Sentencing/Post Conviction

Lerach’s Gone, But Business Is Booming at Coughlin Stoia

Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins is flourishing despite the loss of founder William Lerach, who was sentenced to two years in prison for a scheme to pay kickbacks to lead plaintiffs while at his former firm. Coughlin Stoia is filing more cases on average than in the months before…

Feb 26, 2008 1:50 PM CST

Supreme Court to Review Ruling on Harmless Error in Jury Instructions

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether an erroneous jury instruction about a theory of guilt requires a federal court to reverse a murder conviction, SCOTUSblog reports. The defendant in Chrones v. Pulido claimed the jury instruction allowed a jury to convict him as an accomplice in the…

Feb 25, 2008 4:36 PM CST

Supreme Court Accepts Car Search Case Seeking ‘Bright-Line’ Rule

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a bright-line rule allows police to search the passenger compartment of a car without a warrant simply because they arrested a recent occupant. The Arizona Supreme Court had ruled (PDF) that a search was not justified when the scene was secure…

Feb 25, 2008 3:53 PM CST

Judge Sues Man Who Pleaded Guilty to Shooting at Him

Judge Chuck Weller of Reno, Nev., has sued the man who pleaded guilty to injuring him by firing a shot through his courthouse window in 2006. Weller says in his suit that he suffers post-traumatic stress as a result of the attack, which left him and his secretary with shrapnel…

Feb 25, 2008 1:34 PM CST

1st Calif. Conviction Over Too-Shady Trees

A six-year legal battle over a California couple’s beloved redwoods has ended in defeat for them and victory for a next-door neighbor who says the too-shady trees interfered with the solar energy panels on his home. Two of the trees have grown big enough to violate the state’s little-known Solar…

Feb 22, 2008 4:59 PM CST

2nd Circuit: Lawyer ‘Failed Spectacularly’ in Immigration Case

Like too many other immigrants, Garfield Livern St. Valentine Aris was not well-served by a number of lawyers, the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says in an opinion yesterday. In fact, his initial counsel “failed spectacularly,” a three-judge appellate panel writes, after a paralegal misinformed him…

Feb 21, 2008 9:03 PM CST

Well-Known So. Illinois Attorney Pleads in Client Theft Case

In an apparent plea bargain, a prominent Southern Illinois attorney has pleaded guilty to a felony count in a client theft case. Patrick Cox is scheduled to be sentenced in April, and could get as little as four years of probation and as much as seven years in prison and…

Feb 21, 2008 5:52 PM CST

Excessive-Fees Case Focuses on Lawyer’s Media Strategy in Murder Trial

A criminal defense attorney on trial in Texas for allegedly overcharging his client in a high-profile murder case was accused in opening statements today of focusing on his own publicity to the detriment of defendant Clara Harris. Television camera crews conducted interviews and filmed the murder trial preparation, under an…

Feb 20, 2008 11:48 PM CST

Latest Lionel Tate Sentence Puts End to Court Saga

After a nine-year court saga that has drawn international attention, it appears that Lionel Tate can now focus on serving his time. The 21-year-old was at one point reportedly the youngest person in the U.S. to be sentenced to life in prison. Tate was 12 when he was arrested and…

Feb 20, 2008 5:44 PM CST

Does New Document Bolster Conspiracy Theory in JFK Assassination?

Conspiracy theorists, fasten your seat belts. A document found with other items about a year ago in an old safe in a Dallas courthouse bolsters the theory that President John F. Kennedy may have been assassinated as part of a group plot, and the Dallas County district attorney says it…

Feb 20, 2008 4:31 PM CST

Driver in Fatal David Halberstam Crash Gets 5 Days

A five-day jail sentence has been given to an aspiring journalist with a bad driving record who was at the wheel when author David Halberstam died last year in a California auto accident. Under a recommendation by the sentencing judge, Kevin Jones, 27, is likely to serve the time in…

Feb 15, 2008 7:59 PM CST

Plea Deal: Miami City Attorney Resigns, Gets 1 Year Probation

Following criticism last year over his lavish spending of city money on municipal legal perks, Miami’s city attorney has agreed to resign and plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of making false official statements. Jorge Fernandez is to receive one year of probation under a plea deal that concludes a…

Feb 15, 2008 6:28 PM CST

Surprise Toxicology Finding ‘A Wake-up Call for Defense Attorneys’

A New York prosecutor has dropped plans to retry a murder case based on new findings that a 13-year-old girl found dead 15 years ago died of a cocaine overdose rather than strangulation. Dr. Michael Baden, a former chief medical examiner for New York City who helped review the evidence,…

Feb 14, 2008 4:22 PM CST

Seattle Labor Lawyer Sentenced to Five Years in FBI Sex Sting

A former Seattle labor lawyer convicted in an FBI sex sting has been sentenced to five years in prison for traveling to Oregon to meet a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl. The lawyer, William B. Knowles, billed the trip to a flight attendants union he represented, the Oregonian…

Feb 14, 2008 1:28 PM CST

Lerach Ponders Planned Trip to Club Fed

The day after a federal judge gave William Lerach the maximum two-year prison sentence possible under a plea deal, a front-page Wall Street Journal profile reports that the once-mighty plaintiffs securities lawyer still feels his overall legacy as an attorney is one to be proud of. Despite his conviction and…

Feb 13, 2008 12:43 AM CST