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High court to decide double jeopardy question
Attorney News |
2011/10/12 09:43
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The Supreme Court will decide whether a jury forewoman's offhand comment that the jury was unable to make a decision on a murder charge means the suspect can't be retried on that charge.
The high court on Tuesday agreed to hear an appeal from Alex Blueford, whose murder trial in Arkansas ended in a hung jury.
The jury forewoman told the judge before he declared a mistrial that the jury had voted unanimously against capital murder and first-degree murder. The jury had deadlocked on a lesser charge, manslaughter, which caused the judge to declare a mistrial.
Blueford argued the forewoman's statement, said in open court, meant that he has been acquitted of capital murder and first-degree murder.
Prosecutors decided to retry Blueford on all three charges. He contended he could not be retried on capital murder and first-degree murder because of Fifth Amendment double jeopardy protections.
Arkansas courts have disagreed. The high court will now review that decision.
Blueford was on trial for killing his girlfriend's 20-month-old son. |
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Hogan to be new courts administrative officer
Attorney News |
2011/10/05 09:36
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Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan is the new director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Hogan, a former chief U.S. District Court judge in Washington, will serve a one-year term as the chief administrative officer for the federal court system. He will oversee the federal judiciary's 35,000 employees and its almost $7 billion annual budget.
The Judicial Conference of the United States is the principal policymaking body for the federal court system. As its presiding officer, Chief Justice John Roberts selected Hogan for the position.
Hogan will begin Oct. 17. He plans to resume work as a senior federal judge after his term ends.
The previous director, James Duff, left this summer to become president of the Freedom Forum. |
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Noted NJ attorney Michael Cole dies at 67
Attorney News |
2011/09/21 23:51
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Michael Cole, a noted lawyer who held several key state government positions during his long legal career, has died. He was 67.
Cole's death was announced Sunday by the Teaneck-based law firm of DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick & Cole, but further details were not disclosed. The Morris Township resident had been a partner with the firm for many years before recently retiring and was still serving as a counsel for them.
During his governmental career, Cole served as chief counsel to Gov. Tom Kean and also had been a first assistant Attorney General, where he handled matters ranging from school funding to gubernatorial powers to gaming regulation.
A graduate of Rutgers Law School, Cole was an attorney for more than 40 years. Among his survivors is his wife, state Supreme Court Justice Jaynee LaVecchia.
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Anthony lawyer rises from obscurity to legal fame
Attorney News |
2011/07/12 09:26
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Three years ago, Jose Baez's name was barely a blip in the legal community.
This was a lawyer who made his way to the profession after dropping out of high school, getting a GED and going into the Navy. He tried several failed businesses — including two bikini companies — before he eventually enrolled at Florida State University and St. Thomas University School of Law. It took another eight years for him to be admitted to the bar.
Now he's arguably one of the most recognizable attorneys in the country after his client Casey Anthony was acquitted in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, in a case marked by a captivated national audience and searing scrutiny of every legal twist.
For the last three years since, Baez faced questions from other attorneys and TV commentators about his lack of criminal law experience and tactics. Now he's a legal celebrity almost certain to be offered interviews, book offers and possibly movie deals that could bring hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"I think this is obviously life-altering for Jose Baez," said Terry Lenamon, a former member of Anthony's defense team, who left the case in 2008 after a disagreement over strategy.
Baez, 42, took Anthony's case pro bono in 2008, after getting a referral from a former client who shared a cell with Anthony following her initial arrest. He has handled the case since then, operating on state funds available to Anthony because of her indigent status, and from an early $200,000 she received from licensing photos and videos to ABC News.
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Court orders reconsideration of parole judgment
Attorney News |
2011/06/11 20:29
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The Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to reconsider its decision to release a criminal on parole.
The high court threw out a lower court decision ordering John Pirtle and other prisoners released from prison on parole.
Pirtle was convicted of killing his wife, and the parole board started denying him parole in 2002. Pirtle sued in federal court, saying his parole was denied without any proof that he posed a danger if he got out.
The lower courts agreed with him and ordered him and other prisoners in similar situations released on parole.
The high court threw out that decision in a summary judgment and ordered the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to reconsider it.
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