Prosecutors

Judge Refuses Teen’s Bid to Withdraw Guilty Plea to Quadruple Murder Hit Man Says He Committed

A Detroit judge refused Tuesday to allow a learning disabled teenager to withdraw his guilty plea to a quadruple murder that an admitted hit man has confessed to committing. Wayne County Judge Brian Sullivan said the admitted hit man’s confession “does not automatically exonerate” Davontae Sanford from having any role…

Feb 29, 2012 8:29 PM CST

Dallas County DA Reveals His Great-Grandfather Was Executed in 1932

A Texas district attorney who has focused on wrongful convictions revealed in a press conference last week that his own great-grandfather was executed by the state. Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins made the startling revelation while commenting on exoneration proceedings, according to the Dallas Morning News and CBSDFW.com. “People…

Feb 28, 2012 5:37 PM CST

Former Top Drug Prosecutor Gets 9 Months in Crack Case; Judge Calls Prior Probation Deal ‘Offensive’

Once the top drug prosecutor in Clark County, Nev., a former deputy district attorney has been sentenced to serve nine months in a felony cocaine-possession case after allegedly buying a $40 rock of crack cocaine in a neighborhood near the Las Vegas Strip last year. David Schubert apologized and was…

Feb 27, 2012 8:48 PM CST

Embattled DA Tells Judge in Ouster Hearing She Did Nothing Wrong

A suspended North Carolina prosecutor accused of withholding exculpatory evidence from defendants and misrepresenting facts in pleadings and during court arguments took the stand in her own defense Friday at a special inquiry ouster hearing. In her testimony, Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline, under questioning from her lawyer, reargued cases…

Feb 27, 2012 5:35 PM CST

After Stalking Probe IDs Him, Attorney Lawmaker Admits Sending Texts to Married Federal Prosecutor

Updated: A Florida state lawmaker may have thought he was unlikely to be identified as the author of a series of harassing and suggestive text messages to a married Miami federal prosecutor, because he had used software that disguised the phone number of the device from which he was sending…

Feb 23, 2012 8:46 PM CST

Law Prof Remembers His Nana’s Key Role in Securing Conviction of Lucky Luciano

Yale Law School professor Stephen Carter remembers his grandma as “Nana from New York,” a woman who loved books and emphasized good table manners. “Nana” was Eunice Hunton Carter, the first black female prosecutor in the New York District Attorney’s Office, according to a Chicago Tribune column by John Kass.…

Feb 23, 2012 5:23 PM CST

2nd Circuit Axes Espionage Conviction of Goldman Sachs Programmer Who Took Source Code to New Job

Apparently deciding that federal prosecutors overreached by charging a former Goldman Sachs Group computer programmer under a commercial espionage statute for taking source code he developed there with him to a new job, a federal appeals court in Manhattan has not only reversed the criminal conviction of Sergey Aleynikov but…

Feb 17, 2012 7:24 PM CST

Special Court to Probe Claims Ex-DA, Now a Texas Judge, Concealed Murder Case Evidence 25 Years Ago

After a probable cause finding concerning accusations that Williamson County Judge Ken Anderson concealed evidence from the defense while serving as a lead prosecutor in a murder trial 25 years ago, the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court today ordered that a court of inquiry be held. Judge Louis…

Feb 16, 2012 10:32 PM CST

9th Circuit Refuses to Edit Prosecutor’s Name Out of Opinion, Tells DOJ to Own Up to Error

A federal appeals court that criticized a prosecutor last month for a “half-truth” was unmoved and apparently irked by a request to remove his name from the opinion. In an amended opinion (PDF), the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals kept the referral to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerry…

Feb 15, 2012 1:44 PM CST

DOJ Losses in Two High-Profile Bribery Trials Linked to Racy Texts by FBI Agents

Federal prosecutors failed to win any convictions in two high-profile foreign bribery trials after the defense used the words of FBI agents to attack their credibility. One trial of six defendants ended in Washington, D.C., federal court last month, the Washington Post reports. The jury foreman, a nonpracticing lawyer, told…

Feb 14, 2012 1:38 PM CST

Hearing Board Recommends Reprimand for Prosecutor’s Misleading Statements to Blogger

A prosecutor accused of misleading a blogger about a prior ethics case should be reprimanded, according to a recommendation by an Illinois hearing board. The hearing panel sustained just one charge of misconduct against Laura Morask. According to the panel’s Feb. 10 report and recommendation, Morask misled blogger and lawyer…

Feb 14, 2012 11:30 AM CST

Special Court Should Probe Claims that Ex-DA Withheld Evidence in Murder Case, Judge Says

A Texas judge is recommending that a special court of inquiry consider allegations that a former prosecutor withheld exculpatory evidence, contributing to a wrongful murder conviction. District Judge Sid Harle found probable cause to believe that former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson violated state law, report the Austin American-Statesman…

Feb 13, 2012 4:25 PM CST

60-Day Suspension Suggested for State’s Attorney Who Pulled Gun on Process Server

A hearing board has recommended a 60-day suspension for an Illinois lawyer, finding that he pulled a loaded semiautomatic handgun on a process server in the parking lot of the Union County Courthouse while serving as the county’s elected state’s attorney. Although Allen W. James claimed to have put his…

Feb 7, 2012 12:22 PM CST

DOJ Racks Up $1.8M Bill Defending Prosecutors in Botched Corruption Case Against Sen. Stevens

The Justice Department has spent nearly $1.8 million defending prosecutors accused of breaking the law during a failed corruption case against former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. The government’s case against the senator crumbled three years ago when the DOJ acknowledged attorneys had concealed evidence that could have helped the defense,…

Feb 3, 2012 11:46 AM CST

Time Magazine to Feature Prosecutor Who Won First Criminal Guilty Pleas in Mortgage Meltdown

Preet Bharara, the U.S Attorney for the Southern District of New York whose insider-trading probe led to the first criminal case against Wall Street in relation to the mortgage meltdown this week, will appear on Friday’s cover of Time magazine. The distinction comes just two days after two former Credit…

Feb 2, 2012 9:54 PM CST