GAO: Most Byrne JAG Aid to Police, Prosecution, Little to Defense
Almost none of the money that the federal government provides to state and local governments for justice system improvements goes to helping to defend poor people, says a Government Accountability Office study quoted by The Constitution Project. The organization says the report bears out claims that supporters of indigent defense have made for years that there is an enormous disparity between governmental financial support for prosecutors and defenders.
Ex-LAPD Detective Sentenced to 27 Years in Cold-Case Murder
Former LAPD detective Stephanie Lazarus, 52, was sentenced Friday to 27 years to life in prison for murdering the wife of her former lover 26 years ago, reports the Huffington Post. She was found guilty in March of killing Sherri Rasmussen, a nurse who was bludgeoned and shot to death in the condo she shared with her husband of three months, John Ruetten. Prosecutors said Lazarus was consumed with jealousy when Ruetten decided to marry Rasmussen.
Police memos lead to state ethics investigation
“The memos are copied to the Prosecuting Attorney who responds thanking the officer who ...
"Grandma" Refuses Guilty Plea in Drug Case, Gets Life Without Parole
Three years after a jury convicted Houston grandmother Elisa Castillo in a conspiracy to smuggle at least a ton of cocaine on tour buses from Mexico to Houston, the 56-year-old first-time offender is locked up for life without parole, reports the Houston Chronicle. "It is ridiculous," said Castillo, who is a generation older than her cell mates, and is known as "grandma" in prison.
As Death Penalty Cases Proceed in NC, Executions Are In Doubt
If a North Carolina jury finds him guilty in an ongoing trial, Jason Williford will get a death sentence in the 2010 rape and beating death of state school board member Kathy Taft, says WRAL. In Durham, prosecutors say are seeking the death penalty for O'Brian McNeil White, who is charged in a March shooting at a tire store. Even if courts hand down the state's ultimate sanction in these high-profile crimes, death penalty experts say it's impossible to say when, or even if, the sentences will ever be carried out.
Alleged Abductor First Flagged Down Student
The allegations focus on a 43-year-old East Haven man. Police arrested him this weekend after a Wallingford woman said he flagged her down as she got off work from the Keys to the City nightclub and forced her to drive around town for hours on trips to the ATM and then to the Farnam Courts housing complex to buy crack. Cops have arrested him over 50 times in the past, and he played a central role in an alleged police/prostitution scandal in Madison.
Mediation Rise Helps Lead to More Charges Sustained Vs. Chicago Cops
Chicago is seeing a rise in the number of disciplinary charges sustained against cops — partly because more of those cases are being resolved through mediation, says the Chicago Sun-Times, quoting the agency that investigates police misconduct. The Independent Police Review Authority sustained charges against officers in 70 investigations last year. In the first three months of this year, the agency has sustained charges in 33 investigations.
Detective Solves Murder Mystery—& Can Retire
Joe Pettola couldn’t rest until he found out who killed basketball standout T.J. Mathis. Tuesday afternoon he brought good news to Mathis’ parents: He’d solved the case.
