public defender

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Lawyer Who Flipped Bird in Parkland Court Investigated

Florida Bar confirms probe involving Tamara Curtis, assistant public defender for shooter

(Newser) - One of the assistant public defenders for the Parkland school shooter is now the subject of a probe herself. Per NBC Miami , the Florida Bar confirmed Thursday that Tamara Curtis is being investigated, though it's remaining tight-lipped on what the investigation entails. Local 10 reports that Curtis wasn't...

Chauvin Files Appeal, Asks for Public Defender
Derek Chauvin Is
Denied a Public Defender
UPDATED
Oct 7, 2021 10:10 AM CDT

Derek Chauvin Is Denied a Public Defender

He filed an appeal in September, listing 14 issues with conviction

(Newser) - Update: Derek Chauvin's request to have a public defender assist him with his appeal of George Floyd's murder has been shot down by the Minnesota Supreme Court. The Star Tribune reports Chief Justice Lorie Gildea said Chauvin failed to prove that, as the law requires, he cannot afford...

Lawyer Gets in Trouble Over Duct-Tape Incident

Attorney Michael Gregory can no longer take his cellphone to court

(Newser) - A Louisiana district judge has found a public defender in contempt of court after he filmed a bailiff duct-taping a defendant's mouth during a sentencing hearing this month, the AP reports. The Acadiana Advocate reports state District Judge Marilyn Castle barred attorney Michael Gregory from bringing a cellphone into...

Public Defender Asks to Drop School Shooting Suspect

Nikolas Cruz is set to inherit $432K

(Newser) - The public defenders for the Parkland school massacre suspect unexpectedly asked to withdraw from the case Wednesday, saying the 20-year-old man will soon inherit nearly a half-million dollars and no longer qualify for free legal representation. The Broward County Public Defender's Office filed the unexpected notice late Wednesday, saying...

George Zimmerman: I Have No Job, No Assets, Owe $2.5M

Man acquitted in Trayvon Martin case does have public defender to help with new stalking charges

(Newser) - George Zimmerman is back in the legal system, apparently a little poorer this time around. CNN reports public defender Blaise Trettis has been assigned to Zimmerman—the Florida man acquitted in the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin —after Zimmerman told a Seminole County court that he has...

Women Lawyers Sue to Stop Masturbating Inmates

Even pizza didn't get them to stop

(Newser) - Public masturbation is so rampant in Chicago's Cook County Jail that officials offered inmates pizza to stop, a federal lawsuit claims. Hundreds of female public defenders and law clerks working at the jail and other lockups have had to endure "on an almost daily basis" inmates who "...

Video Allegedly Shows More Planted Evidence in Baltimore

2 cops under investigation after November traffic stop

(Newser) - More drug charges have been dropped in Baltimore as a result of a second body-camera video that apparently shows police officers planting evidence. The unreleased video "appears to depict multiple officers working together to manufacture evidence," according to the city's public defender. The news comes less than...

Suspect Is Given Unusual Public Defender —the Governor

Assignment is a protest against chronically overloaded system

(Newser) - Missouri's top public defender says his office is so overworked that he has had to assign a case to a lawyer who can do something about the problem: Gov. Jay Nixon. Michael Barrett says he assigned the assault case to the Democratic governor under a rule that allows him...

How Hillary Clinton Freed an Alleged Child Rapist

In old recording, Clinton reminisces about defense attorney days

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton is in the spotlight right now, thanks to her new book and will-she-or-won't-she 2016 speculation , and it sure looks like someone's using the opportunity to roll out some opposition research. The right-leaning Washington Free Beacon yesterday released newly discovered recordings from the 1980s in which Clinton...

Judge Tells Lawyer, 'I'll Beat Your Ass,' Does So

Allegedly attacks public defender in hall

(Newser) - A judge in Florida got testy during a hearing, and his feud with a public defender ended with a hallway scuffle. Video shows a disagreement in court between the two, with Judge John Murphy telling lawyer Andrew Weinstock, "If I had a rock, I would throw it at you...

How You Lost Your Right to Free Legal Counsel

Feds refuse to support historic Gideon v. Wainwright decision

(Newser) - Fifty years ago, a letter from a petty thief inspired the US Supreme Court to grant all criminal suspects the right to legal counsel—but today that right is effectively ebbing away, writes Andrew Cohen in The Atlantic . The thief was Clarence Gideon, and his case became the landmark Supreme...

Garrido Apologizes, Says 'Sexual Problem' Cured
Garrido Apologizes,
Says 'Sexual Problem' Cured
JAYCEE DUGARD CASE
Nov 13, 2009 10:30 AM CST

Garrido Apologizes, Says 'Sexual Problem' Cured

Accused kidnapper 'a changed man': lawyer

(Newser) - Phillip Garrido, Jaycee Dugard’s accused kidnapper, says he “would like to apologize to every human being for what has taken place.” In a letter—his third sent to KCRA from prison—Garrido adds that, “through the spirit of Christ,” a “sexual problem believed to...

Recession Delivers Double Whammy to Legal Aid Offices

(Newser) - The recession has crippled funding for legal aid even as it has bumped up the number of people requesting representation, McClatchy reports. Though the federal government ramped up spending this year—and plans an even bigger increase for 2010—state funding and private donations have cratered, forcing legal aid to...

Burnt-Out Defenders Refuse New Cases

(Newser) - Public defenders are as overworked as hell, and they’re not going to take it anymore, the New York Times reports. Arguing that their hectic schedules result in scant attention for clients, government-appointed lawyers around the country are refusing new cases and suing to limit their workload. “The quality...

Jury Selection Turns to Facebook, Blogs, Data

Experts mine online profiles for background on jurors' views

(Newser) - Get called for jury duty these days, and you can expect attorneys to know a lot more about you than they let on. Trial consultants who used to specialize in legwork—visiting neighbors and friends to gather clues to potential jurors' views—are now expert Web surfers, tracing things like...

Executions Are Back—So Are Fairness Issues

3 recent death row releases show poor get shoddy defense

(Newser) - The problem with the death penalty isn’t the method of execution, it’s “poor people getting lousy lawyers,”  the director of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project tells the New York Times. Now that the Supreme Court has green-lighted lethal injection and Georgia has resumed executions, opponents...

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