Sentencing/Post Conviction

Jailhouse Lawyer Wins Cert on Sentencing Case

A “jailhouse lawyer” who helped a defendant challenge his cocaine sentence has seen a rare achievement: The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. Michael Ray, a former paralegal who is in prison in connection with a fraudulent real-estate financing scheme, spends 40 hours a week helping other…

Feb 4, 2008 1:58 PM CST

Lerach Wants Sentencing Brief Sealed

Securities class-action lawyer William Lerach hasn’t been shy about his opinions on issues such as sweetheart deals for corporate CEOs and the federal government’s policing of insider trading. He wrote newspaper commentaries on those subjects, but now he wants to keep his legal brief secret regarding his sentence for paying…

Jan 31, 2008 4:15 PM CST

N.Y. Bill Would Keep Sex Offenders Off MySpace, Facebook

New York’s attorney general is teaming up with social networking website on proposed legislation that would bar registered sex offenders from sites such as MySpace and Facebook. The law, if enacted, would require sex offenders to submit their e-mail addresses and other Internet identities, such as screen names, within 10…

Jan 30, 2008 8:11 PM CST

Wash. Supervision Evaluated After Man Deemed ‘Dangerous’ is Accused of Murder

Seattle-area prosecutors are looking into why a man, already labeled by the courts and mental health authorities as “dangerous,” was free at the time he is accused of following a woman then stabbing her to death. James Anthony Williams was release from prison two years ago and had been repeatedly…

Jan 30, 2008 6:34 PM CST

In 15 States, DNA Innocence Claims Die With Prisoner or When Inmate Released

Ohio remains one of 15 states in which the convicted lose their option for DNA testing once they get out of prison or die. In a lengthy feature about innocence claims, the Columbus Dispatch reports that state law requires a person to be alive and in person to qualify for…

Jan 29, 2008 5:45 PM CST

Federal Judge’s Top 10 Sentencing List Takes Aim at Supreme Court

A federal judge has published a tongue-in-cheek Top 10 list of things he learned from the U.S. Supreme Court’s sentencing decisions that makes clear his frustrations. The list by U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf of Nebraska is “a provocative jaw-dropper that may get Kopf scratched off the holiday card list…

Jan 29, 2008 11:45 AM CST

Man Who Stole Salvation Army Kettle Spends Night Homeless on Judge’s Orders

A man who stole a Salvation Army donation kettle containing $250 the week before Christmas was sentenced by a Cleveland-area judge to spend the night homeless. Last Thursday, Painesville Municipal Court Judge Michael A. Cicconetti called Nathen Smith’s crime “despicable” and ordered the 28-year-old to spend the next 24 hours…

Jan 28, 2008 5:51 PM CST

Law Prof Named Prison Healthcare Czar in Calif.

A federal judge abruptly fired California’s prison healthcare czar last week and appointed a law professor, known for his ability to turn around troubled government agencies, to take his place. U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson of San Francisco dismissed Robert Sillen, whom he’d appointed to run the state’s troubled prison…

Jan 28, 2008 5:14 PM CST

Padilla Judge’s Views Wavered

The decision to spare convicted terrorist Jose Padilla a life sentence came as a surprise to many. But a Miami Herald analysis indicates U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke of Miami waffled throughout the case. ”There were points during the trial when she said things that suggested she thought there was…

Jan 28, 2008 4:28 PM CST

Disbarred Lawyer Lynne Stewart Argues Limiting Instructions Overwhelmed Jurors

A federal appeals court will hear arguments tomorrow in the case of disbarred lawyer Lynne Stewart, convicted of giving material support to terrorists for helping an imprisoned sheik pass messages to his followers. Stewart is seeking to overturn her sentence, while prosecutors are arguing her 28-month jail term is too…

Jan 28, 2008 4:07 PM CST

Dallas DA Hires Defense Lawyer to Help Free Wrongly Convicted

The district attorney of Dallas County, the first African-American to be elected prosecutor in Texas, is focusing on freeing the wrongly convicted. D.A. Craig Watkins is only a year into the job, but he is already changing the culture of an office that had a national reputation for playing hardball,…

Jan 28, 2008 1:14 PM CST

Delay Lightens Capital Appeals Caseload of Ohio Federal Judge

The chief federal district court judge in southern Ohio has lightened the caseload of a colleague who had five unresolved death penalty appeals sitting on his docket for between three and eight years. Judge Walter Rice agreed that the cases should be moved to another judge’s docket, reports the Enquirer.…

Jan 25, 2008 6:23 PM CST

Heartless Jailhouse Call Rings Up Maximum Prison Term

A twice-convicted drunken driver got the maximum prison term for her latest offense—a little over 10 years—after a jailhouse phone call in which she laughed about driving into and killing a bicyclist while intoxicated was played at her sentencing hearing in Arizona. Characterizing the conversation as “breathtaking in its inhumanity,”…

Jan 25, 2008 6:03 PM CST

DNA Frees Man Convicted Partly Because of Gory Art

Updated: A man who was convicted of murder in 1999 partly on the basis of gory sketches and stories found in his home was released Tuesday after DNA evidence pointed to another suspect. Tim Masters told CNN he is relieved to be free, but he remains angry at investigator Jim…

Jan 24, 2008 5:25 PM CST

Ex-CEO of Monster Avoids Prison

The former CEO of Monster Worldwide Inc. has escaped prison under a deferred prosecution agreement for backdating stock options. Prosecutors said they agreed to leniency because the former CEO, 73-year-old Andrew McKelvey, suffers from terminal pancreatic cancer, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.). He is the 18th executive to…

Jan 24, 2008 1:45 PM CST