Prosecutors

For the 2nd Time in Less Than 3 Months, Judge Sullivan Castigates DOJ

For the second time in less than three months, Judge Emmett Sullivan offered blistering comments from the bench yesterday castigating the U.S. Department of Justice concerning its compliance with ethical obligations to turn over exculpatory evidence to the defense. In the latest case, the Washington, D.C., federal district judge questioned…

Jul 1, 2009 7:45 PM CDT

Madoff’s Wife to Keep Only $2.5M

Ruth Madoff has reached a deal with prosecutors to keep only $2.5 million. The agreement, approved late Friday by a federal judge, calls for Ruth Madoff to give up more than $80 million in assets, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Earlier, Madoff’s husband, Bernard, scheduled to be sentenced…

Jun 29, 2009 11:10 AM CDT

Prosecutors Call Crime Lab Ruling a ‘Train Wreck’

In yesterday’s high court ruling that opens the door to direct examination of crime lab personnel, Justice Antonin Scalia quipped that, “the sky will not fall after today’s decision.” “The confrontation clause may make the prosecution of criminals more burdensome, but that is equally true of the right to trial…

Jun 26, 2009 3:58 PM CDT

9th Circuit Allows Suit Against Prosecutor Who OK’d DNA Sample Without Warrant

In a decision that resurrects a convicted sex offender’s lawsuit against a Las Vegas detective and local prosecutor, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has said the man can personally sue the individuals for forcibly extracting his DNA without a warrant. Kenneth Friedman had reportedly told the…

Jun 25, 2009 1:09 PM CDT

US Attorney Conspired to Force Miss. Judge Off the Bench, Lawsuit Contends

A former U.S. attorney who was involved, while still in office, in an unsuccessful criminal prosecution of a Mississippi state court judge, also conspired behind the scenes with attorney disciplinary officials to bring false ethics charges against the jurist, a civil lawsuit contends. Filed by former state Supreme Court Justice…

Jun 24, 2009 9:37 PM CDT

Free Gitmo Detainee, Judge Orders, Says US Position ‘Defies Common Sense’

Finding that a captured videotape of Abd Al Rahim Abdul Rassak shows him being tortured by al-Qaida as a suspected American spy, a federal judge has rejected as ridiculous a U.S. government position that he continues to be a legitimate detainee in a terrorism case. In a 13-page habeas corpus…

Jun 23, 2009 12:26 AM CDT

DOJ Seeks to Dismiss High-Profile Meth Case, Citing ‘Evidentiary Concerns’

Updated: Citing “evidentiary concerns,” the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to dismiss without prejudice a drug conspiracy case against a Chinese-born Mexican millionaire, saying that Zhenli Ye Gon should first be tried in Mexico where authorities allegedly seized some $205 million from his Mexico City mansion. The U.S. case…

Jun 22, 2009 7:24 PM CDT

Va. Bar Wants AG to Stop Sending Cautionary Letter to Death Penalty Jurors

For years, the state attorney general’s office in Virginia has distributed letters to former jurors in capital cases, cautioning them against talking to defense lawyers working on appeals. And the Virginia State Bar wants to put a stop to the letters. The form letter, which is supplied to local prosecutors,…

Jun 22, 2009 11:58 AM CDT

Decision By Vegas Newspaper to ID Commenters Prompts ACLU Intervention

After first making a sweeping request asking for the identities of all commenters on an online Las Vegas Review-Journal story, prosecutors have narrowed their request. The U.S. attorney’s office now is only seeking the identities of individuals responsible for two comments that the government considers threatening to jurors, the Review-Journal…

Jun 18, 2009 6:31 PM CDT

Ex-Prosecutor Accused of Supplying Prostitutes for ‘Nice Guys’ Club

Police have shut down a club known as “The Minnesota Nice Guys” whose members engaged in trysts with high-priced prostitutes allegedly arranged by a former prosecutor. Police claim former Hennepin County prosecutor John St. Marie, 65, booked flights and hotel rooms for the prostitutes who hooked up with the Nice…

Jun 12, 2009 12:58 PM CDT

Chicago US Attorney Says Book Partly Blames Him for Sept. 11

The corruption-fighting U.S. attorney in Chicago is threatening to sue a publisher over an upcoming book that, in his view, partly blames him for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago sent a letter to HarperCollins warning that he will sue if the book Triple Cross…

Jun 9, 2009 4:41 PM CDT

New DOJ Evidence Debacle: AG Says Gov’t Disclosure Dubious in 2 More Alaska Cases

In the latest prosecutorial embarrassment for the U.S. Department of Justice, the DOJ has admitted it may have fouled up concerning the required pre-trial provision of exculpatory evidence in the cases of two Alaska lawmakers. In a filing yesterday in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco,…

Jun 6, 2009 12:07 AM CDT

Miami-Dade Prosecutor Accused of Punching Pizza Delivery Woman

A Miami-Dade prosecutor has been suspended after he was accused of punching a late-arriving Domino’s pizza delivery woman who wasn’t able to gain entrance to his gated Miami Beach community. Lawyer David Ranck was charged with misdemeanor battery in the incident, the Miami Herald reports. Police said the delivery woman…

Jun 3, 2009 2:41 PM CDT

A Supreme Case of Contempt

A tragic legal saga paved the way for civil rights protections and federal habeas actions

Jun 2, 2009 4:50 AM CDT

Federal Judge Tells DOJ to Make Gitmo Case Files Public

Siding with the media and lawyers representing detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., today gave the government a July 29 deadline. By that date, the U.S. Department of Justice must either to seek to protect specific information about the cases against…

Jun 2, 2009 12:25 AM CDT