Criminal Procedure

Lottery scammer nabbed after trying to persuade former FBI and CIA director to give him $50K

A telephone scammer was sentenced to 71 months in prison last Friday after trying to persuade former FBI and CIA director William Webster to give him $50,000 to collect purported lottery winnings. The scammer had told Webster and his wife that his name was David Morgan, he was head of…

Feb 13, 2019 1:39 PM CST

Drunken taxi incident leads to lawyer’s suspension; she was a former radio host

A New Orleans lawyer has been suspended from law practice after convictions stemming from alleged drunken sexual advances on a taxi driver. The Louisiana Supreme Court suspended lawyer Jennifer Gaubert from law practice for a year and a day in a decision on Monday, report the New Orleans Advocate and…

Feb 12, 2019 12:17 PM CST

Can Justin Fairfax be impeached? Virginia official is also a BigLaw partner; firm probes sexual assault claims

Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, a partner at Morrison & Foerster, has taken a leave of absence from the firm as it investigates claims by two women that he sexually assaulted them. Morrison & Foerster chairman Larren Nashelsky told the National Law Journal that Fairfax is cooperating in the investigation.…

Feb 11, 2019 9:30 AM CST

Federal prosecutor moves to block nonprofit from opening nation’s first safe injection facility

Plans for the nation’s first safe injection facility hit a snag earlier this week, when Philadelphia’s top prosecutor filed a federal complaint to keep it from opening its doors. U.S. Attorney William McSwain, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said in the complaint filed Feb. 5 that in providing spaces…

Feb 8, 2019 5:10 PM CST

NYPD threatens Google with legal action to stop pinpointing police activity through app

In a letter sent to Google last weekend, the New York Police Department threatened legal action if the technology company ignored demands to remove a feature on its Waze app that allows users to post locations of police checkpoints. Ann Prunty, the acting deputy commissioner for legal matters, wrote in…

Feb 8, 2019 3:23 PM CST

True criminal justice reform requires better, and smarter, data

If the promise of artificial intelligence is to make systems smarter and more efficient, there may be no better candidate than the U.S. criminal justice system. Mass incarceration runs rampant, jailing people costs tens of billions of dollars per year, and those returning to society reoffend at a rate of…

Feb 8, 2019 12:55 PM CST

ABA president urges Montana lawmakers to rethink driver’s license suspension in sentencing

In a letter to the Montana House Judiciary Committee, ABA President Bob Carlson expressed his support for a bill that would eliminate the suspension of a driver’s license or privilege as a sentencing option for nonpayment of fines, fees or restitution. He told the committee, which plans to have a…

Feb 8, 2019 11:57 AM CST

SCOTUS allows execution of Muslim prisoner to go forward without his imam present in 5-4 decision

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court granted a request on Thursday night by the Alabama Office of the Attorney General to let it proceed with the execution of a Muslim inmate who won a stay Wednesday after he claimed that the prison violated his religious rights by refusing to allow his…

Feb 7, 2019 1:15 PM CST

Police can go after peer-to-peer cryptocurrency transactions, appeals court rules

Updated: An appeals court in Florida has ruled that selling cryptocurrency directly to another person is money transmission under state law, overturning a trial judge.

Feb 7, 2019 7:00 AM CST

Ex-attorney on the run after failure to report to jail; his mother was found dead

A disbarred Georgia attorney facing 15 years in jail for defrauding clients out of their settlement checks remains on the run after police suspect that he stabbed his 77-year-old mother to death over the weekend. Richard Merritt, a former personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer from Smyrna, Georgia, was ordered…

Feb 6, 2019 2:04 PM CST

Lawyer accused of murder solicitation says jealousy motivated charges against him

An Oklahoma lawyer charged with solicitation of murder and racketeering is going on the offensive with a statement claiming the charges are motivated by “vindictiveness and jealousy.” Winston Connor, 54, of Delaware County, was charged in a 10-count indictment unsealed Jan. 14, report the Tulsa World (here and here), KTUL.com…

Jan 24, 2019 3:44 PM CST

Two of Harvey Weinstein’s new lawyers once represented one of his accusers in criminal case

Two new lawyers defending movie producer Harvey Weinstein against sexual assault charges once represented one of his accusers in a drug possession case. The lawyers, Jose Baez and Ronald S. Sullivan Jr., are part a new four-person legal team announced Wednesday, report the New York Times, the Associated Press, the…

Jan 24, 2019 1:27 PM CST

Mueller’s office disputes report that claimed it had evidence Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress

Updated: In a rare public statement, the office of Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller said Friday evening that a report implicating President Donald Trump in obstruction of justice is not accurate.

Jan 18, 2019 7:47 PM CST

Compelling biometric features to unlock phones is ‘abuse of power,’ U.S. judge rules

Calling an FBI warrant application “an abuse of power” and “unconstitutional,” a U.S. magistrate judge has ruled that federal authorities cannot compel suspects to unlock their phones with biometric features. The case involves a Facebook Messenger extortion plot where two suspects allegedly said they would release an embarrassing video unless…

Jan 17, 2019 10:21 AM CST

High court says later-decided case was wrongly used to exempt inmate from death penalty

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said a federal appeals court wrongly relied on the high court’s 2017 decision on mental disability when it ruled an Ohio death-row inmate was not eligible for the death penalty.

Jan 7, 2019 2:05 PM CST