Prosecutors

Prosecutor challenges judge to carry through on her contempt threat, is ordered into custody

A Philadelphia prosecutor spent about an hour in a courthouse holding area on Wednesday after he challenged a judge to “carry through on your threat” to hold him in contempt. Judge Karen Simmons acquiesced, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. She ordered the removal of Assistant District Attorney Richard Sax from the…

Jun 17, 2016 8:21 AM CDT

Judge who accused prosecutor of ‘lie from the pit of hell’ agrees to reprimand and apology

A resolution has been reached of a legal ethics case against South Florida judge who ran into trouble last year, while still new on the bench. Broward Circuit Judge John Patrick Contini advised public defenders, in an email, about how to seek leniency and then blasted a prosecutor who made…

Jun 16, 2016 10:17 AM CDT

Prosecutor’s gun prank leads to suspension

A Delaware prosecutor with an aversion to the smell of hard-boiled eggs has been suspended for 30 days as a result of a gun prank. The prosecutor, Deputy Attorney General Adam Gelof, decided to enlist the courthouse security chief to respond to ribbing about Gelof’s egg aversion, the News Journal…

Jun 14, 2016 7:16 AM CDT

Law student in Mexico is reunited with his US mom 20 years after kidnapping

More than 20 years after her 1-year-old son was taken by his father from their home in 1995, along with all photographs of the boy, a Southern California mom has been reunited with her child—who is now a young man and had been about to start a University of Puebla…

Jun 10, 2016 1:00 PM CDT

DA-turned-justice violated due process by refusing to recuse in inmate’s appeal, Supreme Court rules

Pennsylvania’s former chief justice created an unconstitutional risk of bias when he refused to recuse himself in the case of a death-row inmate, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 5-3 decision. Due process compelled the recusal of former Chief Justice Ronald Castille because he had approved the inmate’s…

Jun 9, 2016 10:22 AM CDT

Trial begins for claimed gang leader accused of orchestrating kidnap of prosecutor’s dad

A jury was selected Monday in the federal trial of a prison inmate accused of orchestrating the kidnapping of a North Carolina prosecutor’s father in retaliation for a 2012 conviction. Kelvin Melton, a 51-year-old reputed street gang leader, is also accused of an alleged kidnap scheme targeting a person linked…

Jun 7, 2016 12:55 PM CDT

Criminal defense lawyers say police have it wrong in claimed law professor contract-hit case

Lawyers for two suspects in what authorities say was a contract hit on a Florida law professor that may be linked to a bitter divorce are dubious about the merits of the case against their clients. Plus, another criminal defense lawyer well-acquainted with the family of the law professor’s wife…

Jun 6, 2016 1:53 PM CDT

Federal prosecutors routinely got a look at documents selected by defense for copying, motion says

A copying service routinely gave Miami federal prosecutors CDs containing documents flagged by the defense for trial preparation, according to a May 26 motion filed on behalf of a doctor charged with health-care fraud. The motion says the materials are classic attorney work product, report the Wall Street Journal Law…

Jun 6, 2016 7:25 AM CDT

Prosecutor is ‘pathologically enthralled’ with death penalty, motion says; ‘Death Row Marv’ is cited

A motion filed on behalf of a Georgia inmate contends the District Attorney who sent him to death row is “pathologically enthralled” with the death penalty. The motion filed on behalf of Rodney Young says DA Layla Zon pursues death sentences with zeal that is greater than any other DA…

Jun 6, 2016 6:10 AM CDT

Judicial candidates’ self-drafted ballot titles spur legal fights over accuracy

In California, it helps to alert voters that a judicial candidate is a “child molestation prosecutor.” A political consultant drafted that ballot description for a 2012 judicial candidate who won the race, the Los Angeles Times reports. Also popular are descriptions describing judicial candidates as prosecutors of gangs and violent…

Jun 2, 2016 8:26 AM CDT

Drew Peterson guilty of seeking contract hit on prosecutor in murder case

Already serving a 38-year prison term after his 2012 conviction for the murder of his third wife, Drew Peterson now faces an additional sentence that could add decades to his time behind bars. A downstate Illinois jury deliberated for less than an hour on Tuesday before finding the former suburban…

May 31, 2016 3:30 PM CDT

2 cops charged in Freddie Gray case sue top Baltimore prosecutor for defamation

Two Baltimore police officers facing manslaughter charges in the high-profile death in custody of suspect Freddie Gray last year have now filed a civil lawsuit against the chief prosecutor in their case. It asserts causes of action for alleged defamation and invasion of privacy against Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby,…

May 27, 2016 10:05 AM CDT

Lawyer can appeal sanction order though fine has been paid by her employer, Posner opinion says

A former prosecutor appealing a sanctions order has standing, though the fine has already been paid, but she loses on the merits, a federal appeals court has ruled. The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled (PDF) on Monday in an appeal by Mary McClellan, a former assistant state’s…

May 25, 2016 9:19 AM CDT

New Senate bill would block SCOTUS-approved rule change expanding DOJ’s surveillance powers

A small bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced a proposed bill to curtail computer intrusions by the U.S. government. Their Stop Mass Hacking Act, introduced Thursday by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), would reverse a change to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal…

May 20, 2016 5:45 AM CDT

Lawyer who had two indictments against him dismissed seeks damages over ex-DA’s actions

Represented by a major litigation boutique, a New York defense attorney has gone on the offensive after the dismissal of a criminal case over his claimed conduct concerning a witness in a sexual assault case. In a civil rights lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan, attorney George Galgano contends…

May 18, 2016 5:40 PM CDT