Prosecutors

Judge faces ethics investigation over prosecutor’s viewing of live courtroom feed

An Ohio judge is reportedly facing a legal ethics investigation because of a live feed of his courtroom proceedings that was available for the Warren County prosecutor to view in his office. The Cincinnati Enquirer says it has obtained documents that indicate Common Pleas Judge Donald Oda is being probed.…

Oct 31, 2014 11:40 AM CDT

Senior prosecutor is fired one day after courtroom outburst

A senior prosecutor in Jefferson County, Kentucky, was fired Thursday following a Wednesday courtroom outburst during a contentious hearing. The Louisville Courier-Journal provided a copy of the courtroom video of the incident. In it, prosecutor Robert Fleck called a public defender “wet behind the ears” and said, “For the record…

Oct 30, 2014 3:00 PM CDT

Lawyer, 52, hopes to become a police officer

Since childhood, Ed Tobin wanted to become a police officer. But, encouraged by his parents, he went to law school instead. Now, after 30 years in practice, the nearly 53-year-old Florida attorney is hoping to give up his seat on the Miami Beach Commission and start working as a patrol…

Oct 29, 2014 4:40 PM CDT

DA’s pre-arraignment script nixed Miranda warning, top NY court says, reversing 2 convictions

It is routine in New York City for prosecutors to talk with defendants before they are arraigned. But a script routinely read to suspects by prosecutors in the Queens district attorney’s office went too far, effectively negating the Miranda warning that would subsequently be provided by first urging defendants to…

Oct 29, 2014 1:05 PM CDT

Prosecutors will appeal Oscar Pistorius verdict and sentence

South African prosecutors announced they will appeal both the judgment and sentence handed down to sprinter Oscar Pistorius. The New York Times reported that Nathi Mncube, a spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority in South Africa, sent out a tweet Monday saying that prosecutors “will be appealing both the conviction…

Oct 27, 2014 2:00 PM CDT

Ex-judge acquitted on all but 1 count now faces new criminal case as DA revives AG’s dropped probe

Convicted of only a single perjury count during a criminal trial earlier this year concerning alleged misuse of her office, a former Philadelphia traffic court judge now faces a second criminal case. That’s because Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams has revived a sting investigation against Thomasine Tynes and others which…

Oct 24, 2014 11:10 AM CDT

DOJ denounces ‘irresponsible’ leaks in Ferguson police-shooting case

The Department of Justice has denied any involvement in multiple significant leaks concerning a state grand jury investigation of a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer who fatally shot an unarmed teenager. An official at the DOJ says Attorney General Eric Holder told Justice Department lawyers that he is “exasperated” by the…

Oct 23, 2014 12:23 PM CDT

Las Vegas DA to seek county OK for reality TV show about cold and closed cases

A new reality television show about the work of the Las Vegas coroner could soon be followed by one about its district attorney. Apparently inspired by Postmortem in Vegas, DA Steve Wolfson will be seeking permission from Clark County commissioners next month to create a similar show about cold and…

Oct 21, 2014 10:40 AM CDT

Man imprisoned 29 years is exonerated; DA cites fake murder confession by teen ‘fed false facts’

Updated: After news Tuesday that Brooklyn’s new district attorney is seeking to exonerate two men convicted of a 1985 murder, the criminal justice system moved with lightning speed. On Wednesday, when an assistant to DA Kenneth Thompson asked a Brooklyn judge to vadate the convictions, he did, reports the New…

Oct 15, 2014 11:35 AM CDT

New DOJ policy bans waiver of potential ineffective-assistance claims against defense counsel

In a new policy announced Tuesday that is effective immediately, the U.S. Department of Justice says an individual who takes a plea cannot waive a potential ineffective assistance claim against his or her legal counsel by doing so. That means federal prosecutors can no longer include such waiver language in…

Oct 14, 2014 3:37 PM CDT

Woman gets 7 years for filing fake $100B liens against 4 judges, US attorney and others

Five years ago, Cherron Phillips was a successful career woman with two children, friends and relatives with impressive records of achievement and no criminal record. On Tuesday, the 44-year-old was sentenced to seven years in prison by a federal judge in Chicago for filing bogus $100 billion maritime liens against…

Oct 14, 2014 2:15 PM CDT

Prosecutor’s ‘bizarre behavior’ is cited in overturned conviction

An aggravated assault conviction must be overturned because of the “cumulative impact of the prosecutor’s transgressions”–including an “untoward incursion into the jury box,” a New Jersey appeals court has ruled. The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, overturned the aggravated assault conviction of Geraldo Rivera because of assistant prosecutor Douglas…

Oct 14, 2014 10:41 AM CDT

Judge dismisses murder case against 3 men over prosecutorial misconduct, says they can’t be retried

Three defendants in a “horrible” murder, torture and robbery case are by no means Boy Scouts, a Philadelphia judge said Thursday. But, explaining that constitutional rights apply to the guilty as well as the innocent, Common Pleas Judge Benjamin Lerner dismissed murder charges against Aquil Bond, Jawayne K. Brown, and…

Oct 10, 2014 2:20 PM CDT

Judge complains about smelly appeals documents; can the culprit be sniffed out?

An Indiana appeals judge smells something amiss in an appeal of a prostitution conviction. In footnote 1 in a Sept. 30 opinion (PDF), Judge Edward Najam Jr. has a complaint about the transcript: It “emits an unpleasant odor” of smoke. The Indiana Law Blog noted the footnote and the Indianapolis…

Oct 8, 2014 7:00 AM CDT

Bankruptcy lawyer surrenders law license to avoid federal prosecution

Louisiana bar discipline officials are surprised that a New Orleans lawyer will avoid federal criminal prosecution by permanently surrendering his law license, the Times-Picayune reports. Attorney Claude Lightfoot’s license had been suspended in 2011 in an unrelated matter in which he advised a disgraced federal judge to significantly misspell his…

Oct 6, 2014 12:39 PM CDT