Criminal Procedure

Psychiatrist Says Red Bull and Sleep Deprivation Caused Murder Defendant’s Psychosis

A defense psychiatrist has concluded that a Florida murder defendant killed his 83-year-old father during a psychotic break fueled by Red Bull and sleep deprivation. The psychiatrist testified about his conclusions in a bond reduction hearing last February for defendant Stephen Coffeen, according to the St. Petersburg Times and ABC…

Feb 11, 2011 1:47 PM CST

Judge Rushed Murder Case Summation to Get to St. Maarten for Pina Coladas, Alan Dershowitz Argues

It isn’t just in Nevada that a judge’s vacation plans reportedly may have trumped the defendant’s right to an unhurried trial. Famed attorney Alan Dershowitz blasted Queens Supreme Court Justice Robert Hanophy in an argument before a New York state appeals court today, contending that his client’s defense lawyer at…

Feb 10, 2011 1:15 AM CST

Juror Study Shows More of a BlackBerry Effect than a ‘CSI’ Effect

The chief judge of Washtenaw County in Ann Arbor, Mich., had heard a lot about the so-called CSI effect—said to increase jurors’ expectations that technology can solve crimes with lightning speed, just as it happens on the television show CSI. But he hadn’t seen the evidence. So Judge Donald Shelton…

Feb 8, 2011 12:00 PM CST

Researcher Can’t Be Prosecuted for Altering Abe Lincoln Pardon, National Archives Says

Updated: A researcher who gained attention in 1998 by claiming to have found the perhaps last document executed by President Abraham Lincoln prior to his assassination in 1865 has now admitted that he altered the date on the presidential pardon, says the National Archives in a written statement on its…

Jan 25, 2011 9:40 PM CST

‘Looking for Evidence,’ Authorities Demolish House Where 2 Cops Were Fatally Shot Yesterday

A relatively routine attempt to make an arrest yesterday ended in tragedy and a dramatic gunfight between hundreds of officers from multiple police forces and a single suspect, as officers fought to rescue fallen members of their teams from a single-family home in St. Petersburg, Fla. Two city police officers…

Jan 25, 2011 8:47 PM CST

UK Judge OKs Extradition of Terrorism Suspect Wanted for Alleged NY Subway Bomb Plot

A terrorism suspect who argued he could face torture or mistreatment if he is sent to the United States for trial has lost a bid to avoid extradition. A British court today approved the extradition of Pakistani national Abid Naseer, who is wanted here for his alleged role in a…

Jan 21, 2011 3:54 PM CST

Juror on Hot Seat, Accused of Web-Surfing; Claimed Research May Cause Capital Murder Case Mistrial

A mistrial may have to be declared in a Pennsylvania capital murder case over a juror’s reported Web-surfing. The Luzerne County panel’s foreman blew the whistle on fellow juror Gretchen Black today, when she returned to court this morning after the first day of deliberations allegedly armed with Internet information…

Jan 14, 2011 7:22 PM CST

Ex-Lawyer Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Overturn Conviction Stemming from Affair Photos

A once-successful lawyer is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to accept his cert petition and reverse a child porn conviction stemming from an affair he had with his wife’s16-year-old sister more than 35 years ago. The U.S. Supreme Court may decide whether to accept the cert petition by Gary Peel…

Jan 14, 2011 5:12 PM CST

President’s Comments Contradict Complaint in Federal Judge’s Slaying

A Columbia law professor isn’t concerned about recent comments by President Obama that contradict the criminal complaint filed against the suspect in the shooting death of U.S. District Judge John Roll. Federal charges against suspect Jared Lee Loughner are based on a 1971 law that makes it a crime to…

Jan 14, 2011 1:25 PM CST

Top Texas Court Orders End to Hearing on Constitutionality of Death Penalty

The top criminal court in Texas has ruled that a trial judge may not hold a hearing on the constitutionality of the death penalty when a capital murder defendant has not yet faced trial. The Court of Criminal Appeals permanently halted the inquiry by Judge Kevin Fine in a 6-2…

Jan 13, 2011 3:03 PM CST

Evidence of Premeditation Could Harm Insanity Case for Alleged Ariz. Shooter

An insanity defense could face some difficult hurdles in the guilt phase of a federal trial for Tucson, Ariz., shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner. Loughner had apparently planned the killing, prosecution documents allege, and experts say that could pose problems under the federal insanity standard, report the Associated Press and…

Jan 11, 2011 3:17 PM CST

Hospitalized in Coma, Girl, 13, Is Ticketed for Jaywalking

Hit by a car as she was walking home from school on Tuesday, a Las Vegas eighth-grader is in the hospital in a medically induced coma. But that didn’t prevent police from ticketing Takara Davis, 13, for jaywalking, reports KLAS-TV. Since the teen was unable to accept the ticket, an…

Jan 6, 2011 5:35 PM CST

Good Lawyering Saves Defendant Arrested for Violating Protective Order That Didn’t Exist

After her relationship with Jesse Almond deteriorated, Sandra Bogden sought a protective order against the 75-year-old Florida retiree. Judge Lorraine Kelly denied Bogden’s request. But somehow a protective order was issued, perhaps because parts of two different orders got mixed together during the Pinellas County jurist’s call that day in…

Dec 28, 2010 12:17 PM CST

Potential Jury Nullifies Law Before Even Being Seated, Eliminating Drug Trial

An accused drug-dealer caught a break in court last week, when a group of potential jurors in Montana revolted against an unpopular marijuana law. No way could they convict anybody of a crime for having a couple of buds of marijuana–less than a fifth of an ounce, they told the…

Dec 20, 2010 8:02 PM CST

Top UK Judge OKs Reporters’ Use of Twitter, Texts & E-Mail in Court

Journalists should routinely be allowed to use Twitter and send texts and e-mail from smart phones from courtrooms while covering legal news, the most senior judge in the United Kingdom said today in a note providing guidance to others. The action by Igor Judge, the Lord Chief Justice of England…

Dec 20, 2010 7:29 PM CST