Prosecutors

LA Theft Plot: $7 M Burglary Ring

It sounds like it should be the plot of the latest Hollywood movie. But in fact it’s a real-life story in some of Los Angeles’ most elite neighborhoods: skilled burglars in ski masks are stealing from the homes of the rich and famous, evading security systems and sometimes taking entire…

Jul 20, 2007 1:25 AM CDT

DOJ Cites Wins as Reform Bill Looms

The Justice Department may have lost big in the massive $2.5 billion tax shelter fraud case brought against former KPMG accounting firm employees, if a federal judge’s dismissal of 13 defendants on ethics grounds this week holds up on appeal. But it has won 1,236 other corporate fraud cases over…

Jul 19, 2007 8:08 PM CDT

President: Morford is New Deputy AG

A career federal prosecutor will serve at least temporarily as the new deputy attorney general in the troubled Justice Department, replacing one of a half-dozen senior officials who have announced their departures in the midst of ongoing controversy over alleged politicization of the prosecutorial process. The White House announced today…

Jul 18, 2007 10:49 PM CDT

Accused Doc Sues La. AG

A physician who stuck it out at a New Orleans hospital in disastrous conditions following Hurricane Katrina has filed a lawsuit against the state attorney general who accused her of killing four patients. The lawsuit by Dr. Anna Pou claims some patients could not be saved in the chaotic situation…

Jul 17, 2007 5:16 PM CDT

Gitmo Lawyer: U.S. Agents Seized Notes

A Canadian attorney representing an accused enemy combatant held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison says he was harassed and had his legal notes reviewed on Saturday by U.S. authorities. On his way home after meeting with his client, Omar Khadr, 20, Dennis Edney was singled out by U.S. customs…

Jul 17, 2007 12:56 AM CDT

Judge Calls Interference on Prosecutors, Dismisses 13 from KPMG Case

Updated: Saying that prosecutors inappropriately interfered with their defense, a federal judge in Manhattan has dismissed charges against 13 of 16 KPMG former employees charged in a tax shelter fraud case. In a ruling today, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said he had no choice but to dismiss the…

Jul 16, 2007 7:37 PM CDT

Prosecutor Misconduct Debated

Lawyers sparred over the extent of prosecutorial misconduct in California at a hearing convened yesterday by a state commission studying problems in the criminal justice system. Santa Clara University law professor Cookie Ridolfi presented findings that judges had found prosecutorial misconduct in 443 of more than 2,100 California cases in…

Jul 12, 2007 4:32 PM CDT

Ex-Aide: Bush and I Didn’t Discuss Firings

Former White House political director Sara Taylor testified today that she did not discuss the upcoming firings of federal prosecutors with President Bush. “I did not speak to the president about removing U.S. attorneys,” Taylor said. “I did not attend any meetings with the president where that matter was discussed.”…

Jul 11, 2007 7:58 PM CDT

Ex-Aide to Answer Few Questions

Updated: The former White House political director is putting restrictions on her testimony today before a Senate committee investigating the firings of at least eight U.S. attorneys. Sara Taylor will not testify about matters shielded by executive privilege but will answer questions “that are appropriate for a private citizen to…

Jul 11, 2007 4:34 PM CDT

Career Attorney Targets DOJ in Editorial

A 25-year career attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice has caused a stir by critiquing in scathing terms his employer and the administration of President George W. Bush in a recent newspaper editorial. “In the course of its tenure since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration has turned…

Jul 11, 2007 1:00 AM CDT

Lawyers’ ‘Blue Flu’ Slows Chicago Courts

Criminal courts in the Chicago area are expected to operate in slow motion today, as up to two-thirds of the 520 prosecutors in Cook County’s felony courtrooms take the day off. The prosecutorial “blue flu” is intended to send a message to county administrators about a claimed 12 percent discrepancy…

Jul 10, 2007 6:00 PM CDT

Prosecutor Riding in DUI Car Disciplined

After a suburban Chicago prosecutor drank, drove and died May 11 in an auto accident that seriously injured another motorist, the top prosecutor in a neighboring county announced a strict new policy on drinking and driving. Even if they are not charged, Kane County Prosecutor John Barsanti told his staff,…

Jul 5, 2007 5:21 PM CDT

Khadr, 20, Starts 6th Year at Gitmo Jail

Although he scored a big legal victory June 4, when the U.S. government–at least for now–was told by a military court that its terrorism charges against him are invalid, Omar Khadr’s day-to-day situation is still the same. Held since he was 15 years old at the U.S. military prison at…

Jul 3, 2007 5:37 PM CDT

Judge Seeks Prosecutor Probe

The chief federal judge in Boston has asked disciplinary authorities to investigate a prosecutor who failed to turn over exculpatory material in a Mafia case. Judge Mark Wolf placed his letter to state disciplinary authorities in the court file yesterday, Adam Liptak reports in the New York Times. In another…

Jul 3, 2007 3:48 PM CDT

IL Prosecutors + Low Pay = ‘Brain Drain’

Although it hasn’t yet caused a rush to the courthouse door, state prosecutors in Cook County, Illinois, due to a budgeting quirk, earn less than public defenders. On average, they have been making $63,000 annually to prosecute alleged criminals, compared to $73,000 for those who defend alleged criminals. And that…

Jul 2, 2007 8:51 PM CDT