Sentencing/Post Conviction

New app helps people expunge their criminal records

In Maryland, as in any part of the world, people with checkered pasts are looking to wipe their slates clean. Baltimore lawyer Jason Tashea is hoping to make that process just a little easier. Tashea, along with University of Maryland law student Jon Tippens, created ExpungeMaryland.org, a Web application to…

Nov 1, 2014 4:00 AM CDT

Judge OKs secret witness testimony in closed courtroom during Jodi Arias murder resentencing

For reasons that are not yet clear, an Arizona judge has OK’d closed-courtroom testimony by a secret witness during the resentencing of convicted murderer Jodi Arias. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens said her ruling was required for “the administration of justice” in the capital case, the Associated Press…

Oct 30, 2014 5:20 PM CDT

Law grad convicted of bank robbery gets another 45 years in related state case

Already sentenced to 24 years in a federal bank robbery case, a Washington University law graduate got another 45 years Thursday in a related Missouri case over the shooting of a state trooper during a getaway attempt, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful possession of an illegal weapon.…

Oct 30, 2014 3:20 PM CDT

Lawyer takes plea in auto-insurance fraud scheme, gets probation

A Pennsylvania lawyer accused of playing a role in a fraud scheme that allegedly cost auto insurers millions of dollars has taken a plea. Michael B. Wolf, 56, pleaded guilty Tuesday to insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. He was sentenced to two years…

Oct 30, 2014 10:10 AM CDT

Former Pennsylvania Justice Melvin drops appeal; DA questions her apology letters

A former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice who was convicted for using publicly paid staffers in her campaign is dropping her appeal. Toward that end, former Justice Joan Orie Melvin drafted apology letters to former staffers and the state judiciary that were mandated as part of her sentence, report the Pittsburgh…

Oct 28, 2014 1:58 PM CDT

Prosecutors will appeal Oscar Pistorius verdict and sentence

South African prosecutors announced they will appeal both the judgment and sentence handed down to sprinter Oscar Pistorius. The New York Times reported that Nathi Mncube, a spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority in South Africa, sent out a tweet Monday saying that prosecutors “will be appealing both the conviction…

Oct 27, 2014 2:00 PM CDT

Man convicted of ID theft gets less prison time due to reform, facial tattoo removal

A former employee of a Florida court clerk’s office is serving three years for selling information from a driver’s license database to Derek Denesevich. But Denesevich, who admittedly used the information to file about 80 fraudulent tax returns, was sentenced to only 15 months, the Sun Sentinel reports. Besides cooperating…

Oct 27, 2014 10:56 AM CDT

Jodi Arias juror is dismissed after asking a reporter this question

A juror in the sentencing retrial of Jodi Arias was dismissed on Wednesday after approaching a journalist and asking whether she is Nancy Grace, who hosts a legal show on CNN. The juror was the second to be dismissed in the Maricopa County, Arizona, sentencing retrial, report the Arizona Republic…

Oct 23, 2014 7:17 AM CDT

Governor signs law to battle ‘obscene celebrity’ by convicts; is Abu-Jamal the target?

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed a “revictimization relief” law Tuesday, saying it was intended to battle “obscene celebrity” by convicts. Corbett signed the law in Philadelphia near the location where police officer Daniel Faulkner was shot and killed in 1981, report the Associated Press, Pennlive.com and a press release. Faulkner’s…

Oct 23, 2014 6:45 AM CDT

Pistorius gets five-year sentence; can he serve part of the time at home?

South African track star Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to five-years in prison on Tuesday for killing his girlfriend by firing his gun through a bathroom door. Reporters said Pistorius appeared emotionless during sentencing for the February 2013 death of law grad Reeva Steenkamp, which he said was the result of…

Oct 21, 2014 6:52 AM CDT

John Grisham says US ‘has gone nuts’ with child porn incarcerations, then issues apology

Legal thriller author John Grisham has issued an apology after telling a British newspaper that the United States “has gone nuts” with incarcerations of people for viewing child porn. In a wide-ranging interview with the Telegraph on the U.S. judicial system, Grisham said judges have “gone crazy” locking up people…

Oct 20, 2014 6:15 AM CDT

Lawyer gets 6 months for setting up school volunteer in faked drug case

A California lawyer convicted last month of helping his wife try to set up a volunteer at their son’s elementary school in a faked drug case has been sentenced to six months in jail. Kent Easter, 40, was taken into custody after a jury found him guilty, so that time…

Oct 17, 2014 3:10 PM CDT

Settlement saves convicted attorney from making lengthy handcuffed trip to testify about law firm

A dispute between a bankruptcy administrator and a company to which $137 million was transferred before Marc Dreier’s law firm collapsed has been settled. So the former New York lawyer, who is serving a 20-year federal prison term in Minnesota for defrauding hedge fund investors of $400 million, won’t have…

Oct 17, 2014 11:25 AM CDT

Disbarred lawyer who stole from his own mother and others gets 44 months in federal prison

A now-disbarred Missouri lawyer who fled the U.S. last year, leaving his law practice in disarray, was sentenced Thursday to three years and eight months in federal prison for stealing $234,000 from his own mother and others. Jeffrey Witt, now 40, had been hit with a legal ethics case, a…

Oct 16, 2014 5:40 PM CDT

Lawyer who robbed 3 banks and shot state trooper gets 24 years

A Missouri lawyer admitted to shooting a state trooper who pulled him over last year as the attorney was attempting to make a getaway after a bank robbery. On Thursday, Warren Gladders was sentenced to over 24 years in federal prison in the St. Louis case. The 65-year-old still faces…

Oct 16, 2014 12:40 PM CDT