crime

The push for Obama to attend Pendleton's funeral begs the question of whether he has a special obligation to appear at every victim of violence's funeral. The answer is no. Earl Ofari Hutchinson http://www.huffingtonpost.com/earl-ofari-hutchinson/

Adam Lee Johnson, Gay Michigan Man, Attacked In Alleged Hate Crime
Huffington Post
A gay Michigan man believes he was the victim of a hate crime after a brutal Feb. 3 attack. Adam Lee Johnson, 29, was allegedly attacked as he was leaving the Muskegon nightspot DJ's Pub & Grill, where he performs karaoke, Fox 17 Online reports ...

A gay Michigan man believes he was the victim of a hate crime after a brutal Feb. 3 attack. Adam Lee Johnson, 29, was allegedly... Curtis M. Wong http://www.huffingtonpost.com/curtis-wong/

The Republican-controlled Arkansas House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously passed legislation which would strip convicted rapists of parental rights to children conceived as a result... John Celock http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-celock/

A Cook County judge was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Cynthia Brim avoided jail time for battery charges on Monday. She was re-elected... Simon McCormack http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simon-mccormack/

Trayvon Martin would have celebrated his 18th birthday today. The teen, whose story quickly became the topic of almost every news discussion last year, was... Danielle Cadet http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danielle-cadet/

W*USA 9
Man found guilty of murder in Arlingtonian Carl Diener's death
Washington Post
An Arlington jury found Javon Martin guilty Tuesday of first-degree murder and robbery in the 2009 stabbing death of popular Arlington resident Carl Diener. The jury, which began deliberating Monday, recommended a sentence of 27 years in prison for ...
Man Found Guilty Of Arlington MurderW*USA 9

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Man pleads guilty in 2007 GameStop murder
Atlanta Journal Constitution
A man pleaded guilty Tuesday for the murder of a GameStop store manager in Marietta in 2007. In a Cobb County courtroom, Patrick Graham muttered only a few words when the judge asked if he knew what he was doing when he entered a guilty plea in the ...

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An argument over dog feces led to the fatal shooting of a Dallas couple, authorities told local reporters. Chung Kim, 75, allegedly shot neighbors Jamie... Sara Gates http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sara-gates/

Ewan McGregor Crime Thriller Adds Alicia Vikander, Brenton Thwaites, Jacek ...
Deadline.com
Busy up-and-comer Alicia Vikander is becoming quite the globetrotter. The Swedish actress who rose to prominence with the Oscar-nominated Danish film A Royal Affair, then shot Anna Karenina in England, The Seventh Son in the U.S. and has a role in The ...

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Assault prompted by Gene Simmons comments

Though Kevin George Poe, 25, originally faced a maximum of 15 years in federal prison, he will now likely avoid incarceration.

Simmons DDoS Plea

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"Anonymous" assault prompted by Gene Simmons piracy comments

Though Kevin George Poe, 25, originally faced a maximum of 15 years in federal prison, he will likely avoid incarceration due to a sweet misdemeanor deal.

Simmons DDoS Plea

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CBS Local
Man charged with murder in woman's strangulation
Houston Chronicle
Harvey Davis is charged with murder in the death of Linda Spells, whose body was found about noon Saturday in the 2400 block of Francis in the back yard of a house connected to a church next door. The 53-year-old woman was partially clothed and had no ...
HPD: Suspect Arrested, Charged With Murder Of WomanCBS Local

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Even after a judge exonerates a wrongfully convicted person on the basis of DNA and other evidence, Ohio prosecutors often appeal the ruling, which sparks concern about their commitment to justice.

That's exactly what happened in the case of Douglas Prade, who was declared innocent by a judge and freed last week, and Joseph D'Ambrosio, who was also wrongfully convicted and freed from death row, reported the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The cases highlight a mindset under which some prosecutors have continued their legal assaults on defendants after judges -- following thorough, articulated reviews -- attacked government attorneys as lacking even the basics needed to take their cases to trial.

...

It has raised a growing concern about whether prosecutors are out to seek justice, as they are sworn to do, or to win cases at all costs.

Whatever the reason for appeal, the process can delay or prevent the exonerated from receiving compensation. It's too soon to know how the appeal in Prade's case will turn out, and D'Ambrosio has been battling appeals since a federal judge overturned his conviction in 2006, ruling that prosecutors withheld evidence that might have exonerated him at 1989 trial. Four years later, the presiding judge barred prosecutors from trying him again because they failed to disclose the death of a key witness, reported the Plain Dealer.

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More on Douglas Prade.

More on Joseph D'Ambrosio.

By Jessica Dye NEW YORK, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The head of a proposed mosque that was to be built near the site of the... Reuters http://www.huffingtonpost.com/reuters/

Report: Canteen theft starts riot at Al Cannon Detention Center
Live 5 News
Police have arrested a 28-year-old woman accused of pointing a gun at a school official outside Ashley Hall School in downtown. The Charleston Police Department charged Alice Boland of Beaufort withMore >>. Police reports released Tuesday indicate the ...

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Five years after the Columbus Post-Dispatch published its award-winning series "Test of Convictions," the paper caught up with five men who have been cleared through DNA testing since its publication. Through a collaboration with the Ohio Innocence Project, the series led to the DNA exonerations of four men: Robert McClendon, Raymond Towler, Joseph Fears and David Ayers. A fifth man, Douglas Prade, was freed just last week after DNA testing excluded him in the murder of his ex-wife. The District Attorneys' Office plans to appeal.

"Test of Convictions" uncovered Ohio's flawed evidence-retention system and the state's resistance to post-conviction DNA testing. The series also highlighted the need for DNA testing in the cases of 30 inmates. Of the 30, five were cleared through DNA, four were implicated, seven were denied testing, ten got inconclusive results and the remaining cases are still ongoing.

Just after Prade's release last week, the five exonerees met and shared their common experiences for the first time. The Dispatch Reports:

The first four freed Ohioans gathered at The Dispatch to commemorate the project and meet Prade, who, coincidentally, was released on the fifth anniversary of the Dispatch series. While sharing plates of spaghetti and lasagna at a local restaurant, which Prade called the best meal he had eaten in 15 years, the men swapped stories about life on the inside and just how much the world had changed on the outside.

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D.C. talk radio station WMAL turned down Grammy award-winning country musician Steve Vaus's attempt to buy ad time to air a politically charged song. According... The Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/will-wrigley/

A New York appeals court ruled last week that Queens prosecutors' violated the constitution through their interrogation program, which identified people without counsel to interrogate before reading them their Miranda rights. Roopal Patel http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roopal-patel/

Chuck Norris Column: Reducing Violent Crime In the US From the Inside Out
NewsBusters (blog)
In the past two weeks, I've highlighted ways we can reduce violent crime in the U.S. But I've saved the best and most powerful solutions for last because they work from the inside out. In Part 1, I revealed how rational and rewarding it would be to ...

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