Criminal Practice

  • September 24, 2025

    9th Circ. Revives Sex Harassment Suit Against Wash. Sheriff

    The Ninth Circuit reopened a lawsuit alleging that a Washington sheriff's department failed to stop a deputy sheriff who coerced a woman he had previously arrested into a seven-year sexual relationship, ruling that each alleged instance of sexual misconduct restarted the statute-of-limitations clock.

  • September 24, 2025

    Sen. Ossoff Pushes Fed. Courts To Uphold Access To Counsel

    Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., has urged the Judicial Conference to take further action to ensure that all defendants, particularly low-income ones, have access to counsel for their initial appearance in federal court.

  • September 24, 2025

    Pa. Man Gets 4 Years In Prison For $72M Fraud

    A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to four years behind bars for scamming two lenders out of $72 million that he said would go toward buying insurance companies, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Philadelphia.

  • September 23, 2025

    Judiciary Dems Demand Feds Explain 'Border Czar' Probe

    Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced Tuesday they are looking into the Trump administration's alleged closure of a U.S. Department of Justice bribery investigation of White House "border czar" Thomas Homan, following recent news reports that he accepted $50,000 from an undercover FBI agent.

  • September 23, 2025

    Feds Defend Search In SC Ex-Legislator's CSAM Case

    Prosecutors on Monday asked a South Carolina federal court to allow the use of evidence collected from the phone of former state legislator R.J. May, a powerful Republican in the Palmetto State who was arrested earlier this year in an investigation of child sexual abuse materials.

  • September 23, 2025

    NC Legislature Passes Bill To Eliminate Cashless Bail

    In the wake of the murder of a Ukrainian refugee on public transit allegedly by a man recently arrested and freed on a promise to appear, North Carolina's General Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill to eliminate cashless bail and make it easier to execute people in the state.

  • September 23, 2025

    Judge Keeps DNA Evidence, Won't Split Gilgo Beach Trial

    A New York state justice has again denied suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann's attempt to preclude DNA evidence from the case against him, finding Tuesday that the state public health law Heuermann cited as barring the forensics lab used by prosecutors was inapplicable to his case.

  • September 23, 2025

    Chair Of Puerto Rican Bank Pleads Guilty To $13.6M Fraud

    The chairman of the board of Puerto Rico-based Nodus International Bank has pled guilty to leading a scheme through which he and the bank's former CEO stole more than $13.6 million from Nodus and used it for their own benefit.

  • September 23, 2025

    Ch. 11 Shields Co. From Suit Over Inmate Stroke, Judge Says

    A federal judge in North Carolina has dismissed prison healthcare provider Wellpath from a lawsuit brought by the family of a man who died of a stroke inside a Charlotte jail, finding that the company's bankruptcy shields it from liability but allowing claims against a county sheriff and others to continue.

  • September 23, 2025

    Jury Convicts Would-Be Trump Killer

    A Florida federal jury on Tuesday found Ryan Wesley Routh guilty of trying to assassinate Donald Trump during a round of golf at Trump International Golf Club last year while the now-president was campaigning to retake the White House.

  • September 22, 2025

    2nd Circ. Undoes $25M Restitution In Horse-Doping Case

    A veterinarian convicted of conspiracy in a sprawling horse-doping scheme has escaped $25 million in restitution and is also off the hook for the $10.3 million forfeiture of funds tied to the sale of undetectable, performance-enhancement drugs, the Second Circuit said Monday.

  • September 22, 2025

    Conn. Man Who Murdered Ex-Girlfriend Can't Blame Emotions

    A man sentenced to 70 years in prison for murdering his ex-girlfriend in front of her 12-year-old son wasn't extremely emotionally disturbed, the Connecticut Supreme Court has found, affirming a trial court's decision preventing a jury from finding him guilty of a lesser charge on that basis.

  • September 22, 2025

    Ex-Boston Transit Cop Spared Prison In Beating Coverup

    A federal judge on Monday, "with some reservations," spared a former Boston transit police sergeant from prison time for his alleged role in trying to cover up the 2018 beating of a homeless man by an officer.

  • September 22, 2025

    Split Pa. Panel Clarifies Limits Of Vehicle Search Consent

    A split Pennsylvania Superior Court panel held in a precedential ruling that a defendant asking a police officer to search his vehicle for his phone and keys does not give law enforcement permission to rummage through bags and other items in the car.

  • September 22, 2025

    Calif. County Defender To Pay $200K In Harassment Probe

    A California public defender's office has agreed to pay $200,000 to an employee to resolve the worker's claims that a superior sexually harassed them on the job through inappropriate comments and unwanted touching, the state's Civil Rights Department announced Monday.

  • September 22, 2025

    Feds Oppose Chinese Exile Guo's Bid To Take Ch. 11 Assets

    Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have opposed convicted securities fraudster and bankrupt Chinese exile Miles Guo's bid to force the government to take control of assets from his own Connecticut-based Chapter 11 trustee to satisfy a $1.3 billion criminal forfeiture order.

  • September 22, 2025

    Ohio Court Grants New Murder Trial Due To Race Bias Worry

    A Black man sentenced to more than 37 years for murder and other charges is owed a new trial, an Ohio appeals court found, because his attorney should have been able to question potential jurors regarding racial bias regardless of the fact that the victim was also Black.

  • September 22, 2025

    Girardi Loses Bid To Avoid Prison During Appeal

    Disgraced attorney Tom Girardi will have to wait in prison while he appeals his wire fraud conviction for stealing from his own clients, a California federal judge has ruled.

  • September 22, 2025

    Fla. Marketer Gets 57 Months For $11.5M Medicare Fraud

    A Florida marketer received nearly five years in prison after admitting in Florida federal court to his role in a scheme to defraud the U.S. out of $11.5 million by convincing Medicare beneficiaries to take genetic screen tests that were not medically necessary.

  • September 21, 2025

    Chinese Exec Who Shipped Fentanyl Ingredients Gets 25 Yrs

    A Manhattan federal judge on Friday sentenced a Chinese national and chemical company executive to 25 years in prison for shipping large quantities of fentanyl ingredients to the U.S., citing the defendant's "egregious, callous" disregard for the deaths caused by the drugs he helped create.

  • September 19, 2025

    Va. US Atty Quits Amid Trump's 'Blue-Slip' Removal Bid

    Erik Siebert on Friday resigned as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, just hours after President Donald Trump pondered ousting him from the position because Siebert received blue-slip approval from the commonwealth's two Democratic senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, according to media reports.

  • September 19, 2025

    NY County Says It's Immune From Immigrant Detention Suit

    Long Island officials on Friday asked a New York federal judge to throw out a class action brought by immigrants who say they were unlawfully detained past their release dates at the request of federal immigration authorities, saying local law enforcement has federal sovereign immunity when acting in cooperation with the feds.

  • September 19, 2025

    NC Atty Charged With Embezzlement, Elder Fund Exploitation

    A North Carolina attorney is facing 14 charges of embezzlement related to funds he allegedly rerouted to personal accounts that belonged to both his former law firm Walker Kiger PLLC and former clients.

  • September 19, 2025

    Pa. Court Upholds 'Geofencing' Warrant In Assault Case

    A Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled randomized phone data obtained through a search warrant served on Google was lawfully used to help convict a suspect and that the procurement of such data does not constitute an unconstitutional search.

  • September 19, 2025

    3rd Circ. Nixes Sentence's Reliance On 'Relevant Conduct'

    The window for weighing a criminal defendant's past convictions starts with the offense for which that defendant is being sentenced, even if there was "relevant conduct" earlier, a Third Circuit panel ruled Friday.

Expert Analysis

  • 'Pig Butchering' Seizure Is A Milestone In Crypto Crime Fight

    Author Photo

    The U.S.' recent seizure of $225 million in crypto funds in a massive "pig butchering" scheme highlights the transformative impact of blockchain analysis in law enforcement, and the increasing necessity of collaboration between law enforcement agencies, cryptocurrency exchanges and stablecoin issuers, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Relevance Redactions

    Author Photo

    In recent cases addressing redactions that parties sought to apply based on the relevance of information — as opposed to considerations of privilege — courts have generally limited a party’s ability to withhold nonresponsive or irrelevant material, providing a few lessons for discovery strategy, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How DOJ's New Data Security Rules Leave HIPAA In The Dust

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Department of Justice's recently effective data security requirements carry profound implications for how healthcare providers collect, store, share and use data — and approach vendor oversight — that go far beyond the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • Opinion

    Section 1983 Has Promise After End Of Nationwide Injunctions

    Author Photo

    After the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the practice of nationwide injunctions in Trump v. Casa, Section 1983 civil rights suits can provide a better pathway to hold the government accountable — but this will require reforms to qualified immunity, says Marc Levin at the Council on Criminal Justice.

  • Reel Justice: 'Oh, Hi!' Teaches Attys To Return To The Statute

    Author Photo

    The new dark comedy film “Oh, Hi!” — depicting a romantic vacation that turns into an inadvertent kidnapping — should remind criminal practitioners to always reread the statute to avoid assumptions, meet their ethical duties and finesse their trial strategy, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University School of Law.

  • DOJ-HHS Collab Crystallizes Focus On Health Enforcement

    Author Photo

    The recently announced partnership between the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to combat False Claims Act violations, following a multiyear trend of high-dollar DOJ recoveries, signals a long-term enforcement horizon with major implications for healthcare entities and whistleblowers, say attorneys at RJO.

  • How Courts Are Addressing The Use Of AI In Discovery

    Author Photo

    In recent months, several courts have issued opinions on handling discovery issues involving artificial intelligence, which collectively offer useful insights on integrating AI into discovery and protecting work product in connection with AI prompts and outputs, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • Series

    Playing Baseball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Playing baseball in college, and now Wiffle ball in a local league, has taught me that teamwork, mental endurance and emotional intelligence are not only important to success in the sport, but also to success as a trial attorney, says Kevan Dorsey at Swift Currie.

  • APA Relief May Blunt Justices' Universal Injunction Ruling

    Author Photo

    The Administrative Procedure Act’s avenue for universal preliminary relief seems to hold the most promise for neutralizing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. CASA to limit federal district courts' nationally applicable orders, say attorneys at Crowell.

  • Opinion

    Prosecutors' Duty To Justice Sometimes Demands Mea Culpa

    Author Photo

    Two recent cases — U.S. v. Lucas and U.S. v. Echavarria — demonstrate that prosecutors’ special ethical duty to seek justice can sometimes be in tension with other obligations and incentives, but it nonetheless requires them to concede their mistakes in the interests of justice, say Eastern District of Texas law clerk Ian Stephens and Texas A&M University law professor Jemila Lea.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Skillful Persuasion

    Author Photo

    In many ways, law school teaches us how to argue, but when the ultimate goal is to get your client what they want, being persuasive through preparation and humility is the more likely key to success, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

  • FCA Working Group Reboot Signals EHR Compliance Risk

    Author Photo

    The revival of the False Claims Act working group is an aggressive expansion of enforcement efforts by the Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services targeted toward technology-enabled fraud involving electronic health records and other data, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Litigation Inspiration: How To Respond After A Loss

    Author Photo

    Every litigator loses a case now and then, and the sting of that loss can become a medicine that strengthens or a poison that corrodes, depending on how the attorney responds, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • New Interpol Silver Notice Could Be Tool For Justice Or Abuse

    Author Photo

    Interpol has issued dozens of Silver Notices to trace and recover assets linked to criminal activity since January, and though the tool may disrupt organized crime and terrorist financing, attorneys must protect against the potential for corrupt misuse, say attorneys at Clark Hill and Arktouros.

  • Justices' Resentencing Ruling Fortifies First Step Act Tools

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Hewitt v. U.S. ruling clarifies that resentencing after vacatur must reflect the law in effect at the time of the new sentencing, ultimately strengthening the strategic tools available to defense attorneys under the First Step Act, says Benson Varghese at Varghese Summersett.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Criminal Practice archive.