Evidence

Lawyer Takes Plea in Case Over His Hardball Litigation Tactics, Will Be Disbarred

A 42-year-old California lawyer has agreed to plead no contest to one of three felonies he faced after allegedly filing a civil suit against a witness in a stalking case in which his client was a defendant to dissuade the woman from testifying. In exchange, the other two charges against…

Jul 14, 2010 9:22 PM CDT

Once-Prominent Lawyer to Argue Nazi-Posing Teen Lover Controlled Relationship

The former co-chair of the antitrust practice at Gray Plant Mooty in Minnesota, set to go on trial Monday on a charge of criminal sexual conduct with a teen boy, is seeking to introduce photos of the alleged victim dressed as Adolf Hitler. Aaron Biber, arrested in December, was set…

Jul 14, 2010 11:41 AM CDT

Blago Defense Plans to Blame Then-Gov’s Lawyers for Steering Him in Wrong Direction

To the extent that impeached former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich may admit any mistaken conduct on the stand if he testifies, as expected, in his ongoing political corruption trial, there is a ready-made target for blame: His lawyers. His criminal lawyers have notified the Chicago federal court in which his…

Jul 12, 2010 9:10 PM CDT

Pit Bull Beats Rap; Choppers Don’t Match Bite Marks on Pop Singer

Add another case to the annals of criminal charges pursued in a potential death-penalty matter over a bad eyewitness identification. Apparently persuaded by a veterinarian’s testimony that the bit marks on pop singer Vanessa Carlton’s leg didn’t match a local pit bull’s choppers, a Pennsylvania district court judge held that…

Jul 12, 2010 7:56 PM CDT

Filmmaker Says He Was Working Undercover for Plaintiffs Firm Suing Dole

A filmmaker who went to Nicaragua to film a documentary says he went to work for a Texas law firm suing Dole Foods on behalf of banana workers. Filmmaker Jason Glaser testified on behalf of six men who say they became sterile because of pesticide exposure, the Associated Press reports.…

Jul 9, 2010 1:08 PM CDT

Son’s DNA & Discarded Pizza Slice ID Suspect in 10 ‘Grim Sleeper’ Murders Over 25 Years

A controversial use of DNA evidence that is expressly permitted by statute in only two states has identified a suspect in at least 10 so-called “Grim Sleeper’ killings over the past 25 years. Lonnie Franklin Jr., 57, was charged today with 10 counts of murder and one count of attempted…

Jul 9, 2010 2:58 AM CDT

Judge Reads 100-Page Instructions to Jury Trying Ex-Attorney Accused of $4M Client Theft

A Florida judge began reading 100 pages of instructions at 9 a.m. today to the jury trying a now-disbarred real estate attorney in a case involving the alleged misappropriation of some $4 million in client funds. It was expected that Senior Judge James Midelis might conclude around 3 p.m., after…

Jul 8, 2010 8:44 PM CDT

Taped TV Crime Show Confession Isn’t Admissible in Capital Murder Trial

Videotape of a suspect’s confession that was broadcast on A&E’s true-crime program The First 48 can’t be shown to the jury in his capital murder trial, a Tennessee judge has ruled. Criminal Court Judge James Beasley Jr. said he is concerned that taped material that may have been favorable to…

Jul 7, 2010 5:39 PM CDT

Blago Trial Watchers Abuzz Over $400K Clothing Bill

Clark Gable, Gary Grant and Joe DiMaggio were all customers of Oxxford Clothes, a Chicago-based custom suitery. And so was the impeached former governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. Observers are agog over testimony by an Internal Revenue Service agent yesterday at his federal political corruption trial contending that the ex-gov…

Jul 2, 2010 5:56 PM CDT

Neuroscientist Learns He Has the Genetic Makings of a ‘Born Killer’

A neuroscientist has changed the way he thinks about nature and nurture after a scan of his own brain showed he has the pattern of a psychopath. James Fallon studies the biological bases for behavior as a neuroscientist at the University of California-Irvine, National Public Radio reports. He has found…

Jul 1, 2010 10:59 AM CDT

What’s the Matter with Kids Today

A revolution in thinking about children’s minds is sparking change in juvenile justice

Jul 1, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

The Value of Strategic Counsel

Regarding “We the Pauper,” May: It is not only private online providers that pose a problem. Even the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website makes it appear very easy to file your own application for a trademark. It is even posting a video that purports to assist filers by explaining…

Jul 1, 2010 10:10 AM CDT

‘Kissy Pix,’ Frenemies & Other FB Foibles Are a Motherlode for Matrimonial Lawyers

Once upon a time, it was hard for matrimonial lawyers to help clients show that a soon-to-be-former spouse was lying. But that was before Facebook and other social networking sites became ubiquitous. “Kissy pix” documenting extramarital affairs are just a small fraction of the online motherlode, reports the Associated Press.…

Jun 29, 2010 6:52 PM CDT

Former Chicago Police Lt. Accused of Suspect Torture Is Convicted of Perjury and Obstruction

It was a long time coming. But this afternoon, a decorated former Chicago police lieutenant accused, along with officers under his command, of torturing scores of suspects to extract confessions during the 1970s and 1980s was criminally convicted by a federal jury in Chicago. Although the statute of limitations had…

Jun 28, 2010 9:41 PM CDT

Sheriff Shouldn’t Have Searched Lawyer’s Home & Office for Cocaine, But Can’t Be Sued, 7th Cir. Says

An informant’s claim that a known thief and cocaine dealer told him he’d paid his unidentified female lawyer, who also happened to be a cocaine user, with two stolen laptop computers was likely insufficient probable cause to search the attorney’s home and office. But even assuming there was no probable…

Jun 28, 2010 8:49 PM CDT