Evidence

Is Supreme Court’s Lab Testimony Ruling at Risk?

On Jan. 11, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider when and how lab analysts must testify to satisfy a June ruling that holds crime lab evidence can’t be used at trial unless the analysts are subject to cross-examination. The issue in Briscoe v. Virginia is whether Virginia’s procedure meets the…

Dec 21, 2009 1:26 PM CST

Convicted for Being Naked in Own Home, Man Complains of ‘Living in a Fishbowl’

Convicted today by a Virginia judge of indecent exposure for walking around naked in his own home without drawing the blinds, Erick Williamson didn’t get any jail time. But the 29-year-old commercial diver still plans to appeal, even though his sentence included no jail time and no fine. It is…

Dec 19, 2009 1:21 AM CST

Report Slams Shoddy Work at State Police Lab, Says Analyst Didn’t Know How to Use Microscope

Oversight was so lacking at a New York state police crime lab that one analyst continued routinely to falsify test results over a 15-year period, compromising one-third of his 322 cases, an inspector general has determined. And a subsequent internal review of the situation ignored systemic problems and simply blamed…

Dec 18, 2009 12:47 AM CST

ABA Prez Applauds Progress Toward Passing Privilege Protection Law

Applauding the introduction of a bill in the House of Representatives yesterday that would restrict federal agencies from pressuring organizations and their employees to waive legal protections when they are under investigation, the president of the American Bar Association has called for swift enactment of the the Attorney-Client Privilege Protection…

Dec 17, 2009 11:50 PM CST

Top Ga. Court Halts Execution Today, Orders Judge to Mull DNA Testing

Four hours before a convicted murderer was scheduled to be put to death today, the Georgia Supreme Court halted the execution and ordered a trial judge to consider Carlton Gary’s request for DNA testing. The 59-year-old Gary, who was convicted in 1986 of raping and strangling three elderly women with…

Dec 16, 2009 11:09 PM CST

Bad Date With Defendant Puts Judge on Trial; Defense Alleges Batted Eyelashes

As the trial of a Texas judge begins, over a bad date with a defendant who had a drunken-driving case pending in his court, his lawyers are blaming the woman for allegedly instigating the encounter that led to the misdemeanor official oppression case. There’s no dispute that Harris County Court-at-Law…

Dec 15, 2009 10:17 PM CST

Prosecutor’s E-Mail Sent to His Lawyer on a Work Account is Privileged, Court Says

A federal prosecutor’s e-mail to his own lawyer is privileged, even though he sent it from work on a government computer, a federal court has ruled. Because he is allowed to use his work e-mail account for personal communications, assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel had a reasonable expectation of privacy…

Dec 15, 2009 7:06 PM CST

Jurors’ Wikipedia Research, Friending at Issue in Two Md. Cases

Two court developments in Maryland last week highlight the growing problems caused by jurors’ online access during criminal trials. In one case, a Maryland appeals court overturned a murder conviction because jurors had apparently consulted Wikipedia for explanations of scientific terms, the Baltimore Sun reports. In another, lawyers for Baltimore…

Dec 14, 2009 1:01 PM CST

Judge Acquits Boy, 12, in Baby’s Murder, Says He Didn’t Intend to Kill

A Georgia judge this morning found a 12-year-old boy not guilty of murdering his baby cousin, saying that the defendant hadn’t intended to kill the five-week-old girl. Left alone in a car with the infant while her mother shopped, “he was scared and didn’t know what to do so he…

Dec 11, 2009 6:01 PM CST

‘Caffeine Psychosis’ May Have Caused Man’s Erratic Driving, Defense Lawyer Says

A hardworking financial analyst for the University of Idaho routinely chugged coffee and energy drinks and may have been under the influence of “caffeine psychosis” during an erratic-driving incident that put two college students in the hospital in nearby Washington state, his lawyer says. Attorney Mark Moorer, who represents Dan…

Dec 11, 2009 12:17 AM CST

Judge Holds US in Contempt for Not Videotaping Gitmo Detainee Testimony

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., held the U.S. Department of Defense in civil contempt of court today for disobeying a prior court order that required “the appropriate agency” to preserve a videotape of a detainee’s testimony in a closed-door habeas corpus hearing. Although Mohammed al-Adahi couldn’t appear in open…

Dec 10, 2009 11:16 PM CST

Driver Convicted in Death of Mama Duck, But Gets No Jail Time

A jury this week took only 15 minutes to convict a 25-year-old man of animal cruelty for running over a mother duck, in front of her 12 ducklings, in a Massachusetts shopping mall parking lot. But Joshua Linhares was sentenced to probation rather than the year in jail that prosecutors…

Dec 10, 2009 7:23 PM CST

Judge Axes Guilty Plea, Says Broadcom Exec Didn’t Lie to SEC, Dismisses Case

Nearly 18 months ago, Broadcom Corp. co-founder Henry Samueli pleaded guilty to a felony charge of lying to securities regulators about his role in an alleged company stock options backdating scheme. But in fact Samueli didn’t make any material misstatement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal judge…

Dec 10, 2009 6:15 PM CST

State Must Pay $150 a Day to Cover Up Murder Defendant’s Tattoos, Judge Rules

John Ditullio has a phrase tattooed on his neck that isn’t considered printable by a major Florida newspaper. But when the jury sees the 23-year-old at his upcoming first-degree murder trial, those words, as well as the swastika and the barbed wire design above his collar line will be difficult…

Dec 9, 2009 10:21 PM CST

Lawyer Told Now-Convicted Former Lawmaker Joseph Bruno to Avoid Fraud Charges by Avoiding Mail

A former longtime senior lawmaker in New York was convicted in a government corruption case today, after a state ethics lawyer on whom he relied for advice reportedly testified that he told Joseph Bruno to hand-deliver his financial disclosure forms to avoid potential mail-fraud charges. Former state Senate majority leader,…

Dec 7, 2009 10:12 PM CST