Evidence

Prosecutor drops murder count, says wrong twin was charged

A prosecutor dismissed a murder charge against a California man on Wednesday, saying that not he but his twin brother was responsible for the slaying last month of a San Jose State University student at a birthday party. But Duc Tong, 18, still faces felony charges of being an accessory…

Feb 6, 2014 2:05 PM CST

Wintry weather led to arrest of woman for 1977 prison escape

A 60-year-old prison escapee was arrested Monday in California because of wintry weather in Michigan. Lt. Charles Levens of the Michigan Department of Corrections normally is out looking for parole violators, but stayed in the office when roads got icy recently. He took a look at some old files there…

Feb 5, 2014 11:30 PM CST

Eye-in-the-sky surveillance a new tool for US cities; is spying via camera while flying too prying?

Alerted to a burglary in progress, police in Dayton, Ohio, turned to new technology—a plane flying miles overhead with a camera mounted to its wing. It spotted a white truck. By the time the driver got home, with the swag still in the vehicle, police were waiting for him, the…

Feb 5, 2014 10:45 PM CST

Judge on trial for battery in dog-waste dispute will not face new charge, court rules

Updated: The prosecution is pulling no punches in the Los Angeles misdemeanor battery trial of a county superior court judge accused of pushing a woman to the ground on his driveway last summer during a verbal altercation over the disposal of dog waste. As Judge Craig Richman testified Tuesday, admitting…

Feb 5, 2014 9:14 PM CST

Ex-lawyer disbarred for $1B scheme testifies in shackles for former colleague facing wire fraud case

A once-prominent Florida lawyer—now disbarred and serving a 50-year prison term while under the federal witness protection program—Scott Rothstein testified Wednesday in handcuffs and leg irons at the wire fraud conspiracy trial of an attorney who worked at his Fort Lauderdale law firm before it imploded over his $1 billion-plus…

Feb 5, 2014 8:20 PM CST

Crime-lab supervisor charged in evidence-tampering case that could affect entire state

A supervisor of analysts at a Florida state crime lab in Pensacola has been charged with evidence-tampering, accused of substituting over-the-counter pills for prescription medicine that was to be used as evidence in criminal cases in at least two counties. Joseph Graves, 32, faces charges of grand theft, trafficking in…

Feb 5, 2014 5:40 PM CST

Firm’s surveillance video shows two men running away shortly before suspicious fire

Authorities are seeking the public’s help in identifying two persons of interest seen on a law firm surveillance video shortly before a suspicious fire occurred last month. The two men are seen carrying a bag that may contain a gas can, then running away without the bag a few minutes…

Feb 4, 2014 10:55 PM CST

Law firm report: Ex-Mayor Daley didn’t influence initial failure to charge nephew in Chicago slaying

There was no attempt by former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, his family and his officials to influence city police and Cook County prosecutors in a 2004 slaying case involving a Daley nephew that was not pursued for years, a special prosecutor says in a report released Tuesday. However, the lengthy…

Feb 4, 2014 7:15 PM CST

State crime lab chemist resigns amidst probe of missing drug evidence

A chemist in the Florida state crime lab resigned Monday, amidst an investigation into missing drug evidence. The state is looking into 2,600 cases handled by the chemist, whose identity has not been publicly confirmed, the Associated Press reports. “We will be conducting a thorough investigation to see if each…

Feb 4, 2014 5:15 PM CST

Chemerinsky: Is it time to go high-tech on the Fourth Amendment?

On Jan. 17, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in two cases that hopefully will force it to bring the Fourth Amendment into the 21st century. In United States v. Wurie and California v. Riley the court will consider whether the police, after arresting an individual, may look at the…

Feb 4, 2014 2:45 PM CST

Lawyer for former Christie loyalist contests NJ governor’s account in traffic-jam scandal

The plot has thickened in the New Jersey traffic-jam-scandal saga. Following Gov. Chris Christie’s assertions that he had known nothing in advance about a claimed plan to close lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge in September as payback for a lack of political support by the Fort Lee mayor,…

Feb 1, 2014 12:20 AM CST

Trial begins for judge facing misdemeanor battery charge in dog-waste dispute

Did a California judge shove a 51-year-old woman from behind on the driveway of his home, or did she shove him first as a verbal dispute raged over the disposal of dog waste? That is the question that a jury must answer in the misdemeanor battery case against Los Angeles…

Jan 31, 2014 6:55 PM CST

Defendant wins murder trial delay after notes from his ex-lawyer wound up in prosecution file

A murder defendant successfully sought a trial delay after pointing out in a handwritten petition to a North Carolina court that notes from a lawyer who had formerly represented him wound up in a prosecution file. Eric Cornell Wilson said in the filing that a different lawyer who subsequently represented…

Jan 31, 2014 6:10 PM CST

Judge sanctions Samsung and counsel over release of confidential info in big-bucks Apple patent suit

Saying that a major law firm handled proprietary information covered by a confidentiality order in big-bucks patent litigation over smartphone technology as if it were “a trapeze artist flying high without a net,” a federal magistrate judge in California has imposed sanctions on Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and its…

Jan 31, 2014 5:30 PM CST

Unhappy with $50 parking ticket, man rants on YouTube, is charged and jailed in lieu of $150K bond

Unhappy with what happened when he contested a $50 parking ticket issued by the city of Chicago, a suburban man posted an 11-minute rant on YouTube in which he urges viewers to blow up the building in which administrative hearings are held and attack hearing officers and parking meter enforcement…

Jan 31, 2014 4:12 PM CST