http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-06-19T10:50:51-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/federal_trial_begins_over_aclu_efforts_to_reduce_public_defender_caseload/ Two cities in Washington say they never systematically violated the right to counsel of criminal defendants and do an even better job now, under new standards adopted by the state's top court. But the American Civil Liberties Union contends otherwise, in a class action that went to trial Monday in… Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Public Defenders, Tort Law, Trials & Litigation, 9th Circuit Court, States, Washington Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:30:14 -0500 44492.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/state_supreme_court_says_public_defenders_can_reject_cases_due_to_overload/ Updated: The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Miami-Dade County public defender’s office could withdraw from a large chunk of felony cases because of excessive workloads, the Miami Herald reported. Describing what it called a "damning indictment" of representation for poor criminal defendants, the court divided… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Public Defenders, Legal Ethics, States, Florida Tue, 28 May 2013 06:30:28 -0500 44360.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_reveals_dispute_about_whether_prosecutors_withheld_critical_evidence/ Federal prosecutors and defense lawyers in the Chandra Levy case have been battling in sealed proceedings over the existence of a prosecution witness’s history of cooperating with law enforcement, District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher revealed yesterday. In early 2012, prosecutors learned that government witness Armando Morales previously… Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Public Defenders, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Criminal Procedure Wed, 22 May 2013 15:18:15 -0500 44314.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/cuffed_client_decks_lawyer_with_baseball_bat_fashion_punch/ A handcuffed client decked his defense lawyer Monday in a Blair County, Pa., courtroom, in front of the judge who was hearing his post-conviction argument that he should not be sentenced to the death penalty. Andre Staton, 50, slammed the blow in a "baseball bat fashion" squarely in the forehead… Appellate Practice, Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Public Defenders, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Judiciary, Court Security, States, Pennsylvania Tue, 14 May 2013 11:30:24 -0500 44169.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/former_public_defender_gets_1_year_for_submitted_false_payment_vouchers/ A former panel attorney who worked as a public defender in multiple counties in West Virginia has been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for submitting false payment vouchers for her services to the state. Lisa A. Weese, who has since been disbarred by consent, was… Criminal Justice, Public Defenders, Sentencing/Post Conviction, White Collar Crime, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, States, West Virginia Mon, 13 May 2013 12:30:46 -0500 44154.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/around_the_blawgosphere_granat_slu_law_school_tumblr/ Legal services delivery entrepreneur Richard Granat wrote at eLawyering Blog about the efforts of the ABA's eLawyering Task Force to identify the top law schools currently teaching legal practice technology. "We include within this category courses that train law students in document automation,… ABA Journal, @BlawgWhisperer, Bar Associations, ABA, Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Legal Technology, Careers, Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Public Defenders, Law Schools, Law Students Fri, 10 May 2013 08:30:01 -0500 44050.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/special_project_reaches_appalling_conclusion_no_right_to_misdemeanor_trial/ A special Bronx Defenders project—in which a Wall Street law firm was lined up to help those accused of misdemeanors after arrests resulting from questionable stop-and-frisk tactics by police—has reached a grim conclusion. Contrary to what the U.S. Constitution and New York state law requires, there is effectively no right… Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Public Defenders, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, States, New York Wed, 01 May 2013 14:21:09 -0500 43982.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/salt_lake_tribune_applauds_threatened_lawsuits_over_indigent_defense/ In Utah, counties are on their own when it comes to indigent defense. The state provides no funding and no oversight. The problem, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, is the “likelihood that such a system will be wildly inconsistent.” In an editorial, the newspaper praises… Criminal Justice, Public Defenders, States, Utah Thu, 11 Apr 2013 05:35:58 -0500 43666.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/news/article/legal_groups_back_pd_who_was_told_of_his_upcoming_ouster_before_beginning_c/ A public defender in Idaho who recently learned he will lose his job on Sept. 30 says the news comes at an inopportune time. Chief public defender John Adams of Kootenai County tells the Coeur d’Alene Press that he was told of his upcoming ouster two… Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Public Defenders Wed, 27 Mar 2013 06:15:21 -0500 43443.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/kagan_says_poor_defendants_are_entitled_to_a_ford_taurus_defense/ Justice Elena Kagan says poor defendants don’t have the right to a “Cadillac” lawyer—meaning the best lawyer that money can buy. But people accused of crimes do deserve at least a “Ford Taurus” defense, Kagan said at a Justice Department event on Monday. In her view, that consists of a… Criminal Justice, Public Defenders, U.S. Supreme Court Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:00:28 -0500 43335.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/those_facing_a_murder_case_may_be_better_off_with_a_public_defender_than_a_/ Those facing a murder charge who can't afford to hire a defense lawyer likely are better off with a public defender than a court-appointed lawyer, a Department of Justice-funded study has found. However, a report (PDF) published in December about the study suggests that restricted state funding rather… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Public Defenders, Government Law, Trials & Litigation, States, Pennsylvania Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:05:17 -0600 43122.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/fifty_years_after_gideon_lawyers_still_struggle_to_provide_counsel/ Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Public Defenders, Criminal Procedure, Legal History, Legal Theory, Trials & Litigation, U.S. Supreme Court, Features Fri, 01 Mar 2013 06:10:36 -0600 42784.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_is_criminally_charged_re_diamond_ring_lost_by_stranger_in_parking_lo/ A Georgia lawyer is facing a felony theft case after allegedly failing to return a valuable diamond ring that was lost Feb. 7 in a restaurant parking lot by a woman she apparently does not know. Alexia Dawn Davis, 31, was charged with theft of lost or mislaid property and… Criminal Justice, Public Defenders, Real Estate & Property Law, States, Georgia Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:54:05 -0600 43020.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/disrespectful_lawyer_held_in_contempt_bond_ruling_ridiculous/ Opinions differed about exactly what happened during a bond hearing in a suburban Chicago courtroom last week. But both defense attorney Robert Ritacca and his opponent in the matter, assistant Lake County state's attorney Danielle Pascucci, agree that he was held in contempt and fined $1,000, reports the Criminal Justice, Public Defenders, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, States, Illinois Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:45:12 -0600 42919.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_orders_son_of_delaware_courthouse_gunman_detained/ A U.S. Magistrate Judge ordered David Matusiewicz detained today until a hearing is held on charges that he violated the terms of his federal probation. Matusiewicz’s appearance occurred three blocks from the New Castle County Courthouse, where police say that Matusiewicz’s father, Thomas Matusiewicz, shot and killed his son’s ex-wife… Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Public Defenders, Criminal Procedure, States, Delaware Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:25:13 -0600 42840.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/murder_defendants_claimed_threats_against_his_attorneys_have_left_him_lawye/ Saying that he found himself in an "interesting and unique" situation, a Kentucky judge told a murder defendant on Monday that local attorneys aren't willing to represent him because of his past threats to kill two defense lawyers. “I honestly don’t know where we are going to go from here,”… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Public Defenders, Trials & Litigation, States, Kentucky Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:26:58 -0600 42825.abajournal.com