PM CDT

Man gets up to 7 years for breaking into and vandalizing prosecutor’s home

A man who broke into a Missouri prosecutor’s home last year, vandalizing it and nearby property as he drove around in the prosecutor’s two vehicles, has been sentenced to prison term of as much as seven years. Court records don’t explain why David Metty, 26, acted as he did, but…

Jul 11, 2014 2:15 PM CDT

Lawyer pleads guilty in 3 bank robberies, admits shooting state trooper

A 64-year-old graduate of Washington University School of Law has pleaded guilty to three federal bank robbery counts and admitted shooting a Missouri state trooper. Warren Gladders could get as much as life when he is sentenced in October, according to the Associated Press and KDSK. See also: ABAJournal.com: “News…

Jul 7, 2014 7:35 PM CDT