Prosecutors

Embattled New Orleans DA Resigns

Embattled Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan has resigned after facing years of criticism for not aggressively pursuing violent criminals, persistent staff turnover and most recently a ruling that plaintiffs could seize assets to collect a $3.7 million civil rights verdict against him. Jordan will be replaced by First Assistant…

Oct 30, 2007 8:37 PM CDT

Defense Says Terror Prosecutor ‘Overwhelmed,’ Denies Obstructed Justice

A former federal prosecutor accused of obstruction of justice in a high-profile terrorism investigation four years ago declined to testify this week. Prosecutors say Richard Convertino and former U.S. Embassy security agent Ray Smith hid evidence in a 2003 case against four north African men accused of being members of…

Oct 30, 2007 3:22 PM CDT

Jezebel on a Broomstick & Salem Witch Judge

When Eve LaPlante, a Boston area writer, starts thinking about a possible book topic, she doesn’t have to go far from home. In the last several years she has written two books about family forbears, American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans and…

Oct 29, 2007 11:02 PM CDT

No Blackwater Case Due to Immunity Grant?

In addition to other obstacles that could well prevent prosecution of private Blackwater USA security guards who reportedly killed 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad last month, there’s one more major issue that recently came to light. The security guards were apparently promised immunity by the U.S. State Department early on…

Oct 29, 2007 10:31 PM CDT

ABA Calls for National Execution Moratorium

After a three-year study on state capital punishment systems, the American Bar Association is calling for a nationwide moratorium on executions until an unfair and sometimes inaccurate application of the death penalty is corrected. “The death penalty system is rife with irregularity—supporting the need for a moratorium until states can…

Oct 29, 2007 9:51 AM CDT

Mukasey Evades Waterboarding Question

The president does have the Constitutional power to wiretap terrorism suspects without a warrant, Michael Mukasey says in a response released today to written questions posed by Senate Judiciary Committee members after his two-day confirmation hearing last week. However, the U.S. Attorney General nominee apparently did not answer in his…

Oct 26, 2007 11:34 PM CDT

Was Hicks’ Gitmo Plea a ‘Political Fix’?

The conviction of Australian David Hicks in a U.S. terrorism case after years of imprisonment at an American military prison at Guantanamo Bay has been a hot political issue in his home country. And the controversy is nowhere near dying down even months after he accepted a plea bargain that…

Oct 26, 2007 9:19 PM CDT

Witness: Mob Considered Giuliani Hit

Heads of organized crime families in the New York City area discussed whether to kill then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani in 1986, according to a witness in an ongoing murder trial in Brooklyn, N.Y., against a former FBI supervisor. But at the same time that ABC News and the Associated Press,…

Oct 26, 2007 7:49 PM CDT

New Criticism of Mukasey By Key Republican

Amid increasing concern that Michael Mukasey isn’t taking a strong enough stance against a prisoner interrogation technique that many consider a form of torture, a Republican leader has joined a chorus of Democratic critics of the U.S. Attorney General nominee. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the…

Oct 26, 2007 7:03 PM CDT

Now on the Defense Side, McNulty Still Likes His Memo

Former deputy attorney general Paul McNulty may have switched sides when he jumped from the Justice Department to Baker & McKenzie’s business crimes practice, but he still sounded like a prosecutor at an ABA meeting yesterday. McNulty wrote a Justice Department memo that allowed prosecutors to continue prodding companies to…

Oct 26, 2007 4:07 PM CDT

‘Girls Gone Wild’ Lawyer Files Misconduct Complaint

The lawyer for the now infamous founder of the “Girls Gone Wild” video series has filed a prosecutorial misconduct motion against the Florida state attorney who pursued charges against his client. Miami attorney Roy Black claims State Attorney Steve Meadows exhibited a “pattern of blatant abuse” in dealing with Joe…

Oct 24, 2007 9:50 PM CDT

Cop’s DUI Cases Tossed After Prosecutor Ride-Along

A Chicago police officer, celebrated for writing the most DUI tickets in Illinois, is seeing his record blemished. Some 50 of his DUI cases have been dropped because improper procedures were followed, the Daily Southtown reports. The paper reports that John Haleas, who has been honored three of the past…

Oct 24, 2007 7:24 PM CDT

Critics See Terrorism Prosecution Blunders

Critics contend the government’s effort to fight terrorism may be harmed by recent missteps in terrorism prosecutions. The government has failed to winnow out weak cases and targeted groups that are not central to the terrorist threat, critics told the New York Times for its news analysis. In the most…

Oct 24, 2007 1:25 PM CDT

Growing Criticism of Mukasey re Waterboarding

Despite the seeming bipartisan support for Michael Mukasey as the next U.S. attorney general at his two-day Senate confirmation hearing last week, there is growing criticism about the former federal judge’s position on what some consider obvious torture of prisoners. The National Lawyers Guild opposed his confirmation today in a…

Oct 24, 2007 1:25 AM CDT

Former AG Says DOJ Politicized Prosecution

After a relatively convivial two-day confirmation hearing last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee concerning President Bush’s nomination of Michael Mukasey to be the new U.S. attorney general, the gloves were off again today in a House Judiciary Committee hearing over alleged improper White House political influence in Department of…

Oct 23, 2007 11:05 PM CDT