Prosecutors

Profs: Gonzales Misunderstood Job

There is one simple reason why soon-to-be former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is losing his job, several law professors say: He never understood what he was supposed to be doing. Gonzales seemed to think he should be acting as the president’s personal legal counsel. But in fact, his job was…

Aug 29, 2007 6:17 PM CDT

Murder Capital of US: New Orleans

Updated: Per capita, New Orleans has by far the most murders of any city in the country. And that’s not likely to change until authorities get a grip on the situation. Its 161 homicides last year translate to 70 murders per 100,000 people, reports CNN. This year, the murder rate…

Aug 29, 2007 3:28 PM CDT

No Jury Duty for Janet Reno

These days, it isn’t all that unusual for a lawyer, or even a judge, to serve on a jury. But there are still a few justice system figures who apparently can still expect to be eliminated from the prospective panel pretty quickly. Among them: former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno,…

Aug 27, 2007 10:15 PM CDT

Seale Gets Life in 1964 Case

A reputed member of the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi was sentenced today to three life terms for his role in abducting, beating and killing two black teenagers in 1964. James Ford Seale, 72, was convicted in June on federal charges of conspiracy and two counts of kidnapping concerning the…

Aug 24, 2007 6:56 PM CDT

Sarbanes Case Against Lawyer Continues

The controversial prosecution of a Connecticut lawyer under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for what he says was an unknowing destruction of evidence will proceed, a federal judge has decided. Although Philip Russell says he didn’t know when he destroyed a computer containing child pornography that the FBI had just started a…

Aug 24, 2007 4:33 PM CDT

Prosecutor Apology Ends Iraqi’s ‘Nightmare’

A federal prosecutor has apologized to an Iraqi refugee who was improperly arrested and jailed for failing to register under a special system. U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sullivan of the Western District of Washington said the arrest was because of a good-faith mistake by Border Patrol Agents, the New York Times…

Aug 24, 2007 2:43 PM CDT

Scruggs, Firm in Criminal Contempt Case

A well-known Mississippi plaintiffs attorney and his law firm have been charged with criminal contempt by special federal prosecutors after they defied a federal judge’s order to return internal claims documents to an insurance company. Appointed by U.S. District Judge William M. Acker Jr. after the local U.S. attorney in…

Aug 22, 2007 4:44 PM CDT

Pedophile Order Is Invalid, Case Dropped

A California judge’s unusual order prohibiting a self-described pedophile from getting within 10 yards of the state’s children is invalid, according to Los Angeles prosecutors. But an attorney who persuaded a judge to issue the order earlier this month says the real problem is prosecutors looking for an excuse not…

Aug 22, 2007 3:37 PM CDT

FBI Director’s Notes Enhance Testimony

Notes turned over to the House Judiciary Committee by FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III reportedly describe former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft as “barely articulate,” “feeble” and “clearly stressed” during a now-infamous March 2004 encounter with top White House aides. Nonetheless, the aides, including then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales…

Aug 16, 2007 11:49 PM CDT

More Sex Issues for WA Prosecutor

Originally accused of having an affair with the mother of a 17-year-old arson defendant and using the relationship to get confidential defense information a Washington state prosecutor is now facing additional professional issues. Liam Michael Golden’s sexual conduct reportedly may have been intermingled with his office’s handling of as many…

Aug 16, 2007 10:16 PM CDT

Reservation Law: Separate & Unequal?

A system of justice that puts the federal courts in charge of adjudicating crimes that occur on Indian reservations can treat Native Americans much more harshly than others accused of comparable offenses elsewhere. “Indian tribes once had control over the dispensation of justice on reservations. But federal laws – some…

Aug 13, 2007 9:25 PM CDT

Did Affair With Mom Help Prosecute Son?

A prosecutor in Washington state has been accused of gaining information through an affair with the mother of an arson defendant to help prosecute her 17-year-old son. Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden reportedly admits he had a relationship with Kristine Wallace, but denies any wrongdoing, saying that the relationship ended…

Aug 7, 2007 9:16 PM CDT

3 CA Women: We Saw Rape, Want Trial

In a case seen by some as representing the flip side of the disastrous prosecution of former members of the Duke University lacrosse team for a rape they didn’t commit, a California attorney in private practice has agreed to represent women who say they were eyewitnesses to a rape of…

Aug 7, 2007 6:12 PM CDT

Katrina Hospital Murder Case Closed, But Civil Cases Continue

The criminal case against two nurses and a doctor accused of murdering hospital patients while working under horrendous conditions during Hurricane Katrina is now at an end, following a grand jury’s refusal to indict Dr. Anna Pou last month, prosecutors told the judge in the case yesterday. But it appears…

Aug 7, 2007 5:29 PM CDT

New Evidence in Spitzer Aides Probe

When New York’s attorney general recently concluded that aides to the state’s new reform-platform governor broke no laws in pursuing what some news reports have characterized as a “choppergate” political dirty tricks campaign, he may not have had all the relevant evidence. Aides to Gov. Eliot Spitzer had separate BlackBerries…

Aug 7, 2007 4:45 PM CDT