Court Security

Prosecutor gunned down while walking from parking lot to work at courthouse

A veteran prosecutor was fatally shot multiple times while walking to work at a Texas courthouse on Thursday morning from a nearby parking lot. The motive for the attack on assistant Kaufman County district attorney Mark Hasse, 57, isn’t known. Hasse was transported to a nearby hospital after being shot…

Jan 31, 2013 9:39 PM CST

Dead suspect in shooting of mediation opponents was litigious, had anger issues, lawyer says

Updated: A man who authorities say committed suicide after shooting a corporate attorney and his client after a law firm mediation session Wednesday in Phoenix was reportedly litigious and had anger-management issues. Before shooting attorney Mark P. Hummels, 43, and client Steven Singer, 48, who both died, Arthur Douglas Harmon,…

Jan 31, 2013 8:06 PM CST

Video captures courtroom attack of woman seeking protection order

All was apparently well until a magistrate judge reportedly left an Ohio domestic violence courtroom during a Friday hearing last week to see if the respondent had any pending arrest warrants. Almost immediately after the judge left and another woman entered the courtroom, a security video for the Summit County…

Jan 29, 2013 11:30 PM CST

$7M in gold coins found in intestate man’s garage will be auctioned at courthouse

A reclusive Nevada man who died without a will last year has left some unusual issues for a court in Carson City to deal with. One of the biggest: What to do with the gold coins found in Walter Samasko Jr.’s garage, among cans of tuna fish? Although he had…

Jan 29, 2013 8:11 PM CST

Courthouse fray sends lawyers to hospital, jail

A lawyer was arrested after a Tuesday afternoon incident at a West Virginia courthouse in which he was accused of attacking another attorney. Stephen Sean Murphy was charged with malicious wounding and released on $10,000 bail after a fray at the Marion County courthouse around 2 p.m., according to WBOY…

Jan 23, 2013 8:13 PM CST

Three dead, one wounded in courthouse shooting

A retired Canadian journalist shot and killed the pediatric surgeon who had pursued a malicious mischief case against him and the doctor’s lawyer on Tuesday before dying himself in a courthouse in the Philippines, authorities said. There are conflicting accounts about whether the shooting suspect, John Pope, 63, was killed…

Jan 22, 2013 4:27 PM CST

Misdemeanor Trial Looms for Suspended Chicago Judge re Security Checkpoint Dispute

A misdemeanor trial is looming for a Chicago area judge who was removed from the bench last year after being criminally charged in a dispute with security officers in a government building and subsequently retained by voters in November. Cook County Circuit Judge Cynthia Brim plans to assert at her…

Jan 7, 2013 4:30 PM CST

2nd Man Who Escaped Federal Prison by Climbing Down 15 Stories on Bedsheet Rope Is Captured

A second man who escaped a fortress-like federal prison in downtown Chicago last month by climbing 15 stories down its facade on a makeshift rope made of bedsheets has been captured. Although the resulting federal manhunt had reportedly gone nationwide, Kenneth Conley, a convicted bank robber, was found Friday in…

Jan 7, 2013 3:30 PM CST

Feds Drop Escape Charge re Inmate’s Daring 15-Story Climb Down Chicago Prison Facade

In a strategic move apparently intended to avoid wasting resources on an unnecessary trial and, perhaps, encourage cooperation by a defendant already facing substantial time behind bars, the feds have dropped an escape case against one of two men who made a daring escape from a downtown Chicago prison last…

Jan 3, 2013 7:34 PM CST

Jailed Inmate Faces Charge After Prosecutors Say He Impersonated His Lawyer to Gain Phone Privileges

A defendant already jailed awaiting trial in a drug case is expected to face an additional identity theft charge after prosecutors say he impersonated his public defender in order to place a phone call to another inmate. John Bouraphael is accused of making a three-way call from the Rockingham County…

Jan 3, 2013 5:30 PM CST

Lawyer Is Criminally Charged, Accused of Causing Disturbance While Making Courthouse Filing

Updated: An Illinois lawyer has been criminally charged for allegedly behaving in “a loud or aggressive manner” while making a filing Wednesday at the Lake County Courthouse. Lee Fainman, 37, who practices in the Chicago area, was charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of a police officer, according to the…

Dec 20, 2012 6:39 PM CST

Judge Says Man Who Slashed His Counsel’s Face in Front of Jury Will Be Pro Se for Rest of Trial

As an attempted murder trial continues this week in San Diego Superior Court, one of the three defendants will now be required to present his case with the help of a standby lawyer only. That’s because the judge presiding over the case determined Friday that Eduardo Macias had forfeited his…

Dec 17, 2012 7:31 PM CST

High School Civics Lesson in Criminal Court Includes Seeing Lawyer Slashed with Razor Blade

A group of about 20 San Diego high school students getting a civics lesson by watching testimony in a California criminal trial on Thursday morning experienced more than anyone expected. As the prosecution was presenting a final rebuttal witness to the jury in an attempted murder and conspiracy case against…

Dec 13, 2012 11:12 PM CST

Ex-Neighbor Convicted of Plot to Murder Minn. Prosecutor

A former neighbor of a Minnesota prosecutor was convicted by a jury Friday of plotting his murder. Stephen Woodward was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the premeditated first-degree murder of Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom, the Lakeville Patch reports. Woodward apparently blamed Backstrom for a drug case that initially…

Dec 10, 2012 4:45 PM CST

New Security Measures Taken After 1,417 Oxycodone Pills Disappear from Courthouse Vault

One employee of the Palm Beach County court clerk and comptroller’s office was fired, another resigned and a third was reassigned after 1,003 Oxycodone pills being held as evidence in a criminal case disappeared from the courthouse vault. An additional 414 Oxycodone pills from two other criminal cases were found…

Nov 20, 2012 10:35 PM CST