Sentencing/Post Conviction

Daughter’s Face Pasted Onto Woman’s Body Isn’t Child Porn, Calif. Court Says

A California court ordered a Santa Clara country judge to resentence Joseph Gerber, who was convicted in 2009 of possessing child pornography after pasting photos of his 13-year-old daughter’s head onto bodies of women in graphic poses. California’s child porn ban “requires a real child to have actually engaged in…

Jun 10, 2011 8:59 PM CDT

Italian Prosecutor Says He Can’t Place Amanda Knox In Murder Room

Although he painted American student Amanda Knox as a cold-blooded murderer who pinned Meredith Kercher’s arm while Knox’s former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito slashed her roommate’s throat in a sex-game gone wrong, Italian prosecutor Guiliano Mignini now says he can’t place Knox in the murder room. Mignini’s interview with the U.K.’s…

Jun 10, 2011 6:24 PM CDT

Retired In-House Counsel is Suspended for a Year Due to Second Domestic Violence Incident

A New Jersey lawyer has been suspended from practice for a year by the state supreme court an incident of domestic violence that also resulted in a 12-month jail term for him, according to the Legal Profession Blog. The incident, which resulted in Peter Jacoby’s guilty plea to the felony…

Jun 10, 2011 10:40 AM CDT

Caught in Car-Keying Sting, Tearful Lawyer Takes Plea, Gets Community Service

Initially charged with a felony for “keying” several badly parked cars in a downtown parking garage and leaving rude notes for their drivers, a Seattle lawyer tearfully pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor today in King County Superior Court. Ronald Clarke Mattson, 63, told the judge he has “taken the steps…

Jun 10, 2011 1:40 AM CDT

Amanda Knox was Denied a Lawyer, says Wash. Judge, Seeking Obama’s Help in Italian Murder Case

Arguing that the rights of a young woman from Washington state were fundamentally violated when she was interrogated, tried and convicted in the sexual assault and murder of a foreign-student roommate with whom she was then living in Italy, a Washington state judge, in his capacity as a private citizen,…

Jun 10, 2011 12:47 AM CDT

9th Circuit: By Telling Cops of Dad’s Advice to Get a Lawyer, Suspect Didn’t Actually Ask for Lawyer

Tio Dinero Sessoms was recorded on video when, after being arrested in 1999, he told Sacramento homicide detectives that his dad “asked me to ask you guys–uh, get me a lawyer.” But a California court had an adequate basis for deciding that Sessoms’ relaying to police of his father’s advice…

Jun 10, 2011 12:16 AM CDT

Scalia Blasts ‘Tutti-Frutti’ Majority, Says Career Criminal Law Is Too Fuzzy to Stand

A dispute over whether a felon is eligible for an increased sentence because he previously fled a police officer has split the court’s two newest justices and produced an acerbic dissent by Justice Antonin Scalia. The Supreme Court held in a 6-3 opinion (PDF) that the Indiana crime of vehicle…

Jun 9, 2011 3:52 PM CDT

Real Estate Attorney Gets 5 Years in $23M Mortgage Fraud Case

A New York real estate lawyer who allegedly participated in a $23 million mortgage fraud by acting as an attorney for the bank and/or straw buyers involved in the scheme has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. Cheddi Goberdhan, 57, “created and sent false documents to the banks,…

Jun 8, 2011 5:11 PM CDT

Conrad Black Had Entourage of Inmates Who Acted as Servants and Saluted Him, Prosecutors Say

Prosecutors are pointing to allegations that onetime media mogul Conrad Black treated inmates like servants and had a supercilious attitude in an effort to send him back to prison. Black was convicted for defrauding Hollinger International and served 29 months in prison before he was released on bail. The U.S.…

Jun 8, 2011 12:45 PM CDT

Lawyer Convicted of Theft re 900 Free Calls Between Inmates and Her Roommate Gets Community Service

A suspended Washington state lawyer convicted of theft for allowing jail inmates to use her attorney phone privileges to make more than 900 free calls has been sentenced to community service and $2,290 restitution. Kimberly Grijalva, 41, was also convicted after a bench trial last month of a misdemeanor contraband…

Jun 7, 2011 6:54 PM CDT

Supreme Court to Decide Right to Effective Assistance on Habeas Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear an appeal that involves claims of ineffective assistance of counsel at both the trial and habeas levels. SCOTUSblog calls the cert grant “a big deal in habeas law.” The issue is whether a defendant has a right to effective assistance of…

Jun 7, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Lawyer Sentenced to Prison for Stealing $800K from Clients, Blames OxyContin Addiction

A Connecticut lawyer who says he stole from clients because of an OxyContin addiction was sentenced today to nine years in prison. Stratford lawyer John Rodia was sentenced after previously pleading guilty to six counts of first-degree larceny and five counts of third-degree larceny, the Connecticut Post reports. Prosecutors say…

Jun 3, 2011 6:19 PM CDT

Former Clark Thomas & Winters Partner Convicted in Bill-Padding Case, Gets 500 Days, Must Pay $222K

A former partner of Clark Thomas & Winters was convicted yesterday by a Texas jury in a case that revolved around the alleged padding of legal bills to obtain money to make secret payments to relatives of board members of a client utility company. Convicted of theft, money laundering and…

Jun 1, 2011 9:01 PM CDT

A Real-Life Grisham Story: Denial of Jury Award Marks Disappointing Postscript to Death Row Release

Photo by Jennifer S. Altman John Thompson has had worse days than the one in late March when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against him in his civil rights case. After all, the Louisiana man spent 14 years on death row for a murder he didn’t commit and he…

Jun 1, 2011 7:09 AM CDT

Supporters Seek Commutation for Pharmacist Convicted of Murder for Shooting Masked Robber

Supporters are rallying around an Oklahoma City pharmacist convicted of murder last week for shooting a 16-year-old masked robber. Jurors convicted Jerome Jay Ersland of first-degree murder, even though they were also given an option of manslaughter, NewsOK.com reports. Lawyers are planning an appeal, while supporters are seeking a pardon…

May 31, 2011 12:18 PM CDT