Evidence

Around the Blawgosphere: More Lawyers Working Via Smartphone; Can Poetry Help You Get to the Point?

Smartphones Taking Hold At iPhone J.D., Adams and Reese partner Jeff Richardson shared some stats from and thoughts on the results of the ABA’s Legal Technology Resource Center’s 2011 Legal Technology Survey Report. This year, 88 percent of the 838 lawyers who responded to the survey reported that they owned…

Jul 15, 2011 1:30 PM CDT

Blog Posts and Tweets Helped Defense Team Win Acquittal for Casey Anthony in Capital Murder Case

It wasn’t just when selecting jurors that defense counsel in the high-profile Casey Anthony murder trial found social media helpful. Her legal team also looked to opinions expressed on Twitter, Facebook and in blog posts for strategic guidance about how best to defend a client accused of capital murder in…

Jul 14, 2011 5:45 PM CDT

Judge Declares Mistrial in Roger Clemens Case Due to Prosecutor References to Banned Evidence

A federal judge has declared a mistrial in Roger Clemens’ trial on charges of lying to Congress about taking steroids and human growth hormone. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton of Washington, D.C., ruled after prosecutors showed a video that referenced banned evidence, ESPN.com reports. “I don’t see how I unring…

Jul 14, 2011 4:02 PM CDT

Neighbor Gets 18 Years for Hacking Lawyer’s Wi-Fi Account, Using His ID to Harass Others

Attorney Matt Kostolnik wound up with a seeming MySpace page featuring teens having sex and was visited at work by the Secret Service after the Minneapolis lawyer moved next door to a computer technician who quickly developed a grudge against him and his wife. Law firm superiors also wanted an…

Jul 13, 2011 9:28 PM CDT

US Wiretapped 104 Callers to Primary Global’s Conference Lines

With the permission of a federal judge in Manhattan, federal investigators in 2009 listened in to conversations involving 104 callers to conference lines at Primary Global Research, Bloomberg reports. The so-called expert networking firm is at the center of an ongoing insider-trading probe. A lawyer for at least one defendant…

Jul 13, 2011 5:12 PM CDT

As Prosecutors Prepare to Try 1957 Child Murder Case, Suspect Learns of Lost Alibi Evidence

Difficulties are great for both prosecutors and the defense in a 1957 child murder case. Prosecutors charged Jack Daniel McCullough, 71, in the 1957 murder and abduction of 7-year-old Maria Ridulph after McCullough’s former girlfriend found an unused train ticket that helped refute his alibi, the Chicago Tribune reports. McCullough,…

Jul 13, 2011 2:57 PM CDT

Miss. AG Sues Ken Feinberg for Oil Spill Claims Information

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has asked a court to force Ken Feinberg to turn over records regarding BP oil spill claims for Gulf Coast residents who sought help from the state. Hood claims Feinberg, who oversees the claims process, failed to fully comply with a subpoena for information, the…

Jul 13, 2011 1:21 PM CDT

Judge in Clemens Perjury Case Is Concerned About Social Media Criticism of Witnesses

A federal judge imposed a gag order to prevent participants in the perjury trial of baseball pitcher Roger Clemens from talking about the Washington, D.C., case. But that doesn’t preclude audience members from using social networking media to say what they think about witnesses, to the dismay of U.S. District…

Jul 12, 2011 11:45 PM CDT

Doggie DNA Will Help Track Poop Scofflaws at Condo, Rental Building

Some condo associations and landlords are using DNA tests to crack down on dog owners who don’t clean up after their pets. A condo in Jupiter, Fla., and an apartment building in Long Island, N.Y., are among the places seeking to match poop with pet owners. The New York Post…

Jul 12, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Must Defendant Give DOJ the Password to Her Encrypted Laptop? Federal Court Will Decide

Is the password to an encrypted laptop more like a key to a lock or a handwritten key to a secret code? That is the question a federal court will probably have to answer in deciding whether a Colorado woman must give the feds the password to an encrypted laptop…

Jul 11, 2011 10:54 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Bloggers Sound off on Casey Anthony Trial, Verdict, ‘Caylee’s Law’ Proposal

Many legal bloggers took time this week to post on the wind-up, verdict and aftermath of Casey Anthony’s murder trial. Many expressed a degree of satisfaction that the tone of the extensive media coverage of the case didn’t have an impact on the jurors’ decision to acquit the 25-year-old mother…

Jul 8, 2011 1:30 PM CDT

Prominent Lawyer Gets 8 Months as Her Attorney Husband Urges Court to Blame Him in Tax Case

A third-generation lawyer in a prominent Michigan legal family was sentenced to eight months yesterday in a federal tax case. Nancy Dilley, who pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor of failing to file a 2007 tax return, must also serve a year of supervised release after she completes her prison term…

Jul 7, 2011 4:54 PM CDT

Defendant’s Email to Wife Wins Conviction Reversal: Because Sent to His Lawyer, It Was Privileged

An email from a husband to his wife discussing trial strategy in his criminal case has won a reversal of his conviction in a divided ruling from the Connecticut Supreme Court. Because the email was forwarded by the defendant to his attorney, it was privileged. And, although a prosecutor apparently…

Jul 6, 2011 7:18 PM CDT

Former Casey Anthony Lawyer Says She Was Attacked Twice During the Case

A Chicago lawyer says her defense of death-penalty defendants has brought hate mail, but she was physically attacked because of her work in just one case—the Casey Anthony trial. DePaul University law professor Andrea Lyon resigned from the Anthony case about a year ago, saying she couldn’t continue because the…

Jul 6, 2011 5:58 PM CDT

Little-Known Defense Lawyer Stuns Observers with Big Win for Casey Anthony in His First Capital Case

Denied entry to the bar for years because of his handling of his personal finances and criticized by observers for taking a risky trial strategy in his first death-penalty defense, a little-known Florida lawyer has pulled off a stunning victory. As Jose Baez stood beside his 25-year-old client today, Casey…

Jul 5, 2011 11:15 PM CDT