Sentencing/Post Conviction

Lawyer convicted of helping client launder proceeds from stolen equipment gets 2 years

A long legal battle is ending with a two-year federal prison sentence for a former California prosecutor and defense attorney convicted of helping an ex-client launder $120,000 he obtained by selling stolen computer equipment. Rejecting a bid by Jamie Harley for home confinement, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh did, however,…

Jan 16, 2015 5:45 AM CST

Ex-attorney who lost DA’s race and was convicted in November traffic case gets probation

A former Nevada attorney who lost his law license after being convicted of three felonies in connection with a 2009 traffic stop in which he was shot by a Las Vegas police officer was sentenced Thursday to five years of probation, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal. While still admitted to…

Jan 15, 2015 2:15 PM CST

‘Serial’ podcasts downplayed info supporting murder conviction, prosecutor says; DNA testing sought

A popular podcast series raised doubts about the evidence used to convict Adnan Syed of murder without any significant basis for doing so, the Intercept says, relying on information from the prosecutor in the case. Nonetheless, inspired by the podcast Serial, the Maryland Innocence Project at the University of Virginia…

Jan 15, 2015 11:15 AM CST

Mom of murdered baby didn’t want killer executed; prior lethal injection in Okla. was botched

Updated: Oklahoma scheduled the execution of convicted baby killer Charles Warner for 6 p.m. Thursday, though the victim’s mother opposed it. The execution took place at 7:10 p.m., and Warner was pronounced dead 18 minutes later, CNN reported. Warner was the first Oklahoma inmate put to death since the botched…

Jan 15, 2015 9:48 AM CST

Ex-judge is latest to get time in federal ticket-fixing case targeting Philadelphia traffic court

Michael Lowry was acquitted last year on most charges in a federal criminal case targeting Philadelphia traffic court judges accused of fixing tickets. However, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Stengel gave little credence to arguments by the former jurist’s lawyers Wednesday that being convicted only of perjury, for lying to the…

Jan 14, 2015 5:55 PM CST

Former US attorney for Nevada gets 18 months for not filing federal tax returns

A former U.S. attorney for Nevada was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months for failing to file federal tax returns. Lawrence “Larry” Semenza II must report to prison by April 17, 2015 to begin serving his sentence in the Las Vegas case, KLAS reports. He must also pay $290,000 in restitution.…

Jan 14, 2015 2:40 PM CST

Lawyer’s capital concession can be raised by death row inmate, SCOTUS says in procedural case

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on behalf of a death row inmate whose trial counsel said in his closing remarks that he could not “quarrel with” a death sentence. The court ruled for Robert Mitchell Jennings in a 6-3 opinion (PDF) that considered whether Jennings’ ineffective assistance claim was…

Jan 14, 2015 10:00 AM CST

Former lawyer convicted in condo-eviction slaying gets 45 years

A former Wyoming lawyer convicted last year in Florida of fatally shooting a maintenance man during a 2010 eviction from a South Beach condominium was sentenced Tuesday to 45 years in prison. “Your actions turned what should have been a routine eviction into a tragedy,” Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler…

Jan 13, 2015 2:40 PM CST

Federal judge nixes appeal bond for former Virginia governor sentenced to 2 years

A federal judge has refused to OK an appeal bond for a former Virginia governor sentenced last week to two years for trading the influence of his office for gifts, loans and perks. That means Robert “Bob” McDonnell, who also served as the state’s attorney general, could be imprisoned on…

Jan 13, 2015 10:50 AM CST

California requiring paroled sex offenders to take lie-detector tests

California has begun requiring paroled sex offenders to take lie detector tests. The Associated Press reports that the move is a response to high-profile cases of parolees who have raped or killed. State parole officials say the testing is designed to determine which offenders are most dangerous and in need…

Jan 9, 2015 4:49 PM CST

Judge blasts disbarred lawyer for paying no restitution in $837K client fraud, gives her 4-year max

A disbarred Iowa lawyer was sentenced Tuesday to the maximum prison term for wire fraud by a federal judge who expressed “extreme disappointment” that Susan Hense has so far paid nothing toward restitution for more than one dozen victims. That amounts to over four years behind bars for Susan Hense,…

Jan 9, 2015 9:35 AM CST

Ex-employee gets 4 years in $163K law firm theft

A former office manager was sentenced to four years on Wednesday for stealing a little over $163,000 from a suburban Chicago law firm. Jordan E. Terry, 48, could see that prison term halved for good behavior, the Daily Herald reports. She stole the money during less than a year, in…

Jan 8, 2015 2:25 PM CST

‘Outrageous’ Facebook post could send paroled man back to prison

An Ohio man released from prison last month after serving a term for vehicular homicide has had his probation revoked because of something he posted on Facebook, the Associated Press and FOX 8 report. Ryan C. Fye, 22, served seven months of a three-year sentence after pleading guilty to aggravated…

Jan 7, 2015 4:30 PM CST

Should 40,000 cases be tossed over drug-lab issues? Top state court to decide

Over nearly a decade, a rogue chemist at a Massachusetts evidence laboratory potentially could have tainted 40,323 drug cases. On Thursday, the state’s top court will hear arguments about how that issue should be fixed, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Last year, the Supreme Judicial Court decided it…

Jan 7, 2015 2:55 PM CST

$5.4M in legal fees awarded by judge to inmates’ attorneys in jail-brutality case

A federal judge has awarded more than $5 million in legal fees to lawyers representing five inmates at a Los Angeles County jail who alleged brutality by deputies, the Los Angeles Times reports. The inmates themselves won a jury award of $950,000 in damages last February. The jury award included…

Jan 7, 2015 11:52 AM CST