7th Circuit: Illinois Eavesdropping Law Cannot Be Enforced To Stop People From Recording Police

May 18, 2012

flag gavel xsmall 300x199 7th Circuit: Illinois Eavesdropping Law Cannot Be Enforced To Stop People From Recording PoliceLast year we wrote a story about a woman who avoided a potential 15-year jail sentence after being acquitted of felony charges for violating an Illinois law that prohibits secretly recording conversations with police without their permission. The ACLU then filed a lawsuit challenging the Illinois law saying it was unconstitutional to prevent people from openly recording police officers working in public. The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals took the case on appeal after a federal judge dismissed the suit.

The Seventh Circuit finally ruled in that case and found that the controversial law “likely violates the First Amendment’s free-speech and free-press guarantees.” The appeals court also barred Cook County prosecutors from enforcing that law.

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First Circuit Ruling Thwarts Governor’s Effort to Keep Inmate from Facing Possible Death Penalty

May 16, 2012

gavel 01 300x200 First Circuit Ruling Thwarts Governor’s Effort to Keep Inmate from Facing Possible Death Penalty In a November 2011 article we reported on a ruling by a three-judge panel of the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which upheld Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee’s right to deny transfer of a state prisoner to federal authorities for trial. At issue for Governor Chafee is that the inmate, Jason W. Pleau, who has been accused of fatally shooting a gas station manager in front of a federally insured bank in 2010, may potentially face the death penalty if handed over to federal authorities. Governor Chafee is opposed to the death penalty, and Rhode Island has outlawed it.

An en banc panel of the First Circuit has now ruled that Governor Chafee must hand over the inmate to federal authorities to face trial.

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California Prosecutor Suspended For Ordering Secret Recordings of Inmate’s Privileged Conversations

May 14, 2012

scales injustice xsmall 300x238 California Prosecutor Suspended For Ordering Secret Recordings of Inmate’s Privileged ConversationsA veteran prosecutor in Alameda County, California has been put on administrative leave for violating attorney-client privilege by ordering secret recordings of a defendant’s jailhouse conversations with a defense-hired expert. A spokesperson for the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office said the prosecutor, identified by court records as Deputy District Attorney Danielle London, will remain on leave pending the results of the investigation into her conduct.

The San Jose Mercury News reports:

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Indiana Attorney Charged With Allegedly Misappropriating $2.5M In Client Settlement Funds

May 11, 2012

fraud handcuffs small1 Indiana Attorney Charged With Allegedly Misappropriating $2.5M In Client Settlement FundsAn attorney from Indianapolis, Indiana has been charged by federal authorities with wire fraud in connection to having allegedly misappropriated client funds in excess of $2.5 million. William F. Conour, 64, who operates a construction-liability law practice, is accused of keeping the majority of client settlement monies rather than depositing the funds into a client trust account.

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California Judge Dismisses Entire Jury Because Prosecutors Refused To Seat One Juror Who Is Gay

May 9, 2012

jury box California Judge Dismisses Entire Jury Because Prosecutors Refused To Seat One Juror Who Is GayA judge in San Diego, California recently dismissed an entire jury after ruling that prosecutors had violated the defendants’ rights when they dismissed a potential juror because he was gay. The defendants in the case are six activists for same-sex marriage who are charged with unlawfully blocking the operation of the county clerk’s office during a protest in August 2010.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, “Superior Court Judge Joan Weber ruled that the defendants in the case were denied a representative jury when prosecutors challenged the selection of a gay man to be on the panel. She said she found the actions of the San Diego City Attorney’s Office ‘shocking.’”

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Workers Comp Fraud: Two California Men Charged With Inflating Cost Of Spinal Implants

May 7, 2012

fraud handcuffs small Workers Comp Fraud: Two California Men Charged With Inflating Cost Of Spinal ImplantsThe Santa Clara County District Attorney has charged two San Francisco men of workers compensation fraud for allegedly inflating the costs of spinal implants and overbilling for insurance reimbursements. Trudy Maurer, 67, and Tigran Shahsuvarya, 39, were charged with nine felony counts of fraud. Maurer is the CEO of Implantium, a company that purchases surgery implant devices and supplies them to hospitals.

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Inmate’s Guilty Plea Overturned Because Prison Chapel Trial Was Closed To The Public

May 4, 2012

courtroom 01 Inmate’s Guilty Plea Overturned Because Prison Chapel Trial Was Closed To The PublicA Texas Court of Criminal Appeals recently overturned a prison inmate’s guilty plea because his trial, which was held in a prison chapel, was closed to the public. The inmate, Conrad Lilly, had pleaded guilty to assaulting a prison guard after a trial judge had rejected his request to have his case transferred to an actual courthouse. On appeal, he claimed that his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial had been violated, and that the proceedings violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because they were held in the prison chapel. While upholding Lilly’s Sixth Amendment claim, the appeals court did not rule on his First Amendment claim.

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U.S. Supreme Court Rules Colorado Inmate Can Challenge His Murder Conviction

May 2, 2012

supreme court U.S. Supreme Court Rules Colorado Inmate Can Challenge His Murder ConvictionThe U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled (PDF) unanimously that a Colorado man who was convicted in the 1987 killing of a pizza shop assistant manager will be able to challenge his murder conviction in a habeas corpus appeal. The man, Patrick Wood, currently serving in a Colorado prison, is seeking habeas relief on a double jeopardy claim, arguing that his convictions for felony murder and second-degree murder for the pizza shop killings are two convictions for same crime.

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Ballot Measure Could End Death Penalty In California

April 30, 2012

execution chamber Ballot Measure Could End Death Penalty In CaliforniaCalifornia may soon end the death penalty if voters pass a measure that will appear on the state’s ballot in November. The measure, referred to as the SAFE California Act, seeks to repeal the death penalty and make a sentence of life in prison without parole the maximum punishment for murder. If voters pass the measure in November, California will become the 18th state in the nation without a death penalty, and the fifth state to repeal capital punishment in the past five years. There are currently 725 inmate’s on California’s death row.

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Federal Judge May Sanction Prosecutors For DEA Agent’s Concealing Of GPS Monitoring

April 27, 2012

courtroom 011 Federal Judge May Sanction Prosecutors For DEA Agent’s Concealing Of GPS MonitoringA federal judge in Iowa is considering leveling sanctions upon prosecutors after learning that a DEA agent withheld information from a defendant’s attorney regarding the use of GPS tracking to investigate his client. U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett said DEA policy required the agent, David Jensen, to specifically note in his reports that he used GPS tracking.

Law.com reports:

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