MINNEAPOLIS—A Minnesota man who was freed last year after nearly 25 years in prison for the death of his wife is suing a former medical examiner and other authorities, accusing them of fabricating and withholding evidence, leading to a wrongful conviction. Thomas Rhodes, 64, filed suit in federal court, naming former Ramsey County Medical Examiner […]
In South Korea, a local submarine contractor is getting its conviction overturned by a new ruling. In 2022, marine technology firm SI Innotec was found guilty for shipping submarine equipment to Taiwan without approval. But this Thursday, a South Korean appeals court decided the evidence wasn’t strong enough to classify that equipment as military goods, which […]
ALBANY, N.Y.—New York Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill days before Christmas that would have made it easier for people who have pleaded guilty to crimes to challenge their convictions, a measure that was favored by criminal justice reformers but fiercely opposed by prosecutors. The Democrat said the bill’s “sweeping expansion of eligibility for post-conviction […]
SYDNEY—A woman imprisoned for 20 years over the deaths of her four children, and pardoned in June, saw her convictions quashed by New South Wales state on Thursday, with her lawyer saying she plans to claim “substantial” compensation. Kathleen Folbigg was convicted in 2003 of murdering three of her children, and of manslaughter in the […]
NEW YORK—New York City will pay $17.5 million to a man who spent 24 years in prison for a double homicide he did not commit, city officials said Thursday. The settlement in the case of George Bell, one of three men convicted for the 1996 killing of a Queens check-cashing store owner and an off-duty […]
PORTLAND, Ore.—A jury on Friday convicted a Portland, Oregon, man of murder in the shooting deaths of three of his neighbors. Brett Pruett, 61, was found guilty of first-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, burglary and assault, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Police found three people dead at […]
OKLAHOMA CITY—An Oklahoma appeals court on Thursday threw out a first-degree murder conviction because of a sexual relationship between the judge and a prosecutor in the case. In a 3–2 decision, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ordered a new trial for defendant Robert Leon Hashagen III, who was sentenced to life in prison after […]
MINNEAPOLIS—The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s second-degree murder conviction in the killing of George Floyd, and let his 22.5-year sentence remain in place. Chauvin’s attorney had asked the appeals court to throw out the ex-officer’s convictions for a long list of reasons, including the massive pretrial publicity. […]
NEW YORK—A photo of another person with the same name led to the wrongful arrest of a New York City man who was exonerated and freed Thursday after spending more than 18 years behind bars for murder. The prosecution of Sheldon Thomas, now 35, “was compromised from the very start by grave errors and lack […]
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—An attorney for Josh Duggar asked a federal appeals court panel on Thursday to reverse the former reality TV star’s conviction for downloading child pornography, saying investigators violated his rights by seizing the phone he was using to try to call his lawyer during the search that found the images. Attorneys for Duggar […]
ST. LOUIS—A Missouri judge on Tuesday overturned the conviction of a man who has served nearly 28 years of a life sentence for a killing that he has always said he didn’t commit. Lamar Johnson, 50, closed his eyes and shook his head slightly as a member of his legal team patted him on the […]
DELAND, Fla.—A man already imprisoned in Florida for another killing pleaded guilty Tuesday to the long-unsolved 1991 slaying of a woman he met at a bar. Michael Townson, 53, was sentenced by a judge to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years, state prosecutors said in a news release. Townson admitted […]
NEW YORK—New York’s highest court has agreed to hear an appeal from Harvey Weinstein over his 2020 rape conviction. A spokesman for the Court of Appeals said Wednesday that oral arguments would likely be held sometime next year, after the decision to hear the case was granted Aug. 19. Weinstein was convicted in February 2020 in New […]
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia—Malaysian ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak began his 12-year prison sentence Tuesday after losing his final appeal in a graft case linked to the looting of the 1MDB state fund, with the top court unanimously upholding his conviction and sentence. Najib, Malaysia’s first former leader to be imprisoned, was whisked away to Kajang prison on […]
ATLANTA—Georgia’s highest court on Wednesday overturned the murder and child cruelty convictions against a man whose toddler son died after he left him in a hot car for hours, saying the jury saw evidence that was “extremely and unfairly prejudicial.” Justin Ross Harris, 41, was convicted in November 2016 on eight counts including malice murder […]
The United Airlines COVID-19 vaccine mandate has violated some employees’ religious beliefs, according to a federal appeals court. The company’s mandate allows for religious exemption applications but even if those applications are granted, some employees to which they are granted are forced to stop working, receive no pay, and stop getting benefits paid by the […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo.—A Kansas City man who has been jailed for more than 40 years for three murders was wrongfully convicted in 1979 and will be released, a Missouri judge ruled Tuesday. Kevin Strickland, 62, has always maintained that he was home watching television and had nothing to do with the killings, which happened when […]
An appeals court on Thursday denied an appeal by a former police officer who was convicted in 2019 of murder for shooting dead a man in his own apartment. Former Dallas officer Amber Guyger, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence for killing Botham Jean, attempted to convince judges to acquit the murder conviction, replace […]
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction, and he was released from a Pennsylvania state prison just hours later. Pennsylvania Department of Corrections confirmed Cosby was released at around 2:30 p.m. ET, according to a tweet from the agency. Reporters on the scene said they saw the actor and comedian […]
