Sentencing/Post Conviction

Prosecutors Seek 15-to-20-Year Sentence for Blagojevich

Citing the “enormous damage” they said he did to public confidence in state government, federal prosecutors have asked a judge to sentence corrupt former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to between 15 and 20 years in prison. But defense lawyers are seeking leniency for the 54-year-old former governor, saying that he…

Dec 1, 2011 7:08 PM CST

John Hinckley Jr. a ‘Flawed’ But ‘Fundamentally Decent’ Person, Lawyer Says

You may know John Hinckley Jr. as the man who shot and nearly killed former President Ronald Reagan outside the Washington Hilton hotel in 1981. But the Hinckley of today, now a graying 56-year-old, is a “flawed” but “fundamentally decent” person who poses no threat to anyone, his lawyer told…

Dec 1, 2011 5:39 PM CST

Former BigLaw Lawyer Sentenced to Six Months in Prison for Insider Trading

A former Ropes & Gray patent lawyer who cooperated in an insider trading investigation has been sentenced to six months in prison for his role in the wrongdoing. Brien Santarlas was sentenced on Tuesday, report Bloomberg Businessweek, Reuters, the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). He will…

Dec 1, 2011 4:02 PM CST

Lawyers Reportedly Hiring Strippers to Pose as Paralegals in Miami Jailhouse Visits

Some lawyers with wealthy drug defendants housed inside Miami’s Federal Detention Center have reportedly found a way to spice up their clients’ incarceration. The lawyers are hiring South American pole dancers to pose as paralegals, according to a report in the Miami New Times blog Riptide. The blog report is…

Dec 1, 2011 1:45 PM CST

Commission Call: ABA Supports Comprehensive Study of Criminal Justice System

In the face of a growing U.S. prison population and concerns about funding cutbacks for criminal justice services, the ABA is supporting a proposal in Congress to conduct the first comprehensive examination of the nation’s criminal justice system in 45 years. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., first proposed the creation of…

Dec 1, 2011 7:30 AM CST

Federal Magistrate Judge Accuses 2 Prominent Lawyers of Ethical Lapses During ‘Festival of Perjury’

A federal judge has accused two prominent New York lawyers of ethical lapses during what he had previously described as a “festival of perjury” related to a convicted criminal’s appeal in a 1993 double-murder case, reports the Utica Observer-Dispatch. At issue in the appeal, which seeks a new trial for…

Nov 30, 2011 1:00 AM CST

Attorney Whose Law Firm Paid for Lavish Home Bath Remodel Gets Time in $466K Forgery Case

Corrected: An Illinois attorney who was found guilty of forging checks and taking $466,000 from his law firm’s account for his own personal use was sentenced yesterday to a 42-month prison term. Steven D. Gustafson, 47, was guilty of one of the oldest sins in the book, greed, said DuPage…

Nov 29, 2011 10:22 PM CST

Conrad Murray Gets 4-Year Max in Death of Michael Jackson; Judge Cites ‘Cycle of Horrible Medicine’

Citing “a cycle of horrible medicine” by Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Conrad Murray, a judge in Los Angeles today sentenced him to the four-year maximum after his involuntary manslaughter conviction in the famous pop singer’s death. The defense had sought probation. Testimony at trial revealed that Murray had given Jackson…

Nov 29, 2011 7:19 PM CST

Lawyers for Sirhan Sirhan Appeal, Argue Convicted Assassin Didn’t Kill RFK, Bullet Was Switched

Lawyers for Sirhan Sirhan, who is serving time for the 1968 slaying of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, have filed court papers in Los Angeles challenging his conviction. They claim a bullet was switched at Sirhan’s trial to conceal the fact that his gun didn’t fire the fatal shot. They also…

Nov 29, 2011 12:11 AM CST

Must Juries Decide Facts Leading to Higher Criminal Fines? Supreme Court to Decide

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether cases involving criminal fines should be governed by a Sixth Amendment decision involving prison sentences and jury fact-finding. The Supreme Court granted cert today in a case seeking to overturn an $18 million penalty against Southern Union Co. for improper storage…

Nov 28, 2011 4:50 PM CST

Jury Convicts Texas Judge in Bribery Case; Campaign Donors Allegedly Expected Favorable Rulings

A Texas judge was convicted yesterday of multiple counts of bribery and other crimes, in a case focused on 2008 campaign donations from individuals who allegedly expected favorable rulings in a family court matter, in exchange for the money. District Judge Suzanne Wooten, 43, testified that she knew nothing about…

Nov 23, 2011 9:02 PM CST

Ore. Governor Halts Executions; Death Row Inmate Likely Disappointed, Lawyer Says

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber has imposed a moratorium on executions in the state two weeks before an inmate was scheduled to die for killing a man in prison. In a press conference, Kitzhaber said the death-penalty scheme is “an expensive and unworkable system that fails to meet basic standards of…

Nov 23, 2011 12:34 PM CST

Teary Attorney Who Cooperated with Feds and Tried to Atone for Mortgage Fraud Gets 2.5 Years

Attorney Carol Asbury hoped to avoid prison for her role in a multimillion-dollar South Florida mortgage fraud, she told the ABA Journal last month. Once she came to her senses and realized she had gotten seriously off track, she went to the feds and told them what she knew, helping…

Nov 18, 2011 9:40 PM CST

Seattle Lawyer Who Allegedly Threatened to Kill Judge to Get 20 Months in Subsequent Home-Arson Case

A Washington attorney literally acting as his own jailhouse lawyer has struck a deal with prosecutors after allegedly setting fire to his own home earlier this year and violating a protective order concerning his estranged wife, a co-owner of the home who wasn’t present at the time of the fire.…

Nov 18, 2011 5:53 PM CST

DNA Test Wins New Trial for 4 Jailed as Teens in Murder Case, But Top Chicago Prosecutor Has Doubts

A top Chicago prosecutor said she wasn’t convinced by DNA evidence that excluded four convicted men and seemingly pointed to a convicted murderer as the culprit in the 1994 strangulation slaying of a prostitute in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. “DNA evidence in and of itself is not always…

Nov 16, 2011 10:16 PM CST