Prosecutors

District attorney is accused of offering bribes to prosecutors, suborning perjury

A district attorney in Georgia was indicted Tuesday based on accusations that he offered $1,000 bribes to two prosecutors and tried to influence a police officer’s testimony.

Sep 8, 2021 3:43 PM CDT

Former Georgia district attorney indicted over handling of shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery

A former Georgia district attorney has been criminally charged over the investigation into the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was chased and shot by a white father and son while running outside the coastal city of Brunswick, Georgia, in February 2020.

Sep 3, 2021 12:37 PM CDT

Weekly Briefs: First Black woman to clerk at SCOTUS dies; judge allows Dominion defamation suits

Trailblazing lawyer Karen Hastie Williams dies at 76 Lawyer Karen Hastie Williams died last month at age 76. She was the first Black woman to clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court and the first Black partner at Crowell & Moring. Williams’ father had been the dean of Howard University’s law…

Aug 13, 2021 11:27 AM CDT

ABA House encourages prosecutors to collect and publish case data

The ABA Criminal Justice Section proposed a resolution to the House of Delegates during the ABA Hybrid Annual Meeting on Tuesday that focuses on improving prosecutors' collection of case data.

Aug 10, 2021 10:59 AM CDT

GOP-linked group targets 3 progressive Virginia prosecutors deemed soft on crime

A new group called Virginians for Safe Communities is targeting three progressive prosecutors in a recall effort amid a Republican push to capitalize on voter concerns about rising gun violence.

Aug 6, 2021 9:32 AM CDT

Hackers accessed at least 80% of email accounts in New York federal prosecutors’ offices, DOJ says

Hackers accessed at least 80% of email accounts used by employees in the four U.S. attorney’s offices in New York over a period of more than seven months last year, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed Friday.

Aug 2, 2021 10:12 AM CDT

Federal prosecutor alleges retaliation for complaints about discrimination and racist statements

An assistant U.S. attorney in Santa Ana, California, has filed a lawsuit alleging retaliation for complaining about discrimination and racist statements by managers. Charles Pell’s July 28 amended complaint says he consistently received outstanding ratings in his performance reviews before 2019. Around 2020, a proposed “outstanding” rating was overruled by…

Jul 30, 2021 12:15 PM CDT

LA district attorney’s past drives his push forward for reform

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón knows how to cope with controversy. He faced it as police chief in Mesa, Arizona. And as San Francisco’s top prosecutor, he riled law enforcement groups after pushing for a host of reforms. Even so, more than seven months into Gascón’s new job as LA’s top prosecutor, resistance to his policies has reached dizzying peaks.

Jul 28, 2021 9:08 AM CDT

Biden’s initial US attorney picks include historic firsts

President Joe Biden and his administration on Monday nominated eight lawyers to lead U.S. attorney’s offices, most of whom would be the first Black or female prosecutors to lead their districts.

Jul 27, 2021 12:48 PM CDT

3 murder cases are dismissed in a week partly because of absent or unprepared prosecutors

The St. Louis circuit attorney’s office is struggling with high turnover and apparent issues with the case management, and that is having an impact on its ability to prosecute cases.

Jul 22, 2021 10:32 AM CDT

Federal prosecutors ‘deliberately misled’ court, judge says; alleged fraudsters get new trial

A federal judge in Miami has ordered a new trial for three men found guilty in a fraudulent sweepstakes scheme after concluding that federal prosecutors had “knowingly invaded the defense camp” while lying to the court about it.

Jul 19, 2021 2:05 PM CDT

Illinois bans practice of lying to minors during police interrogations

Illinois is now the only state in the country that prohibits police from lying to minors during interrogations.

Jul 16, 2021 3:15 PM CDT

A new evidence management tool aims to help public defenders process video and audio

Two University of Chicago alums and technologists have developed a technology platform known as JusticeText, an AI-powered evidence management tool primarily geared toward public defenders.

Jun 16, 2021 9:07 AM CDT

Citing lack of evidence, prosecutor drops summons against appeals judge accused of nearly hitting protester

A specially appointed prosecutor won’t be pursuing a case against a North Carolina appeals judge who's accused of nearly hitting a Black Lives Matter protester with his SUV.

Jun 15, 2021 10:52 AM CDT

District attorney backtracks after refusing to offer plea deals to lawyer who said prosecution office is racist

A Pennsylvania district attorney has reversed course after he directed his office to stop offering plea deals to clients of a Black attorney who claimed that the district attorney’s office was “systematically racist.”

Jun 7, 2021 2:49 PM CDT