Sentencing/Post Conviction

Judge who shot wife, called in absence is convicted in retrial; his advice to son is ‘beyond sad,’ DA says

A California judge who fatally shot his wife and admitted the shooting was convicted of second-degree murder Tuesday in a retrial.

Apr 23, 2025 9:57 AM CDT

‘Secrets of the Killing State’ exposes realities of lethal injection

Execution by lethal injection is seen by many Americans as a less barbaric alternative than older methods, such as hanging, firing squads and electrocution. It is easy to assume that the process must resemble euthanasia procedures for terminally ill people or pets. The reality is very different, says Corinna Barrett Lain, a law professor and a death-penalty expert.

Apr 23, 2025 8:51 AM CDT

Judge convicted of shooting ex-boyfriend in the head as he slept

A magistrate judge in Pennsylvania was convicted of attempted murder and aggravated assault of her ex-boyfriend, who was left blind in one eye after he was shot in the head while he slept.

Apr 10, 2025 9:31 AM CDT

Disbarred lawyer sentenced for using then-girlfriend’s identity to take out over $82K in loans

A disbarred Illinois lawyer has been sentenced to six years in prison for using his then-girlfriend’s identifying information to obtain four bank loans totaling $82,700.

Apr 2, 2025 8:55 AM CDT

April 13, 2005: Olympic Park bomber pleads guilty

Eric Rudolph had been on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list since May 1998, identified as a prime suspect in a string of bombings that began in July 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics with a blast that killed one person and injured 100 others.

Apr 1, 2025 12:05 AM CDT

Former BigLaw partner wins reversal on one count of cyberstalking conviction

A former BigLaw partner’s messages to a former colleague may have been distressing, but they didn’t amount to “true threats” needed for a cyberstalking conviction, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Mar 31, 2025 10:43 AM CDT

Former lawyer gets prison time after posing as BigLaw alum, former football player in quest for jobs

Updated: An Ohio lawyer has been sentenced to 37 months in prison for Social Security fraud after using fake identities in a quest for law firm jobs.

Mar 13, 2025 9:00 AM CDT

Judge reduces Adnan Syed’s sentence, allowing him to stay out of prison

Adnan Syed, the subject of the Serial podcast, will be allowed to remain free after a Baltimore judge on Thursday agreed to effectively reduce his sentence to the time he had already spent in prison.

Mar 7, 2025 10:45 AM CST

Parade shooter signed his trial waiver ‘Donald Trump;’ will it make a difference?

An Illinois man accused of killing seven people and wounding 48 others at a 2022 Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago pleaded guilty to all charges Monday, but he did not sign his name to a trial waiver.

Mar 6, 2025 12:25 PM CST

State’s failure to correct accuser’s lithium testimony entitles death row inmate to new trial, SCOTUS rules

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that an Oklahoma death row inmate is entitled to a new trial because the prosecution failed to correct testimony by the man who implicated him.

Feb 25, 2025 2:28 PM CST

Expected noncompliance with court orders shouldn’t defeat standing, Kavanaugh says in DNA-test arguments

The U.S. Supreme Court appeared divided Monday in arguments over a death row inmate’s quest for a DNA test to show that he wasn’t inside a trailer where robbery accomplices killed an 85-year-old woman.

Feb 25, 2025 11:08 AM CST

Allegations that murder defendant was ‘a drug ho’ who practiced witchcraft leads to tossed conviction

The New Mexico Supreme Court has overturned a woman’s 2022 murder conviction and barred a retrial because of “severe and pervasive prosecutorial misconduct, exacerbated by a lackluster defense.”

Feb 25, 2025 9:15 AM CST

Prosecutors need easier paths to remedy wrongful convictions, ABA House says

The ABA House of Delegates on Monday at the 2025 ABA Midyear Meeting in Phoenix passed a resolution to help prosecutors trying to vacate wrongful convictions who come up against procedural obstacles or court skepticism.

Feb 3, 2025 5:30 PM CST

States are starting to offer reduced prison time to survivors of domestic violence

According to one study of women in Oklahoma’s prisons, 66% were abused by a partner the year before they were incarcerated. The state has a new law that allows domestic violence survivors to seek shorter sentences. Oklahoma is one of only a handful of states to pass laws that provide sentencing relief specifically for domestic violence survivors.

Feb 1, 2025 1:00 AM CST

Clearing Obstacles: Noella Sudbury is helping people expunge their criminal records

Noella Sudbury knew she was onto something big when she helped organize Utah’s first free “Expungement Day” in 2018.

Feb 1, 2025 12:05 AM CST