Sentencing/Post Conviction

Weekly Briefs: Appeals courts rule in lawyer restitution cases; tribes agree to opioid settlement

Ex-BigLaw partner must pay $537M in tax fraud scheme Paul M. Daugerdas, a former Jenkens & Gilchrist partner, lost an appeal in his tax fraud case before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New York on Monday. Daugerdas had challenged financial penalties imposed after his 2013 conviction for…

Feb 4, 2022 3:15 PM CST

New Tennessee law helped inmate leave death row; judge’s ruling creates possibility of parole

A former death row inmate in Tennessee will get a chance to seek parole as a result of a resentencing following prosecutors’ concession that he can’t be executed because of an intellectual disability.

Feb 2, 2022 9:07 AM CST

Possible SCOTUS nominee saw impact of criminal justice system in uncle’s case

U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, often mentioned as a possible U.S. Supreme Court nominee, saw the impact of the criminal defense system partly through the case of an uncle.

Feb 1, 2022 9:47 AM CST

Inmate’s life sentence spurs him to push for felony murder reform

Of course, there are inmates who pose a danger to society. There are plenty of others, like me, who made bad choices or had addiction issues and can be rehabilitated and released to become productive members of society.

Feb 1, 2022 2:30 AM CST

‘Opening the door’ rule violated defendant’s rights under Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause, SCOTUS says

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a New York’s “opening the door” rule violated a defendant’s rights under the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause.

Jan 20, 2022 10:51 AM CST

Judge is assigned to civil cases after saying 148 days in jail is ‘plenty of punishment’ for sexual assault

A judge is western Illinois is no longer handling criminal cases after he reversed his bench-trial conviction of an 18-year-old man for sexual assault, declaring that the youth had received “plenty of punishment” after spending 148 days in jail.

Jan 14, 2022 11:49 AM CST

Former jail guard convicted of sexual assault can rejoin military or go to jail, judge says

A Kentucky judge on Friday told a former jail guard convicted of sexually assaulting an inmate that he could rejoin the military or report to jail.

Jan 13, 2022 11:56 AM CST

Sotomayor and Barrett flag Sentencing Commission’s longtime lack of a quorum

The U.S. Sentencing Commission has not had a quorum for three full years, which affects its ability to address circuit splits on the application of sentencing guidelines, two U.S. Supreme court justices said in a statement Monday.

Jan 11, 2022 1:30 PM CST

Ex-film industry lawyer gets prison time for blackmailing woman he met on ‘sugar daddies’ website

A fired top lawyer for the film industry has been sentenced to a year in prison for blackmailing and sexually abusing a woman he met through an online “sugar daddies” website.

Jan 10, 2022 4:16 PM CST

Mandatory law leads to 110-year sentence for fatal crash; DA moves for reconsideration

A Colorado district attorney is seeking reconsideration of a 110-year sentence for a truck driver convicted for a 2019 crash that killed four people after his brakes failed.

Dec 23, 2021 11:25 AM CST

Rapper who called attention to high-billing prison phone service is killed at music festival

The rapper who recorded a mixtape over a high-billing prison phone service was fatally stabbed backstage at a music festival Saturday.

Dec 20, 2021 11:55 AM CST

Appeals court upholds admission of inmate’s Comedy Central interview at his death penalty trial

A trial judge didn’t err by admitting footage of an inmate’s conversation with a Comedy Central comedian during the penalty phase of the inmate’s murder trial, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled last week.

Dec 15, 2021 8:52 AM CST

Ex-lawyer convicted on espionage charges seeks reinstatement to bar, says her ‘contrition is real’

A disbarred lawyer convicted on espionage charges in 1998 sought to regain her law license during a hearing in Washington, D.C., this week.

Dec 9, 2021 3:11 PM CST

New database tracks gender-based violence sentencing decisions in the Pacific

“The training not only showed us information about the trends in sentencing decisions, but it definitely got us thinking about a lot of things,” said Loukinikini Vili, a lawyer and the director of human rights at Samoa’s Office of the Ombudsman/National Human Rights Institution.

Dec 9, 2021 8:49 AM CST

Black man convicted by all-white jury in room with Confederate flags gets new trial, appeals court says

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled a Black criminal defendant is entitled to a new trial because the all-white jury that convicted him deliberated in a room "adorned with various mementos of the Confederacy."

Dec 6, 2021 9:21 AM CST