Sentencing/Post Conviction

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

15 More to Go Free in Ohio Drug Case Built on Informant’s Lies

Only because a federal informant relented and recanted his false testimony, it appears, are 16 wrongfully convicted defendants being freed from prison. After informant Jerrell Bray got into a fight in Cleveland in May and was arrested for allegedly shooting a man, he admitted, while in prison, that he had…

Jan 23, 2008 10:34 PM CST

Author Put Dad in Prison for Child Abuse, But Still Loves Him

A British author who says she was sexually abused by her father since age 8 has written a book about the experience—and the strong emotional bond she still has with both of her parents, as an adult, despite their failure to protect her as she was growing up. After she…

Jan 23, 2008 5:35 PM CST

Appeals Court Requires Access to Abortions for Prison Inmates

Ruling on the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a federal appeals court held yesterday that Missouri must provide transportation to prison inmates seeking abortions. The ruling by the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a policy by Gov. Matt Blunt that had restricted inmates’ access to…

Jan 23, 2008 4:18 PM CST

Slap on Wrist for Alleged Santa Assailant

A Connecticut woman who is accused of having inappropriately touched an elderly Santa Claus while sitting on his lap in a local shopping mall is likely to get off lightly for the alleged offense. Sandrama Lamy, 33, has applied for a special program of accelerated rehabilitation available to first offenders,…

Jan 22, 2008 8:29 PM CST

Muslim Prisoner Loses Suit Based on High Court Interpretation of ‘Any’

Federal corrections officers cannot be sued for losing an inmate’s property, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. The 5-4 ruling held that the officers have immunity under the Federal Tort Claims Act, SCOTUSblog reports. The swing voter in the case was Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who joined the majority opinion…

Jan 22, 2008 7:12 PM CST

Inmate’s Freedom Hinges on Lawyers’ Revelation That Dead Client Killed Guard in ‘82

Almost 26 years ago, as two Chicago public defenders were representing a client accused of murdering two police officers, their case suddenly got a lot tougher. A lawyer defending another man accused of murdering a security guard in an unrelated case told the two PDs that his client said that…

Jan 22, 2008 6:32 PM CST

Judge Lowers Padilla Sentence Because of Harsh Confinement

Updated: Jose Padilla, once accused of plotting to release a dirty bomb in the United States, has been sentenced to 17 years and four months in prison for conspiring to “murder, kidnap and maim” people overseas. The 37-year-old Padilla had been expected to get life in prison, the Miami Herald…

Jan 22, 2008 5:41 PM CST

Ex-NFL Player Pleads in Steroids Case

Former pro football defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield pleaded guilty in federal court in California today to making false statements to a federal agent about performance-enhancing drugs. He is the first football player and only the second athlete (after sprinter Marion Jones) to be convicted in a criminal case related to…

Jan 18, 2008 8:49 PM CST