Evidence

Ex-judge likely to serve only 30 days for stealing drug evidence from courthouse

A retired Pennsylvania judge was sentenced Monday to as much as 23½ months behind bars for stealing cocaine from evidence from the courthouse in which he formerly worked. But Paul Pozonsky probably will serve only 30 days, followed by two years of probation, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The former Washington…

Jul 13, 2015 12:10 PM CDT

City wins federal civil rights case over police shooting of dog attacked by pit bull

A downstate Illinois family had sought hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages from the city of Champaign because a color-blind police officer shot their pedigreed chocolate Labrador retriever to death after it was attacked by a stray pit bull. However, a jury didn’t see the federal civil rights case…

Jul 13, 2015 10:25 AM CDT

Were relatives culpable in shooter’s deadly courthouse attack? Jury to decide in cyberstalking trial

A federal jury began deliberating Wednesday in an unusual cyberstalking case against three relatives of a man who committed a fatal courthouse shooting. Prosecutors say the wife, son and daughter of Thomas Matusiewicz played a role in his deadly Feb. 11, 2013 attack on Christine Belford and Laura Mulford, by…

Jul 9, 2015 12:10 PM CDT

Liars beware: Fitbit and other technology may expose you

New technology is increasingly providing evidence that can reveal your lies, according to a newspaper essay that provides examples. In Pennsylvania, police examined a woman’s Fitbit activity tracker and used the results to charge her with filing a false police report. Insurance investigators track social media in an effort to…

Jul 8, 2015 3:07 PM CDT

3 lawyers ‘maliciously’ set up opposing counsel for midtrial DUI arrest, referee says

Three Florida lawyers violated attorney ethics rules by “deliberately and maliciously” setting up opposing counsel for a drunken-driving arrest during a hard-fought, high-profile defamation trial, a Florida judge acting as a referee in the legal ethics case has ruled. A hearing will be held in August to determine what penalty…

Jul 7, 2015 4:35 PM CDT

Ex-judge is charged with creating fake sex ads for 2 women, one of whom was a former client

A onetime Texas judge who was mired in controversy during his few years on the bench is facing new trouble. Former Galveston County Court-at-Law Judge Christopher Dupuy, 43, was arrested last week on online harassment charges. He is accused of posting fake Internet ads offering the paid sexual services of…

Jul 7, 2015 11:35 AM CDT

11th Circuit OKs wire-fraud conviction of lawyer who impersonated state bar official

A former lawyer who, while still in practice, impersonated a Florida Bar official during a 2009 conference call with her boss and mentor, then-attorney Scott Rothstein, says she had no idea he was operating a $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme. But Christina Kitterman’s argument that she lacked the intent to commit…

Jul 6, 2015 4:05 PM CDT

Judge nixes jury conviction of ex-Goldman Sachs programmer, calls law a bad fit in source-code case

A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. programmer committed a crime by taking computer code for a high-speed trading program with him when he left the investment bank for a new job, prosecutors insist. But they didn’t prove their case against Sergey Aleynikov, 45, because the facts of the case don’t…

Jul 6, 2015 1:45 PM CDT

2 lawyers who helped 1 client break the law are convicted in unrelated cases

Two different attorneys who at one time represented a convicted Florida con man have been convicted in unrelated cases of helping him break the law. The latest is attorney Marlon Smikle, 29, who last week pleaded no contest to conspiring to smuggle a cellphone to inmate Donald Heflin Mitchell Jr.…

Jul 6, 2015 12:35 PM CDT

Judge accused of stealing cocaine from evidence likely impaired, says lawyer in conviction challenge

A retired Pennsylvania judge accused of stealing cocaine from evidence and replacing it with baking soda while still on the bench likely was impaired when he decided a murder case four years ago, a defense lawyer says. So attorney Brian Zeiger is challenging the third-degree murder bench conviction of Robert…

Jul 2, 2015 5:00 PM CDT

Insurers hacked tens of thousands of legal files to get an edge in worker’s comp cases, lawsuit says

A client of a California law firm says insurers hacked into tens of thousands of confidential client files as part of a nationwide scheme to get an advantage in worker’s compensation cases. The federal class action filed last week by Hector Casillas names as defendants not only the insurers allegedly…

Jul 2, 2015 12:50 PM CDT

Attorney and law student indicted in boating accident that cost passenger an arm

A Massachusetts lawyer who specializes in defense of operating-under-the-influence cases was indicted Wednesday, along with a former law student intern, in a Boston Harbor boating accident in which alcohol allegedly played a role. However, the charges against attorney Benjamin Urbelis, 33, were reduced after it became clear that he apparently…

Jul 2, 2015 10:50 AM CDT

Embarrassing Dewey emails are cast as sarcasm; partner insists ‘I am the reason you have this job’

Defense lawyers in the trial of three former leaders at Dewey & LeBoeuf are scrambling to defend emails presented by prosecutors as evidence the defendants intended to defraud lenders and bond buyers. Prosecutors have noted emails talking about “fake income” and “clueless auditor,” while defense lawyers argue the emails show…

Jul 1, 2015 7:24 AM CDT

DC prosecutors must now follow stricter standards for disclosing information to the defense

In a series of decisions starting with Brady v. Maryland in 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court carved out a rule stating essentially that prosecutors violate the due process clause of the 14th Amendment if they withhold evidence from the defense in criminal cases that, if disclosed, likely would have been material to the outcome of the case.

Jul 1, 2015 6:40 AM CDT

Man accused of jury threat, biting court officer in 2010 gets mistrial after lawyer punch

A man charged with disrupting his initial Massachusetts murder trial by threatening the jury and a witness and biting a Worcester Superior Court officer, will not have to proceed with a retrial. The 35-year-old defendant, Janleer Povez, reportedly punched his own defense lawyer in the mouth in court Monday. Although…

Jun 30, 2015 1:15 PM CDT