Prosecutors

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

Facebook lacks standing to challenge subpoenas of users’ info in disability case, appeals court says

A New York appeals court has sided with prosecutors in a closely watched Manhattan case, finding that Facebook lacked standing to challenge subpoenas requiring the social media company to turn over all information in the accounts of 381 people. Only the individuals in question can challenge the subpoenas, but reportedly…

Jul 22, 2015 10:05 AM CDT

Did ‘legendary’ former prosecutor withhold evidence in multiple cases?

Earlier this month, a state-court judge recommended a new trial for a Texas man found guilty in 2007 of killing his pregnant wife. That’s because Harris County prosecutor Kelly Siegler withheld exculpatory evidence that would have made a difference in David Temple’s trial, said Judge Larry Gist. “Of enormous significance…

Jul 21, 2015 11:15 AM CDT

Bailiff relays jury impression of defense lawyer in trial texts to prosecutor

A bailiff relayed the jury’s impression of the criminal defense lawyer—who was said to be “a pain in the butt”—in text messages exchanged with one of the Harris County prosecutors during a recent DWI trial in Texas, according to the lawyer who was critiqued. Lawyer Jed Silverman says the bailiff…

Jul 20, 2015 10:25 AM CDT

ABA addresses ‘destabilizing loss of public confidence’ in criminal justice in joint statement

The ABA and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational fund have issued a joint statement addressing the “troubling and destabilizing loss of public confidence in the American criminal justice system.” The statement (PDF) notes the “recent spate of killings of unarmed African American men and women at the hands of…

Jul 16, 2015 10:46 AM CDT

Jury convicts ‘sovereign citizen’ of filing false liens against federal judge and prosecutor

A federal jury in Houston on Wednesday convicted a Texas man of filing fraudulent liens against a federal judge and prosecutor in retaliation for their work on an earlier criminal case in which he was convicted. Tyrone Eugene Jordan, 44, is described as a “sovereign citizen” in a press release…

Jul 15, 2015 4:55 PM CDT