Sentencing/Post Conviction

La. Judge Rejects Guilty Verdict in A.M., But Jury Gives 2nd ‘C-Murder’ Rap in P.M.

After getting a guilty verdict this morning from a jury hearing a second-degree murder case against rapper Corey “C-Murder” Miller, a Louisiana judge told the panel in the Jefferson Parish case to try again. 24th District Court Judge Hans Liljeberg ruled the verdict invalid, saying he believed one member of…

Aug 11, 2009 5:53 PM CDT

N.H. Ups Ante for Stone Wall Thieves; New Law Provides for Attorney Fees

Updating a more than 200-year-old law against stealing the material in the historic stone walls that line much of New Hampshire’s farmlands and woods, the state’s governor has just signed a bill that ups the ante for doing so. Thieves can now be fined three times the considerable cost of…

Aug 10, 2009 6:26 PM CDT

Loud Yawn Lands Court Spectator in Jail; 6-Month Sentence Later Reduced

Updated: A spectator in an Illinois courtroom who let out a loud yawn as his cousin was being sentenced for a felony drug charge soon found himself in jail. Clifton Williams was sentenced to six months in jail for criminal contempt, the Chicago Tribune reports. His cousin was luckier—he received…

Aug 10, 2009 2:42 PM CDT

Retired N.Y. Judge Gets 18 Months for Bringing Prostitutes to Fraternal Meeting

After pleading guilty in federal court last year to transporting prostitutes across state lines to a meeting of a national men’s fraternal club of which he is a member, a retired New York Supreme Court judge was sentenced today to an 18-month prison term. Referring to Ronald Tills, 74, as…

Aug 7, 2009 10:16 PM CDT

Holland, Hogan, Skadden Help Win Sailors’ Freedom in Norfolk Four Case

Three sailors in the controversial Norfolk Four case have won their freedom, with aid from three law firms working pro bono on the matter for the last five years. On Thursday, Virginia Gov. Tim Kane granted conditional pardons to the men, who claim their confessions to the crime were coerced,…

Aug 7, 2009 11:34 AM CDT

Ex-Asst. Wash. AG Pleads Guilty in Phone Harassment of Former Neighbor

An assistant Washington state attorney general has resigned from his job and pleaded guilty to telephone harassment after reportedly impersonating a former neighbor on adult websites and telling strangers she was interested in having sex with them. The unidentified victim, who is also a former co-worker of attorney Jonathan Milstein’s…

Aug 6, 2009 6:11 PM CDT

Oops. Lawyer’s Mistaken ID of ‘Client’ Nearly Wins Reduced Sentence

When attorney Joseph Santo pointed at him in a Brooklyn courtroom, 17-year-old Victor Hernandez says, he didn’t think much about it as he went up to stand beside the lawyer. But getting a five-year probation sentence instead of the seven-year jail term he might have expected definitely caught his attention,…

Aug 5, 2009 9:05 PM CDT

In ‘Sad But Predictable’ Case, Ex-Lawyer Steals $267K from New Employer

Disbarred after he stole $300,000 from his former law firm—and another $200,000 from a subsequent employer, a former New Jersey tax attorney has now admitted that he stole $267,000 from a more recent employer, a company for which he prepared tax returns. The theft by deception, to which 52-year-old Gregory…

Aug 5, 2009 7:25 PM CDT

Calif. Lawyer Suspended Over Trial Blogging While Serving as Juror

A 40-year-old California attorney has had his law license suspended for 45 days over a trial blog he wrote while serving as a juror. Because of a blog post by Frank Russell Wilson, an appeals court reversed and remanded the felony burglary case, reports the California Bar Journal. Although reportedly…

Aug 4, 2009 7:58 PM CDT

AG Holder Calls for Getting ‘Smart on Crime’ #ABAChicago

Drawing a sharp contrast between the Bush and Obama administrations, without ever naming the former, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told the ABA House of Delegates that “we no longer must choose between more prisoners or more crime.” He declared the Department of Justice under his watch will “embrace the…

Aug 3, 2009 8:31 PM CDT

Judge Rejects Plea Deal for 2 Ex-Judges in Pa. Pay-for-Jailed-Kids Case

A federal judge has rejected a plea deal that calls for 87-month sentences for two Pennsylvania judges who pleaded guilty in an alleged scheme to steer juveniles to for-profit detention facilities in exchange for $2.6 million in kickbacks. In an order posted late Friday, U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik rejected…

Aug 3, 2009 11:35 AM CDT

Required Reading

Anyone who thinks the election of our first African-American president means we no longer have any reason to make amends to minorities in this country ought to read Mark Curriden’s “A Supreme Case of Contempt,” June, page 34. This compelling and poignant article graphically demonstrates why the majority in this country still has so much to make up for to others.

Peter L. Davis

Central Islip, N.Y.

Aug 2, 2009 3:30 AM CDT

Sentence Nacchio Based on Actual Qwest Insider Profit, 10th Circuit Says

In a move that could nearly halve the six-year prison term that former Qwest Communications chief executive Joseph Nacchio got for insider trading, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today ordered that he be re-sentenced. Both Nacchio’s prison term and the amount of money he is required to forfeit…

Jul 31, 2009 10:32 PM CDT

Trustee Sues Madoff’s Wife for $45M, Cites ‘Life of Spendor’

A court-appointed trustee charged with recovering money for investors in the Ponzi scheme operated by Bernard Madoff under the guise of a hedge fund has sued the jailed swindler’s wife for almost $45 million. Ruth Madoff knew or should have known her “life of splendor” was funded with ill-gotten gains…

Jul 29, 2009 10:04 PM CDT

Grenada AG Resigns Over Letter Seeking Leniency for Stepson in Fla. Case

The attorney general of Grenada has resigned over a letter he sent on official letterhead seeking leniency for his stepson from the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney in a Florida criminal case. Media reports in Grenada say Attorney General Jimmy Bristol’s resignation was accepted today by the prime minister of the Carribean…

Jul 24, 2009 6:12 PM CDT