Evidence

Federal judge tosses drug evidence because DEA didn’t get warrant for StingRay cellphone tracking

A federal judge in Manhattan has suppressed narcotics evidence because the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration didn’t get a warrant to use a cellphone tracking device that led them to the suspect’s apartment. The decision by U.S. District Judge William Pauley appears to be the first time a federal judge has…

Jul 13, 2016 12:31 PM CDT

Chris Christie’s cellphone is apparently found after Bridgegate defendants lose bid to obtain it

Questions about Chris Christie’s missing cellphone were resolved Thursday evening when a spokesman for the governor said a King & Spalding partner had the device. A federal judge in New Jersey on Thursday quashed a subpoena seeking to obtain the phone filed by defendants William Baroni Jr. and Bridget Anne…

Jul 8, 2016 11:41 AM CDT

Police face constitutional challenges for using cellphone tracking devices to locate suspects

Two years ago, Baltimore police obtained a warrant to arrest Kerron Andrews for attempted murder. Unable to find him at home, detectives contacted Andrews' cellphone carrier to track down the neighborhood from which his phone was emitting a signal.

Jul 1, 2016 2:50 AM CDT

Vigilant rental car company may have thwarted earlier attempt on law prof’s life

A rental car company may have prevented two murder suspects in the death of a Florida State University law professor from carrying out the crime in an earlier attempt, prosecutors say. According to Chief Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman, murder suspects Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera traveled to Tallahassee in…

Jun 24, 2016 2:58 PM CDT

Man acquitted of wife’s murder after four trials now charged with stalking police investigator

Last month, after being tried for the fourth time in his wife’s presumed homicide nearly 15 years ago, a New York businessman was acquitted on May 24 in a bench verdict. But the Tioga County resident now faces a misdemeanor stalking charge, concerning an alleged incident Thursday outside the Oneonta…

Jun 13, 2016 4:14 PM CDT

Law student in Mexico is reunited with his US mom 20 years after kidnapping

More than 20 years after her 1-year-old son was taken by his father from their home in 1995, along with all photographs of the boy, a Southern California mom has been reunited with her child—who is now a young man and had been about to start a University of Puebla…

Jun 10, 2016 1:00 PM CDT

Star of reality TV fishing program ‘Wicked Tuna’ gets probation for disability fraud

A star of a reality television show was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Burlington, Vermont, to four years of probation for accepting disability benefits while working as a fishing boat captain on Wicked Tuna. Paul Hebert, 51, also was required to pay $53,600 in restitution prior to sentencing, and…

Jun 9, 2016 12:15 PM CDT

Case dropped against paraplegic man accused of stealing from UPS driver, then sprinting away

Antwine Hunter spent two weeks in a Las Vegas jail before an important fact in his burglary and larceny case came to the attention of the prosecutor, the judge and a complaining witness: He is a paraplegic. The perpetrator in his case stole a cellphone and a scanner from a…

Jun 8, 2016 11:55 AM CDT

DNA from skin cells could implicate the innocent, studies suggest

DNA collected from skin cells left on objects such as door handles and guns is increasingly being used as evidence in criminal cases. But new studies show a person’s DNA can be transferred to an object that is never touched by the person, raising questions about the reliability of such…

Jun 7, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

Criminal defense lawyers say police have it wrong in claimed law professor contract-hit case

Lawyers for two suspects in what authorities say was a contract hit on a Florida law professor that may be linked to a bitter divorce are dubious about the merits of the case against their clients. Plus, another criminal defense lawyer well-acquainted with the family of the law professor’s wife…

Jun 6, 2016 1:53 PM CDT

Ex-prosecutor charged with assault; she turned herself in when Starbucks video was made public

A former prosecutor who has reportedly been working as a Philadelphia partner for a litigation boutique turned herself in to police last month after video of an April incident at a Starbucks near her Center City office was made public. Identified Friday by police, Yvonne Barnes Montgomery, 47, now faces…

Jun 6, 2016 11:40 AM CDT

City of Chicago makes videos and other evidence in police shootings available online

In what the Chicago Tribune called a watershed moment, the city of Chicago posted evidence online Friday from nearly 90 pending investigations of alleged police misconduct. The posting is part of a new policy requiring the city to release video of police shootings within 60 days. The Tribune noted that…

Jun 3, 2016 1:58 PM CDT

Judge denies mistrial after juror faints during autopsy testimony

An Iowa murder trial over the slaying last year of a homeless man who was choked to death in a church parking lot was interrupted Thursday morning when a juror fainted during testimony by a forensic pathologist that included graphic autopsy photos. Sixth Judicial District Chief Judge Patrick Grady excused…

Jun 2, 2016 2:00 PM CDT

8 years after landmark international manhunt, ex-teacher gets time for Cambodia child-sex crimes

More than eight years after an international manhunt for a “swirl face” pedophile made headlines due to innovative use of technology and the internet, the criminal justice system is still addressing crimes committed by Christopher Paul Neil. Eventually identified, despite the digital swirling of his own face on child sex-abuse…

Jun 2, 2016 10:40 AM CDT

En banc 4th Circuit OKs tracking cellphone location without a warrant

Eliminating a circuit split, the en banc 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday reversed its own earlier decision by a three-judge panel and held that a warrant is not required for law enforcement to track location information for a subject’s cellphone. Instead, a court order based simply on…

May 31, 2016 4:45 PM CDT