Sentencing/Post Conviction

Specter Wants to Know if Holder Can Just Say No

Attorney General nominee Eric Holder is likely to face tough questions from Republicans when his confirmation hearings begin next Thursday. The GOP may be emboldened by the pay-to-play charges against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, CNN reports, and may use the hearings to prove their credibility as a minority party, according…

Jan 8, 2009 12:52 PM CST

1st Surrender, Then Contest 1977 Child-Rape Plea, Gov’t Tells Polanski

Fugitive film director Roman Polanski can’t move to have a 1977 statutory rape conviction dismissed based on claimed government misconduct until he turns himself in, a Los Angeles prosecutor contends. The issue is being argued in Los Angeles County Superior Court because lawyers for the 75-year-old resident of France have…

Jan 7, 2009 10:38 PM CST

Ruling Gives Skilling Chance to Raise Prosecutor Misconduct Claim

A federal appeals court opinion ordering a new sentence for former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling gives his lawyers another chance to argue for a new trial. Yesterday’s opinion overturning Skilling’s 24-year-sentence for fraud and conspiracy said U.S. District Judge Simeon Lake III had incorrectly applied sentencing guidelines and ordered…

Jan 7, 2009 12:39 PM CST

Cost of Lying in Court: 120 Days, Law School Delay for Detroit Mayor’s Ex-Aide

In the latest chapter of a criminal case that ignited public interest with its allegations of sex, lies and steamy text messages between the former Detroit mayor and his ex-top aide, a Michigan judge has calculated the cost of Christine Beatty’s courtroom prevarications. “Lying in court has a price tag,…

Jan 6, 2009 7:14 PM CST

Appeals Court Orders New Sentence for Enron’s Jeffrey Skilling

A federal appeals court has ordered a new sentence for former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling, convicted for his role in the collapse of the energy company. The appeals court upheld Skilling’s conviction but overturned his 24-year sentence, the Associated Press reports. Skilling was convicted of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading…

Jan 6, 2009 6:14 PM CST

Justice Systems Sent Reeling

Across the nation, state and local justice systems are feeling the effects of the economic crisis. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported in November that 31 states faced midyear budget shortfalls. The following represent just some of the problems justice systems were facing.

Jan 1, 2009 11:15 AM CST

Nun Says Priests Who Stole Got Lighter Sentences; Too Late to Withdraw Plea

A Nebraska nun sentenced to prison for embezzling from the Omaha Archdiocese says priests who stole from their parishes got probation. But the judge who sentenced her says he warned Markey that he alone decided her sentence, and it’s now too late for her to withdraw her plea, reports the…

Dec 24, 2008 4:11 PM CST

FBI Agent Claims Prosecutors Altered Document to ‘Fit’ Previous Discovery Info

An FBI agent turned whistleblower complained to federal authorities shortly after Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted in October that investigators handling the case withheld and altered evidence, and engaged in inappropriate relationships with witnesses. The agent’s eight-page complaint, which was made public Monday, alleges that FBI agents met with…

Dec 23, 2008 10:15 PM CST

Unhappy Xmas for Gang Members in Santa Photo

Having their photo taken with Santa is creating legal problems for three young men in California. An 18-year-old, Uriel Oliva, has been arrested and charged with violating a civil injunction not to associate with gang members, after officials spotted the Santa photo, in which he is allegedly flashing gang signs,…

Dec 23, 2008 1:36 AM CST

Doc Sees Propensity for Violence in Frontal Lobes

A neurologist who testified on behalf of a Tennessee woman convicted of killing a romantic rival says every killer he has ever examined shares three characteristics—and one of them is brain damage. The expert opinion did not sway Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz, who refused to grant a new trial for…

Dec 22, 2008 4:42 PM CST

$700K Client Comp Case in Wash. State Ups Annual Fee Ante for All Attorneys

In the largest compensation claim ever paid by the Washington State Bar Association’s client protection fund as a result of misconduct by a single lawyer, clients of former attorney Barry Hammer are to receive $700,000. Hammer, 62, has surrendered his license and was sentenced to three years in federal prison…

Dec 19, 2008 7:41 PM CST

Judge’s Daughter, Convicted in Fatal DUI, Sues Driver She Hit

The 21-year-old daughter of a juvenile court judge in Houston has filed suit against a truck driver she rear-ended in a fatal DUI accident last year. Elizabeth Shelton’s suit—which also names 15 other defendants, including insurers and banks—seeks compensation for injuries and property damage resulting from the Oct. 23, 2007…

Dec 18, 2008 6:36 PM CST

Life Sentence in Court Shooting Spurs Push for Nonunanimous Death Verdicts

After jurors failed to agree on the death penalty for convicted courthouse shooter Brian Nichols, several Georgia lawmakers got behind proposals to end the requirement for unanimity. Currently all states with the death penalty require jurors to be united in their decision that execution is warranted, the New York Times…

Dec 18, 2008 5:51 PM CST

Fla. Doc Gets 30 Years in Medicare Case

Most individuals convicted of Medicare fraud get about 2½ years in prison, on average. But a Florida physician who aggravated a judge by lying on the stand got a lot more. “U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno hammered Dr. Ana Alvarez-Jacinto, 54, with one of the stiffest punishments ever for a…

Dec 18, 2008 5:34 PM CST

Insurer Applies ‘Pollution’ Exclusion in Fire Deaths from Smoke Inhalation

In a move that could stretch the traditional definition of “pollution” to the breaking point, an insurer in Texas has asserted the pollution exclusion in its commercial liability policy in an effort to avoid covering the deaths of three people from smoke inhalation in a 2007 Houston office fire. “Great…

Dec 18, 2008 1:52 AM CST