Sentencing/Post Conviction

Revenge porn website operator has his sentence reduced by judge

A San Diego judge on Monday split the 18-year jail sentence of a man convicted in February for running a revenge porn website, cutting the maximum time behind bars to eight years but tacking on a decade-long probation period, the San Diego Union Tribune reports. Superior Court Judge David Gill…

Sep 22, 2015 4:31 PM CDT

‘Angola Three’ prisoner to be tried a third time in guard’s death, despite district judge’s order

A Louisiana state judge on Monday ruled that a third trial will proceed against the final remaining Angola Three defendant still in prison for the 1972 death of a prison guard, the Associated Press reports. Judge William Carmichael also rejected defense attempts to prevent transcript testimony from a deceased prison-inmate…

Sep 22, 2015 11:05 AM CDT

Peanut executive avoids maximum 803-year sentence in food-safety case

The former owner of a peanut-processing company has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for knowingly shipping contaminated peanut butter and covering up salmonella contamination. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 803 years in prison for the former executive, Stewart Parnell, who was convicted of 71 counts last September,…

Sep 22, 2015 10:17 AM CDT

Oregon to give second chance to residents with marijuana convictions

As Oregon begins distributing legal marijuana next month, the state is also taking steps to give a second chance to residents convicted of marijuana-related offenses under the old criminal statutes. The New York Times reported Sunday that the state is looking to expand its current record-expungement statute in light of…

Sep 21, 2015 12:30 PM CDT

9th Circuit rejects Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s attempt to remove judge in racial profiling case

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has dealt another loss to Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona, the Arizona Republic reported this week. The decision came in the civil contempt hearings against Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, for defying court orders in a seven-year-old racial profiling…

Sep 17, 2015 2:13 PM CDT

Michael Hollander’s digital expungement generator cleans records by the thousands

Many might see life as a software developer in San Francisco as a job with a future (if not a fortune). But it wasn’t enough for Michael Hollander. “I enjoyed the work that I did, but I was solving problems to help businesses do business better,” says Hollander. “I wanted…

Sep 17, 2015 9:00 AM CDT

Former exec ‘Fruitcake’ gets 10 years in $16M money-launder case; his wife ‘Cupcake’ gets probation

A former controller for a Texas bakery known for its high-end fruitcakes was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison in a Dallas case involving a $16.7 million theft from his employer. Sandy Jenkins agreed to a plea deal last year and pleaded guilty to charges including mail fraud…

Sep 17, 2015 7:35 AM CDT

Did robbery defendant forfeit right to an attorney? Top state court to decide

Joshua Nisbet didn’t want to represent himself in a Maine robbery trial. But a state court judge said he had to do so because he couldn’t get along with the five attorneys previously appointed at various times to represent him in the Cumberland County case and he last two said…

Sep 17, 2015 5:50 AM CDT

Texas man seeks to clear his name in 1977 murder

A Texas man is asking a court to declare him innocent of a 1977 murder he’s twice been convicted of committing. Lawyers for Kerry Max Cook, in court documents filed Monday, claim that six rounds of DNA testing have failed to produce any evidence that Cook committed the crime, the…

Sep 16, 2015 4:25 PM CDT

Former judge ‘ready to be punished’ gets 2 years in domestic violence case

A former Ohio judge who pleaded guilty last month as trial loomed in a felony domestic violence case concerning his wife was sentenced Wednesday to 24 months in prison. “I make no excuses, I mean, I beat my wife in front of my kids,” Lance Mason told the court during…

Sep 16, 2015 2:15 PM CDT

Maryland public defender investigating every juvenile life-without-parole case

Maryland’s Office of the Public Defender’s post-conviction division has launched an effort to investigate all cases of inmates who, as juveniles, were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, following through on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in 2012 that such sentences violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition…

Sep 15, 2015 4:35 PM CDT

Inmate gets life sentence for raping prison teacher

An inmate who raped a prison teacher was sentenced to natural life in prison Monday after apologizing to the victim in an Arizona court, the Associated Press reports. The woman was present in Pinal County Superior Court, accompanied by her parents, for the sentencing of Jacob Harvey. But her statements…

Sep 15, 2015 1:15 PM CDT

Nikki Zeichner uses data to give new perspectives on parole and incarceration

In 2013, Nikki Zeichner was juggling two endeavors. As a Brooklyn criminal defense lawyer, she was representing a prisoner who had been denied parole nine times and was up for a 10th successful hearing. Representing Thornwell Richburg taught her that New York parole decisions were often based on “the nature…

Sep 15, 2015 9:20 AM CDT

Evidence in ‘shaken baby’ cases not as clear-cut as once thought, expert says

Few would disagree that it is possible to injure a baby by shaking it and that those who do so should face child-abuse cases. But are individuals being convicted, sometimes of murder, based on dubious or even inaccurate evidence? That is the question explored by a new Retro Report video…

Sep 15, 2015 9:00 AM CDT

Attorney faces ethics complaint over ‘sham’ contract drafted in campaign-finance case

A lawyer is now facing a legal ethics complaint for drafting what federal prosecutors in a case against a former Connecticut governor called a “sham” consulting agreement. On Sept. 2, the grievance panel for the New Haven judicial district said it found probable cause that attorney Christian Shelton “knowingly participated…

Sep 15, 2015 5:15 AM CDT