Sentencing/Post Conviction

Woman Who Got Life for Stealing 2 Purses Wants Plea Tossed

An Oklahoma City woman who received a life sentence after she pleaded guilty to shoplifting two purses from a Dillard’s department store is asking that her plea be thrown out. Before sentencing in March, Oklahoma County District Judge Ray Elliott called Cecelia Cathleen Rodriguez a “one-person crime wave” and noted…

Apr 2, 2009 12:30 PM CDT

Ex-Brown & Wood Partner Gets 6 Yrs in Tax Scheme

Former Brown & Wood partner Raymond Ruble was sentenced to six years and six months in prison for his role in a fraudulent tax shelter scheme that also saw the conviction of two former KPMG employees. Ruble was accused of writing opinion letters supporting fraudulent tax shelters. The letters assured…

Apr 2, 2009 10:31 AM CDT

Convicted Teen Spits in Lawyer’s Face; Pa. Judge Orders Him Bound & Gagged

Apparently feeling that he had little to lose, a 17-year-old convicted in February by a Pennsylvania jury of first-degree murder shouted expletives at a court hearing yesterday. As James Canady spouted off—at one point calling the judge, the prosecutor and his own defense attorney “f—ing crackers”—Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart…

Apr 1, 2009 9:51 PM CDT

US Sues BP Sub Over Alaska Oil Spills, Seeks Maximum Penalties

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed suit against a subsidiary of a global oil company, contending that two discharges totaling some 200,000 gallons of crude oil into Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope in 2006 violated federal clean air and water laws and seeking maximum penalties. Filed in federal…

Apr 1, 2009 9:15 PM CDT

High Court Says Gov’t Must Pay for Clemency Counsel

In a 7-2 opinion Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the government should pay federally appointed lawyers for working on state clemency requests for death row inmates. The underlying case involved a clemency petition by Edward Jerome Harbison, who wanted the government to pay for his petition to the…

Apr 1, 2009 3:30 PM CDT

U.S. Moves to Drop Charges Against Sen. Stevens

Updated: In a stunning development this morning, the U.S. Department of Justice moved to drop charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska. Justice Department officials are getting out of the case rather than continuing to defend the DOJ against accusations of prosecutorial misconduct. Indeed, the New York Times is…

Apr 1, 2009 1:10 PM CDT

Tough Job for Problem-Solver Pa. Judge: Up to 1,200 Invalid Youth Convictions

Fixing the result of massive corruption in the Luzerne County, Pa., juvenile justice system won’t be easy. As many as 1,200 cases reportedly may be involved in a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling yesterday concerning cases decided between between 2003 and 2008 by Mark Ciavarella Jr., the former president judge of…

Mar 27, 2009 9:59 PM CDT

Top Pa. Court Reverses Perhaps 1,200 Juvenile Convictions

In the latest chapter in an ongoing state-court corruption saga in Pennsylvania, a state supreme court ruling today is expected to reverse perhaps as many as 1,200 juvenile court convictions entered by a now-convicted judge. The ruling affects juvenile convictions between 2003 and 2008 in cases heard by the former…

Mar 26, 2009 8:52 PM CDT

Ex-Partner at La. Law Firm Gets 15 Years in Bizarre $30M Fraud Case

In the final chapter of a bizarre case at one point involving counterclaims that read like the plot of a John Grisham novel, a former partner at a Louisiana law firm who admitted his guilt today was sentenced to a 15-year federal prison term for fraud and money laundering. Ex-attorney…

Mar 26, 2009 2:08 AM CDT

Fla. Judge Vaults Bench, Helps Subdue Suspect, Makes TMZ

When a melee broke out in his Fort Lauderdale, Fla., courtroom yesterday morning, one of Broward County’s newest judges didn’t make a safety play and retreat to chambers. As a suspect suddenly attacked a witness who had been testifying in a restraining order matter, Judge Ian Richards vaulted over the…

Mar 25, 2009 5:11 PM CDT

Supreme Court Weighs Collateral Estoppel and an Enron Executive’s Retrial

The U.S. Supreme Court considered yesterday whether former Enron executive F. Scott Yeager can avoid a retrial on some counts that produced a jury deadlock after his acquittal on other related charges. Lawyer Samuel Buffone argued that Yeager’s acquittal on charges of wire and securities fraud resolved the common elements…

Mar 24, 2009 4:18 PM CDT

Six Executed Inmates Lost Appeals Because Lawyers Were Late

Nine death-row inmates in Texas, including six who were executed, lost their appeals because their lawyers missed filing deadlines. Two inmates had the same court-appointed lawyer, who used the same excuse for blowing the deadline in both cases, the Houston Chronicle reports. The lawyer, Jerome Godinich, said a malfunctioning filing…

Mar 23, 2009 2:58 PM CDT

Letters to Court About Madoff Released; Many Writers Call for More Scrutiny

Responding to a news media request, federal prosecutors in Manhattan today released dozens of letters and e-mails sent to the federal court handling the criminal case against Bernard Madoff. Many writers urged the justice system not to go easy, either on sentencing Madoff in a gargantuan Ponzi scheme that could…

Mar 21, 2009 2:04 AM CDT

Appeals Court Denies Bail for Madoff, Cites Chance of Hidden Assets

Acting just one day after oral arguments, a federal appeals court has denied bail for Bernard Madoff, who is awaiting sentencing for operating a $65 billion Ponzi scheme. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the trial judge’s decision to keep Madoff, 70, in jail on the ground that…

Mar 20, 2009 4:04 PM CDT

Prosecutor Raises Specter of Dozing Security Guards in Madoff Bail Appeal

A federal appeals court has promised a ruling “in due course” on whether to grant bail for Bernard Madoff before his sentencing for operating a $65 billion Ponzi scheme. Madoff’s lawyer, Ira Lee Sorkin, told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Madoff’s ability to flee with assets “is…

Mar 20, 2009 1:29 PM CDT