Criminal Procedure

Justices Side With Ex-Enron Exec on Retrial Issue

In a 6-3 ruling this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court closed the door, but didn’t slam it shut in the case involving a former Enron executive who is fighting government efforts to retry him. The high court’s ruling throws out a portion of a New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Court of…

Jun 18, 2009 3:42 PM CDT

DOJ’s Corruption Unit a Mess After Stevens Case

The Justice Department is still reeling from the abandoned corruption prosecution of former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens. And to top it off, the Washington Post reports that newly discovered evidence threatens to undermine other cases while the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section changes personnel. The Post reports specifically that the section’s…

Jun 18, 2009 10:05 AM CDT

High Court Lectures 6th Circuit on Double Jeopardy in Retarded Inmate’s Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court is giving Ohio another chance to prove an inmate should be sentenced to death despite evidence of mental retardation. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in an opinion (PDF) for a unanimous court, wrote that a federal appeals court had “fundamentally misperceived” the application of the double jeopardy…

Jun 1, 2009 3:11 PM CDT

High Court Overrules Decision Barring Questioning After Lawyer Appointment

The U.S. Supreme Court has overruled a 23-year-old decision that bars police from questioning suspects without the presence of an appointed lawyer. The court overturned the 1986 decision, Michigan v. Jackson, according to the Associated Press and SCOTUSblog. The Jackson ruling had held that once a suspect has asserted a…

May 26, 2009 2:49 PM CDT

Judge’s Jury Form Mistake Results in Overturned Conviction

A Michigan appeals court has overturned an involuntary manslaughter conviction because a judge forgot to list “not guilty” as an option on a jury verdict form. The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Michael Jess Wade, a security guard convicted of shooting and killing a suspected thief, deserves a new trial…

Apr 24, 2009 1:59 PM CDT

SG Urges High Court to Overrule Case Restricting Police Questioning

The solicitor general is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule a 1986 decision that restricts police questioning of suspects who have asked for a lawyer. The Supreme Court decision, Michigan v. Jackson, generally bars police from questioning suspects who have asserted a right to legal counsel, unless a lawyer…

Apr 24, 2009 12:20 PM CDT

Judge Orders Man’s Mouth Taped Shut

There were apparently just one too many outbursts from Nicklas Frasure for a southeast Idaho judge to tolerate. So he ordered that Frasure, who has a history of mental illness, have his mouth sealed with duct tape during an evidentiary hearing Monday. The unusual order came from 6th District Judge…

Apr 22, 2009 6:32 PM CDT

Rare Jury Verdict Delay ‘Sheer Agony’ for Bob Bennett & Client Attorney

After days of deliberation, a federal jury in the Southern District of Florida returned a verdict on Thursday in a tax evasion case against Michigan attorney Alan Miller. But it wasn’t announced until the jury also reached a verdict on charges against Miller’s tax client, Indy 500 and Dancing with…

Apr 21, 2009 7:36 PM CDT

Judge Turns Down Blagojevich’s ‘Get Me Out of Here’ Show Request

A federal judge in Chicago has refused a request by the former governor of Illinois to travel to Costa Rica to appear on a reality TV show, suggesting he may not understand the reality of the federal charges against him. U.S. District Judge James Zagel turned down the request by…

Apr 21, 2009 4:58 PM CDT

Kuby May Represent Teen Somali Pirate, Due in US Court Today

The only Somali pirate who survived the hostage-taking incident involving ship captain Richard Phillips smiled as he was led into a federal building today. The teen pirate, Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, was expected to make a court appearance today to face likely charges of piracy and hostage-taking under two obscure federal…

Apr 21, 2009 4:26 PM CDT

Supreme Court Narrows Belton and Limits Car Searches

The U.S. Supreme Court has sided with a criminal defendant who challenged a police search of his car that turned up cocaine and a gun. Police searched Rodney Gant’s car after he was arrested on a warrant for driving on a suspended license, handcuffed and placed in a squad car.…

Apr 21, 2009 2:49 PM CDT

Supreme Court Turns Down Case of Bible-Consulting Jurors

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a death-row inmate’s claim that his constitutional rights were violated when jurors consulted a Bible during deliberations. The case, Oliver v. Quarterman, is the second turndown by the court this term that involved jurors consulting the Bible, SCOTUSblog reports. In both cases,…

Apr 20, 2009 3:56 PM CDT

Law Profs Sue West, Say ‘Sham’ Pocket Part Identified Them as Authors

Two law professors who wrote a treatise on Pennsylvania criminal law claim in a lawsuit that West Publishing falsely identified them as the authors of a poorly researched “sham” pocket part. The professors, David Rudovsky of the University of Pennsylvania and Leonard Sosnov of Widener Law School, are seeking an…

Apr 16, 2009 3:22 PM CDT

N.C. Law Firm’s Claimed Role in Serving Warrants on Witnesses Sparks Mistrial

A judge in Alamance County, N.C., has declared a mistrial, after attorneys at a local defense firm were accused of playing a role in persuading the sheriff’s office to serve warrants from several years previously on two government witnesses who were testifying in a kidnapping and attempted rape case. In…

Apr 15, 2009 10:42 PM CDT

Blagojevich’s Reality Show Dream Needs Federal Judge’s OK

Anyone who thinks Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich plans to hole up with his lawyers to plan his defense on federal corruption charges should think again. Instead the impeached governor has plans to star on an NBC reality show, I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here, the Chicago Tribune…

Apr 15, 2009 12:31 PM CDT