Court Security

Son of dead shooter in Del. courthouse slayings gets six months for probation violation

The son of a man who killed two women at a Delaware courthouse earlier this year as they arrived for a child-support hearing was sentenced Tuesday to two months in federal prison for violating his probation in a child-kidnapping and fraud case. David Matusiewicz was also present at the Delaware…

Apr 23, 2013 11:06 PM CDT

Courthouse slaying trial has judge and defendant’s ex-lawyer as first witnesses

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…

Apr 22, 2013 10:27 PM CDT

Ex-prosecutor recalls screaming fit by ricin suspect; family cites history of mental illness

A lawyer for the man accused of sending letters containing suspected ricin to President Obama, a judge and a U.S. senator says her client maintains his innocence. The suspect, Paul Kevin Curtis, said little during a court hearing on Thursday and did not enter a plea, the Associated Press reports.…

Apr 19, 2013 12:59 PM CDT

Fired justice of peace charged with capital murder in deaths of Texas prosecutors, bail set at $23M

A fired former justice of the peace in Kaufman County, Texas, has been charged with capital murder in the recent slayings of county prosecutor Mark Hasse, county district attorney Mike McLelland and McLelland’s wife, Cynthia. Eric Lyle Williams was arrested Thursday and is being held in lieu of $23 million…

Apr 18, 2013 8:32 PM CDT

Man ups ante in probation violation case, is jailed after allegedly taking judge’s photo

A defendant who apparently didn’t get the memo about not using cellphones in court was taken into custody Wednesday at a suburban Chicago courthouse after allegedly snapping photos of the judge. Already in court to defend a probation violation case, Calvin Woods, 25, told deputies that he was bored and…

Apr 18, 2013 4:10 PM CDT

Courts closed in at least one county Tuesday after Boston Marathon deaths and bomb threat

All circuit and district court buildings in a county that is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area were closed Tuesday, as sheriff’s officers in Carroll County, Md., investigated a bomb threat. The courts were evacuated after an anonymous call was made to the circuit court at about 8:30 a.m. claiming…

Apr 16, 2013 6:42 PM CDT

Claimed fake lawyer in theft case accused of plotting copycat prosecutor slaying

Dorothy Canfield, 84, had been facing merely a theft case, accused of bilking clients by posing as an immigration lawyer, when she is in fact not an attorney. But now she’s charged as well with solicitation of capital murder and solicitation to commit aggravated assault on a public servant over…

Apr 15, 2013 7:39 PM CDT

Courthouse screeners enforce ban on cellphones ... and a pet duck

In Chicago on Monday, security guards at the criminal courthouse at 26th Street and California Avenue, billed as the nation’s busiest, were implementing a new policy against cellphones and other electronic devices. The ban was imposed because of concerns that individuals taking cellphone photos were intimidating witnesses, according to the…

Apr 15, 2013 6:27 PM CDT

What personal safety measures do you take at work, at home and in between?

The recent slayings of two prosecutors in Kaufman County, Texas, and other fatal courthouse shootings in 2013 have put courthouse security in the spotlight. But aside from what the courts you practice in are doing to protect you and your clients—what do you do to protect yourself? What personal safety…

Apr 10, 2013 8:30 PM CDT

Man accused of Facebook threats of ‘Columbine’ shooting at Illinois courthouse is arrested in Denver

A little over a month ago, Daniel McDade was facing only a driving-under-the-influence case in suburban Chicago. Now he is being held in Denver for extradition to Illinois, charged with two new felonies over posts the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office says he put on Facebook threatening a “Columbine”-style shooting at…

Apr 9, 2013 6:10 PM CDT

Man arrested in clerk’s office as he was trying to file a federal suit pleads guilty in assault case

Arrested nearly two years ago in the clerk’s office when he went to file a lawsuit at the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a pro se plaintiff has now pleaded guilty in the assault case that resulted. A guard noticed when Larry Paul Delaney went through security at the…

Apr 5, 2013 6:56 PM CDT

Texas will punish those responsible for prosecutor slayings, governor vows; $200K reward offered

The governor of Texas vowed at a press conference today that the state would hunt down and punish those responsible for slaying two prosecutors within a two-month period and announced that the state is adding $100,000 in reward money to the $100,000 already put up by Kaufman County. “We’re going…

Apr 4, 2013 10:24 PM CDT

Courthouse locked after county sheriff is shot to death outside; ‘nobody’s safe,’ magistrate says

A West Virginia courthouse was on lockdown Wednesday afternoon after the county sheriff was shot to death outside. Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum liked to eat lunch in the same spot within a block of the courthouse in Williamson while sitting in his patrol vehicle, according to the Associated Press,…

Apr 3, 2013 8:49 PM CDT

53 dead in suicide attack on Afghan court intended to free 15 Taliban prisoners headed to trial

At least 53 people died Wednesday in an attack by suicide bombers on a court in Western Afghanistan. They reportedly sought to free 15 suspected members of the Taliban who were headed to trial in the Farah courthouse, according to Al Jazeera and the BBC News. It isn’t clear whether…

Apr 3, 2013 6:15 PM CDT

Put on probation in earlier case, man is now charged with making telephone threats to judge

Sentenced in 2011 to 18 months of probation for making telephone threats to a corporation, a suburban Chicago man is facing new charges for allegedly making new telephone threats—this time to the judge who presided over the case. Alexander Wood, 25, left a message March 7 on the work telephone…

Apr 3, 2013 4:20 PM CDT