Sentencing/Post Conviction

Warden of La. Prison Says Bear is Unpaid Guard

A big black bear spotted on the grounds of the Louisiana State Penitentiary has a job to do. Burl Cain, warden of the state prison known as Angola, told the Associated Press the bear is helping with prison security. “I love that bear being right where it is,” he said.…

May 6, 2008 3:40 PM CDT

Worse than Prison Inmate Medical Care: Detained Immigrants’ Medical Care

News media throughout the country have focused in recent years on the issue of substandard health care for prison inmates. Some 65 deaths annually in California, for instance, reportedly could be prevented by better medical treatment. But the situation is apparently even worse for individuals held as illegal immigrants, who…

May 5, 2008 10:08 PM CDT

Prosecutors Who Withhold Evidence Should Be Jailed, Texas DA Says

Wrongful convictions of 45 Texas defendants since 2001 reportedly have cost the state $8.6 million. And in 22 of those cases, prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense, reports the Dallas Morning News. If they do so intentionally, prosecutors should potentially be disbarred and even jailed, says the Dallas County district…

May 5, 2008 6:53 PM CDT

More States Weigh Early Prison Release Programs to Save Money

Several states are considering programs to release inmates from jail early and save the cost of imprisonment. Between 1987 and last year, states increased college spending by 21 percent, in inflation adjusted-dollars, and corrections spending by 127 percent, the Washington Post reports. Now many cash-strapped states are looking to pare…

May 5, 2008 4:43 PM CDT

D.C. Madam Commits Suicide

Convicted earlier this month in a case concerning her operation of a Washington, D.C., prostitution ring that catered to nation’s political elite, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the woman known as the D.C. Madam has reportedly committed suicide. The body of a woman believed to be Palfrey, 52, was found by her…

May 1, 2008 8:07 PM CDT

Cert Petition Claims New Evidence Entitles Convicted Killer to Reversal

Former Milwaukee police officer Laurie Bembenek has filed a cert petition with the U.S. Supreme Court that seeks a reversal of her conviction based on new evidence of innocence. Bembenek pleaded no-contest to second-degree murder in 1992 in the death of her then-husband’s former wife, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.…

May 1, 2008 4:29 PM CDT

In Need of a Fix

ABA urges elimination of disparity in federal sentences for cocaine violations

May 1, 2008 1:01 PM CDT

18th Innocent Man Freed in 1 Texas County; Officials Vow Change

For the 18th time in approximately seven years, an innocent man cleared by DNA testing reportedly has been released from prison by one Texas county. This time it was 55-year-old James Woodard who walked out of a Dallas courtroom yesterday, a free man. He had served 27 years in prison…

Apr 30, 2008 11:15 PM CDT

Closed Courtroom Sought in High-Profile Capital-Case Sentencing

Federal prosecutors in Boise, Idaho, filed a motion yesterday seeking to close the courtroom for a high-profile sentencing in a case that reportedly involves child sexual abuse as well as kidnapping and murder. It would be emotionally difficult for the one surviving child kidnapped by Joseph Duncan in May 2005…

Apr 30, 2008 10:18 PM CDT

Some Exonerated Inmates Remain in Legal Limbo

Inmates in some states who are exonerated by DNA evidence or court rulings are finding that their felony conviction remains on the books, hindering their search for jobs and their ability to travel. The Washington Post cites the case of Tabitha Pollock, whose murder conviction was based on a contention…

Apr 28, 2008 3:54 PM CDT

Lawyer & Client Jailed in Bizarre Scheme to Defraud Attorneys

A Washington state man and his lawyer have been sentenced to four-year federal prison terms in a bizarre, yet sophisticated scheme to fraudulently sell the homes of judges and attorneys. In the latest salvo in a revenge effort that has been ongoing for 25 years, client David Alan Hawkins, 68,…

Apr 28, 2008 3:20 PM CDT

Lawyers Cite Bad Childhood in Convicted Sniper’s Appeal

Lawyers for convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad have filed a habeas appeal seeking to overturn his death sentence because jurors were not told of his abuse as a child or his brain damage. Muhammad received a death sentence for the slaying of Dean Meyers in a trial in Prince William…

Apr 28, 2008 1:34 PM CDT

Possible Life Term for Texas Mom in Child-Surgery Abuse Case

A Texas mother was convicted yesterday by a jury in an unusual child abuse case of putting her now 13-year-old son through at least two unnecessary surgeries, and now faces a possible sentence of life in prison during the penalty phase of the trial. At trial, prosecutors said Laurie Williamson,…

Apr 25, 2008 7:16 PM CDT

Wesley Snipes to Appeal 3-Year Term; Case a Warning to Others

Three consecutive one-year prison terms might seem like a hefty price to pay for misdemeanor convictions for failing to file a tax return. But when the defendant is a famous Hollywood actor who allegedly failed to pay millions in taxes, the public needs to see that justice is being done,…

Apr 25, 2008 3:20 PM CDT

Wesley Snipes Gets 3 Years in Failure-to-File Case

Failing to file income tax returns for three years cost actor Wesley Snipes a maximum three-year prison term at his sentencing today in an Ocala, Fla., federal courtroom, according to breaking news headlines from CNN and WESH, an NBC affiliate in Orlando. Although Snipes had beaten the rap on the…

Apr 24, 2008 9:56 PM CDT