Prosecutors

‘Friends of Rosemary’ file amicus brief seeking to keep DA in office after 45-day DWI sentence

Nearly 200 lawyers have signed a “Friends of Rosemary” petition seeking to keep a Texas district attorney in office after she completes a 45-day sentence for driving while intoxicated. A spokeswoman for the group said during a Thursday press conference that Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg does not plan to…

Apr 26, 2013 7:40 PM CDT

Former DA jailed after judge issues scathing opinion in rare Texas court of inquiry

An unusual court of inquiry held to probe the conduct of a former Texas district attorney has concluded with a blistering opinion by the presiding judge. Former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson was briefly booked into jail Friday before being released on $7,500 bail after District Judge Louis Sturns…

Apr 22, 2013 5:40 PM CDT

Prosecutor plans to stay in office despite DWI conviction, 45-day sentence

Corrected: A district attorney who pleaded guilty Friday to driving while intoxicated and was sentenced to 45 days in jail has no intention of relinquishing her post. Friends and colleagues of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg tell the Austin American-Statesman that her reasons are a mix of personal and…

Apr 22, 2013 3:00 PM CDT

Fired justice of peace charged with capital murder in deaths of Texas prosecutors, bail set at $23M

A fired former justice of the peace in Kaufman County, Texas, has been charged with capital murder in the recent slayings of county prosecutor Mark Hasse, county district attorney Mike McLelland and McLelland’s wife, Cynthia. Eric Lyle Williams was arrested Thursday and is being held in lieu of $23 million…

Apr 18, 2013 8:32 PM CDT

Newest staff member at Manhattan DA’s office will work for chew toys

Meet Bear, the newest worker at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. The 4-year-old black Labrador retriever has been on the job for two days in the Big Apple, and is already learning new tricks, according to the New York Daily News and the New York Post. Taught to salute during…

Apr 17, 2013 6:23 PM CDT

Claimed fake lawyer in theft case accused of plotting copycat prosecutor slaying

Dorothy Canfield, 84, had been facing merely a theft case, accused of bilking clients by posing as an immigration lawyer, when she is in fact not an attorney. But now she’s charged as well with solicitation of capital murder and solicitation to commit aggravated assault on a public servant over…

Apr 15, 2013 7:39 PM CDT

Fired justice of the peace is charged with threat made after DA slayings; cops reportedly test guns

A fired justice of the peace who was questioned in the slayings of two Texas prosecutors is being held on $3 million bond on a charge of making a terroristic threat. Eric Williams, 46, was jailed on Saturday, report the Dallas Morning News Crime Blog, the Associated Press, Reuters, the…

Apr 15, 2013 12:24 PM CDT

Special prosecutor to probe more decades-old claims by jailed men of Chicago police torture

Finding that the Chicago prosecutor’s office has a conflict of interest, the top criminal judge in Cook County, Ill., said on Thursday that he will appoint a special prosecutor to review the cases of at least five jailed men, and perhaps dozens of others, who say they were tortured into…

Apr 12, 2013 8:57 PM CDT

Judge is appointed to replace slain DA: ‘There is danger’

The judge appointed to fill the term of the slain district attorney in Kaufman County, Texas, told reporters on Thursday she acknowledges the danger. Judge Erleigh Norville Wiley of Kaufman County is Gov. Rick Perry’s choice to fill the job held by District Attorney Mike McClelland, who was killed along…

Apr 12, 2013 12:02 PM CDT

After DA slayings, Texas senator introduces bill to expand protections

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is introducing legislation to increase protections for judges and prosecutors in part by authorizing them to carry guns in federal facilities. The bill would allow such officials to carry guns in any federal facility, not just courthouses, report the Dallas Morning News, the Associated Press,…

Apr 11, 2013 2:23 PM CDT

District attorney should be disbarred for prosecutorial misconduct, state bar court recommends

The State Bar Court of California has recommended that Del Norte County District Attorney Jon Michael Alexander, who already had been disciplined three times in the past, be disbarred, the Los Angeles Times reports. In its opinion (PDF), the bar court found that Alexander, reportedly the state’s first sitting prosecutor…

Apr 8, 2013 10:05 PM CDT

Prosecutors suspended for mistakes in Sen. Stevens prosecution win administrative appeal

Two prosecutors suspended for failing to disclose exculpatory evidence in the failed 2008 corruption trial of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens have won an appeal before an administrative judge. Administrative Judge Benjamin Gutman said in an opinion issued on Friday that the Justice Department violated its own procedures calling for a…

Apr 8, 2013 4:44 PM CDT

Texas will punish those responsible for prosecutor slayings, governor vows; $200K reward offered

The governor of Texas vowed at a press conference today that the state would hunt down and punish those responsible for slaying two prosecutors within a two-month period and announced that the state is adding $100,000 in reward money to the $100,000 already put up by Kaufman County. “We’re going…

Apr 4, 2013 10:24 PM CDT

Man is charged in threats made on tip line used for information in DA slayings

A Texas man has been arrested on a charge of making a terroristic threat based on accusations he threatened a Kaufman County official in a message left on a crime-tip hotline being used to seek information in the slayings of two prosecutors. The suspect was identified as 56-year-old Nick Morale…

Apr 4, 2013 1:36 PM CDT

Meet Brandi Fernandez, the Kaufman County prosecutor filling the job of her slain boss

The Kaufman County prosecutor who is filling the shoes of her slain boss on an interim basis is known as a top-notch prosecutor who isn’t easily rattled. Brandi Fernandez was first assistant district attorney under Mike McLelland, who was found shot to death along with his wife, Cynthia, on Saturday,…

Apr 3, 2013 1:21 PM CDT