Criminal Procedure

Judge: Spector Lawyers Violated Rules

The judge in the ongoing Phil Spector murder trial has rebuked the music producer’s attorneys for a violation of discovery rules “so deliberate and so egregious” that it requires a remedy. Hence, Judge Larry Paul Fidler said Thursday, he is going to instruct the jury to take it into consideration…

Aug 17, 2007 7:36 PM CDT

Jurors Questioned re Masturbation Habits

Jurors were questioned about their own personal masturbation habits today at the outset of a Florida trial in which they must determine if a 20-year-old inmate is guilty of masturbating while alone in his jail cell. In response to a defense lawyer’s questioning, all nine men among the prospective jurors…

Jul 25, 2007 9:54 PM CDT

Judge: No Release from KPMG Defense

Lawyers for a defendant in the KPMG tax shelter fraud case signed on and can’t now sign off until the case reaches a final conclusion, a federal court judge says. Although he was initially paid $400,000 by the Big Four accountant, attorney Robert Fink is concerned the ongoing representation of…

Jul 24, 2007 11:08 PM CDT

Interpreter Delay Spurs Dismissal

Prosecutors are appealing a Maryland judge’s decision to dismiss rape charges against a Liberian immigrant because of delays in finding an interpreter. Judge Katherine Savage of Rockville dismissed the case against Mahamu Kanneh last week, the Washington Post reports. He had been accused of raping a 7-year-old girl who was…

Jul 24, 2007 4:03 PM CDT

Guyana Press Chat Breaks ‘Local’ Rule

A lawyer who spoke to reporters in Guyana about a New York case he was handling broke a local rule barring lawyers from making comments that could interfere with a trial, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Dora L. Irizarry, of the Eastern District of New York, found…

Jul 23, 2007 4:14 PM CDT

Injunctions to Curtail Citizen Activities?

In a sign of the law enforcement times, two California judges were asked yesterday to issue injunctions that would prohibit 76 alleged gang members from hanging out in certain areas of San Francisco, wearing certain colors and using gang signs. The orders could also involve a curfew, except for approved…

Jul 13, 2007 8:54 PM CDT

Milberg Lawyer: Charges Arbitrary

A former partner at the securities class-action firm Milberg, Weiss & Bershad contends in expanded court filings that government charges against him are arbitrary and vague. Steven Schulman has been indicted along with another partner and the firm itself for allegedly paying kickbacks to lead plaintiffs. In a motion to…

Jul 5, 2007 1:39 PM CDT

KPMG Judge Wavers on Dismissal

The federal judge overseeing the criminal prosecution of former KPMG partners appeared to waver on whether he would dismiss charges because of government conduct. Judge Lewis Kaplan said on Monday that “the ground has shifted” on the question of dismissal and “I don’t know where I am” on the issue,…

Jul 3, 2007 7:12 PM CDT

Appeals Judge Seeks Secret Trials (Not)

A 7th Circuit judge reportedly created a stir amongst visitors from the Australian legal community at a recent Chicago conference, when he allegedly advocated secret trials for terrorists, among other non-traditional approaches to deal with this relatively new threat to the United States. Speaking of the possibility that terrorist plots…

Jul 2, 2007 11:17 PM CDT

Did Missouri Execute an Innocent Man?

A dozen years after Larry Griffin was executed, despite his continuing proclaimations of innocence, by the state of Missouri, there are major unanswered questions about whether he was actually guilty of the 1980 drive-by shooting he was convicted of committing. After a University of Michigan law professor brought to light…

Jun 26, 2007 8:35 PM CDT

Cheney Pushed ‘Robust Interrogation’

Fare more so than has been realized until now, Vice President Dick Cheney was a key architect of the Bush administration’s plan to evade the Geneva conventions and at least come close to torturing prisoners in Iraq and elsewhere. That essentially is what the Washington Post reports in a page-one…

Jun 26, 2007 1:57 AM CDT

Appeal of Contempt Ruling to No Avail; Will Phil Spector Lawyer Go to Jail?

A former defense lawyer for music producer and murder defendant Phil Spector may soon be headed for the slam. Sara Caplan had been held in contempt by the trial judge for refusing to testify about missing evidence she allegedly saw an expert collect from the murder scene, at Spector’s home…

Jun 26, 2007 1:17 AM CDT

Bush Aides Plan to Close Gitmo Prison

Public, legislative and judicial pressure to end the extraordinary detention of so-called enemy combatants and others suspected of links to al-Qaeda terrorists at a U.S. Navy prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, apparently may be having an effect on the White House. Top aides to President George W. Bush are making…

Jun 22, 2007 12:40 AM CDT

Filing Error Costs Gov’t $100 M Tax Bill

Oops. After winning a tax evasion case against a man described as the biggest tax evader in U.S. history, federal prosecutors made a mistake. They cited the wrong statutory language in a written plea agreement with telecommunications entrepreneur Walter Anderson, reports AP. And that means the government can’t recover some…

Jun 19, 2007 1:07 AM CDT

Deadline-Error Case Overrules Precedent

The lawyer for a convicted murderer who lost his Supreme Court appeal over a mistaken filing deadline says the court “went for form over substance.” Yesterday’s 5-4 Supreme Court ruling held that the filing deadline was jurisdictional and the appeal was not permitted. Cleveland lawyer Paul Mancino Jr. had filed…

Jun 15, 2007 12:26 PM CDT