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When Official Truth Collides With Cheap Digital Technology
Around 9:30 on Friday night, a bicyclist pedaling down Seventh Avenue veered to the left, trying to avoid hitting a police officer who was in the middle of the street. But the officer, Patrick Pogan, took a few quick steps toward the biker, Christopher Long, braced himself and drove his upper body into Mr. Long.
As of Tuesday evening, a videotape of the encounter had been viewed about 400,000 times on YouTube. Later that night, Officer Pogan composed a story of his encounter with Mr. Long. It bore no resemblance to the events seen on the videotape. Based on the sworn complaint, Mr. Long was held for 26 hours on charges of attempted assault and disorderly conduct. Read more...
Web networking photos come back to bite defendants
Two weeks after Joshua Lipton was charged in a drunken driving crash that seriously injured a woman, the 20-year-old college junior attended a Halloween party dressed as a prisoner. Pictures from the party showed him in a black-and-white striped shirt and an orange jumpsuit labeled "Jail Bird." [The prosecutor] used the pictures to paint Lipton as an unrepentant partier who lived it up while his victim recovered in the hospital. A judge agreed, calling the pictures depraved when sentencing Lipton to two years in prison. Read more...
Judge may 'out' firm's secret DUI code
A Pima County Superior Court judge said she favors ordering a Kentucky manufacturer to release the software source code of its alcohol breath machine unless a prosecutor can persuade her otherwise. Read more...
Its time for a fair playing field
The Holliman family murder trial looks like a bad episode of "Law & Order" - minus the order... When Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Eileen A. Gallagher forced prosecutors to open their investigative files to the defense, a prosecutor ran to another court to file a motion to stop her. The appeals court ruled for the judge. Read more...
Ohio evidence disclosure rules invite misconduct by prosecutors - editorial
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Eileen A. Gallagher railed against prosecutors this week for "outrageous" handling of an aggravated murder case, accusing them of withholding crucial evidence from defense lawyers. Read more...
Judge asked to bar crying
Quit your crying and begging! That's the theme of an offbeat motion that Butler County prosecutors filed this week trying to keep a particular defense attorney from getting emotional in an upcoming death penalty case.
The request was filed less than two weeks after defense lawyer Greg Howard shed a few tears and begged jurors to spare Harvey Johnson's life for killing of Kiva Gazaway of Liberty Township. Read more...
Caribou County Prosecutor Sentenced After Taking Plea Deal
It's been just about a year since Caribou County Prosecutor Criss James was charged with dismissing charges in exchange for money. Thursday, James pled guilty to an agreement made between the State and Defense. Read more...
Industrial Commission supervisor forced out: State agency aims to resolve internal dissent
The No. 2 administrator at the state agency that handles appeals of Bureau of Workers' Compensation cases has been fired, as the agency attempts to recover from internal dissent and two reports that accuse its managers of abusive practices. Read more...
What's Wrong With CSI: Forensic evidence doesn't always tell the truth.
Forensic evidence is foolproof, right? It's how those clever cops on CSI always catch the killer. DNA evidence springs innocent men from prison. Fingerprints nab the bad guys.
If only forensics were that reliable. Instead, to judge by the most comprehensive study on the reliability of forensic evidence to date, the error rate is more than 10% in five categories of analysis, including fiber, paint and body fluids. Read More...
Video: Don't Ever Talk to the Police
This is an excellent video showing James Duane explain why innocent people should never talk to the police. To view the video click here... | 
