Sentencing/Post Conviction

Can a brain scan predict recidivism? Low activity in one brain region is linked to rearrest

A brain scan study of 96 inmates in New Mexico has found that those with low activity in a region of the brain controlling impulsivity were more likely to be arrested after their release. Researchers with the Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, N.M., used functional magnetic resonance imaging to scan…

Mar 28, 2013 10:45 AM CDT

Lawyer and heiress’ son who were convicted in siphoning of $60M from Brooke Astor estate lose appeal

The son of an elderly heiress and a now-disbarred lawyer convicted of working together to siphon some $60 million from her estate have lost an appeal before a midlevel New York court. Following the determination that Anthony D. Marshall, 88, and Francis X. Morrissey Jr. were appropriately convicted in 2009…

Mar 27, 2013 9:15 PM CDT

US can be sued for alleged sexual assault by prison guards, SCOTUS rules in unanimous opinion

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on behalf of a prison inmate who filed a handwritten cert petition seeking to advance his suit claiming sexual assault by guards. At issue is whether the government’s waiver of immunity for some intentional torts by law enforcement officers extends to the prison setting,…

Mar 27, 2013 4:02 PM CDT

LAPD to get tapes of defense lawyer talks with convicted ‘Charles Manson family’ killer

After months of litigation and two court rulings, it looks like the Los Angeles Police Department may be on the verge of getting hold of long-ago taped conversations between a now-deceased Texas defense lawyer and a member of the notorious Charles Manson “family” convicted in multiple 1969 murders that terrorized…

Mar 26, 2013 8:34 PM CDT

Millionaire deluges state attorney with public records requests after daughter’s DUI conviction

Corrected: At one time, Martin E. “Marty” O’Boyle was a political ally of Florida state attorney Dave Aronberg, helping him position himself to get elected. But after Aronberg refused to take a position concerning the 2011 misdemeanor driving-under-the-influence conviction of O’Boyle’s daughter, Sara, the two parted ways. They still have…

Mar 26, 2013 8:10 PM CDT

Lawyer’s suicide may void his judicial bribery case conviction

Convicted last year in a judicial bribery case and sentenced to three and a half years, a South Texas lawyer may have cleared his conviction by committing suicide Feb. 28 as he was due to report to federal prison. Because Ray R. Marchan, 56, had an appeal pending at the…

Mar 25, 2013 7:16 PM CDT

After case is re-examined, man imprisoned for 23 years is released and has a heart attack

A prisoner who was freed last week in a re-examination of his homicide case is now in a hospital bed after suffering a heart attack the second day after his release. David Ranta, 58, was freed on Thursday after serving 23 years in prison, report the New York Times, the…

Mar 25, 2013 1:02 PM CDT

Lifetime is banned from showing true-crime TV movie ‘Romeo Killer’

In a move blasted as an “unprecedented” free speech disaster in an emergency appeal by Lifetime Television, a New York judge has banned the cable network not only from airing on Saturday but from promoting a true crime television movie about a murder. In a Tuesday ruling, Supreme Court Judge…

Mar 21, 2013 3:42 PM CDT

Photo gallery commemorates 50th anniversary of closing of Alcatraz, once nation’s most secure prison

A 48-photo gallery in the San Francisco Chronicle commemorates the 50th anniversary of the closing of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on March 21, 1963. Once considered the nation’s most secure prison, on an island surrounded by the waters of San Francisco Bay, it hosted some of the country’s most notorious criminals…

Mar 21, 2013 2:00 PM CDT

Ex-prosecutor guilty of law firm racketeering shouldn’t have tried his own case, juror says

A former state and federal prosecutor convicted this week of operating his law firm as a racketeering enterprise and participating in drug-dealing, prostitution and even a conspiracy to murder witnesses, might have done better to let a defense lawyer handle his trial, a juror says. As he himself questioned witnesses…

Mar 20, 2013 7:40 PM CDT

Mom gets 16 years for child neglect after daughter, 9, dies of diabetic complications

A Texas mom who was accused by authorities of failing to properly manage her diabetic daughter’s diet has been sentenced to 16 years for child neglect following the girl’s death, at age 9, from complications of the disease. Georgia Jones, 31, was sentenced Monday, after pleading guilty to felony injury…

Mar 19, 2013 4:28 PM CDT

Presenting faked evidence in client’s trial gets longtime defense lawyer 63 months

A longtime Washington, D.C., criminal defense lawyer portrayed by a prosecutor as a serial violator of legal ethics rules was sentenced Tuesday to 63 months in federal prison for presenting staged photographs and perjured testimony as evidence at a client’s drug trial. A defense lawyer for Charles Daum had sought…

Mar 14, 2013 3:30 PM CDT

Cleared in wife-slaying attempt conspiracy, lawyer sues defense counsel for ex-mistress

Cleared after initially being accused of playing a role in a claimed conspiracy in which others unsuccessfully attempted to kill his wife, a Texas personal injury lawyer is turning the tables on those who formerly sought to prove his guilt before all charges against him were dropped. Jeffrey Stern has…

Mar 11, 2013 5:42 PM CDT

Son of Del. courthouse shooter faces new probation violation charges related to ammo

New probation violation charges have been filed against the son of a man who committed suicide immediately after shooting to death two women at a Wilmington, Del., courthouse last month. David Matusiewicz, 45, is accused in a violation petition filed Tuesday of living in a home in Texas in which…

Mar 7, 2013 5:09 PM CST

‘Shocked’ judge nixes gag order, but says he will refer Drew Peterson lawyer for ethics review

At a Tuesday hearing, a suburban Chicago judge said he has been “shocked” by some public comments the lead trial lawyer for Drew Peterson has made following his now-former client’s murder conviction. But, apparently agreeing with Peterson’s current counsel, Steven Greenberg, that attorney Joel Brodsky may have gone too far…

Mar 6, 2013 3:52 PM CST