Criminal Procedure

Colorado Shooting Suspect to Appear in Court Today

The man accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater early Friday is scheduled to appear in court today. James Eagan Holmes will appear in court for an advisement, a short hearing to inform the suspect that he is being held on murder…

Jul 23, 2012 2:24 PM CDT

Jury Pool for Ex-Cop Drew Peterson’s Murder Trial Is Three Years Old

When former Bolingbrook, Ill., police officer Drew Peterson goes on trial next week for the murder of his third wife, the jurors will come from a pool first selected in August 2009. A Will County judge turned down a defense request more than a month ago to toss the pool…

Jul 20, 2012 1:04 PM CDT

Bizarre Pretrial Conditions Show Need for Counsel at Bail Stage, Law Profs Say in Op-Ed

Some judges appear to be acting as social workers or agents of public retribution when they impose unusual pretrial conditions on a defendant’s release, according to two law professors who wrote a newspaper op-ed. Writing in the New York Times, law professors Dan Markel of Florida State University and Eric…

Jul 17, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Court and Probation Company Are Running ‘Extortion Racket,’ Alabama Judge Says

If the city of Harpersville, Ala., intends to jail an individual for failing to pay a fine, it will first have to persuade Shelby County Judge Hub Harrington of the necessity. Ruling last Wednesday in a suit claiming constitutional violations, Harrington said the Harpersville Municipal Court and a private probation…

Jul 16, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Minor Infractions Lead to Jail as Private Probation Firms Assess Fees that Go Unpaid

Lawsuits in Alabama and Georgia are challenging the jailing of poor people who can’t afford to pay fines for minor infractions and the much larger fees charged by private probation companies. One of those jailed is Richard Garrett, who spent two years in a Childersburg, Ala., jail and owes $10,000…

Jul 3, 2012 12:59 PM CDT

The Threat from Within: What Is the Scope of Homegrown Terrorism?

Gordon Lederman, chief counsel for national security and investigations of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Kate Martin, director of the nonprofit Center for National Security Studies, ponder how we should weigh security against liberty. Their essays are part of a forthcoming book, Patriots Debate: Contemporary…

Jul 1, 2012 10:00 AM CDT

Get Out of Jail—But Not Free: Courts Scramble to Fill Their Coffers by Billing Ex-Cons

In Monopoly, a roll of the dice can get you a chance to draw a “get out of jail free” card to keep your piece moving around the board. But in the game of life, it takes real money to get out and stay out of real jails. The lesson…

Jul 1, 2012 9:50 AM CDT

Keep Your Pants on! Lowrider Trousers Have Legislators, Others Up in Arms

Almost anywhere you go, you’ll see them—teens and young adults with pants that appear to be headed south. And before you know it, you’re in harrumph mode: Back in your day you had more dignity, self-respect, belts, blah, blah, blah. If you have to blame someone, you could probably start…

Jul 1, 2012 5:20 AM CDT

Former NC Judge, Defense Lawyer and Legal Assistant Indicted re Court’s Handling of DWI Cases

A former North Carolina judge, a defense attorney and an assistant to the lawyer have been indicted by a Wake County grand jury in a case related to the judge’s handling of up to a dozen or more driving while intoxicated cases. Kristin Ruth, who served as a Wake County…

Jun 26, 2012 7:11 PM CDT

Former US General Counsel for Glock Facing 7-Year Racketeering Sentence Argues for New Trial

A former general counsel and CEO for Glock Inc.’s operations in the United States is arguing for a new trial. Convicted in March of racketeering and theft, 56-year-old Paul Jannuzzo faces a seven-year prison term in the Cobb County, Ga., case, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. His lawyer, John Da Grosa…

Jun 25, 2012 11:08 PM CDT

Media Event Irks Judge, Who May Gag Counsel for PI Lawyer Charged re 3rd-Party Attacks on His Wife

At a press conference earlier this week, a defense lawyer for a Texas personal injury lawyer accused of masterminding three failed contract murder attempts against his wife contended that his client, defendant Jeffrey Stern, is now in fear for his own life. That’s because Stern’s jailed ex-mistress, Michelle Gaiser, is…

Jun 15, 2012 8:14 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: Effective Assistance of Counsel Now a Right in Plea Bargaining

As the flurry of end of the term decisions is about to begin from the U.S. Supreme Court, it is important to not lose sight of two cases that are likely to have a dramatic effect on lawyers and judges. In Missouri v. Frye and Lefler v. Cooper, the Supreme…

Jun 4, 2012 1:45 PM CDT

Probing Questions: Experts Debate the Need to Create Exceptions to Rules on Coerced Confessions

Former FBI Special Agent Coleen Rowley didn’t exactly shout out “I told you so!” But she gloated when she scribbled it atop a blog account after officers caught and questioned the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing. “After so many years of waiting and warning,” Rowley told the Huffington…

Jun 1, 2012 10:10 AM CDT

Please Plea Me: Court Expands Effective Assistance of Counsel

The headlines seem like they were ripped out of the era of Chief Justice Earl Warren. “Supreme Court decision expands defendants’ rights,” said the Washington Post. “Justices expand right of accused,” said the New York Times. Of course, these weren’t from the Warren court’s pro-defendant heyday but from the current…

Jun 1, 2012 8:20 AM CDT

Supreme Court Reinstates Accomplice Conviction, Says 3rd Circuit Failed to Respect Jury Role

The U.S. Supreme Court has reinstated the accomplice and co-conspirator conviction of a Pennsylvania man accused in a 1995 shotgun death. The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction of defendant Lorenzo Johnson. The Supreme Court reversed in a per…

May 29, 2012 2:54 PM CDT