Sentencing/Post Conviction

9th Circuit says paroled sex offenders don’t have to provide their Web names and addresses to police

Agreeing with a trial judge, a federal appeals court has refused to enforce provisions of a California ballot measure that require registered sex offenders to provide law enforcement with all Internet names and addresses they use in social media, instant messaging and Web posts. The overbroad Californians Against Sexual Exploitation…

Nov 19, 2014 12:30 PM CST

Adrian Peterson of Vikings suspended without pay for rest of season after plea in child-abuse case

Citing “no meaningful remorse,” among other factors, Commissioner Roger Goodell of the NFL has suspended star Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, without pay, for at least the rest of the regular football season. Peterson pleaded no contest earlier this month to reckless assault for repeatedly striking his 4-year-old son…

Nov 18, 2014 10:25 AM CST

School district wins civil case after arguing that girl, 14, could consent to sex with teacher

A rape-shield law is supposed to prevent sexual abuse victims from being questioned about their sexual history in California criminal trials. But it doesn’t apply in civil cases. That allowed an attorney for the Los Angeles Unified School District to argue before a jury last year that a 14-year-old middle-school…

Nov 14, 2014 12:22 PM CST

Defense lawyers press for more info as probe of FBI agent linked to dismissed cases continues

After news that the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., has agreed to dismiss 28 drug cases, including approximately a dozen that had already resulted in convictions, defense lawyers are pressing for more information. An investigation is continuing concerning an FBI agent accused by the feds of tampering with evidence…

Nov 14, 2014 12:18 PM CST

Innocence claim is no longer a parole hurdle in some states

High-profile wrongful convictions are helping spur a change in some states that once considered a convicted inmate’s claims of innocence to be a reason to deny parole. At least four inmates in New York have won parole despite their claims that they weren’t guilty of the crime that sent them…

Nov 14, 2014 6:15 AM CST

Prison looms for onetime law student: 2nd Circuit denies stay in ‘most lucrative’ insider-tip case

Saying that Mathew Martoma had failed to show any “substantial question of law or fact” in his appeal of a high-profile insider-trading conviction, a federal appeals court has lifted a stay of his nine-year prison sentence over a tip that prosecutors said earned $275 million for his employer. While the…

Nov 13, 2014 11:50 AM CST

Outgoing Arkansas governor plans to pardon his son for drug conviction

Outgoing Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe says he will pardon his son’s felony conviction for marijuana possession with intent to deliver. Beebe decided to issue the pardon after his son, Kyle Beebe, now 34, submitted a pardon application in June and the state parole board recommended approval, KATV, the Associated Press…

Nov 13, 2014 9:22 AM CST

Ex-bookkeeper convicted of $93.5K law firm theft may get more time for probation violation

Federally convicted in 2009, a former bookkeeper for a Catlettsburg, Kentucky, law firm, served time for stealing $93,477 from her ex-employer, Pruitt & Thorner. Now Ronda Nixon may be headed back to jail, after a federal magistrate judge found that she violated her probation and recommended another 10 months behind…

Nov 10, 2014 5:05 PM CST

Ex-traffic judge takes felony conflict-of-interest plea, hopes for house arrest

A former Philadephia judge who once held supervisory responsibilities in traffic court has pleaded guilty to felony conflict of interest. Thomasine Tynes, 71, whose lawyer says she suffers from dementia, has cooperated with the Philadelphia district attorney’s office and will not get any additional time due to her plea in…

Nov 10, 2014 4:30 PM CST

Lawmaker wins election, is convicted of lesser counts in barratry case, then wins a mistrial

Over the past seven days, a Texas lawmaker has been tried in a barratry case, won reelection, been convicted on lesser included misdemeanor counts and seen the verdict thrown out due to claimed juror misconduct. On Monday, a lawyer for state Rep. Ron Reynolds expected to begin the sentencing phase.…

Nov 10, 2014 4:05 PM CST

Citing pending SCOTUS fish case, judge delays sentencing for friends of accused Boston bomber

A federal judge has delayed sentencing two men accused of hiding evidence in the case against the Boston bombing suspect, citing the potential impact of a pending U.S. Supreme Court case involving a fisherman charged under a post-Enron law. U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock issued an order on Thursday that…

Nov 7, 2014 11:00 AM CST

Feds will drop charges against 28 drug defendants amid probe of FBI agent; 14 are already in prison

Federal prosecutors will drop charges against 28 drug defendants in Washington, D.C., amid the suspension and investigation of an FBI agent accused of tampering with evidence. Half of the defendants were already in prison after pleading guilty, the Washington Post reports. They will be allowed to withdraw their pleas. Documents…

Nov 6, 2014 11:00 AM CST

Judge calls former state supreme court judge’s apology letters ‘unsatisfactory,’ orders a do-over

A convicted former justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court won’t have to volunteer at a soup kitchen, the judge overseeing her sentencing has decided. But Joan Orie Melvin does have to send out new letters of apology, Allegheny Common Pleas Judge Lester Nauhaus ruled Tuesday. He described court-ordered letters her…

Nov 4, 2014 5:15 PM CST

Inmate on death row for fatal 1992 divorce-court shooting rampage dies of natural causes

Kenneth Baumruk wasn’t able to overturn his death sentence for fatally shooting his wife and firing at the judge, lawyers for both sides and others in the vicinity of a Missouri divorce court hearing more than 20 years ago. But the former aerospace technician has avoided capital punishment by dying…

Nov 4, 2014 1:35 PM CST

Former Virginia lawyer gets six years for stealing from clients, relatives

A former Virginia bankruptcy lawyer has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for stealing more than $1.1 million from clients and relatives. Michael Eisner, 32, was also sentenced Friday to three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution, the National Law Journal…

Nov 3, 2014 1:50 PM CST