Prosecutors

Cop’s DUI Cases Tossed After Prosecutor Ride-Along

A Chicago police officer, celebrated for writing the most DUI tickets in Illinois, is seeing his record blemished. Some 50 of his DUI cases have been dropped because improper procedures were followed, the Daily Southtown reports. The paper reports that John Haleas, who has been honored three of the past…

Oct 24, 2007 7:24 PM CDT

Critics See Terrorism Prosecution Blunders

Critics contend the government’s effort to fight terrorism may be harmed by recent missteps in terrorism prosecutions. The government has failed to winnow out weak cases and targeted groups that are not central to the terrorist threat, critics told the New York Times for its news analysis. In the most…

Oct 24, 2007 1:25 PM CDT

Growing Criticism of Mukasey re Waterboarding

Despite the seeming bipartisan support for Michael Mukasey as the next U.S. attorney general at his two-day Senate confirmation hearing last week, there is growing criticism about the former federal judge’s position on what some consider obvious torture of prisoners. The National Lawyers Guild opposed his confirmation today in a…

Oct 24, 2007 1:25 AM CDT

Former AG Says DOJ Politicized Prosecution

After a relatively convivial two-day confirmation hearing last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee concerning President Bush’s nomination of Michael Mukasey to be the new U.S. attorney general, the gloves were off again today in a House Judiciary Committee hearing over alleged improper White House political influence in Department of…

Oct 23, 2007 11:05 PM CDT

Civil Rights March Over Boot Camp Death

About 700 people marched on Tallahassee, Florida, today, to call for further investigation of the death last year of Martin Lee Anderson, a 14-year-old black teen being held at a military-style “boot camp” for juvenile inmates. Speaking to marchers at the federal courthouse, Adora Obi Nweze, president of the Florida…

Oct 23, 2007 9:47 PM CDT

Lawyer for Alleged DC Madam Targets Gonzales in Seventh Dismissal Motion

The lawyer for alleged D.C. madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey claims in a new legal pleading that the charges against his client were brought to bolster the political agenda of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. But the proof was less sensational than the charge, Dana Milbank reports in his Washington Sketch…

Oct 23, 2007 1:52 PM CDT

Mistrial in Muslim Charity-Funding Case

In a case that was widely viewed as a test of Bush administration anti-terrorism policy, a federal judge in Dallas declared a mistrial today on numerous charges against five individuals. They were accused of working for a charity that was allegedly a front for overseas terrorist activities, and the charity…

Oct 22, 2007 11:50 PM CDT

Ousted US Atty: Firings ‘Devastating for DOJ’

Fired U.S. Attorney Carol Lam of San Diego told Stanford Lawyer in her first on-the-record interview since her dismissal that the Justice Department’s decision to oust nine federal prosecutors has created devastating uncertainty and demonstrated the failure of DOJ management. The firings have sparked a public outcry and congressional hearings…

Oct 22, 2007 4:00 PM CDT

Exonerated But Still Struggling

Twenty years after he was convicted of rape based on an inaccurate witness identification, Marcus Lyons has finally been cleared by DNA evidence. His conviction has been dismissed by the DuPage County state’s attorney, and his name will soon be expunged from a database of convicted sex offenders, reports the…

Oct 22, 2007 3:52 PM CDT

Charges Dropped Against Weekly That Revealed Grand Jury Subpoena

Prosecutors have dropped charges against two media executives arrested Thursday night for publishing a story in the Phoenix New Times that revealed details of a grand jury subpoena. Maricopa County, Ariz., Attorney Andrew Thomas said he had no prior knowledge of the arrests of New Times founders Michael Lacey and…

Oct 22, 2007 11:12 AM CDT

NC Won’t Defend Nifong in Civil Suit Over Duke Rape Case

The state of North Carolina has refused a request by disgraced former prosecutor Mike Nifong that it pay his legal fees or provide a defense in a civil case over the pursuit of baseless rape charges against three former Duke University lacrosse team members. In a letter sent to Nifong…

Oct 18, 2007 5:49 PM CDT

Ex-AG, Now a Local DA, Charges Abortion Clinic

A former Kansas attorney general who wrangled with abortion clinics is continuing to take an aggressive stance as a local district attorney. Prosecutor Phill Kline charged a Planned Parenthood clinic yesterday with performing illegal late-term abortions, the New York Times reports. He also accused the clinic of failing to determine…

Oct 18, 2007 1:44 PM CDT

Praise for Mukasey, More Criticism of Gonzales

Michael Mukasey, the president’s nominee to succeed Alberto Gonzales as U.S. attorney general, was warmly welcomed by lawmakers of both parties at a confirmation hearing today, in a session that included implicit, and sometimes explicit, criticism of his predecessor. “During the afternoon session, lawmakers of both parties showered Mukasey with…

Oct 18, 2007 1:06 AM CDT

Under Fire in Congress, DOJ Mulls Jena Case

At a Congressional hearing today, U.S. Department of Justice officials said they are considering a prosecution over the handling of the case of the so-called Jena Six—black youths who apparently were treated much more harshly than whites concerning similar alleged schoolyard crimes in a small town in Louisiana. However, they…

Oct 17, 2007 12:13 AM CDT

Verizon to Feds: No Warrants, No Problem

One of the nation’s biggest cell phone service providers has been quietly providing another service, too, for the past several years. When asked by the federal government, Verizon Communications has handed over customer telephone records in hundreds of “emergency” cases since 2005, without requiring warrants or attempting to determine the…

Oct 16, 2007 11:43 PM CDT