Prosecutors

Lawyer dad is banned from posting son’s bail over police-shooting death of 6-year-old

A Louisiana lawyer has not been allowed to provide his son’s bail in a high-profile police-shooting case involving the death of a 6-year-old, because a state law prohibits attorneys from posting bail in all cases. The father, Norris Greenhouse Sr., is a local prosecutor. He had been preparing to get…

Nov 13, 2015 11:45 AM CST

Should judge dismiss case because DA didn’t know about FBI witness payments? Court battle continues

Accused by attorney Paul Morgan of withholding exculpatory information, a Texas prosecutor said she had known nothing about a total of $5,000 in relocation assistance arranged by a FBI agent for three witnesses in a murder trial against a co-defendant of Morgan’s client. And on Thursday a state-court judge agreed…

Nov 12, 2015 5:00 PM CST

Defendant who didn’t get exculpatory DNA results can withdraw guilty plea, state supreme court says

The West Virginia Supreme Court says an inmate can withdraw his 2002 guilty plea to robbery and rape because he didn’t receive exculpatory test results. The Nov. 10 decision (PDF) “will reverberate more widely” because of conflicting rulings on whether prosecutors must disclose evidence favorable to the defendant before plea…

Nov 12, 2015 12:18 PM CST

Is alleged drug kingpin influencing co-defendants by paying for their counsel?

Contending that a jailed defendant awaiting trial in an Ohio drug-trafficking case is seeking to influence three co-defendants by paying for their legal counsel, prosecutors have filed a motion seeking to block current defense attorneys from continuing to represent the trio. Alleged heroin kingpin Tevaughn “Big Baby” Darling “intends to…

Nov 9, 2015 2:30 PM CST

Ex-prosecutor who choked woman at bar while costumed as Clark Kent gets community service

A former Manhattan prosecutor has been sentenced to 10 days of community service and alcohol counseling concerning a 2014 incident in which he choked a woman at a Halloween party being held at a New York City bar, while costumed as Clark Kent. Eli Cherkasky, 35, was convicted of assault,…

Nov 5, 2015 2:05 PM CST

Prosecutor suspended for allegedly pulling gun on fake spiders

A West Virginia prosecutor has been suspended indefinitely for allegedly pulling a gun in response to a Halloween office display involving fake spiders. Logan County assistant prosecuting attorney Chris White, who suffers from arachnophobia, apparently was infuriated over the holiday decorations, WCHS reports. The Oct. 5th incident occurred after several…

Nov 2, 2015 11:50 AM CST

Fred Thompson, lawyer, former lawmaker and actor on ‘Law & Order,’ is dead at 73

Fred Thompson, who grew up in small-town Tennessee and went on to make his mark as a lawyer, a lawmaker and a film and television actor, died Sunday of a recurrence of lymphoma, his family said. He was 73 years old. Thompson was known for his commanding presence and folksy…

Nov 2, 2015 8:00 AM CST

Ex-client charged with arson in fires at law firm and prosecutor’s office gets 16 years

A New Jersey man was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to crimes related to fires set earlier this year at the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office and a Vineland law firm. Felix R. Lopez, 30, pleaded guilty to arson and employing a juvenile in the commission…

Oct 30, 2015 4:15 PM CDT

Proposed law would ban federal prosecutors from reading emails between prison inmates and attorneys

Federal officials in Brooklyn, New York, say it isn’t practical to segregate inmate emails to their legal counsel from ordinary email. So the feds have solved the confidentiality problem by saying there isn’t any: Prosecutors have the right to review the electronic communications, although in-person attorney-client conversations and hard-copy letters…

Oct 29, 2015 4:25 PM CDT

Former prosecutor admits covering up assault of handcuffed suspect

A former St. Louis prosecutor has admitted covering up the assault of a handcuffed suspect by a city police detective. Bliss Barber Worrell, 28, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to one count of misprision of a felony, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Although the charge carries a possible sentence…

Oct 28, 2015 4:25 PM CDT

Fired prosecutor’s suit seeking to remove DA from office must be OK’d by another DA

An unusual lawsuit that seeks to remove a sitting Texas district attorney from office appears likely to test the procedural mechanism for doing so. On Tuesday, the judge overseeing the case against Dallas District Attorney Susan Hawk said the case can only go forward if a district attorney in a…

Oct 28, 2015 11:30 AM CDT

Former prosecutor is suspended for adding charge to indictment

A former prosecutor in Ohio has had his law license suspended for a year because he added a charge to a criminal indictment and then signed the document. The Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the suspension for the former Butler County prosecutor, Jason Phillabaum of Cincinnati, report the Legal…

Oct 28, 2015 7:44 AM CDT

For the second time this year, judge dismisses charges against defense attorney

For the second time this year, a judge has dismissed charges against New York lawyer George Galgano. According to a Monday story in the Journal News, Westchester County Court Judge David Zuckerman dismissed an indictment filed by the Putnam County District Attorney against Galgano, a criminal defense attorney. Galgano had…

Oct 27, 2015 1:15 PM CDT

9th Circuit panel vacates death row inmate’s conviction because of biased jury selection

An appellate court has tossed aside a 29-year-old guilty verdict and death sentence against an African-American inmate due to racial bias. The Sacramento Bee reported on Monday that a divided three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has upheld a lower court ruling vacating…

Oct 27, 2015 12:30 PM CDT

Bill Cosby accuser sues former DA for alleged defamation

A former Temple University employee who once sued Bill Cosby for alleged sexual abuse has filed a lawsuit against the former prosecutor who defended his decision not to charge the comedian in 2005. The suit claims former Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney Bruce Castor defamed the plaintiff when he said…

Oct 27, 2015 7:50 AM CDT