Sentencing/Post Conviction

Judge retires after appeals court removes her from sex offender cases, cites animus toward PD office

A Pennsylvania judge has announced her retirement after a state appeals court removed her from two sex offender cases and said she had shown “personal animus” toward the public defender’s office. Judge Donna Jo McDaniel, 72, of Allegheny County will retire at the end of January after 33 years on…

Dec 14, 2018 10:57 AM CST

Michael Cohen says he’s free from ‘personal and mental incarceration’ before getting 3-year sentence

President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, told a Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday that he has been “living in a personal and mental incarceration” since the day he began working for Trump. Cohen, 52, said his weakness was “a blind loyalty to Donald Trump,” but he had moved forward.…

Dec 12, 2018 1:00 PM CST

What can be done to ensure that federal sentencing remains transparent?

In his previous post, Judge D. Brock Hornby detailed the growing pressure on federal judges to disguise the sentencing process so that cooperation is invisible. Now he addresses the obvious but difficult-to-answer question: What’s to be done?

Dec 12, 2018 6:30 AM CST

Former frat president accused of rape pleads guilty to lesser charge in deal without jail time

A woman who claimed a former fraternity president at Baylor University “violently and repeatedly” raped her told a Texas court on Monday that she was devastated by the decision to allow him to escape jail time. The woman gave her victim impact statement during a court hearing in which the…

Dec 11, 2018 4:15 PM CST

Jury recommends life sentence for neo-Nazi who drove his car into crowd, killing a paralegal

Jurors in Virginia on Tuesday recommended a sentence of life plus 419 years in prison for a self-avowed neo-Nazi who killed a paralegal when he drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters at a white supremacist rally last August.

Dec 11, 2018 2:26 PM CST

Can federal sentencing remain transparent?

Criminal trials have virtually disappeared in many federal courtrooms. Sentencing seems to still be visible. In open court, federal judges traditionally explain to victims, the defendant and community imposed sentences. But its openness may be in jeopardy.

Dec 11, 2018 6:00 AM CST

Special counsel says Michael Cohen has gone to ‘significant lengths’ to aid investigation

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Friday filed a sentencing memo recommending a “substantial prison term” for Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, even as the special prosecutor’s office filed a separate memo that said Cohen has gone to “significant lengths” to aid its investigation. Cohen is set to be…

Dec 7, 2018 5:36 PM CST

Bankruptcy protects Detroit from claims by exonerated youth, judge rules

Detroit is protected from an exonerated youth’s wrongful prosecution suit because of the city’s 2013 bankruptcy, approved in late 2014, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge David Lawson ruled Tuesday that Davontae Sanford couldn’t recover from the city of Detroit, even though his murder conviction wasn’t vacated until…

Dec 6, 2018 1:32 PM CST

Michael Flynn should get little or no prison time, special counsel’s office says

President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has cooperated with prosecutors and should get little or no prison time, according to a court filing by the office of special counsel Robert Mueller.

Dec 5, 2018 9:09 AM CST

Mystery writers group withdraws award to former prosecutor because of controversial case

A novelist’s role as a supervisor during the controversial prosecution of the so-called Central Park Five came back to haunt her when a mystery writers group revoked an award it had given her only days before. Prosecutor-turned-novelist Linda Fairstein received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America…

Dec 3, 2018 7:50 AM CST

Lawyer congratulates client who once spent time in jail on his admission to the Florida Bar

Raymon Burns once dreamed of working at Sports Authority after his release from jail, but he has achieved much more. Burns has gained admission to the Florida Bar, and it was Burns’ lawyer, Brian Tannebaum, who broke the news on Monday. “Today I drove to Palm Beach” to tell Burns…

Nov 30, 2018 8:30 AM CST

Federal judge orders utility company to explain any role it had in causing California wildfires

A federal judge has ordered Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to reveal what role, if any, it had in causing the Camp Fire that destroyed the California town of Paradise and killed at least 88 people.

Nov 29, 2018 2:20 PM CST

Court removes judge from child rape case, citing opinion sarcasm and ‘personal animus’

A Pennsylvania appeals court has removed a judge from the resentencing of a convicted child rapist, citing the judge’s “demonstrated bias and personal animus” toward the defendant’s lawyer and the public defender’s office. A three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania ordered the recusal of Judge Donna Jo McDaniel…

Nov 29, 2018 12:12 PM CST

Supreme Court considers inmate’s argument that large swath of Oklahoma is still a reservation

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday considered a death-row inmate’s claim that he was wrongly convicted in state court because the murder he committed happened on land in East Central Oklahoma that was set aside as an American Indian reservation. A lawyer for inmate Patrick Murphy, Ian Gershengorn, argued the…

Nov 28, 2018 9:42 AM CST

Former Pennsylvania attorney general goes to jail after state high court turns down appeal

Updated: Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane reported to jail Thursday to begin serving a sentence of up to 23 months for perjury and obstruction of the law. Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy of Montgomery County revoked Kane’s bail on Tuesday, citing the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s refusal to hear Kane’s appeal on…

Nov 28, 2018 8:15 AM CST