Prosecutors

Sandy Hook school shooting report calls Lanza obsessed with mass murder, says he acted alone

Following an 11-month investigation, the motive of the shooter who killed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school last December before killing himself is not known, says a heavily redacted report (PDF) released Monday by the state’s attorney in Danbury. However, it says 20-year-old Adam Lanza had…

Nov 25, 2013 10:25 PM CST

Law-school debt relief is proposed for these Florida lawyers in pending bill

A pending bill in Florida would pay up to $44,000 toward the law-school debt of lawyers working a set number of years as state prosecutors or public defenders. The sponsor of the bill is Florida Rep. James Waldman, D-Broward County, the Orlando Sentinel reports. He borrowed $30,000 nearly 30 years…

Nov 25, 2013 1:10 PM CST

Oregon man is charged in bomb blast outside office of DA who was prosecuting him

An Oregon man was arrested on Wednesday in the propane-tank explosion outside a District Attorney’s office last week. The suspect, Alan Leroy McVay, 46, was arrested outside a pizza restaurant in White City and charged with possession and manufacture of a destructive device, arson, burglary and criminal mischief, report the…

Nov 22, 2013 1:46 PM CST

Utah’s attorney general resigns amid probes

Utah Attorney General John Swallow announced Thursday that he will resign from office, effective Dec. 3, saying that ongoing investigations of claimed election-law violations and other issues are taking too much of a toll. “Now is the time for the madness to stop and for the state to move forward,”…

Nov 21, 2013 10:45 PM CST

Banned from Russia, Baker & McKenzie lawyer finds new landing spot in London

Refused entry to Russia when he tried to return to his Baker & McKenzie office there in May after a business trip, a senior counsel has found a new landing spot. After a stint in the megafirm’s Washington, D.C., office, Tom Firestone has transferred to its London office, Legal Week…

Nov 20, 2013 10:38 PM CST

Carriers nix proposed ‘kill switch’ solution to problem of rampant smartphone thefts

Throughout the United States, almost one in every three robberies involves the theft of a telephone, often a pricey smartphone. Yet the industry has rejected a proposal by the biggest cellphone maker, Samsung Electronics, to equip mobile phones with “kill switch” software that would allow the devices to be shut…

Nov 20, 2013 7:05 PM CST

Ex-prosecutor who proclaimed innocence takes plea in federal misdemeanor case

A popular West Virginia prosecutor who got too close to the wrong people pleaded guilty on Monday to a federal misdemeanor charge. Michael Sparks, 44, had proclaimed his innocence early on, as his alleged cohorts in a Mingo County corruption scandal, including a local judge, were charged and convicted. But…

Nov 19, 2013 8:10 PM CST

Accused of threat to witness, convicted drug dealer exits federal courthouse when judge revokes bond

Accused of threatening a witness Sunday, a convicted drug dealer freed on bond pending sentencing showed up at the federal courthouse in Chicago on Tuesday to respond to a prosecution motion asking that he be taken into custody. But after U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber did, in fact, revoke bond…

Nov 15, 2013 7:35 PM CST

State AG: Only a small fraction of stop-and-frisks end with convictions; NYC: Report is ‘flawed’

Stopping and frisking certain individuals without initially having probable cause for an arrest is a controversial police tactic, albeit one approved by the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark Terry v. Ohio decision. New York City is defending a civil rights case over its stop-and-frisk practices and recently won a…

Nov 14, 2013 8:09 PM CST

Propane-tank IED blows up at DA’s office, closing offices and courts for much of day

Updated: An improvised explosive device utilizing a propane tank broke windows and caused a fire when it blew up outside an entrance to the district attorney’s office for Jackson County, Ore., early Wednesday. However, the damage that resulted could have been much worse if the device had fully detonated, the…

Nov 13, 2013 6:20 PM CST

Man imprisoned as teen won’t be retried in controversial murder case, says AG

A 29-year-old man who spent a decade in prison for a murder he says he didn’t commit was freed Tuesday night after the Missouri attorney general said Ryan Ferguson would not be retried. The announcement by AG Chris Koster followed a decision last week by a state appeals court throwing…

Nov 13, 2013 5:05 PM CST

Ex-DA takes plea in wrongful conviction case: 10 days, community service, $500 fine and disbarment

Michael Morton spent almost 25 years in a Texas prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson, the man who put him there, will get 10 days for contempt of court after agreeing Friday to take a plea in a comprehensive settlement of all…

Nov 8, 2013 11:30 PM CST

County attorney is ordered off the job amid investigation

A New Hampshire county attorney has been ordered off the job and banned from the courthouse amid an investigation into a complaint about management and operations of his office. Rockingham County Attorney James Reams and Deputy Rockingham County Attorney Tom Reid were placed on paid leave, report Foster’s Daily Democrat,…

Nov 8, 2013 4:30 PM CST

Assistant DA finds out what can go wrong when admiring a colleague’s gun

A prosecutor in Texas got a lesson in weapons safety on Monday while admiring what he believed to be an unloaded gun. First Assistant District Attorney Michael Jarrett aimed the gun at an office window at the McLennan County courthouse complex and pulled the trigger, News Channel 25 and the…

Nov 5, 2013 2:07 PM CST

As DA appears on radio talk show and criticizes ruling, judge calls in to defend himself

A Louisiana district attorney had the floor on Friday as he discussed a recent high-profile defeat on a local radio station talk show. But not for long. As DA Leon Cannizzaro of Orleans Parish complained about a defense ruling in a police malfeasance case over alleged mistreatment of a handcuffed…

Nov 4, 2013 4:45 PM CST