Recent Updates
-
Man headed to prison for stealing donations
Criminal Law 05/13/2009The former executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine has been sentenced to eight months in prison for stealing more than $100,000 in contributions to the nonprofit. Raafat Dajani (dah-JAHN'-ee) of Arlington, Va., admitted he would in...
-
Man jailed for dodging child support for 14 kids
Criminal Law 04/12/2009Authorities in Michigan say a man fathered 14 children with 13 different women and owes more than $530,000 in unpaid child support. The Flint Journal reports 42-year-old Thomas Frazier was jailed Thursday. Court records say he hasn't made a support p...
-
Wash. man convicted in fellow student's murder
Criminal Law 04/02/2009A 20-year-old man who had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic was convicted Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a fellow high school student. Douglas S. Chanthabouly had been charged with first-degree murder but a Pierce County Superior Court j...
-
Final arguments ready in Spector murder retrial
Criminal Law 03/23/2009Six years after actress Lana Clarkson died of a gunshot wound at Phil Spector's hilltop mansion, lawyers will once again deliver final arguments to a jury in the legendary music producer's murder trial. The question hanging over these proceedings is ...
-
Hedge-fund swindler due in NY court after checkup
Criminal Law 02/27/2009Fresh from a medical exam, a New York hedge-fund cheat is returning to court on charges that he skipped out on a 20-year prison sentence. Instead of reporting to federal prison last June for bilking millions from his investors, Samuel Israel faked hi...
-
Grand jury: Miss. athlete's gunshot death accident
Criminal Law 02/13/2009A Mississippi grand jury has ruled that the shooting death of a star high school football player during a traffic stop was accidental. The ruling Thursday tracks the conclusion of the initial investigation that Billey Joe Johnson had shot himself wit...
-
Fla. executes man for killing Tampa teen in 1983
Criminal Law 02/12/2009A Florida rapist convicted of murdering his girlfriend's teenage daughter more than 25 years ago has been executed. Wayne Tompkins was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m. Wednesday after he failed to get courts to listen to his claims of innocence. He was p...
-
Ex-La. insurance CEO pleads not guilty to theft
Criminal Law 02/03/2009The former chief of Louisiana's state-backed insurance company pleaded not guilty Monday in a criminal case that accuses him of fraudulently spending the firm's money for personal travel and entertainment. Terry Lisotta was arraigned in Baton Rouge o...
-
Teen accused in taped Fla. beating pleads guilty
Criminal Law 01/29/2009One of five teenagers accused in the videotaped beating of a Florida girl has accepted a plea deal.Eighteen-year-old Mercades Nichols pleaded guilty Tuesday to battery and tampering with a witness. The State Attorney's Office said a kidnapping charge...
-
Supreme Court reviews speedy trial issue
Criminal Law 01/14/2009The Supreme Court appeared unlikely Tuesday to favor a broad rule that rewards criminal defendants with dismissal of charges against them because of trial delays by their taxpayer-funded lawyers. The court heard arguments in a case from Vermont in wh...
-
2 Ill. men accused of running $15M fraud scheme
Criminal Law 01/08/2009Two men passed themselves off as foreign currency traders to swindle customers out of $15 million, which they used to pay for a lifestyle that included strip clubs, jewelry and private jets, according to a criminal complaint unveiled Wednesday in fed...
-
Santa gunman lost job, wife before gory attack
Criminal Law 12/29/2008Bruce and Sylvia Pardo started the new year in 2006 with all signs pointing to a bright future — an upcoming marriage, a combined income of about $150,000, half-million-dollar home on a quiet cul-de-sac and a beloved dog, Saki.But things quickly turn...