ABA Journal

Prosecutors

2692 ABA Journal Prosecutors articles.

Questions remain after manslaughter charges in New York subway killing

There are still plenty of questions surrounding the killing of a homeless man on a New York City subway May 1. The Manhattan district attorney’s office in New York has filed second-degree manslaughter charges against 24-year-old Marine veteran Daniel Penny, but the debate continues over the delayed response by police and prosecutors.

Massachusetts US attorney will resign; probe finds ‘extraordinary breach of public trust’

Updated: Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins will resign Friday, two days after new investigative reports condemned her for attending a Democratic fundraiser and for leaking information to the press in "an extraordinary breach of public trust."

Weekly Briefs: Infowars host Alex Jones’ lawyer appeals $97K sanction; judge removed for sexual comments

Lawyer for Infowars founder Alex Jones sanctioned $97K

F. Andino Reynal, the lawyer for conspiracy theorist and Infowars founder Alex Jones, told HuffPost that he is confident that…

Supreme Court stays execution of inmate who won support from Oklahoma AG

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday stayed the execution of an Oklahoma inmate after the state attorney general said he supported vacating the conviction.

After judge calls prosecution office a ‘rudderless ship of chaos,’ its leader resigns

“Embattled” is a word that multiple news stories have used to describe St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who announced her resignation Thursday, after she was accused of mismanaging her office by the state attorney general and contempt of court by a frustrated judge.

Criminal defense lawyer convicted for conspiracy to launder drug cash loses federal appeal

A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of a criminal defense lawyer accused of using his position as a law firm partner to help two clients launder drug money.

Former prosecutor gets prison time for stalking by subpoena

A former homicide prosecutor in Baltimore has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for using subpoenas to obtain confidential phone records that provided personal information about two former girlfriends.

Through overseas currency exchanges, California deputy DA helps online romance scam victims get their money back

In the criminal justice world, pig butchering refers to bacon—but not literally. Instead, it’s a term used to describe scamming someone online out of all their money through promises of romance and cryptocurrency windfalls, says Erin West, a prosecutor in the Santa Clara County, California, district attorney’s office.

Court watch movement is growing in numbers and public attention

For the past two years, singer-songwriter Fiona Apple has volunteered with Courtwatch PG, the largest court watch program in the country, to observe legal proceedings in Prince George’s County, Maryland, from her home in Los Angeles. Apple has also joined a group of advocates calling attention to the concept of court watching and aiming to get more people involved.

28% of lawyers in this state considered leaving the profession because of mental health, burnout or stress

Forty-nine percent of surveyed lawyers in New Jersey have reported moderate to high levels of burnout, a percentage that is nearly twice as high as the level of burnout in the general U.S. working population, according to a survey by a task force of the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Former district attorney disbarred for ‘mass dismissal’ of hundreds of cases, ‘drastic reduction’ in services

A former Laramie County, Wyoming, district attorney has been disbarred following her “mass dismissal” of about 400 cases, including a case in which a defendant was already serving his sentence and another case in which a defendant was awaiting sentencing after entering a guilty plea.

Court backlogs persist in this state because of shortage of attorneys; ‘the wheels of justice depend on lawyers’

Georgia courts are having trouble addressing case backlogs because the state has a shortage of lawyers, including prosecutors and public defenders, the state’s chief justice said this week.

Once-prominent lawyer Murdaugh gets life in prison for murders of wife and son

Disbarred lawyer Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison Friday, a day after jurors found him guilty of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son Paul at the family’s South Carolina hunting property in June 2021.

ABA task force issues 14 guiding principles to improve plea bargaining system

An ABA task force that spent three years examining problems in plea bargaining has released recommendations that judges, lawyers, lawmakers and other stakeholders can follow to create a fairer, more transparent process.

Caretaker’s testimony hurts alibi of once-prominent lawyer Murdaugh, who’s charged with murdering wife and son

Double murder suspect Alex Murdaugh, a now-disbarred lawyer, spent only 15 to 20 minutes at his mother’s home on the night that his wife and son were killed, the mother’s caretaker testified at his trial in South Carolina on Monday.

Read more ...