Sentencing/Post Conviction

Bill intended to speed up capital appeals, opposed by the ABA, is signed by Alabama’s governor

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday signed into law a bill requiring capital defendants to pursue direct and post-conviction appeals at the same time. Ivey said in a press release that the bill, known as the Fair Justice Act, “strikes an important balance between protecting the rights of a defendant…

May 30, 2017 1:40 PM CDT

Alabama inmate is executed; Sotomayor dissent criticizes midazolam and lawyer phone ban

Alabama inmate Thomas “Tommy” Arthur was executed early Friday, the eighth time an execution had been scheduled for him. Arthur, 75, was put to death for the 1982 murder of his lover’s husband after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution, spurring a dissent by Justice Sonia Sotomayor,…

May 26, 2017 8:45 AM CDT

Top criminal court in Texas exonerates former judge convicted in 2011 bribery case

Former Texas Judge Suzanne Wooten no longer has a criminal record, despite her 2011 conviction on bribery charges. Ruling on a writ of innocence, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the top criminal court in Texas, ruled on Friday that Wooten’s conviction should be vacated and a judgment of acquittal…

May 25, 2017 12:35 PM CDT

DA goes on Facebook to protest light sentence given to confessed rapist

A California judge suspended most of the three-year sentence for a 20-year-old man accused of raping his younger sister, saying the stigma of the conviction and sex offender registration would be a sufficient deterrent to the defendant and others, according to the outraged district attorney in the case. Judge William…

May 25, 2017 10:31 AM CDT

Man convicted of murdering his defense lawyer proclaims innocence at sentencing

A Rockford, Illinois, man made just one statement when he was sentenced on Tuesday to natural life in prison for the murder of his defense lawyer. “I want to state I’m innocent of these charges,” said the defendant, 55-year-old Richard Wanke, who added that he was directing his lawyers to…

May 24, 2017 9:45 AM CDT

Alabama bill intended to shorten capital appeals is sent to governor; ABA had opposed it

The Alabama Legislature has passed and sent to the governor a bill intended to shorten death penalty appeals in the state.

The Legislature gave final approval to the bill last week despite opposition by the ABA, report AL.com and WHNT-TV. The bill requires requires defendants to seek post-conviction relief at the same time they are pursuing a direct appeal.

May 22, 2017 8:47 AM CDT

Former judge gets probation for offering beer and $100 for his wife’s texts to an FBI agent

A former judge in North Carolina has avoided prison time for offering cases of beer and $100 cash to obtain his wife’s text messages from an FBI task force officer. Former Judge Arnold Ogden Jones II of Wayne County was sentenced to probation on Wednesday, report The Associated Press, the…

May 18, 2017 3:37 PM CDT

Mistakenly released inmate who won reprieve from judge is arrested by federal immigration agents

The future appeared bright for an inmate mistakenly released from prison in 2008 when a Colorado judge ruled Tuesday that he won’t have to serve the final 90 years of his sentence for participating in the two video store robberies. But things took a turn for the worse for Rene…

May 18, 2017 8:38 AM CDT

Mistakenly released inmate won’t have to serve remaining 90 years, judge rules

An inmate mistakenly released from prison in 2008 won’t have to serve the rest of his 98-year sentence, a Colorado judge has ruled. Chief District Judge Carlos Samour Jr. of Arapahoe County ruled Tuesday that it would be “draconian” and a “manifest injustice” to require Rene Lima-Marin to remain in…

May 17, 2017 12:42 PM CDT

Chelsea Manning leaves prison after sentence in leaks case is commuted

The U.S. soldier sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking classified information was released Wednesday as a result of a commutation granted by former President Barack Obama. Chelsea Manning was released from Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas after serving seven years, report the Associated Press, the New York…

May 17, 2017 9:41 AM CDT

Alabama bill intended to streamline death-penalty appeals has ‘serious problems,’ ABA says

Alabama legislation designed to streamline capital appeals increases the risk that an innocent person will be executed, according to ABA President Linda A. Klein. Her May 12 letter (PDF) to members of the Alabama Legislature, written on behalf of the ABA, says the legislation known as the Fair Justice Act…

May 15, 2017 3:06 PM CDT

Sessions overturns Holder’s policy that softened drug charges against low-level offenders

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday ordered federal prosecutors to file the most serious, readily provable charges possible against offenders, reversing a policy that had softened sentences for low-level drug offenders. Sessions’ memo rescinds a 2013 policy enacted by former Attorney General Eric Holder that told prosecutors to avoid charging…

May 12, 2017 8:42 AM CDT

Sessions mulls bringing back harsher charges for low-level drug crimes

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ordered a review of Obama administration policies that had instructed prosecutors to avoid charging low-level drug defendants with crimes carrying minimum penalties. The review could “mark the first significant move by the Trump administration to bring back the drug war’s toughest practices,” the Washington Post…

May 9, 2017 2:34 PM CDT

Judge cites common law doctrine in vacating Aaron’s Hernandez’s murder conviction

A Massachusetts judge on Tuesday vacated the murder conviction for former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez. Judge E. Susan Garsh said Massachusetts law required her to vacate the 2015 conviction because Hernandez’s appeal was pending when he died in a suicide, report The Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal…

May 9, 2017 12:18 PM CDT

DA plans to report judge for suggesting $1 fine for each inappropriate touch in harassment case

The district attorney in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, is criticizing a judge who suggested a $1 fine for each inappropriate touch in a juvenile’s harassment case. Mike Manko, a spokesman for District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr., says the judge will be brought to the attention of “the appropriate persons and, if…

May 5, 2017 10:13 AM CDT