Sentencing/Post Conviction

‘Affluenza’ teen who killed 4 in drunk-driving accident faces likely prison term of 720 days

Prosecutors had sought a 20-year prison term for a Texas youth whose blood-alcohol level was triple the legal limit for adults when he killed four people in a drunken-driving accident in 2013. But Ethan Couch, still a juvenile at the time, got probation. His well-to-do parents agreed to pay for…

Apr 13, 2016 3:45 PM CDT

Lawyer who stole from clients gets 46-month max; ex-clients say it isn’t enough prison time

Standing in the courtroom where he tried his very first case, a former Georgia lawyer on Monday admitted to a federal judge “I’m a thief” and described “a surreal sense of shame” concerning his circumstances. Donald Carlton Gibson was a Brunswick practitioner who earlier gave up his law license. And…

Apr 12, 2016 1:40 PM CDT

After success of OJ Simpson series, competitors focus on JonBenet Ramsey and Menendez brothers

A popular television docudrama about the murder trial of O.J. Simpson has competitors cudgeling their brains for topics for similar projects about high-profile crimes from decades ago. So far, two such projects have been announced in the wake of the success of the FX show The People v. O.J. Simpson.…

Apr 12, 2016 11:00 AM CDT

DA says video selfie pointed authorities to man who got 20 years for setting forest fire

A man who pleaded guilty Friday to setting a 2014 forest fire that burned nearly 100,000 acres in California was immediately identified as a suspect thanks to a selfie video and an alert witness, the local district attorney said. Given a ride by a retired firefighter soon after the so-called…

Apr 11, 2016 11:35 AM CDT

Judge’s comment about ‘always’ imposing 60-year murder sentences requires resentencing, court says

A murder defendant is entitled to a new sentencing hearing because of remarks by the judge who sentenced him, made in an unrelated case, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled. The April 7 decision overturned the 60-year sentence imposed on defendant Patrick McFarlane, who was convicted of first-degree murder…

Apr 11, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

Federal judge describes her experience with ‘brutal’ home invaders at their sentencing

U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott and her husband, Stan Chesley, described on Thursday how three home invaders terrorized them as they demanded Rolex watches, threatened to kill them and pushed Chesley down the stairs. Dlott and Chesley testified during a sentencing hearing for the men, who were each sentenced to…

Apr 8, 2016 7:29 AM CDT

Former mining CEO is sentenced to prison in safety case

A former mining executive has been sentenced to a year in prison for a misdemeanor conspiracy to violate federal mine safety regulations. U.S. District Judge Irene Berger, the daughter of a coal miner, sentenced former Massey Energy chief executive Donald Blankenship on Wednesday, the New York Times reports. He was…

Apr 6, 2016 12:09 PM CDT

Blanket bans on renting to those convicted of a crime violate Fair Housing Act, feds tell landlords

The feds are warning landlords to beware of imposing blanket bans on renting to those with a criminal record. New guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says that relying simply on an applicant’s arrest record is improper and excluding an applicant based on a conviction requires…

Apr 4, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

Feds can apply convicted judge’s pension to his $2.9M restitution, court rules

At least 25 percent of a convicted former Nevada judge’s more than $10,000-a-month pension can be applied to his $2.9 million restitution, a federal judge in Las Vegas ruled from the bench on Monday. Prosecutors will put the money remaining after the garnishment into a prison account for Steven Jones…

Apr 4, 2016 3:10 PM CDT

Judge: Pro se lawyer guilty of soliciting murder would win if he could sue himself for malpractice

A suburban Chicago judge pulled no punches on Friday when a former bankruptcy attorney convicted of murder solicitation after representing himself at a Will County bench trial sought to represent himself on appeal. Apologizing in advance of his frank assessment, Judge Daniel Rozak told Robert Gold-Smith he was not only…

Apr 1, 2016 4:35 PM CDT

Ex-judge will have to pay fine for ordering shocking of talkative defendant

A former Maryland judge was fined $5,000 and ordered to take anger management classes on Thursday for ordering a defendant in his courtroom to be jolted with an electric shock. Former Judge Robert Nalley of Charles County was also sentenced to a year of probation, the Associated Press reports. Nalley,…

Apr 1, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

Judge accused of embezzling $4K as prosecutor expected to return to bench after no-contest plea

A suspended Michigan judge facing an embezzlement case over $4,000 in funds he allegedly misspent while serving as a county prosecutor has accepted a plea deal that is expected to put him back on the bench. Originally charged with five felonies, Lapeer Circuit Judge Byron Konschuh pleaded no contest to…

Mar 31, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

Man convicted in 1957 child-slaying is innocent, top prosecutor says; 3 new lawyers are now on case

Initially rejecting an unusual request by a suburban Chicago prosecutor, an Illinois judge has declined to release a man who was convicted of a 1957 child-murder decades after the crime was committed. However, Judge William Brady appointed new counsel on Wednesday to represent Jack McCullough in post-conviction matters because of…

Mar 31, 2016 2:55 PM CDT

Obama grants more clemency petitions, cuts prison sentences for 61 offenders

President Barack Obama on Wednesday granted the clemency petitions of 61 federal prisoners, reducing their sentences and providing for them to be freed later this year. Approximately a third of those whose sentences were commuted have been serving life terms. The petitioners are not considered violent, although a few have…

Mar 30, 2016 1:00 PM CDT

Ex-inmate’s $40M suit against Northwestern and former journalism professor OK’d by federal judge

A $40 million lawsuit alleging that Northwestern University, a former star journalism professor and a private investigator conspired to frame a man for a 1982 double murder was OK’d on Tuesday by a federal judge in Chicago. The defendants had sought to dismiss the case and everyone agreed that a…

Mar 30, 2016 11:25 AM CDT