Long-time Brooklyn DA loses primary bid; winner hopes to curb stop and frisk

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes has lost his re-election bid following negative publicity about wrongful convictions and questions about political favoritism. Hynes, 78, held the office for 23 years, report the New York Times and the New York Daily News. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by former federal…

Sep 12, 2013 4:38 PM CDT

Newlywed charged in death of her husband of a week

A Montana woman has been charged with pushing her new husband off a cliff in Glacier National Park only a week after they were married. Jordan Linn Graham, 22, was arraigned Monday in federal court in Missoula on a second-degree murder charge in the death of her husband, Cody Lee…

Sep 11, 2013 8:51 PM CDT

Two Chicago men serving lengthy prison sentences are freed after convictions set aside

Two Chicago area men serving lengthy prison sentences were ordered freed Tuesday after prosecutors set aside their convictions. Carl Chatman, 58, had been sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping of a Cook County clerk at the Daley Center in downtown Chicago in 2002, the Chicago Tribune and the…

Sep 10, 2013 9:59 PM CDT

Woman released on bond after 23 years on death row for son’s murder

An Arizona woman imprisoned for her son’s murder has been freed on bond after 23 years on death row. Debra Milke, 49, was released Friday after a judge ruled there was no direct evidence tying her to the 1989 murder of her 4-year-old son, Christopher, the Associated Press reports. Milke’s…

Sep 9, 2013 11:00 PM CDT

Detective’s false testimony, relied on in prosecutor’s closing, calls for retrial, 9th Circuit says

Reversing a federal district court judge who had denied habeas corpus relief, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday held that a man convicted in a California gas station armed robbery must be retried or released. Felix Sablad, a worker at the station, said defendant La…

Sep 6, 2013 3:55 PM CDT

Former prosecutor starts new gig on reality series ‘Cold Justice’

It might not have seemed that way at the time, but a failed election bid for the district attorney’s job in Harris County, Texas, has pointed to a new career path for ex-prosecutor Kelly Siegler. Tuesday night, her new television series Cold Justice premieres on TNT. It pairs Siegler with…

Sep 3, 2013 10:56 PM CDT

Crime labs under the microscope after a string of shoddy, suspect and fraudulent results

Sep 1, 2013 10:20 AM CDT

Objecting to secret recording of attorney-client meetings got him fired, says sheriff’s deputy

A former chief deputy for a suburban New Orleans sheriff says he was fired for objecting to secret videotapes that routinely recorded conversations during attorney-client meetings in a sheriff’s office interview room. Tregg Wilson, who is a licensed attorney in Louisiana, makes the allegation in a federal lawsuit he filed…

Aug 30, 2013 1:15 PM CDT

Should county prosecutor have done more to rein in now-indicted judge?

You’re the county prosecutor. A local judge is trying to frame a romantic rival for crimes that the man not only didn’t commit but which didn’t occur. What do you do? No, this is not a law school exam problem or the plot of a fictional legal thriller. It’s the…

Aug 30, 2013 10:50 AM CDT

Defendant attorney in shooting case wants prosecutor booted because he lives in same neighborhood

A West Virginia lawyer charged with attempted murder after a standoff with police at his home–in which he reportedly fired multiple shots but injured no one except himself–is now seeking to get a prosecutor removed from the case. The reason: The Kanawha County prosecutor, Mark Plants, lives in the same…

Aug 29, 2013 3:30 PM CDT

Ex-judge gets 6 years in bribe case as ex-DA awaits sentencing; murder victim’s mom gets no apology

A former South Texas judge who admittedly took bribes, then served as a star witness at the trial of a former district attorney and other lawyers after pleading guilty in 2011 to a single federal racketeering count, has been sentenced to six years in federal prison. In addition to serving…

Aug 27, 2013 8:15 PM CDT

Former US Atty calls activist a ‘nasty little cowardly spud’ in taped Tulane confrontation

A conservative activist famous for his ACORN video has posted an angry tirade by former U.S. Attorney James Letten, who deems the video maker a “nasty little cowardly spud.” Activist James O’Keefe confronts Letten at Tulane, where Letten is an assistant dean at the law school, and offers the former…

Aug 27, 2013 2:07 PM CDT

Dallas County DA is acquitted of contempt charge

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins criticized the judge who accused him of contempt after the prosecutor was acquitted of the charge on Friday. Watkins said Judge Lena Levario “didn’t know the law or didn’t follow it,” the Dallas Morning News reports. Levario had cited Watkins for contempt on March…

Aug 26, 2013 12:36 PM CDT

Prosecutions difficult for drugs masquerading as bath salts

Prosecutors face high hurdles when trying to win convictions for the sale of synthetic drugs that are often labeled as “bath salts” in retail stores. The drugs can produce reactions ranging from euphoria to paranoia, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Producers can keep these substances off a list…

Aug 16, 2013 11:15 AM CDT

Police protesters face charges over washable chalk messages written on sidewalk outside headquarters

Four protesters of police conduct in Las Vegas are facing potential jail sentences if they are convicted of misdemeanor graffiti charges for writing messages on washable chalk outside metropolitan police headquarters and the Regional Justice Center. Attorney Robert Langford is representing Brian Ballentine, 31, Catalino de la Cruz Dazo Jr.,…

Aug 15, 2013 3:30 PM CDT