Criminal Procedure

Some Fla. Juveniles Face Virtual Life Sentences Despite Supreme Court Ruling

A May U.S. Supreme Court ruling that buoyed juvenile justice advocates isn’t having much of an impact in Florida, even though at least 116 inmates qualify for sentencing relief under the decision. The Supreme Court held in Graham v. Florida that a sentence of life in prison without parole is…

Nov 24, 2010 12:30 PM CST

ACLU Sues Michigan for Sentencing Children to Life in Prison

The ACLU took aim at Michigan’s sentencing laws today for cruel and unusual punishment in a suit filed on behalf of nine inmates sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes committed as juveniles. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Detroit, is part…

Nov 17, 2010 8:26 PM CST

Jurors Ordered to Pay for Mistrial After Crime Scene Visit

Three Ohio jurors were ordered to pay nearly $6,000 after their lunch-break investigations resulted in the mistrial of a murder case. Richland County Common Pleas Judge James DeWeese ordered the fines, as well as letters of apology to the victim’s family members, defendant and fellow jurors, at a hearing Tuesday,…

Nov 17, 2010 6:20 PM CST

Judge Tells Fieger He’s Going to Jail If He Says ‘Polygraph’ to Murder Trial Jury One More Time

Admonishing controversial defense attorney Geoffrey Fieger in a murder trial this morning, a Michigan judge told him she’ll declare a mistrial and send him to jail if he says the word “polygraph” in front of the jury one more time. Fieger contends that his use of the offending word on…

Nov 4, 2010 11:03 PM CDT

Gov’t Can Search E-Mail Without Notifying Account-Holder, Federal Judge Rules

When the feds search an individual’s e-mail under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, they don’t have to notify the account-holder, a federal judge has ruled. In an order (PDF) unsealed yesterday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth of Washington, D.C., says the statute is satisfied so long as the government provides…

Nov 3, 2010 12:02 AM CDT

Did Feds Use ‘Nuclear Bomb’ Grand Jury Subpoena to Silence Critic? Supreme Court May Decide

When a federal prosecutor tried to get a gag order against an outspoken critic of a case holding two Midwestern doctors criminally accountable for prescribing pain medication, a judge said no, citing the First Amendment. But then the prosecutor issued what Siobhan Reynolds describes as a “nuclear bomb” of a…

Nov 1, 2010 8:39 PM CDT

Juror Makes ‘Dumb’ Move, Seeks Date with Court Marshal, Putting Murder Trial at Risk

Seeking a date with a cute court marshal during the sentencing phase of an ongoing Connecticut murder trial, an alternate juror tried to send a note setting a time and place to meet. But it was intercepted by another juror who turned it over to a court clerk. Superior Court…

Nov 1, 2010 7:31 PM CDT

Prosecutors Blast Ex-DA in ‘Nightmare’ Case of Innocent Man Jailed 18 Years

Freed yesterday after spending 18 years in prison for a capital crime he did not commit, Anthony Graves was initially convicted because of a “nightmare” of prosecutorial misconduct that included withholding evidence and threatening witnesses, Texas prosecutors said in a press conference today. DA Bill Parham of Washington and Burleson…

Oct 28, 2010 9:07 PM CDT

Watchdog Still Seeks to Sanction Top Texas Criminal Judge re Execution-Eve ‘We Close at 5’ Ruling

An attorney for the top criminal court judge in Texas hailed the elimination of a public warning earlier this month as a conclusive win for his client in a legal ethics case over the court’s refusal to accept a late appeal on the eve of the defendant’s execution. But the…

Oct 26, 2010 5:54 PM CDT

Top Calif. Court OKs Dismissal of Up to 300-Plus Criminal Cases Due to Judge Shortage

At least 18 criminal defendants who refused to waive their constitutional right to a speedy trial won’t have to go to trial at all, following a California Supreme Court ruling today that charges against them were properly dismissed due to a lack of available judges in Riverside County to try…

Oct 25, 2010 8:36 PM CDT

Sex Crimes Prosecutor Grades ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Episodes on Accuracy

A federal sex crimes prosecutor—who also just had her first novel, Law of Attraction published—is systematically taking on the accuracy of this season’s Law & Order: SVU. Don’t get her wrong—it’s not that she doesn’t like these types of shows. “Law & Order was part of what inspired me to…

Oct 21, 2010 4:32 PM CDT

Debtors’ Prisons a Reality for Defendants Unable to Pay Fees and Fines

Debtors’ prisons are making a comeback as states jail defendants who can’t afford to pay court-imposed fines and fees, including “pay-to-stay” jail fees and public defender charges, according to reports by two public interest organizations. Judges view the collection of debt as a critical income stream, but jailing indigent defendants…

Oct 14, 2010 3:20 PM CDT

After Judge & Prosecutor Clash, His Removal Is Sought On 455 of Her Cases

A 56-year-old Florida jurist can’t fully tell his side of the story, due to ethical rules about commenting on pending cases. But, as Broward Circuit Judge Carlos Rodriguez apparently sees it, he was just doing his job when he told a 27-year-old female prosecutor to take a seat at the…

Oct 5, 2010 5:41 PM CDT

Cop’s Pants-on-the-Ground ‘Wardrobe Assist’ Not an Illegal Search, Court Says

A police officer who pulled up a drug suspect’s baggy pants conducted a “wardrobe assist” rather than a search, a Minnesota appeals court has ruled. The police officer discovered a gun when she pulled up the pants of suspect Frank Irving Wiggins, according to stories in the St. Paul Pioneer…

Sep 15, 2010 3:05 PM CDT

Oops. Juror Calls Defendant Guilty on Facebook, Before Verdict

Updated: A Michigan juror who indicated in a Facebook post that she believed the defendant in her case is guilty—before the case went to verdict—wound up on the hot seat, too, in the Macomb County trial. The defendant was convicted of resisting arrest after an alternate was substituted for juror…

Sep 2, 2010 7:28 PM CDT