Prosecutors

Former prosecutor loses suit seeking damages for pepper spraying in prison

A former prosecutor who served five years in prison has lost his lawsuit claiming two corrections officers used excessive force when he refused an order to roll a log around a tree. Jurors found for the two prison guards in the suit by former Delaware deputy attorney general Kenneth Abraham,…

May 30, 2014 2:46 PM CDT

AG’s unique solution to dearth of execution drugs: State should manufacture its own supply

The Missouri attorney general has proposed a unique solution to a dearth of execution drugs. His state, AG Chris Koster suggested to a bar association group on Thursday, should manufacture its own supply, the Kansas City Star reports. If that occurs, Missouri would be the first state in the country…

May 29, 2014 11:10 PM CDT

Prosecutor asks top court to block judge from hearing all 280 cases handled by his office

An Ohio prosecutor has asked the state’s top court to disqualify a Lorain County judge from hearing all 276 criminal and four civil cases being pursued by his office. County Prosecutor Dennis Will says in an Ohio Supreme Court filing on Wednesday that Court of Common Pleas Judge James Burge…

May 29, 2014 6:19 PM CDT

Man charged in murder attempt on judge also wanted to slay DA and federal judge, authorities say

William Ray Phillips would have liked to have arranged for a contract hit on a Texas district attorney, a state-court judge and a federal judge, authorities say. But when it came time to put his money on the table, the 63-year-old was allegedly willing to pay only for the slaying…

May 29, 2014 4:05 PM CDT

Former prosecutor who served time seeks damages for prison pepper spraying

A former prosecutor who served five years in prison contends in a lawsuit being tried this week that prison guards used excessive force against him when he refused to roll a log around a tree. Former Delaware deputy attorney general Kenneth Abraham was serving a five-year sentence on a drug…

May 29, 2014 3:12 PM CDT

Witness for the prosecution: Your own car?

Originally, automobile manufacturers installed so-called black box recorders in vehicles for their own benefit. In case of any product liability suit, they wanted to be able to prove that airbags had deployed properly. But then GM expanded on that concept in 1999 by installing devices that could also capture vehicle…

May 27, 2014 5:45 PM CDT

Mailbox bomb explodes at DA’s home shortly after a grand jury declined to indict her in probe

A bomb in the home mailbox of an Oklahoma district attorney detonated and blew the door off the mailbox; the damage was discovered Tuesday by a mail carrier. No one was injured, and authorities say Rogers County DA Janice Steidley was not home at the time, according to KFOR and…

May 23, 2014 7:42 PM CDT

Prosecutor agrees he won’t use corporal punishment to discipline kids in deal to get charges dropped

A West Virginia prosecutor has agreed he won’t use corporal punishment to discipline his children as part of a pretrial diversion program that could result in dismissal of two misdemeanor charges against him. The charges against Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants will be dismissed after one year if he successfully…

May 22, 2014 5:15 PM CDT

Prosecutor’s Facebook page mocks ‘crack hoes’ and Sotomayor ‘quota lottery’

Updated: A Florida prosecutor whose Facebook page offered advice for “crack hoes” appears unapologetic amidst the controversy. Assistant State Attorney Kenneth Lewis is under fire for several Facebook comments, including this Mother’s Day post: “Happy Mother’s Day to all the crack hoes out there. It’s never too late to tie…

May 22, 2014 1:28 PM CDT

Texas governor faces grand jury probe for vetoing unit’s funding after DA’s drunken-driving arrest

No one, including a Texas district attorney, questions that she made a mistake by drinking and driving last year. But now grand jurors in Austin are being asked to determine whether the state’s governor, Rick Perry, violated the law, too. Their probe focuses on whether Perry, by vetoing funding to…

May 20, 2014 5:55 PM CDT

Judge OK’d warrant to search public defender’s office over evidence dispute in theft case

A misdemeanor retail theft case in Ohio ended earlier this month when the defendant took a plea and was sentenced to the 64 days he had already served awaiting trial. But the Hamilton County case still reverberates with both the prosecution and the defense, due to an evidence dispute that…

May 20, 2014 3:40 PM CDT

Prosecutor who died in fiery chain-reaction crash ‘was an American hero,’ state AG says

A longtime Pennsylvania prosecutor was among three people killed Monday in a fiery seven-vehicle accident on a Pennsylvania highway. Robert Rosner, 52, died at the scene of the Interstate 78 accident after the car he was driving was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer, crashed into several other cars and…

May 14, 2014 10:00 PM CDT

Man is freed after 34 years in prison; DA agrees to vacate sentence based on ‘shameful’ misconduct

Reginald Adams is a free man after spending 34 years in prison as a result of a murder case said to be marred by prosecutorial misconduct. Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro said at a press conference on Monday that prosecutors and police working on the case decades ago had…

May 13, 2014 3:23 PM CDT

Courthouse custodians make more money than new prosecutors in this state

Public defenders and prosecutors in Massachusetts are so poorly paid that they are among the working poor, according to a study by the state bar association. Assistant district attorneys in the state earn $37,500 a year and public defenders earn $40,000, according to the study (PDF) by the bar association’s…

May 12, 2014 11:15 AM CDT

In rare criminal case award, government must pay record $580K to defense lawyers over mistrial

In a ruling seldom seen in a criminal case, a Canadian judge has ordered the government to pay a record $580,000 to criminal defense lawyers after a mistrial. The Tuesday award in an Ontario Superior Court kidnapping case is intended to cover the entire cost to the defense of the…

May 8, 2014 5:25 PM CDT