Prosecutors

Leak of discipline case against Pennsylvania AG taints jury trial in criminal case, her counsel says

After confirmation this week of earlier news reports that lawyer disciplinary authorities in Pennsylvania are seeking to suspend the law license of the state attorney general, her counsel is blasting the public revelation of a process that is supposed to be confidential. “The leaks about a disciplinary proceeding to suspend…

Sep 10, 2015 11:45 AM CDT

Ex-prosecutor indicted over alleged text offer to pay $20K to get opponent to exit judicial campaign

A now-former longtime prosecutor in Davidson County, North Carolina, was indicted Tuesday, accused of texting an offer to pay $20,000 to get an opponent to drop out of an election for a superior court seat. Wendy Joyce Terry, 43, was placed on administrative leave after the alleged July 23 incident…

Sep 9, 2015 5:15 PM CDT

Inmate offers to be a bone marrow donor for judge who put him in jail while a prosecutor

A North Carolina inmate says he has no ill will toward the district attorney who helped put him in jail. The inmate, Charles Alston, is serving a 25-year sentence for armed robbery. In a letter to the former prosecutor, who is now a judge in Chapel Hill, Alston says he…

Sep 4, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Anonymous ‘cyberbullying’ by prosecutors deprived cops of fair trial, 5th Circuit says

Five New Orleans police officers convicted in connection with the shooting of unarmed civilians during the chaos after Hurricane Katrina deserve a new trial because of online “cyberbullying” by government lawyers, a federal appeals court has ruled. The 2-1 decision (PDF) by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of…

Aug 20, 2015 10:48 AM CDT

Pennsylvania AG Kathleen Kane proclaims innocence, blames ‘Porngate’ backlash for charges

Speaking publicly for the first time about criminal charges accusing her of leaking grand jury information and then lying about doing so, Pennsylvania attorney general Kathleen Kane proclaimed her innocence in a Wednesday press conference. Although she blamed political fallout from last year’s “Porngate” email scandal for the charges, “My…

Aug 12, 2015 3:00 PM CDT

Acquitted man sues ‘Cold Justice’ producers and sheriff over claimed malicious murder prosecution

Acquitted earlier this year in the 1981 murder of his ex-wife, an Ohio man has filed a federal civil rights suit over a true-crime television show. In portraying the case in August 2014, TNT’s Cold Justice put him in a false light, Steven Noffsinger contends. The suit says that the…

Aug 11, 2015 12:35 PM CDT

57 arrested at federal courthouse in Ferguson anniversary protest; state of emergency declared

Nearly 60 people were arrested Monday at the federal courthouse in St. Louis in what authorities called a peaceful protest by approximately 200 people. Additional protests by some 1,000 people over the weekend of the one-year anniversary of the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by police in nearby Ferguson…

Aug 10, 2015 5:24 PM CDT

DA gets 10 days for contempt; judge cites gag order, failure to appear, disrespect to court

A Texas district attorney was sentenced Thursday to 10 days in jail for contempt of court by a visiting judge. Judge Doug Shaver also imposed a $500 fine on Williamson County DA Jana Duty, the Austin American-Statesman reports. Shaver cited Duty’s violation of a gag order, her failure to appear…

Aug 6, 2015 4:05 PM CDT

Disbarred lawyer gets probation after judge noted disheveled appearance and ordered drug test

A now-disbarred Georgia lawyer has been convicted of two felony drug charges stemming from a judge’s order that he undergo a drug test because he appeared disheveled and had trouble standing during a court appearance for a client. The former lawyer, Rand Jason Csehy, 44, was convicted on Tuesday in…

Aug 5, 2015 9:26 AM CDT

Is file-sharing software the solution to evidence ‘blame game’ in DA’s office?

New software may be the solution to a Texas county’s problem getting prosecution evidence to defense lawyers on a timely basis, officials there say. But a number of defense lawyers are dubious, citing a lack of privacy and logistical issues, according to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and KRIS. Warren Diepraam,…

Jul 29, 2015 4:37 PM CDT

White police officer faces murder case in shooting of black motorist in license-plate traffic stop

A white University of Cincinnati police officer who stopped a black motorist for having a missing front license plate and then shot him to death as he sat in the driver’s seat of his vehicle has been indicted for murder. Officer Ray Tensing “purposefully killed” motorist Samuel DuBose during the…

Jul 29, 2015 3:00 PM CDT

Former prosecutor is suspended for demeaning remarks, false denial about snitch threat

A former Delaware prosecutor has been suspended from law practice for his conduct during a death penalty trial that included disparaging and demeaning remarks about the pro se defendant. The lawyer, former Deputy Attorney General R. David Favata, was suspended for six months and a day, which means he can’t…

Jul 29, 2015 7:49 AM CDT

Process server criminally charged for ‘slapped’ lawsuit gets civil rights case OK

A last-minute decision to have his wife and nephew take cellphone videos as he served a police brutality lawsuit outside a Louisiana courthouse may have saved Douglas Dendinger from a hefty prison term. Now Dendinger is hoping the videos will also play a significant role in his ongoing federal civil…

Jul 24, 2015 12:20 PM CDT

Prosecutor is fired after his apology for alleged flippant remarks is found to be lacking

An assistant county attorney in Kentucky was fired on Monday after he failed to sufficiently apologize for alleged inappropriate and flippant remarks about gays, immigrants and the disabled. The assistant prosecutor, Karl Price, was offered a chance to apologize and keep his job with the Jefferson County Attorney’s office, given…

Jul 23, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Suspect in Charleston church massacre is indicted on federal hate-crime charges

Already facing South Carolina murder and attempted murder charges over a shooting massacre that killed nine people last month at a historic black church in Charleston, suspect Dylann Roof has now been indicted as well in a federal hate-crime case over the shootings. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the 33-count…

Jul 22, 2015 4:00 PM CDT