Evidence

Fan’s privacy suit over Joan Rivers documentary nixed by 7th Circuit

Affirming a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit against Joan Rivers, a federal appeals court in Chicago on Thursday held that a fan did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy concerning a brief backstage chat with the raunchy comedian, in the presence of others. The fan, Ann Bogie, sued…

Jan 18, 2013 4:42 PM CST

What will arrest of 3 suburban Chicago cops on drug charges mean for other defendants?

After news that three police officers from a Chicago suburb are facing criminal charges concerning an alleged conspiracy to supply confiscated drugs to an informant for sale on the street, defense lawyers are huddling to determine which cases involving ordinary defendants could be tainted. The Cook County public defender’s office…

Jan 17, 2013 10:30 PM CST

GPS-fitted ‘bait bottles’ filled with fake painkillers could ID suspects in pharmacy robberies

New York City is trying a new tactic to catch those responsible for armed robberies of New York pharmacies. City police are asking pharmacists to stock “bait bottles” filled with fake painkillers amongst their real stock, hoping that the bottles—which are fitted with GPS tracking devices—will lead authorities to large…

Jan 16, 2013 5:28 PM CST

Accused Movie Theater Shooter’s Arraignment Delayed by Judge

A judge on Friday postponed the arraignment of accused Colorado movie theater shooting suspect James Holmes until March 12. The judge said that while he empathized with the victims’ desire for closure, he agreed that the defense needed more time to examine the mountain of evidence prosecutors have amassed against…

Jan 11, 2013 9:45 PM CST

Crime Lab Is Reviewing 800 Cases for Possible Mishandling of DNA Evidence

Medical examiner office personnel in New York City have launched a massive review of more than 800 rape cases to find out if evidence was overlooked or mishandled by a lab tech. So far supervisors have discovered 26 problem cases, mostly involving instances in which additional biological evidence was detected,…

Jan 11, 2013 11:43 AM CST

Taking 14-Year-Old to Canada for Child-Porn Filming Earns Lawyer a Minimum of 25 Years

Urged by a defense lawyer to consider whether a New Hampshire attorney decided only after crossing the border into Canada to make a pornographic film featuring a 14-year-old girl, thus negating a key element of the charged crime, a federal jury in Concord lost little time in reaching a guilty…

Jan 10, 2013 8:43 PM CST

Fake Rockefeller to Face Real Trial in 1985 Murder Case

A German national who lived for years in various areas of the U.S. and passed himself off repeatedly as a member of the wealthy Rockefeller family wasn’t scrutinized for decades in the disappearance of his then-landlady’s son in 1985. But once “Clark Rockefeller”—who is in fact Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, 51—hit…

Jan 10, 2013 5:53 PM CST

Smartphone Photos Show Holmes Planned ‘Dark Knight’ Movie Theater Massacre, Prosecutors Say

Smartphone photographs show suspect James Holmes carefully planned the July 20 massacre of 12 people at a Colorado movie theater with “deliberation and extreme indifference,” the prosecution says. As a preliminary hearing continued on Wednesday, the state presented a series of photos taken as early as June 29 that were…

Jan 9, 2013 7:10 PM CST

A Corporation Is Not a Person for Car Pool Lane Purposes, Calif. Judge Rules

A corporation is considered a person under the law of California (and numerous other states). But that doesn’t mean a corporation counts as a passenger when it comes to satisfying a car pool lane requirement that a vehicle contain two or more people, a California judge has ruled. Jonathan Frieman…

Jan 9, 2013 6:33 PM CST

Judge Rescinds Order to Seize Home Computers of Juror Accused of Web-Surfing During Trial

Updated: A federal judge in Florida has reconsidered an ex parte order issued on Friday, telling marshals to seize the home computers of a juror who was quoted in a newspaper article as saying that she had conducted Internet research on the defendant in a high-profile trial. However, U.S. District…

Jan 8, 2013 10:59 PM CST

Foley Hoag Represented Boston Municipal Jurist for Free in Judicial Independence Case

Updated: Last year, a Boston municipal judge fended off an ethics complaint spearheaded by the Suffolk County district attorney’s office, which complained that he was biased in favor of criminal defendants, with the help of one of the city’s most prominent law firms. Now the Boston Globe (sub. req.). is…

Jan 8, 2013 7:34 PM CST

2 Plaintiffs Lawyers Lose Civil RICO Case re CSX Asbestos Claims; Federal Jury Awards $429K

Two Pittsburgh lawyers were found civilly liable by a federal jury in Wheeling, W.Va., along with a doctor they hired to screen asbestos cases, for helping railroad employees pursue fraudulent claims against CSX Transportation. Lawyers Robert N. Peirce Jr. and Louis A. Raimond violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt…

Jan 3, 2013 3:55 PM CST

AG Seeks Appellate Stay of Fed’l Order to Release Capital Murder Defendant Due to Va. Misconduct

As a Thursday deadline nears for the Virginia to release a defendant in a capital murder case because of prosecutorial misconduct, the state’s attorney general is seeking a federal appellate-court stay of a federal district judge’s order to let Justin Wolfe go. Although the two sides disagree about the parameters…

Jan 2, 2013 10:32 PM CST

Lawyer Can Depose Former Chief NY Administrative Judge re Libel Suit Over ‘Law and Order’ Episode

An attorney who filed a libel suit over a character in a fictional television show that he says could be understood to portray him in an unflattering light has gotten an OK from the trial judge overseeing the case to depose a former chief administrative judge for the state of…

Jan 2, 2013 5:29 PM CST

Authorities Serve Search Warrant at Former Law Office of Attorney Charged in Rape Case

A Seattle attorney accused of raping several massage therapists has voluntarily provided a DNA sample and a search warrant has been served on his former law firm. The warrant focused on Danford Grant’s parking records to determine whether he was out of the office at the time of the alleged…

Jan 2, 2013 4:45 PM CST