Sentencing/Post Conviction

Folsom Prison Cancels Johnny Cash Tribute Concert

A 40-year anniversary tribute to the Jan. 13, 1968 concert that made both Johnny Cash and Folsom State Prison in California famous has been canceled. The event was to have taken place Sunday in the same prison cafeteria as his 2 million-selling Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison live album, and…

Jan 9, 2008 8:00 PM CST

DA Probes ‘Sadly Predictable’ Murder; Victim Never Warned of Spouse’s Release

New details have emerged in the case of a California woman murdered last week by her increasingly abusive husband, and the district attorney’s office in Los Angeles County reportedly is investigating why the prosecution not only didn’t oppose but actually recommended his release on his own recognizance as part of…

Jan 9, 2008 6:26 PM CST

‘Sadly Predictable’ Murder By Released Prisoner in Calif. Domestic Case

It’s a sad story that’s been told before, but California prosecutors are trying to figure out how to keep it from happening again: Accused of twice taking his estranged wife to isolated locations and restraining her during November 2007—once by handcuffing her to furniture in a hotel room and another…

Jan 8, 2008 5:54 PM CST

Georgia Supremes Consider Practical Problems of Banishment

A Georgia Supreme Court justice asked lawyers how a defendant banished from all but one county could travel to that location upon his release from prison. If you’re banished to one central county, how do you get there?” asked Justice Harris Hines. “If you’re banished, you’re banished.” Another justice helpfully…

Jan 8, 2008 3:10 PM CST

Assistant DA: No Cap on Protection Order Violations

A Minnesota public defender has asked a court to curb what she deemed an abuse of power by prosecutors who charged her client with 49 counts of violating an order of protection for allegedly calling his girlfriend from jail. Public defender Carol Weissenborn said the number of charges exaggerated and…

Jan 7, 2008 6:15 PM CST

Supreme Court to Review Death Penalty in Child Rape Case

The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to decide whether it’s constitutional to impose a death sentence for the crime of child rape. The case of 43-year-old Patrick Kennedy was among six the high court granted for review, SCOTUSBlog reports. Kennedy, who sits on death row for raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter,…

Jan 4, 2008 8:36 PM CST

Tinkering with Lethal Injection

An Eighth Amendment challenge comes before the high court

Jan 1, 2008 9:33 PM CST

Driver With Amnesia Not Competent for Car Homicide Trial?

A Washington state woman found guilty of vehicular homicide concerning an auto accident she can’t remember has filed an appeal seeking to overturn the felony conviction, arguing that she was unable to assist in her own defense. Cleora Swirtz, now 25, also suffered life-threatening injuries in the 2004 accident that…

Dec 19, 2007 7:50 PM CST

Lawyers Ask Supreme Court to Overturn 30-Year Sentence for 12-Year-Old

Lawyers are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a 30-year sentence given to a 12-year-old boy convicted of killing his grandparents. The cert petition for Christopher Pittman argues the sentence is “unconstitutionally disproportionate as applied to a 12-year-old child,” the Associated Press reports. Pittman is represented by lawyers from…

Dec 18, 2007 4:41 PM CST

Lawyer Who Destroyed Evidence Spared Jail Time

A Connecticut lawyer who destroyed a laptop containing evidence of child pornography was spared jail time today. Philip Russell instead will serve six months of home confinement, pay a $25,000 fine and do 240 hours of community service, the Associated Press reports. Russell admitted in September that he knew the…

Dec 17, 2007 5:27 PM CST

Ex-Chicago Sun-Times Publisher Gets 2 Yrs for Fraud

David Radler is the latest to be sentenced in the criminal case against executives that once headed the Chicago Sun-Times daily news tabloid. U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve accepted Radler’s plea this morning and signed off on his reduced sentence of 29 months and a $250,000 fine, the Chicago…

Dec 17, 2007 4:22 PM CST

Mandatory Minimum Laws Preserve Crack Sentencing Disparity

Sentences for crack cocaine remain much harsher than those for the powder form of the drug, despite action last week that helped crack defendants. The U.S. Sentencing Commission has reduced crack sentences in federal sentencing guidelines, but mandatory minimum sentences enacted by Congress in 1986 still require much heavier penalties…

Dec 17, 2007 2:12 PM CST

Disbarred Lawyer Woos Women, Gets Up to $1M—and 5 Years

Law practice didn’t work out for Hillard Quint, who gave up his Georgia license in 1997 to resolve a disciplinary matter. So the enterprising ex-attorney apparently found another way to make a living—scamming women. Reportedly, the seemingly successful business executive may have extracted at least $1 million from women in…

Dec 14, 2007 6:00 PM CST

Corp. Crime Crackdown: Many Serve Minimal Sentences

Despite a renewed emphasis on corporate compliance in recent years and a high-profile crackdown on executives who don’t play by the rules, such prosecutions may be sending a mixed message to those tempted by white-collar crime. That’s because nearly half of the defendants convicted in such cases during the past…

Dec 13, 2007 7:00 PM CST

Billionaire Pleads, Pays $52M Tax Bill

Igor Olenicoff didn’t do as well in his latest court battle with the IRS as he did the last time around. In one of the biggest-bucks tax cases ever, concerning an individual in southern California, the 65-year-old real estate entrepreneur pleaded guilty to one count of lying on his tax…

Dec 13, 2007 12:50 AM CST