TheRepublic.com - Law and order News

Holmes lawyers try to clear path for insanity plea

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:05:27 -0400

CENTENNIAL, Colorado - Lawyers for Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes are asking a judge to clear away legal questions so Holmes can plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

Ex-police officer gets prison for abusing suspect

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:03:43 -0400

LAREDO, Texas - A former Laredo police officer has been sentenced to a year in prison after admitting to abusing a suspect in his patrol car last year.

NC mom has son jailed for stealing toaster pastry

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:03:36 -0400

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - A Charlotte woman who apparently had her fill of her son's behavior issues has decided to let local police deal with him.

Calif. couple face contempt charges for jail call

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:02:27 -0400

BILLINGS, Montana - A California couple convicted in a Bakken oil investment scam has been arraigned on contempt of court charges in Montana.

Dallas man gets death for drowning 2 sons in creek

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:01:44 -0400

DALLAS - A father who told two of his sons to pretend they were swimming as he drowned them in a Dallas-area creek was sentenced to death on Thursday.

Brazil police arrest 9 for abusing Indian girls

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:58:04 -0400

SAO PAULO - Brazil's Federal Police say nine people have been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing Indians girls in the northern state of Amazonas.

Oil leasing dispute heads to federal court

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:52:59 -0400

BILLINGS, Montana - A dispute over greenhouse gases from oil and gas drilling will head to federal court in Montana as attorneys for the government and the industry face off against environmentalists who say too little is being done to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change.

Swim coach sentenced to 7 years for sex abuse

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:47:06 -0400

ROCKVILLE, Maryland - A once-prominent swimming coach who trained thousands of children was sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday for sexually abusing one of the girls he instructed.

Arrest made in slaying of former NFL player

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:40:09 -0400

DECATUR, Georgia - Police in suburban Atlanta say an arrest has been made in the death of former NFL player David McMillan III.

Charlotte man pleads guilty to securities fraud

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:38:54 -0400

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - A Charlotte man has pleaded guilty to carrying out an $8.9 million Ponzi scheme.

NH woman sentenced to 40 years for child porn

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:38:14 -0400

CONCORD, New Hampshire - A New Hampshire woman has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for sexually exploiting her teenage daughter to produce child pornography.

Texas man found guilty of murder in 1984 case

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:37:42 -0400

DALLAS - A North Texas man has been convicted of murder in the death of a teenager whose body was dumped in a rock pit in 1984.

5 arrested in Conn. $4M jewelry heist, kidnapping

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:36:37 -0400

BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut - Five people have been arrested in the robbery of $4 million in jewelry from a Connecticut store in an elaborate heist that began with the kidnapping of store employees more than 40 miles away.

Pa. woman convicted in fiance's wedding day death

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:29:50 -0400

ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania - A Pennsylvania woman accused of stabbing her fiance to death on their wedding day has been convicted of murder.

NC man convicted in death of 5-year-old girl

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:29:33 -0400

FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina - A Cumberland County jury has found a man guilty of kidnapping and murdering a 5-year-old Fayetteville girl almost four years ago.

US: Lock up ex-Michigan justice for bank fraud

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:24:21 -0400

ANN ARBOR, Michigan - Federal prosecutors are urging a judge to send a former Michigan Supreme Court justice to prison for bank fraud.

Jury deliberating man's penalty for killing sons

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:23:45 -0400

DALLAS - Jurors have begun deliberating whether a North Texas man should die for drowning his two young sons.

Kwame Kilpatrick's lawyer is off corruption case

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:23:26 -0400

DETROIT - An attorney who has represented Kwame Kilpatrick through years of scandal was dismissed Thursday after the former Detroit mayor said their relationship had deteriorated long before a six-month corruption trial that ended with a conviction in March.

Fla. Supreme Court sides with public defenders

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:22:22 -0400

TALLAHASSEE, Florida - The Florida Supreme Court sided with public defenders Thursday in a ruling that said lawyers who defend the poor can seek to refuse new cases if their workload and limited money would keep them from providing defendants adequate representation.

Iowa kidnapping suspect probed in cousins' deaths

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:19:26 -0400

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The man suspected of kidnapping a still-missing 15-year-old Iowa girl and her friend as they walked home from school is being scrutinized in last year's unsolved kidnapping of two young cousins whose bodies were found 100 miles away.

County sheriff's pot busts draw ire in Columbia

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:18:57 -0400

COLUMBIA, Missouri - A local ordinance that in some cases treats marijuana possession as a minor municipal violation isn't being followed by Boone County sheriff's deputies who have stepped up patrols within Columbia's city limits, an attorney says.

Defense: Ex-Pa. judge cooperating in coke case

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:18:08 -0400

PITTSBURGH - A western Pennsylvania judge who abruptly resigned last year was charged Thursday with stealing cocaine from evidence in cases before him, and his attorney said the former jurist is cooperating with the investigation.

Grand jury empaneled to review Medicaid contract

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:13:33 -0400

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - The Louisiana attorney general's office says a special grand jury has been selected to look into possible criminal activity involving the award of a $200 million Medicaid contract by Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration.

Conflict arises over sentence for Ala. juveniles

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:13:21 -0400

MONTGOMERY, Alabama- - The sentence a juvenile who has been convicted of capital murder should receive is currently up in the air. That's because of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling and failure of the Alabama Legislature to deal with the issue.

Federal rules for Pike Co. in contract dispute

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:04:32 -0400

JACKSON, Mississippi - A federal jury in Jackson has found for Pike County in a breach-of-contract lawsuit against a wood pellet company that never built a promised mill.