http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-20T01:44:50-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/o.j._simpson_was_somewhat_intimidated_by_his_lawyer_witness_says_in_new_tri/ Former football great O.J. Simpson was back in a Las Vegas courtroom Monday in a quest for a new trial based on alleged bad advice by the lawyer who represented him on charges he robbed two… Celebrities, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Criminal Procedure Mon, 13 May 2013 13:53:31 -0500 44156.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_with_little_experience_cant_withdraw_at_11th_hour_from_death-penalty/ Gerald Bettman runs a two-attorney law office in Jacksonville, Fla. In addition to criminal defense, the lawyers also focus on divorce and personal injury matters. He has never represented a defendant sentenced to the death penalty during the flurry of appeals that precedes a scheduled execution once the death warrant… Appellate Practice, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Criminal Procedure, Trials & Litigation, States, Florida Thu, 09 May 2013 13:00:49 -0500 44096.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/arkansas_seeks_return_of_ailing_and_aging_convict_who_fled_in_1970/ The state of Arkansas wants the return of Lester Stiggers, convicted of murder at the age of 15. The 63-year-old Stiggers, who fled to Michigan while on a furlough in 1970, was surprised when an Associated Press reporter informed him of the extradition request. Stiggers no longer… Criminal Justice, Juvenile Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Criminal Procedure Thu, 09 May 2013 09:04:54 -0500 44102.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/death-penalty_appeal/ When William Ernest Kuenzel got married to a social worker in 2008, attorney David Kochman was his best man. He's also Kuenzel's pro bono appellate counsel in a death-penalty case in which the attorney is asserting that his client is actually, factually innocent. Kochman, a 33-year-old commercial litigation associate at… Appellate Practice, Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Pro Bono, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Criminal Procedure, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, 11th Circuit Court, States, Alabama Fri, 03 May 2013 12:10:05 -0500 44028.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/attorneys_push_for_change_in_debt_collection/ Bankruptcy Law, Civil Procedure, Consumer Law, Contracts, Corporate Law, Criminal Justice, Criminal Procedure, Legislation & Lobbying, The National Pulse Wed, 01 May 2013 03:20:19 -0500 43794.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/bombing_suspect_to_be_tried_in_civilan_courts_white_house_says/ Updated: The White House on Monday put to rest speculation about how the prosecution against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev would proceed. The administration announced that Tsarnaev would be tried on terrorism charges under civilian law, the Associated Press reports. A court official confirmed that Tsarnaev… Criminal Justice, Criminal Procedure, Executive Branch, Military Law, Terrorism Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:14:39 -0500 43855.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/special_prosecutor_to_probe_claims_of_chicago_police_torture_years_ago_by/ Finding that the Chicago prosecutor's office has a conflict of interest, the top criminal judge in Cook County, Ill., said on Thursday that he will appoint a special prosecutor to review the cases of at least five jailed men, and perhaps dozens of others, who say they were tortured into… Appellate Practice, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Criminal Procedure, Government Law, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, States, Illinois Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:57:15 -0500 43712.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/defense_lawyer_decides_whether_to_call_trial_witnesses_even_if_client_objec/ His lawyers wanted him to take a plea, and thought it would not be in Vincent Puglisi's best interest to call a co-defendant as a defense witness in his first-degree murder trial. But Puglisi thought otherwise, leading to an appeal in which the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Criminal Procedure, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, States, Florida Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:30:32 -0500 43698.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/public_defenders_suit_jacket_deflects_judges_objection_to_clients_t-shirt/ A public defender in Vermont handled an arraignment without his suit jacket Wednesday, after putting it on a client, backwards, to cover an offending T-shirt. Attorney Doug Willey took action after Caledonia Superior Court Judge Mary Miles Teachout told his client, Christopher Bryant, 28, that his arraignment in a domestic… Criminal Justice, Public Defenders, Criminal Procedure, Trials & Litigation, States, Vermont Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:52:06 -0500 43589.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/slavery_continues_to_haunt_the_modern_world/ Bar Associations, ABA, Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Criminal Justice, Criminal Procedure, Executive Branch, Government Law, Immigration Law, International Law, Labor & Employment, Legal Ethics, Legislation & Lobbying, Trials & Litigation, Features Mon, 01 Apr 2013 05:00:31 -0500 43209.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/court_weighs_whether_a_prosecutor_can_use_a_defendants_refusal_to_answer/ Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Criminal Procedure, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, U.S. Supreme Court, Supreme Court Report Mon, 01 Apr 2013 03:29:31 -0500 43280.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/what_judges_really_think_about_the_phrase_may_it_please_the_court/ ABA Journal, Bryan Garner on Words, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, Legal History, Legal Writing, Trials & Litigation, U.S. Supreme Court, Bryan Garner on Words Mon, 01 Apr 2013 02:58:10 -0500 43296.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/private_lawyer_to_act_as_special_prosecutor_in_county_attorneys_domestic_vi/ A private practitioner in Abilene, Texas, has been asked to act as a special prosecutor in a misdemeanor domestic violence case against Tom Green County Attorney Chris Taylor. The special prosecutor, attorney Kenneth Leggett said he had been asked to handle the Taylor case by Judge Charles Chapman. “I’m still… Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Criminal Procedure, Trials & Litigation, States, Texas Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:45:07 -0500 43485.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/does_public_right_to_know_about_838k_murder_defense_bill_trump_attorney-cli/ So far, the taxpayers of Maricopa County, Ariz., have spent over $838,000 to defend Jodi Arias in a high-profile capital murder case and they likely will be on the hook for over $1 million by the time the legal battle concludes. Under state law, the public has a right to… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Criminal Procedure, Government Law, Trials & Litigation, Attorney Fees, Verdicts & Settlements, States, Arizona Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:38:12 -0500 43478.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/would_double_jeopardy_claim_bar_amanda_knoxs_extradition/ The retrial of Amanda Knox by an Italian appeals court could lead to difficult questions about the meaning of double jeopardy if she is found guilty in the new hearing. Knox was found guilty of murder in the death of her British roommate by an Italian trial court in 2009,… Criminal Justice, Criminal Procedure, International Law, Trials & Litigation, International, Europe Thu, 28 Mar 2013 07:57:18 -0500 43466.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/us_can_be_sued_for_alleged_sexual_assault_by_prison_guards_scotus_rules_in_/ The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on behalf of a prison inmate who filed a handwritten cert petition seeking to advance his suit claiming sexual assault by guards. At issue is whether the government’s waiver of immunity for some intentional torts by law enforcement officers extends to the prison setting,… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Criminal Procedure, Government Law, Tort Law, Trials & Litigation, U.S. Supreme Court Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:02:50 -0500 43454.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/us_attorney_asserts_jurisdiction_in_international_cases_because_of_computer/ U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia is claiming jurisdiction to pursue cases against alleged international copyright pirates and out-of-state securities fraud defendants, citing the location of computer servers in his district. The Associated Press explains. MacBride says he has jurisdiction over most securities… Attorney General, Criminal Justice, Criminal Procedure, Internet Law, Securities Law, States, Virginia Tue, 26 Mar 2013 06:00:54 -0500 43420.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyers_suicide_may_void_his_racketeering_case_conviction/ Convicted last year in a judicial bribery case and sentenced to three and a half years, a South Texas lawyer may have cleared his conviction by committing suicide Feb. 28 as he was due to report to federal prison. Because Ray R. Marchan, 56, had an appeal pending at the… Appellate Practice, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, White Collar Crime, Criminal Procedure, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 5th Circuit Court, States, Texas Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:16:49 -0500 43426.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/legal_journalist_dies_near_50th_anniversary_of_the_case_he_chronicled_in_gi/ Former New York Times reporter Anthony Lewis has died at the age of 85, just one week after the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court case he chronicled in the book Gideon’s Trumpet. Lewis died on Monday as a result of complications from renal and heart failure, the Careers, Obituaries, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Criminal Procedure, Law in Popular Culture, Legal History, Legal Writing, Trials & Litigation, U.S. Supreme Court Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:41:43 -0500 43421.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/due_to_hunger_strike_wife-slay_suspect_is_found_unable_to_stand_trial_in_mu/ Albrecht Muth was scheduled to go to trial Monday for the murder of his socialite wife, Viola Drath, 91, whom he said he found beaten and strangled to death in the bathroom of their townhome near the nation's capitol in 2011, after the two had been married for more than… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Criminal Procedure, Trials & Litigation, States, District of Columbia Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:17:44 -0500 43404.abajournal.com