Prosecutors

US Pays Hit Man $20K, But Fights Compensation for Victims

Advocates for victims targeted during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s by organized crime figures in Northeast who were aided by ties to the local FBI are expressing outrage about a $20,000 payment reportedly made by the government to a newly released convicted hit man. And those representing fellow criminals…

Jan 17, 2008 12:05 AM CST

O.J. Simpson Gets Bail, But Judge Doubles It to $250,000

Updated: Former football hero O.J. Simpson appeared in a Nevada court today, and was granted release on $250,000 bail prior to his upcoming trial in an armed robbery case. The amount was twice the $125,000 bail he was initially granted in the case. Although the Clark County, Nev., district attorney…

Jan 16, 2008 5:08 PM CST

Duke Rape Prosecutor’s Bankruptcy May Not End His Money Problems

The punishment continues for a disbarred North Carolina prosecutor who lost his job and his law license after pursuing a meritless rape case against three members of the Duke University men’s lacrosse team. Mike Nifong filed today for bankruptcy against creditors, including the three athletes found by the state attorney…

Jan 15, 2008 9:24 PM CST

Acquitted Terror Prosecutor Seeks Legal Bill Reimbursement

A former federal prosecutor who was acquitted last fall on criminal charges that he withheld evidence favorable to four North African suspects in a high-profile 2003 Detroit terrorism trial is now seeking reimbursement of his personal defense costs. Richard Convertino contends that the Justice Department to pursue him in criminal…

Jan 15, 2008 7:39 PM CST

Judiciary Committees to Probe Corporate Monitors Following Ashcroft Deal

The House and Senate judiciary committees are seeking more information about the appointment of corporate monitors amid questions about whether prosecutors are rewarding political pals with the lucrative work. The move comes after news reports that the Justice Department is investigating a no-bid contract for monitoring work awarded to the…

Jan 15, 2008 12:39 PM CST

MySpace, 50 AGs Agree on Rules to Make Web Safer for Kids

MySpace has teamed up with prosecutors throughout the country to develop a set of principles for Internet use by teenagers that may become an industry standard. The social networking site is popular with teens and has come under increasing fire concerning sexual predators who reportedly use MySpace as a hunting…

Jan 14, 2008 8:20 PM CST

New Counselor at DA’s Office is Friendly, Furry, Wags Tail a Lot

When children who have been sex crime victims come to the Yolo County, Calif., district attorney’s office, they are often frightened and hesitant to trust adults. So the office chose someone they thought would especially appeal to children when selecting the newest addition to its staff of child abuse counselors—a…

Jan 12, 2008 12:15 AM CST

Feds in Calif. Probe Mo. Teen’s Suicide Over Web Harassment

Authorities in Missouri found no basis on which to pursue criminal charges in the controversial case of a 13-year-old who reportedly hanged herself in 2006 in a town near St. Louis as a result of Internet bullying. But authorities in Los Angeles have now convened a federal grand jury to…

Jan 9, 2008 7:03 PM CST

DA Probes ‘Sadly Predictable’ Murder; Victim Never Warned of Spouse’s Release

New details have emerged in the case of a California woman murdered last week by her increasingly abusive husband, and the district attorney’s office in Los Angeles County reportedly is investigating why the prosecution not only didn’t oppose but actually recommended his release on his own recognizance as part of…

Jan 9, 2008 6:26 PM CST

Release of Racist and Racy DA E-Mail Leads to Call for Resignation

The controversy over the e-mails of District Attorney Charles Rosenthal of Houston heated up yesterday with the disclosure of additional messages sent on government computers that contained racial slurs and off-color jokes and dealt with the DA’s re-election campaign. A federal judge ordered the e-mails released Monday in a lawsuit…

Jan 9, 2008 2:50 PM CST

Judge Fit to Be Tied Over Ascot-Wearing Lawyer

A Milwaukee judge known as a fastidious dresser held up a sentencing hearing for three hours yesterday because a prosecutor came to court wearing an ascot. Judge William Sosnay said the ascot violates a court rule that requires lawyers to wear neckties and “borders on contemptuous,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel…

Jan 9, 2008 2:02 PM CST

‘Sadly Predictable’ Murder By Released Prisoner in Calif. Domestic Case

It’s a sad story that’s been told before, but California prosecutors are trying to figure out how to keep it from happening again: Accused of twice taking his estranged wife to isolated locations and restraining her during November 2007—once by handcuffing her to furniture in a hotel room and another…

Jan 8, 2008 5:54 PM CST

New EU Extradition Rules May Put Ex-Prosecutor, 88, on Trial in Poland

So far, Polish officials haven’t succeeded in their efforts to extradite an elderly Holocaust survivor from the United Kingdom in order to try her for alleged misconduct as a prosecutor during the Stalinist era there, more than 50 years ago. But now, under a new legal structure that creates a…

Jan 8, 2008 4:45 PM CST

Tough Call: How to Charge Boy, 12, in Tot’s Killing

Florida prosecutors are now deciding whether to charge as an adult a 12-year-old babysitter who has been accused of murdering a 17-month-old second cousin left in his care. Because Shaloh Joseph wouldn’t stop crying as the unidentified preteen was trying to watch a cartoon on television, he allegedly hit her…

Jan 8, 2008 12:00 AM CST

Assistant DA: No Cap on Protection Order Violations

A Minnesota public defender has asked a court to curb what she deemed an abuse of power by prosecutors who charged her client with 49 counts of violating an order of protection for allegedly calling his girlfriend from jail. Public defender Carol Weissenborn said the number of charges exaggerated and…

Jan 7, 2008 6:15 PM CST