Prosecutors

Ex-DA is labeled a ‘sexual predator’ at news conference; defense lawyer complains of ‘smear tactic’

The defense lawyer for a former district attorney in south Louisiana is crying foul after authorities called his client a “sexual predator” at a press conference and said he had preyed on more than 20 women seeking his help over a 20-year period. The former St. Charles Parish DA, Harry…

Apr 21, 2016 8:57 AM CDT

Judge reduces conviction in ex-cop’s fatal Brooklyn stairwell shooting

Former New York Police Department officer Peter Liang will avoid prison for fatally shooting Akai Gurley inside a housing project. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Danny Chun ruled that the November 2014 shooting had been an accident and reduced the jury’s verdict finding Liang…

Apr 20, 2016 4:55 PM CDT

Longtime former DA faces federal corruption trial, accused of misusing campaign money

A jury was selected and opening statements were made Monday in the federal corruption trial of a longtime former Louisiana district attorney on charges that he misused campaign money. In office for 30 years before he opted not to seek reelection in 2014, as a federal investigation was looming, Walter…

Apr 19, 2016 11:00 AM CDT

Convicted in 2012 of 1957 child-murder, man is freed from life prison term in Friday ruling

Convicted in 2012 of murdering a child in Illinois in 1957, life prisoner Jack McCullough on Friday had his conviction vacated at the request of a DeKalb County state’s attorney who wasn’t involved in the prosecution. McCullough could still be retried under Friday’s ruling by Judge William Brady, but has…

Apr 15, 2016 2:05 PM CDT

Some retailers end on-call scheduling after probes by multiple states

Attorneys general from eight states and Washington, D.C., are investigating a retailer scheduling practice described as unfair by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. In letters sent Wednesday, he and colleagues from California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Rhode Island ask 15 major companies about…

Apr 13, 2016 1:50 PM CDT

Hacked ‘Panama Papers’ law firm is raided by government officials

Following a massive data breach at a Panama-based law firm that a founding partner has blamed on a hack attack, government officials on Tuesday raided the headquarters of Mossack Fonseca & Co. The attorney general’s office said they were seeking “documentation linked to the information published in news articles that…

Apr 13, 2016 12:50 PM CDT

Prosecutor drops charges against civil rights lawyer arrested during law school protest

A Minneapolis prosecutor has decided not to pursue an obstruction case against local civil rights attorney Jordan Kushner, who was arrested last year at a law school event at the University of Minnesota. City attorney Susan Segal said she exercised prosecutorial discretion in dropping a factually justified misdemeanor case, in…

Apr 12, 2016 10:35 AM CDT

SEC sues Texas AG Ken Paxton for securities fraud; his lawyer ‘vehemently denies’ claims

A lawsuit has been filed against the attorney general of Texas by a federal securities regulator over his claimed conduct in recruiting investors to purchase stock in a technology company. Bookending a criminal securities fraud case brought by the state of Texas last year based on similar allegations, the Securities…

Apr 11, 2016 4:10 PM CDT

Prosecutors launch probes after massive leak of Panama law firm’s documents

Following news of a massive leak of documents from a Panama-based law firm that has incorporated some 240,000 offshore shell companies, prosecutors around the world on Monday announced related probes. That included the Department of Justice, which said it is reviewing the documents to see if there is any violation…

Apr 5, 2016 2:45 PM CDT

Judge sues judicial conduct commission claiming 1st Amendment right to criticize system on Facebook

A Kentucky judge has gone on the offensive in a battle with prosecutors over the racial composition of juries in the Louisville area, filing a federal lawsuit seeking to block a potential judicial ethics sanction on First Amendment grounds. In his Friday complaint (PDF), Jefferson Circuit Judge Olu Stevens seeks…

Apr 1, 2016 2:00 PM CDT

Judge accused of embezzling $4K as prosecutor expected to return to bench after no-contest plea

A suspended Michigan judge facing an embezzlement case over $4,000 in funds he allegedly misspent while serving as a county prosecutor has accepted a plea deal that is expected to put him back on the bench. Originally charged with five felonies, Lapeer Circuit Judge Byron Konschuh pleaded no contest to…

Mar 31, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

Judge rules woman’s alleged confession to counselor about grandmother’s death is admissible

Angela Judd had gotten away with murder, authorities say, before she confessed to a social worker in late January that she had smothered her 92-year-old grandmother to death a month earlier. But it wasn’t until Tuesday that Judd was charged with murder in the death of Nada Bodholdt, after an…

Mar 23, 2016 4:10 PM CDT

Prosecutor’s book offers firsthand look at ‘Making a Murderer’ subject Steven Avery (podcast)

A year before Netflix’s viral hit Making a Murderer was making headlines, Wisconsin prosecutor Michael Griesbach released his book The Innocent Killer: A True Story of a Wrongful Conviction and its Astonishing Aftermath.

Mar 23, 2016 8:30 AM CDT

Lawyers who pointed out judge’s ex parte courtroom chat say fee for recordings just shot up

Last month, a husband-and-wife legal team created a stir by saying that a courtroom security tape showed a Georgia judge having an ex parte chat with prosecutors. Getting that daylong video from the Cobb County sheriff’s office, pursuant to a public-records request, cost $5. But since then, the sheriff’s office…

Mar 17, 2016 4:15 PM CDT

Prosecutor who cracked down on prostitution is himself charged

A Michigan prosecutor who took a get-tough approach to prostitution is now accused of paying women for sex hundreds of times, including a woman who was seeking his help in a child custody dispute. Stuart Dunnings III, a Democrat who was the elected prosecutor of Ingham County, faces a felony…

Mar 17, 2016 12:26 PM CDT