Evidence

Courthouse slaying trial has judge and defendant’s ex-lawyer as first witnesses

A judge was the first witness on Monday as the government began its presentation in the capital murder case of a man accused of shooting a woman to death at a Texas courthouse last year. Bartholomew Granger is accused of fatally shooting a bystander, Minnie Ray Sebolt, 79, in March…

Apr 22, 2013 10:27 PM CDT

Former DA jailed after judge issues scathing opinion in rare Texas court of inquiry

An unusual court of inquiry held to probe the conduct of a former Texas district attorney has concluded with a blistering opinion by the presiding judge. Former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson was briefly booked into jail Friday before being released on $7,500 bail after District Judge Louis Sturns…

Apr 22, 2013 5:40 PM CDT

Law grad G-man helped FBI identify suspects in Boston Marathon bombing

A law graduate who heads the Boston office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is among law enforcement officials being hailed as heroes after a suspect in last week’s Boston Marathon bombings was captured alive Friday. FBI special agent Richard DesLauriers, 53, is good with people, methodical and likes to…

Apr 22, 2013 2:37 PM CDT

Authorities return PI lawyer’s computers, but he likely won’t have much chance to use them

The computers seized by federal and state authorities in February from a well-known New York personal injury attorney have been returned. But Martin Rothschild apparently won’t be getting much, if any, opportunity to use them during the foreseeable future. He has taken a plea in an Onondaga County Court criminal…

Apr 19, 2013 4:21 PM CDT

FBI releases photos of two suspects sought for questioning in Boston Marathon bombing

The FBI on Thursday released photos and video footage of two suspects sought for questioning in the fatal explosions that occurred Monday near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The FBI is seeking the public’s help in identifying the two unknown men, who appear to be “associated.” However, officials…

Apr 18, 2013 9:47 PM CDT

Picking up stones on beach gets American tourist criminally prosecuted in Turkey

In the latest example of the pitfalls that can potentially await a foreign tourist unfamiliar with the laws of the land he or she is visiting, an American tourist who says he indulged his hobby of pocketing stones on the beach while traveling with his wife in Turkey is now…

Apr 17, 2013 8:22 PM CDT

Newest staff member at Manhattan DA’s office will work for chew toys

Meet Bear, the newest worker at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. The 4-year-old black Labrador retriever has been on the job for two days in the Big Apple, and is already learning new tricks, according to the New York Daily News and the New York Post. Taught to salute during…

Apr 17, 2013 6:23 PM CDT

IT workers gave federal prosecutors 540K emails in Gitmo defense lawyer directories

An order by the chief defense lawyer for Guantanamo Bay military tribunals that banned colleagues from using the Pentagon’s computer system for confidential documents and emails followed news that information technology workers for the government had shared 540,000 defense emails with prosecutors. The sharing resulted from an apparently legitimate search,…

Apr 12, 2013 7:40 PM CDT

Elated billionaire wins $380K in federal suit over fake wine; he may have spent $10M in legal fees

William Koch presumably didn’t need the money. But, after years of litigation and what may have been a total of $10 million spent in legal fees, the Palm Beach, Fla., billionaire won a federal jury award of $380,000 on Thursday, in compensation for the 24 bottles of fake wine he…

Apr 12, 2013 4:55 PM CDT

Defense lawyer decides whether to call trial witnesses, even if client objects, top Fla. court says

His lawyers wanted him to take a plea, and thought it would not be in Vincent Puglisi’s best interest to call a co-defendant as a defense witness in his first-degree murder trial. But Puglisi thought otherwise, leading to an appeal in which the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that…

Apr 12, 2013 4:30 PM CDT

Bloggers defend the brick-and-mortar law office; What if fathers had paid paternity leave?

At LexThink.1 at ABA Techshow last week, one memorable quip came from MyCase co-founder Matt Spiegel: “The office is dead,” he said. “If we can only advise clients by forcing them to come into our offices, we are destined to fail.” And in the last week, both Philadelphia lawyer Jordan…

Apr 12, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

After Pentagon computer security issues, defense lawyers ordered not to email or draft docs online

After the disappearance of multiple documents and intrusions into the Pentagon computer system used by lawyers representing terrorism defendants, both military and civilian attorneys have been ordered not to use their computers for drafting confidential documents or email. “I honestly don’t know how bad it is. All I know is…

Apr 11, 2013 8:00 PM CDT

Fake Rockefeller found guilty of first-degree murder in real trial

A German native who made headlines by posing among the well-to-do in New England as a member of the Rockefeller family and kidnapping his own daughter several years ago has been found guilty of first-degree murder in a California man’s death, decades earlier. Despite missing evidence and the difficulty, for…

Apr 10, 2013 6:45 PM CDT

Did man’s frog phobia help him win $1.6 million verdict in land-runoff case?

Nobody knows for sure how much Paul Marinaccio’s testimony about his frog phobia may have upped the ante in a $1.6 million jury award over a land runoff case. However, the 65-year-old’s detailed explanation of how “petrified” he is by the small creatures now proliferating on his property wasn’t enough…

Apr 9, 2013 5:30 PM CDT

‘Double-texting’ driver was steering with his knees, cops say

We hear a lot these days about the dangers of texting and driving. But apparently Dandre Moore may not have gotten the memo. After he was pulled over Tuesday for “double-texting” in the George Wallace Tunnel in Alabama, Mobile County sheriff’s officers said, the 19-year-old told them that he had…

Apr 5, 2013 3:29 PM CDT