Prosecutors

Disciplining son with a belt is a constitutional right, prosecutor says in bid to get charge tossed

A West Virginia prosecutor maintains he has a constitutional right to discipline his son with a belt. Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants is seeking dismissal of a misdemeanor domestic battery charge against him for allegedly striking his 11-year-old son with a leather belt, report the Charleston Gazette and WSAZ. Prosecutors…

Apr 10, 2014 12:10 PM CDT

Prosecutor gets her job back after filing police report against DA

A Tennessee prosecutor has been reinstated to her job after alleging the district attorney assaulted her during a disagreement and fired her two days later. Tenth Judicial District Attorney Steve Bebb made the announcement in a joint press release with his accuser, Cynthia LeCroy-Schemel, report the Chattanooga Times Free Press…

Apr 9, 2014 4:09 PM CDT

Federal judge says his directive to increase staffing in union prosecution was a wish, not an order

A federal judge in Pennsylvania said Thursday he was only expressing a wish—and not giving an order—when he told the U.S. Attorney’s office to assign additional prosecutors in a racketeering case against union members. U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson appeared conciliatory when he spoke with U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger…

Apr 4, 2014 12:36 PM CDT

Claiming prosecutorial misconduct in Sandusky probe, ex-Penn State president sues state AG’s office

Graham Spanier, former Penn State president. Richard Paul Kane / Shutterstock.com A former president of Pennsylvania State University has filed a federal civil lawsuit against the state attorney general’s office, contending that it mishandled a criminal investigation concerning Penn State’s role in overseeing Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant football coach…

Mar 31, 2014 6:00 PM CDT

More Fast and Furious fallout: Former US attorney is reprimanded for leaking documents

Former U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke of Arizona has been reprimanded for leaking two classified documents about Operation Fast and Furious, the flawed gun-running sting that allowed illegal firearms to be smuggled across the border. Burke consented to the reprimand, according to the order (PDF) issued last Thursday. He told the…

Mar 31, 2014 1:08 PM CDT

Iran-Contra prosecutor and former ABA president Lawrence Walsh is dead at 102

Lawrence E. Walsh, a former prosecutor, federal judge and BigLaw partner who served as president of both the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association during an achievement-filled career, has died at the age of 102. Perhaps best known for his work as a court-appointed independent counsel…

Mar 20, 2014 10:42 PM CDT

Pennsylvania AG defends shutdown of pol probe, says case was mishandled

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane says she shut down a sting operation involving eight targets because the probe was mishandled before she took office last year. In a news conference on Monday, Kane responded to a Philadelphia Inquirer story that said she shut down a probe that ensnared four Democratic…

Mar 18, 2014 5:02 PM CDT

Shot by police in traffic stop, lawyer runs for DA; his felony trial and election are a week apart

Shot three times by Las Vegas police during a 2009 traffic stop, a Nevada lawyer filed Friday to run for election against the Clark County district attorney in charge of prosecuting a felony case that resulted from the incident. Raymond James “Jim” Duensing, who is a Libertarian, had previously run…

Mar 18, 2014 4:40 PM CDT

Honors Georgetown law grad, 29, retains 6th Circuit clerkship despite being charged in Dewey case

News that former leaders of Dewey & LeBoeuf had been criminally charged concerning the collapse of the once-mighty New York-based law firm wasn’t a major surprise to those who had been following the firm’s bankruptcy and claims of mismanagement by angry partners. In fact, the firm’s chairman, executive director and…

Mar 14, 2014 9:25 PM CDT

Top county prosecutor tackles fleeing defendant

As an “amped up” defendant was being sentenced in Thursday to 86 months for violating his probation in a drug-possession case, prosecutor Philip Miller stepped out of the courtroom to look for another bailiff. Then he saw the defendant, Dontae Marcus Frazier, running towards him down the hallway of the…

Mar 14, 2014 5:55 PM CDT

More than 186,000 fugitives escape justice because no one wants to pursue extradition

Crossing a state border proved to be a good move for more than 186,000 fugitives. A confidential FBI database used to track outstanding warrants indicates that officials don’t want to spend the time or money to extradite 186,873 fugitives when they are arrested for other alleged crimes, according to a…

Mar 13, 2014 12:50 PM CDT

3 charged with arson in fires at prosecutor’s office and law firm

Two men and one woman have been charged with arson over fires that occurred within hours of each other at a New Jersey prosecutor’s office and law firm. Felix Lopez, 28; Guillermo A. Veloz, 18; and Zilia Perez, 36, were arrested Friday and charged with aggravated arson and conspiracy, among…

Mar 7, 2014 10:10 PM CST

FBI alerts judges and prosecutors that their courthouse calls and texts were monitored

Judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers and others in Texas who conduct business at the Bexar County Courthouse got letters from the FBI recently telling them that their phone calls and text conversations had been monitored. At the center of the eavesdropping is a lawyer who is cooperating in a judicial corruption…

Feb 24, 2014 10:22 PM CST

Seized cellphones led to capture of ‘most wanted’ Mexican drug trafficker, authorities say

The U.S. will seek extradition of the claimed leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, who was captured over the weekend sleeping in a condo in a Mexican beach resort town in an early-morning raid backed by the American government. Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, 56, said to be the “most wanted”…

Feb 24, 2014 6:30 PM CST

Without involving counsel, NYC agrees to pay $6.4M to man who claimed he was framed by detective

Confronted with strong evidence that a man who served 23 years for a murder he did not commit had been framed by a rogue police detective, the comptroller for New York City agreed to pay a $6.4 million settlement. The settlement with David Ranta was made without involving the city’s…

Feb 20, 2014 10:59 PM CST