Ex-Prosecutor Indicted in Sex-for-Leniency Case, Charged with Official Misconduct

A former longtime Tennessee prosecutor has been criminally indicted on a felony charge of official misconduct, after being accused of flirting with female defendants and stating or implying that they would be treated more leniently if they had sex with him. However, Doug Godbee, 57, who formerly served as a…

May 4, 2011 7:24 PM CDT

Blindsided in Courtroom Attack, DA Fights Back, Sends Convicted Murderer to Hospital

An Oklahoma sentencing hearing Monday for a defendant who had just been convicted in a high-profile felony murder case played out like a scene from a Hollywood western, according to eyewitness accounts. Blindsided by Emanuel Mitchell, who came up from behind and punched him in the face as he was…

May 4, 2011 5:51 PM CDT

Justice Stevens Hits Immunity Ruling, Calls on Congress to Change the Result

Retired Justice John Paul Stevens criticized a recent ruling on prosecutor immunity and called on Congress to pass a law to change the result. Stevens criticized Connick v. Thompson in a speech Monday night to the Equal Justice Initiative, report the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and The BLT: The…

May 4, 2011 2:02 PM CDT

You’re a Lawyer Now, So You Can Stop Sounding Like One

May 1, 2011 7:30 AM CDT

Top SD Court Raps Ex-Prosecutor, Says He Shouldn’t Have Put Grand Jury Transcripts on Web

A former prosecutor should be publicly censured for putting grand jury transcripts on the Internet, the South Dakota Supreme Court has ruled, even though he obtained a court order authorizing him to do so. Now a state lawmaker, Lance Russsell (R-Hot Springs) also erred as Fall River County’s state’s attorney…

Apr 22, 2011 8:31 PM CDT

Immunity Doesn’t Bar Former Justice’s Suit Against Ex-US Attorney, 5th Circuit Rules

A federal appeals court has refused to block a lawsuit contending that former U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton improperly released tax information to an ethics commission about a one-time justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Lampton does not have absolute prosecutorial immunity for…

Apr 20, 2011 3:27 PM CDT

Montana AG to Probe Charity Portrayed in ‘Three Cups of Tea’

The charity portrayed in the book Three Cups of Tea is under investigation after a 60 Minutes report alleged its founder, Greg Mortenson, exaggerated his achievements and used charity money to promote his books. Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock says news reports have spurred him to investigate Mortenson’s charity, the…

Apr 20, 2011 11:29 AM CDT

Prosecutor Wants Lenient Judge Ousted From All Criminal Cases

Corrected: A veteran Boston municipal court judge known as “Judge Let Me Go” is coming under scrutiny for being overly lenient, prompting a local district attorney to wage an unusual campaign to remove the judge from presiding over criminal trials. Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley has instructed his prosecutors…

Apr 18, 2011 3:18 PM CDT

Grandmother Killed as Part of ‘Operation Custody,’ Prosecutors Say

After a court awarded custody of Rosa Hill’s toddler to her estranged husband, she and her mother, Mei Li, devised a plan they dubbed “Operation Custody,” which resulted in the murder of Hill’s mother-in-law, prosecutors told an Alameda County, Calif., jury yesterday. Hill and her husband, Eric Hill, were engaged…

Apr 14, 2011 5:01 PM CDT

Lawyer in ‘Invidious Personal Vendetta’ Ordered to Pay Prosecutors’ Defense Costs

A federal judge has ordered a Kentucky lawyer to pay the defense costs of two Kenton County prosecutors after suing them for false arrest and malicious prosecution in what U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman called “an invidious personal vendetta” that allowed attorney Eric Deters to make “libelous” statements in court…

Apr 14, 2011 2:58 PM CDT

Rabbi Charged with Perjury Allegedly Paid Child $10K to Testify in Another Rabbi’s Child-Molest Case

Developing: A rabbi’s conviction and up to 32-year prison sentence for child molestation should stand, New York prosecutors say, despite the fact that another rabbi has been charged with perjury and other crimes for allegedly paying a child $10,000 to testify against him. The bizarre situation made headlines today as…

Apr 13, 2011 5:10 PM CDT

Asst. DA’s Secretary Takes Plea in Perjury Case, Admits Passing Info to Help Her Defendant Grandson

Suspended without pay from her job as a secretary in the Delaware County, Penn., district attorney’s office in Chester, Vera Ellen Carroll doesn’t appear likely to be returning to work there. The 59-year-old pleaded guilty yesterday to two counts of perjury for lying to a Montgomery County grand jury about…

Apr 13, 2011 4:06 PM CDT

When Is a Law Firm Allegedly Part of a RICO Criminal Enterprise? 3rd Circuit Explains

A federal district judge erred in dismissing racketeering counts against a prominent New Jersey defense attorney and former prosecutor accused of using his law offices as part of a criminal enterprise, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. Although the judge was understandably concerned about the complexity of the case against…

Apr 13, 2011 3:46 PM CDT

3rd Circuit Says Ex-Prosecutor Accused of Plotting to Murder Witness Must Also Face RICO Charges

Criminal defense lawyer Paul Bergrin must face federal racketeering charges in addition to a lengthy list of other counts, a federal appeals court has ruled. Although a federal judge in Newark last year said the crimes of which he and other defendants are accused are too loosely connected to establish…

Apr 12, 2011 4:29 PM CDT

How Did Private Prosecutor Spend $300K? County and Individual Citizen Seek Answers

As an Idaho county battles with a former contract prosecutor to collect some $300,000 it says it is owed in unearned payments, a local citizen is asking the state supreme court to award him attorney’s fees in a related public records case. Bob Henry, who owns a local insurance company,…

Apr 12, 2011 10:00 AM CDT