Jury finds defendant “innocent by reason of insanity”? March 31, 2008
Posted by Idta in : Criminal Law , add a comment
This article about Rusty Yates starting a new family claims that his first wife was found “innocent” of killing their children.
Sloppy reporting like this misleads the public and could hurt people for whom “Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity” would be the appropriate result.
Andrea Yates was found innocent by reason of insanity in July 2006 and sent to a state mental hospital.
Crime doesn’t play March 25, 2008
Posted by Idta in : Criminal Law , add a comment At first I was intrigued by the headline Home Ransacked After Craigslist Hoax and thought maybe the homeowner had committed a hoax online, and someone tracked him down and retaliated. NOPE! Just a pretty mean trick. (And stupid. They’ll get him.)
P.S. Even though it must be awful for the homeowner, it’s hard not to smile as you watch the video.
Dozens of people descended on Robert Salisbury’s Oregon home after ads posted on Craigslist Saturday said his belongings — including his horse — were free for the taking. But the ads were a hoax. When Salisbury returned home, some people refused to stop taking his things.
Prison succumbs to peer pressure March 22, 2008
Posted by Idta in : Criminal Law , add a comment I imagine this is every parolee’s and released prisoner’s recurring nightmare: Officials say error freed ex-SLA radical. The parole board had already decided to let her go. So after some public criticism, they go looking for an excuse to snatch her back?
Criticism that followed Sara Jane Olson’s release Monday spurred a thorough review of her sentence and the timing of her parole, Chief Deputy Secretary Scott Kernan said at a news conference.
Whose side is he on? March 18, 2008
Posted by Idta in : Attorney-Client, Criminal Law , add a comment The headline suggests the rapist himself told the judge that he had HIV, but the story reveals it was actually the defendant’s *lawyer* who revealed that fact to the judge. And it cost the client a longer prison sentence!
That’s longer than he might have gotten usual for a rape conviction, and it’s because his attorney Ernest Staine told the court that Cardenas has HIV.
The week after never. March 13, 2008
Posted by Idta in : Criminal Law , add a comment When would you refer someone to a lawyer who lied to you?
