Sentencing/Post Conviction

Mom Supplied Pot to Keep Kids Off Street

Concerned about obvious risks when she found out her teenage children were using marijuana, Nicola Cooper called a family meeting. Then the self-described “liberal parent” decided to act to protect them from street drug-dealers by supplying them with pot herself. “Some people give their children alcohol and cigarettes at an…

Oct 10, 2007 5:58 PM CDT

Death Sentence Reinstated Despite ‘Smell of Death’ Defense

The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated a federal appeals court ruling that granted a new sentencing hearing for an Ohio neo-Nazi convicted of murdering three men at Cleveland State University. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ordered a new sentencing hearing for Frank Spisak partly on the…

Oct 9, 2007 6:19 PM CDT

Man Faces Life Over Stolen Doughnut

A Missouri man faces up to life in prison for stealing a doughnut worth 52 cents. Scott A. Masters is charged with strong-armed robbery because he allegedly delivered a backhanded punch to an employee’s chest when she confronted him about the doughnut-snatching. Because he has a criminal record, he could…

Oct 8, 2007 2:16 PM CDT

NY Admits Strip Searches Violated Settlement

New York’s Department of Corrections has agreed to settle a lawsuit that contended as many as 150,000 inmates at Rikers Island were improperly strip-searched in violation of a 2002 settlement. The inmates were nonviolent and had been charged with misdemeanors, the New York Times reports. The city will stop the…

Oct 5, 2007 3:47 PM CDT

Former Top Judge Regains Law License

The former chief judge of New York’s highest court has regained his law license, 15 years after he was arrested for harassing socialite Joy Silverman. The 77-year-old Sol Wachtler told the New York Post he is delighted. He plans to do legal work for the poor and mentally ill, the…

Oct 3, 2007 2:29 PM CDT

This Defense Upheld: Client ‘a Dad-gum Mess’

A Texas appeals court has upheld a DWI conviction even though the defense lawyer called his client’s life “a dad-gum mess.” A dissent argued the defense lawyer “effectively became a second prosecutor in the case,” Texas Lawyer reports. The defendant, Archie Doyle Martin Jr., took the stand, allowing the prosecution…

Oct 3, 2007 12:13 PM CDT

Court Weighs ‘Anything Goes’ Sentences

The U.S. Supreme Court considered whether “anything goes” is the standard for federal sentences in oral arguments yesterday. The court is being asked to consider how much leeway judges have to depart from federal sentencing guidelines given its two-year-old ruling in United States v. Booker that the guidelines are advisory…

Oct 3, 2007 11:42 AM CDT

John Grisham Sued for Libel

The best-selling author of numerous legal thrillers has been sued for libel over his first nonfiction work, The Innocent Man. In an unusual federal libel conspiracy case, John Grisham, along with other authors and publishers, has been sued by a prosecutor and law enforcement officer over three nonfiction books published…

Oct 1, 2007 10:49 PM CDT

Crack Is Whack

15.4%

Oct 1, 2007 9:14 PM CDT

Florida Ups Ante on Child Sex Crimes

As a new statute takes effect that will triple some penalties and criminalize behavior that isn’t criminal elsewhere, Florida’s laws against committing sex crimes involving children have become some of the toughest in the nation. In Florida, for example, it is now a crime to take a trip with the…

Oct 1, 2007 7:18 PM CDT

Sentencing, Gitmo Key New Term

High court takes another look at knotty issues

Oct 1, 2007 6:12 PM CDT

‘Legal Wonk’: What Larry Craig Wants, Court Can’t Give

If Sen. Larry Craig is lucky, a Minnesota judge, as expected, will refuse to let him revoke his guilty plea to a disorderly conduct charge. That’s because a trial over the charge will only serve to further embarrass the embattled Republican from Idaho, without giving him what he wants—public proof…

Sep 28, 2007 5:11 PM CDT

OJ Simpson Book, ‘If I Did It,’ a Best-Seller

It couldn’t have been O.J. Simpson’s plan, since he doesn’t get any of the profits. But the former superstar’s arrest earlier this month has helped launch his new book, If I Did It, to the top of the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list. It is now No. 2, according…

Sep 28, 2007 4:13 PM CDT

Judge Bounced Off Third Case for Unexplained Sentence

A federal appeals court has bounced a judge off a case for failing to state why he gave a lower-than-recommended sentence to two brothers convicted in a drug operation. The latest decision marks the third time that U.S. District Judge John Elfvin of Buffalo was removed from cases in the…

Sep 28, 2007 1:42 PM CDT

Life for 48 Murders, So Why Me?

The notorious Washington state killer who murdered 48 women didn’t get the death penalty. And Robert Yates Jr. didn’t, either, when he confessed in a Spokane County plea deal to murdering 13. But two of the killings about which he gave information wound up being prosecuted in a separate case…

Sep 27, 2007 6:25 PM CDT