Prosecutors

Federal judge holds US attorney’s office in contempt in probe of recorded attorney-client calls

A federal judge has held the Kansas U.S. Attorney’s Office in contempt of court for failing to cooperate and preserve evidence in a special master’s investigation into recordings of attorney-client phone calls. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson of Kansas City, Kansas, said the government employed a “wholesale strategy to delay,…

Aug 15, 2019 3:53 PM CDT

2 former prosecutors suspended for failing to report suspect’s beating

Two former prosecutors with the St. Louis circuit attorney’s office have been suspended from law practice for failing to immediately report a detective’s beating of a suspect. The Missouri Supreme Court indefinitely suspended Ambry Nichole Schuessler and Katherine Anne Dierdorf on Tuesday. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has coverage, while the…

Aug 15, 2019 3:06 PM CDT

New hemp laws leave police and prosecutors dazed and confused

Some prosecutors in states with new laws legalizing hemp are reluctant to bring charges for marijuana possession because of lab tests that can’t distinguish the two substances. Reluctant prosecutors have refused to pursue people for low-level marijuana possession in states that include Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Texas, report the New…

Aug 9, 2019 11:31 AM CDT

DA can’t be sued for firing 4 higher-level employees who supported his opponent, 5th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has ruled that a Texas district attorney was partly protected from lawsuits by seven people who claim he fired them because they had supported his election opponent. In a 2-1 decision on Aug. 6, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Hidalgo County…

Aug 8, 2019 12:42 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: AG Barr restricts asylum in family-ties cases; prosecutors allege ‘perversion of justice’

• U.S. Attorney General William Barr has issued a decision that will make it tougher for immigrants to seek asylum based on persecution of immediate family members. Barr reversed a ruling by the Board of Immigration Appeals that allowed an immigrant to seek asylum because his father was targeted by…

Jul 29, 2019 4:30 PM CDT

Lawyer accused of defrauding his law firm by secretly referring its clients to outside lawyers

Federal prosecutors have accused a Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer of defrauding his law firm out of about $4.2 million in legal fees and costs by secretly referring its clients to outside lawyers and taking a cut of the recovery. Prosecutors in Philadelphia charged 64-year-old Neil Mittin of Huntingdon Valley with…

Jul 23, 2019 3:37 PM CDT

‘America’s DA’ Robert Morgenthau dies at 99

Former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau died Sunday, less than two weeks before his 100th birthday. Morgenthau was the DA for 35 years before his retirement in 2009.

Jul 22, 2019 10:13 AM CDT

Police officers illegally use information from arrests that have been sealed, lawsuit says

When a man named J.J. was arrested in the Bronx in 2016, the public defenders assigned to represent him assumed he’d get a good plea deal. After all, it appeared to be a low-level case. J.J. had been a passenger in his friend’s car when police had pulled them over for allegedly failing to signal a turn; the officers then searched the vehicle and found an unlicensed gun inside.

Jul 19, 2019 5:00 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Lawyer who scammed Charles Barkley gets prison; DA wants death penalty overturned

• An Alabama lawyer was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday for running an energy investment scheme that defrauded former NBA star Charles Barkley and other athletes. Donald Watkins Sr., 70, will also have to pay about $14 million in restitution. Watkins said he still considers the victims…

Jul 17, 2019 5:00 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Feds won’t charge cop in Eric Garner’s chokehold death, Cardi B defends her courtroom attire

• The U.S. Justice Department won’t charge the New York City police officer who put Eric Garner in a chokehold during an arrest for selling loose cigarettes. Garner cried out, “I can’t breathe” before his death. Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said the officer won’t be charged with a civil…

Jul 16, 2019 6:15 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: James Comey’s daughter prosecutes Epstein; cop accused of planting drugs in cars

• A daughter of former FBI Director James Comey is one of the lead prosecutors in the federal sex trafficking case against billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. Maurene Comey is an assistant U.S. Attorney in Manhattan. President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton were both acquaintances of Epstein, leading some conspiracy…

Jul 11, 2019 4:30 PM CDT

Death sentences show slight uptick in 2018 after big decline, new report says

Death sentences imposed in the United States dropped to 31 in 2016, before rising slightly to 39 in 2017 and 42 in 2018, according to a new report citing estimates by the Death Penalty Information Center.

Jul 10, 2019 3:42 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: US prosecutor accused of misstatements; is Kevin Spacey case unraveling?

• The Department of Justice is investigating a federal prosecutor accused of falsely blaming case delays on a nonexistent backlog at the Washington, D.C., crime lab, according to court filings. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has asked federal prosecutors whether the case should be referred to ethics regulators. (The Washington…

Jul 9, 2019 4:23 PM CDT

As California lawmakers cut criminal sentences, some district attorneys push back using plea deals

After the jury deadlocked in Victor Hugo Sanchez’s murder trial in February, San Diego prosecutors offered him a deal: plead guilty to manslaughter and spend just 11 years in state prison. But there was an unusual catch. As part of the agreement, Sanchez had to sign away his right to…

Jul 8, 2019 11:55 AM CDT

Diversion sentencing may offer an alternative path to justice—but how fair is it?

Reform-minded prosecutors throughout the country, particularly ones who promised to reduce imprisonment rates, are turning to diversion to resolve criminal charges.

Jul 2, 2019 6:30 AM CDT