Oct. 24, 2012 By BENJAMIN WEISER and COLIN MOYNIHAN New York Times
More than 17 years after they were imprisoned for a murder they have long said they did not commit, Eric Glisson and Cathy Watkins walked free on Wednesday outside the Bronx County Hall of Justice, prompting an emotional scene there and ending a chapter in what may come to be seen as an extraordinary breakdown in criminal justice.
“I never thought I’d see this day because I had a life sentence,” Mr. Glisson said after both appeared outside the courthouse, each addressing crowds of friends, relatives and other supporters.
“I worked hard,” he continued. “I persevered, and with effort and determination I’m standing here before you.”
Earlier in the day in court, a Bronx prosecutor told a judge that the district attorney’s office had decided to take the “unprecedented” step of allowing Ms. Watkins, 44, and Mr. Glisson, 37, to be released, each wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, while the office continued to investigate findings that strongly suggested they were innocent. Read More
A former CIA officer who was charged with repeatedly leaking classified information pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to a single charge of disclosing the identity of an undercover CIA operative.
Under the plea agreement, the former officer, John C. Kiriakou, will be sentenced to prison for up to 30 months. The agreement marks the end of a case that involved the spilling of secrets to reporters and that was part of the Obama administration’s unprecedented
(ABC News/AP) - Former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who told reporters he participated in the interrogation of terrorist Abu Zubaydah, has been charged with leaking classified secrets about CIA operatives and other information to reporters.
Kiriakou, 47, worked undercover for the CIA for years and took part in multiple operations that led to the capture of al-Qaeda suspects in Pakistan. But he is most widely known for being among the first former CIA officials to speak publicly about the agency’s secret interrogation program, describing in a 2007 television interview the use of waterboarding on al-Qaeda suspects. Read More
Oct. 23, 2012 Complex Music
Joseph (Run) Simmons and Darryl (DMC) McDaniels kicked off a tour last month—their first without the turntablist of the group Jason (Jam Master Jay) Mizell, the victim of an unsolved murder surrounded by mystery.
The hip-hop group, known for classics like “It’s Tricky” and their Aerosmith collaboration “Walk This Way,” has been on the road without Jam Master Jay. The New York Police Department has expressed its frustrations for the October 30, 2002 murder that remains unsolved 10 years later without any leads.
Vincent Santangelo, who is a 22-year vet and the case’s head detective, tells the Daily News that his team had trouble getting a solid lead. “Nobody would or nobody could tell us the who or what. We’re still looking for that person,” Santangelo said. Read More
By Michael Graczyk Associated Press
HOUSTON — The State Bar of Texas is suing a former prosecutor who is now a state district judge, accusing him of withholding memos and other written evidence in the case of a man who served nearly 25 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit.
Ken Anderson was the prosecutor in 1987 when Michael Morton was sentenced to life in prison for the slaying of his wife at their home in Williamson County, just north of Austin. A year ago, DNA evidence cleared Morton and he was freed. Another man now faces a murder trial in his wife's death.
A disciplinary panel for the state lawyers' association contended in a lawsuit filed earlier this month that Anderson, now a judge in the Central Texas county, knew about the evidence but didn't disclose it to Morton's lawyers.
"Before, during and after the 1987 trial, (Anderson) knew of the existence of several pieces of evidence and withheld same from defense counsel," according to the lawsuit, which also serves as a disciplinary petition. Read More
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Alameda County Sheriff's Department is hoping to become one of the handful of local law enforcement agencies that have received federal clearance to use unmanned aerial drones to fight crime, a goal that already is arousing concerns among privacy advocates.
Civil liberties and privacy groups revealed Thursday that Sheriff Greg Ahern is seeking Department of Homeland Security funding to buy a small remote-controlled drone called a Dragon Fly. If the money comes through and the Federal Aviation Administration permits the department to test the device, Alameda would be the first public safety agency in California to deploy technology first developed for spying on U.S. enemies overseas.
A memo that one of Ahern's captains prepared over the summer, obtained by the Freedom of Information Act web site MuckRock, says the drone would be equipped with a long-distance camera, live video downlink and infrared sensors that could be used for monitoring bomb threats, fires, unruly crowds, search and rescue operations, and marijuana grows. Read More
LOS ANGELES - The LAPD on Thursday announced it has open investigations on a dozen unsolved homicides near known Manson Family hangouts around Los Angeles.
The revelation came amid a legal battle to obtain hours of audio tape recordings between former Charles Manson follower and convicted murderer Charles "Tex" Watson and his lawyer.
"We have an obligation to the families of these victims," Cmdr. Andy Smith told NBC4. "Our detectives need to listen to these tapes. The tapes might help with solving these murders."
News of the open investigation was first reported by the Los Angeles Times Thursday and confirmed to NBC4 by LAPD officials. Smith told the Times the 12 murders they are investigating "are similar to some of the Manson killings."
Manson and his followers shot to infamy in 1969 after the murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others at a Benedict Canyon home in the hills above Los Angeles. That rampage was followed the next night by the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their Los Feliz home. Read More
On the night of November 29, 1988, near the impoverished Marlborough neighborhood in south Kansas City, an explosion at a construction site killed six of the city’s firefighters. It was a clear case of arson, and five people from Marlborough were duly convicted of the crime. But for veteran crime writer and crusading editor J. Patrick O’Connor, the facts—or a lack of them—didn’t add up. Justice on Fire is OConnor’s detailed account of the terrible explosion that led to the firefighters’ deaths and the terrible injustice that followed. Also available from Amazon
