Criminal Procedure

NY Judge Banishes Pot Grower—Guesses on Where He’s Moving?

In an unusual plea deal, New York resident Brian M. Renaud will leave New York permanently in exchange for a probationary sentence. Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza approved the plea deal for Renaud, who pleaded guilty Wednesday to his second marijuana felony in six years, the Buffalo News reports.…

Apr 23, 2010 3:41 PM CDT

Polanski’s Move to Block Extradition Fails

Director Roman Polanski has failed in his latest attempt to block his extradition to the United States from Switzerland. A California appeals court on Thursday denied a request to end the 33-year-old case by sentencing the acclaimed director, who is under house arrest in Switzerland, to time served, the New…

Apr 23, 2010 11:59 AM CDT

Oops. Ex-Illinois Gov’s Unredacted Filing Seeking Obama’s Testimony Is Posted Online

Attorneys for impeached former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich today filed a motion asking a federal judge in Chicago to subpoena President Barack Obama to testify at Blagojevich’s upcoming corruption trial. But a computer glitch has made numerous redactions in the motion public, reports the Chicago Tribune. To see the redacted…

Apr 22, 2010 10:30 PM CDT

Judge Resigns, Avoiding Ethics Probe re Alleged Relationship with Prosecutor

A South Florida judge accused of failing to disclose a close relationship with a prosecutor who was trying a first-degree murder case in her courtroom has resigned her seat on the bench, thus avoiding the need to answer an ethics complaint brought against her by the state Judicial Qualifications Commission.…

Apr 22, 2010 9:05 PM CDT

Retired Lawyer Must Serve Time for Holding $30M in Art Stolen By Client, 1st Circuit Says

It was reportedly the biggest art theft in Massachusetts state history, and Robert Mardirosian’s client committed it. When David Colvin brought the paintings—including a Cezanne still life which eventually sold at auction years later for nearly $30 million—to Mardirosian shortly after the 1978 heist, the lawyer initially held them for…

Apr 16, 2010 12:28 AM CDT

Military Jury Convicts Soldier of Murder 20 Years After his Civilian Acquittal

More than 20 years after his acquittal in civilian court, a soldier has been convicted of a triple murder by a military jury. This time prosecutors relied on DNA tests that had not been available in the earlier trial of Master Sgt. Timothy Hennis, according to stories in the New…

Apr 9, 2010 1:13 PM CDT

Must Criminal Contempt Occur in Court? 7th Cir. Mulls Judge’s Reaction to E-Mail Flood

As lawyers today debated before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals whether a federal district judge should have sentenced an informercial pitchman to 30 days for flooding his in-box with e-mail, the three-judge panel honed in on whether criminal contempt can occur outside the physical boundaries of a courtroom.…

Apr 8, 2010 9:35 PM CDT

Judge Sues Newspaper for $50M, Claims Breach of Promised Anonymity re Web Comments

Under fire over anonymous comments reportedly made from her private e-mail account about defendants and at least one lawyer in cases she is overseeing, an Ohio judge has blasted back by filing suit against the Cleveland newspaper that broke the story. Cuyahoga Court of Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold…

Apr 7, 2010 10:19 PM CDT

Judge Accused of Case-Related E-Mail Declines to Step Down, Blames Media

An Ohio judge accused of making anonymous comments about her cases online under the moniker “Lawmiss” has denied a motion to recuse herself by a lawyer representing a defendant in a serial murder case. Although Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold said today that she hasn’t yet decided…

Apr 5, 2010 10:39 PM CDT

NSA Illegally Wiretapped 2 Lawyers for Islamic Charity, Judge Rules

Federal authorities violated the law by wiretapping two United States lawyers for an Islamic charity without obtaining a warrant, a federal judge in San Francisco has just ruled. The government will almost certainly appeal the much-awaited ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker of the Northern District of California…

Mar 31, 2010 7:54 PM CDT

Supreme Court Says Lawyers Must Inform Clients of Deportation Risks

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that lawyers have a Sixth Amendment obligation to warn their clients when their guilty pleas can result in deportation. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the majority opinion (PDF) finding that the lawyer for Jose Padilla should have advised him that a guilty plea to…

Mar 31, 2010 2:50 PM CDT

Boy, Now 12, Will Be Tried as Adult in Murder of Dad’s Pregnant Girlfriend

An 11-year-old boy who police say shot and killed his father’s eight-months-pregnant girlfriend in the family home early last year will be tried as an adult in the homicides of the Pennsylvania woman and her unborn baby. Jordan Brown, now 12, has been charged with criminal homicide and homicide of…

Mar 29, 2010 9:14 PM CDT

Up in Smoke? Scalia Disputes Law Prof’s Pollution Analogy in Capital Appeal

The co-director of Stanford Law School’s Supreme Court litigation clinic used a smoke analogy to make a point Wednesday about a death row inmate’s right to appeal after a second sentencing, but the issue was more cloudy for Justice Antonin Scalia. Stanford’s Jeffrey Fisher argued that a death penalty appeal…

Mar 25, 2010 4:52 PM CDT

Judge to Review 1,100 Crime Lab Docs; PD: ‘This Could Be Pandora’s Box’

A California judge has ordered the San Francisco police crime lab to turn over for a relevance review some 1,100 pages of documents related to an investigation of a veteran technician suspected of stealing cocaine evidence during her 29-year career there. Depending on what Judge Anne-Christine Massullo sees, the review…

Mar 24, 2010 8:50 PM CDT

As Dognapping Suspect Is Extradited, Beloved Pet Is Still Missing

When Brian Dotort celebrated a friend’s birthday at a South Florida gay bar last year, he took his pal, Hudson Hayward Hemingway along with him. Hudson happens to be a dog, a small Chihuahua to be specific, and as the pup with the pink earrings was passed from one guest…

Mar 23, 2010 5:28 PM CDT