Prosecutors

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

DA death probe includes ominous Facebook post; US prosecutor said to quit Aryan Brotherhood case

Updated: A federal prosecutor in Houston is withdrawing from a multiagency task force that investigated the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison gang as investigators probe the shooting deaths last weekend of Kaufman County, Texas, District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia. Investigators have interviewed members of the Aryan Brotherhood…

Apr 3, 2013 12:34 PM CDT

Search warrant seeks cellphone records in DA’s slaying; why did security detail leave?

A search warrant filed by the Texas Rangers seeks access to the cellphone records of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, who were found shot to death in their home on Saturday. The warrant also seeks records of all cellphone traffic near the couple’s home in…

Apr 2, 2013 1:00 PM CDT

Another Texas DA steps in to help 10-prosecutor office cope after Kaufman County DA is slain

In the wake of a weekend slaying of a Texas district attorney and his wife that has put law enforcement officials there and elsewhere on high alert, a district attorney from another jurisdiction has gone to Kaufman County to help the 10-prosecutor office cope with the situation. Randy Reynolds, who…

Apr 1, 2013 7:33 PM CDT

DA gets $26K worth of office furniture from private donors

Seeing a need for new office furniture in a state that is struggling with a lack of tax funding, the new San Francisco district attorney came up with a creative solution. George Gascón got a new glass-topped desk, chrome-framed visitors chairs, a bookshelf and a credenza from private donors, along…

Apr 1, 2013 3:38 PM CDT

Texas DA and his wife are killed, two months after slaying of another prosecutor in his office

A second prosecutor in Texas’ Kaufman County has been shot to death along with his wife in their home about 20 miles east of Dallas. Authorities discovered the slain couple, District Attorney Mike McLelland, 63, and his wife Cynthia, 65, on Saturday at their rural home in Forney, report the…

Apr 1, 2013 12:21 PM CDT

Private lawyer to act as special prosecutor in county attorney’s domestic violence case

A private practitioner in Abilene, Texas, has been asked to act as a special prosecutor in a misdemeanor domestic violence case against Tom Green County Attorney Chris Taylor. The special prosecutor, attorney Kenneth Leggett said he had been asked to handle the Taylor case by Judge Charles Chapman. “I’m still…

Mar 29, 2013 4:45 PM CDT

As trial looms for ex-DA accused in RICO enterprise case, feds make new accusations

Federally indicted on corruption charges while he was still the sitting district attorney in Cameron County, Texas, a now-former prosecutor faces new allegations in a case in which he is accused of running his office as a racketeering enterprise. The case is allegedly part of a wider cash-for-court-favors and graft…

Mar 27, 2013 5:15 PM CDT

Legal groups back PD who was told of his upcoming ouster before beginning cancer treatment

A public defender in Idaho who recently learned he will lose his job on Sept. 30 says the news comes at an inopportune time. Chief public defender John Adams of Kootenai County tells the Coeur d’Alene Press that he was told of his upcoming ouster two weeks after notifying a…

Mar 27, 2013 11:15 AM CDT

Millionaire deluges state attorney with public records requests after daughter’s DUI conviction

Corrected: At one time, Martin E. “Marty” O’Boyle was a political ally of Florida state attorney Dave Aronberg, helping him position himself to get elected. But after Aronberg refused to take a position concerning the 2011 misdemeanor driving-under-the-influence conviction of O’Boyle’s daughter, Sara, the two parted ways. They still have…

Mar 26, 2013 8:10 PM CDT

Man angry over stripper’s $750 debt made death threats to judge and prosecutor, feds say

A scheme that federal prosecutors say Amin Abbas Eltayeb launched to try to collect on the $750 loan he had made to an exotic dancer allegedly resulted in threats against a Florida judge, prosecutor and sheriff’s deputy. Warned by the woman’s boyfriend to leave her alone after she had repaid…

Mar 26, 2013 4:26 PM CDT

Prosecutor’s use of undercover paralegal in ethics spat brings reprimand

A county attorney in Caroline County, Va., has been reprimanded for using undercover tactics in a quest to learn whether a criminal defense lawyer was making do with just “two books and some scrap paper,” as he told jurors at the trial of a client. Commonwealth’s Attorney Anthony “Tony” Spencer…

Mar 25, 2013 10:45 AM CDT

After layoff of 22 lawyers, prosecutor’s office stops covering some trials

After last week’s layoff of 22 lawyers, a Detroit prosecutor says her office is stretched too thin to cover all traffic court and domestic violence cases. So, starting Monday, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office has failed to appear to pursue a number of cases. That has been a windfall for…

Mar 19, 2013 7:54 PM CDT

Cleared in wife-slaying attempt conspiracy, lawyer sues defense counsel for ex-mistress

Cleared after initially being accused of playing a role in a claimed conspiracy in which others unsuccessfully attempted to kill his wife, a Texas personal injury lawyer is turning the tables on those who formerly sought to prove his guilt before all charges against him were dropped. Jeffrey Stern has…

Mar 11, 2013 5:42 PM CDT

Prosecutor, federal judge spar over 6-year mortgage fraud sentence

A prosecutor seeking 24 years for a mortgage fraud defendant complained Tuesday that the 6½-year term handed down by a federal judge to Vasilia Berger represented the biggest variance he’d ever heard of since sentencing guidelines took effect in 1987. But the judge said the prosecutor was the one who…

Mar 5, 2013 11:06 PM CST