http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-23T01:57:42-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/convicted_of_first-degree_murder_abortion_doc_strikes_deal_for_life_term_in/ Convicted earlier this week of first-degree murder in the deaths of three infants who survived late-term abortions only to be slain at his Philadelphia clinic, a Pennsylvania physician struck a deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty. Kermit Gosnell, 72, will get a life term in prison without parole… Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Health Law, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, States, Pennsylvania Tue, 14 May 2013 17:05:20 -0500 44179.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/dr._kermit_gosnell/ Following five weeks of testimony and 10 days of deliberation, the jury in a capital murder case against a Philadelphia late-term abortion doctor has found Kermit Gosnell guilty of three counts of first-degree murder concerning infants born alive whose spinal cords were then severed. He was acquitted Monday in the… Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Health Law, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, States, Pennsylvania Mon, 13 May 2013 14:59:07 -0500 44157.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/in_jodi_arias_trial/ After a highly publicized murder trial that lasted four months, but involved only 15 hours of deliberation, a verdict has been reached by a Maricopa County, Ariz., jury. They have found Jodi Arias, 32, guilty of first-degree murder in the June 2008 slaying of her onetime boyfriend, Travis Alexander, the… Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, States, Arizona Wed, 08 May 2013 15:57:20 -0500 44095.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/accused_shooter_in_colo._movie_theater_massacre_to_make_insanity_plea/ Lawyers for James Holmes, who is accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 others in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting spree last summer, is seeking court permission to change his not guilty plea. In a Tuesday filing (PDF), lawyers for Holmes say they intend to "tender… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Trials & Litigation, States, Colorado Wed, 08 May 2013 11:38:12 -0500 44087.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/convicted_courthouse_shooter_accurately_predicts_his_death_sentence/ During the penalty phase of his trial for a fatal courthouse shooting, Bartholomew Granger scribbled a message on a legal pad and held it up for jurors to see. The message read, “Death,” report the Associated Press, the Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, States, Texas Wed, 08 May 2013 07:36:11 -0500 44083.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/inmate_is_scheduled_to_die_today_despite_questions_about_hair_and_dna_evide/ Updated: The Mississippi Supreme Court has granted a stay of execution for Willie Jerome Manning, who was scheduled to die by lethal injection this evening for the murders of two college students. The court said the execution should be delayed until it rules further, the Associated Press… Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, States, Mississippi Tue, 07 May 2013 14:20:27 -0500 44065.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/convicted_in_courthouse_slaying_defendant_during_sentencing_phase/ As the penalty phase of his capital murder case continued Monday, it appeared that a convicted courthouse shooter may have been given good advice by his defense counsel not to testify. But it also appeared that Bartholomew Granger might be intentionally seeking a capital sentence, which he indicated he would… Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, States, Texas Mon, 06 May 2013 17:59:45 -0500 44060.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/news/article/maryland_gov_signs_bill_abolishing_death_penalty_fate_of_5_men_on_death_row/ Maryland's governor on Thursday, as expected, signed into law a bill that abolishes the death penalty. The state is the first south of the Mason-Dixon line to end capital punishment, the Associated Press reports. However, still uncertain is the fate of the five men still on death… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Legislation & Lobbying, States, Maryland Thu, 02 May 2013 12:35:04 -0500 44015.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/convicted_in_courthouse_slaying_suspect_shouts_that_his_daughter_not_the_vi/ Convicted Tuesday of capital murder over the death of a 79-year-old woman who was a bystander during Texas courthouse shooting spree last year directed at one or more witnesses in a sexual assault case, defendant Bartholomew Granger erupted Wednesday in court at the outset… Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Judiciary, Court Security, Trials & Litigation, States, Texas Wed, 01 May 2013 13:21:07 -0500 43996.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/sex-case_defendant_who_killed_bystander_in_mid-trial_shooting_spree_is_conv/ A Texas jury deliberated for less than two hours Tuesday before convicting Bartholomew Granger, 42, of capital murder in the slaying of a 79-year-old woman outside the Jefferson County courthouse last year. The defendant showed no emotion as the verdict was announced, but the victim's daughter smiled, the Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Judiciary, Court Security, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, Verdicts & Settlements, States, Texas Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:45:27 -0500 43976.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/unabomber_lawyer_judy_clarke_is_appointed_to_represent_boston_marathon_bomb/ At the request of Boston's federal public defender, a judge has appointed Judy Clarke, a top death-penalty defense lawyer, to represent accused Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Bloomberg reports. Prosecutors haven't said whether they will seek the death penalty in Tsarnaev's case, but “in light of the… Appellate Practice, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Public Defenders, Terrorism, Trials & Litigation, 1st Circuit Court, States, Massachusetts Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:29:50 -0500 43978.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/top_death-penalty_defense_lawyer_says_our_job_is_to_provide_them_with_a_rea/ Ordinarily, Judy Clarke has little to say about her work on high-profile death-penalty cases. But at a Friday conference, she said it was a privilege to defend clients such as Susan Smith, who drowned her children, Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski and Jared Loughner, who killed a federal judge while killing and… Careers, Women in the Law, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Public Defenders, Trials & Litigation Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:22:18 -0500 43941.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/top_federal_defender_is_representing_accused_boston_marathon_bomber_but_fur/ Being unable to afford an attorney, ironically, has helped the surviving suspect in last week's Boston Marathon bombings get one of the country's top federal defenders assigned to his case. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, will be represented by Miriam Conrad, who is in charge of the Federal Public Defender Office in… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Public Defenders, Terrorism, Trials & Litigation, 1st Circuit Court, States, Massachusetts Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:53:02 -0500 43908.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/spectator_sells_seat_at_murder_trial_for_200_is_scolded_by_judge_and_told/ A regular spectator sold her seat at a high-profile Arizona capital murder trial for $200, to a woman who was farther back in line. But Maricopa County court officials overseeing the Jodi Arias murder trial arrangements found out and scolded both women, the Associated Press reports. Desiree… Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Trials & Litigation, States, Arizona Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:48:46 -0500 43901.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_and_defendants_ex-lawyer_are_first_witnesses_in_murder_trial_over_cou/ A judge was the first witness on Monday as the government began its presentation in the capital murder case of a man accused of shooting a woman to death at a Texas courthouse last year. Bartholomew Granger is accused of fatally shooting a bystander, Minnie Ray Sebolt, 79, in March… Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Judiciary, Court Security, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, States, Texas Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:27:08 -0500 43860.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/military_judge_postpones_9_11_cases_due_to_nearly_catastrophic_server_crash/ A military judge overseeing the cases of detainees accused of plotting the 9/11, terrorist attacks has postponed hearings scheduled for next week after what a Pentagon official described as "a nearly catastrophic server crash.” Defense lawyers had previously complained about document losses and confidential email provided to prosecutors, which resulted… Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Executive Branch, Military Law, Terrorism, Trials & Litigation Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:50:53 -0500 43778.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/gitmo_defense_lawyers_lose_docs_on_pentagon_computers/ After the disappearance of multiple documents and intrusions into the Pentagon computer system used by lawyers representing terrorism defendants, both military and civilian attorneys have been ordered not to use their computers for drafting confidential documents or email. “I honestly don’t know how bad it is. All I know is… Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Cybersecurity, Military Law, Terrorism, Guantanamo/Detainees, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, International Courts/Tribunals Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:00:38 -0500 43694.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/pds_argue_arizonas_death_penalty_law_is_unconstitutional_because_it_is_indi/ Two public defenders in Arizona’s Maricopa County contend that the state’s death penalty law is unconstitutional because its aggravating factors allow for a death sentence in virtually every first-degree murder case. The statute, they argue in the motion filed in February, “has no method of meaningfully distinguishing the… Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, States, Arizona Tue, 09 Apr 2013 06:15:29 -0500 43637.abajournal.com