Free Republic

The DC Council has appointed a patrolled murderer to the city commission charged with setting guidelines for prison sentences. On Tuesday, twelve members of the commission that drafts and modifies criminal sentencing guidelines voted to elect convicted murderer Joel Castón to the 17-person board

HOUSTON – A convicted murderer is accused of killing his girlfriend, a young mother of three little girls, according to the Harris County District Attorney. Ervin Jones, 39, is charged with murder in the shooting death of 22-year-old Robyn Hightower in southwest Houston. HPD said around 10 p.m. on July 13, Jones and Hightower were arguing over the phone before he drove to her home, located in the 15700 block of Clarke Springs, and rushed into her bedroom. The couple started arguing again, and at some point, police said Jones pulled out a gun and shot Hightower in the chest....

Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the Michigan pathologist who championed physician-assisted suicides, died early Friday after being hospitalized with kidney problems and pneumonia. The 83-year-old Kevorkian, who said he helped some 130 people end their lives from 1990 to 1999, died about 2:30 a.m. at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., close friend and attorney Mayer Morganroth said. An official cause of death had not been determined, but Nurses at the hospital played recordings of classical music by composer Johann Sebastian Bach for Kevorkian before he died, Morganroth said. Kevorkian was freed in June 2007 after serving eight years of a...

MARTINEZ -- A Superior Court judge is set to hear evidence this afternoon and decide whether convicted murderer Susan Polk must reimburse the county $219,373.31 for her trial expenses. Polk was transferred from state prison to Superior Court this morning to contest contentions by attorneys representing Contra Costa County who say she should pay back the county for the attorneys, investigators and subpoena delivery services the county paid for. Polk told Presiding Judge Terence Bruiniers that, although her home is on the market for $1.5 million, she is indigent and cannot afford the legal costs. "I am disputing the contention...

NASHVILLE — A former Nashville attorney convicted of murdering his wife and plotting to kill her parents schemed to get himself transferred to a less secure Tennessee prison so he could escape, officials say. Perry March instead was moved to a maximum-security facility and placed in isolation, Dorinda Carter, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Correction, said Tuesday. Prison officials declined to say how they learned of the alleged escape plot, citing the ongoing investigation. One of March's lawyers, John Herbison, said he was skeptical of the claims by prison officials and questioned why they have refused to disclose...

CATHERINE CRIER has seen her share of notorious, even bizarre cases in a three-decade career that has taken her from district attorney to civil litigator, judge, legal analyst and now host of Court TV's "Catherine Crier Live." Yet, even she couldn't imagine a more extraordinary case than that of Susan Polk.From day one, Crier was intrigued by the case of the Orinda housewife convicted in June of second-degree murder in the October 2002 stabbing death of her therapist-turned-husband, Felix Polk."They live in this beautiful, million-dollar home," she explained Monday while in San Francisco promoting the book. "The husband is...

MARTINEZ - The Orinda woman who murdered her husband three decades after meeting him when he was her therapist was sentenced today to 16 years to life in state prison. Judge Laurel Brady told Susan Polk that she didn't believe her claim that she stabbed to death Felix Polk in an act of self-defense. "I did not find that evidence credible, not did it match the physical evidence," Brady told the 49-year-old Polk. Polk averted her away from the judge as Brady handed down the sentence. Within a few seconds, she began taking notes on a pad in front of...

Dyleski imitated his idol, Jack the Ripper, judge says - Comparing him to Jack the Ripper, a Contra Costa County judge sentenced teenager Scott Dyleski to life in prison without parole Tuesday for killing his Lafayette neighbor Pamela Vitale last year by bludgeoning her to death. Dyleski, 17, was convicted in August of murdering Vitale, the wife of prominent East Bay attorney Daniel Horowitz, on Oct. 15, 2005. Vitale was found with a double-crossed "T" etched into her back with a knife and another stab wound to her stomach that exposed her intestines. On Tuesday, the former Boy Scout did...

MARTINEZ - Scott Dyleski will serve life in state prison without parole for killing Pamela Vitale, a Lafayette woman who was his neighbor and the wife of a prominent defense attorney. "The one time I saw you show any emotion is during autopsy photos," Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Barbara Zuniga told the Dyleski as she sentenced the teenager. "I saw you, sir, lean forward and your mouth fell open. And that's the position you remained in. You were absolutely fascinated by your handwork. You don't deserve to live among decent people." The judge pronounced the sentence after hearing more...

LAFAYETTE: In letter to judge, lawyer pleads for possibility of eventual parole for teen who killed neighbor - Citing his unstable childhood, the attorney for convicted murderer Scott Dyleski has asked a judge to consider handing down the lightest possible sentence for killing his neighbor, Pamela Vitale.Dyleski deserves a sentence of 25 years to life in prison, which would give him the opportunity for parole, deputy public defender Ellen Leonida wrote in her sentencing memo to Superior Court Judge Barbara Zuniga. "All he is asking for is an opportunity to demonstrate -- many, many years from now -- that he...

The teenager never got in trouble at school. He stood a head shorter than his attorney and probably weighed less than most courtroom observers at his trial. Now he has a conviction that carries a sentence of life in prison with no parole, and state prison officials must figure out the most suitable place to lock up the 17-year-old murderer Scott Dyleski. Dyleski is an example of 1,500 to 2,000 young male inmates sentenced to state prison each year. Their age, size and criminal history require consideration before state corrections officials decide whether to house them in prison or send...

NASHVILLE — A jury on Thursday convicted a former Nashville attorney of killing his socialite wife, whose body has never found after she disappeared 10 years ago. The sequestered Chattanooga jury deliberated most of Wednesday night and Thursday in a murder case that has fascinated and mystified Nashville since Janet Levine March went missing August of 1996. Perry March, 45, an ex-attorney, was found guilty on all of the charges against him — second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. There were no known witnesses to his wife's death, but she was declared legally dead in 2000....

MARTINEZ -- Another attorney has declined to represent convicted murderer Susan Polk before she is sentenced for killing her husband. Vallejo attorney Dan Russo told Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Laurel Brady today that Polk was "not completely comfortable with me." "I apologize," Russo said. "I'm not going to be able to accept the case." Russo said, however, that Point Richmond attorney Linda Fullerton had expressed an interest in representing Polk. Fullerton is a member of the county bar association's conflict panel, which assigns attorneys for defendants. Last week, Brady said 19 attorneys who were part of the panel...

MARTINEZ -- Susan Polk appeared in Contra Costa County Superior Court today and almost immediately began arguing with Judge Laurel Brady as they discussed who would legally represent the Orinda housewife before she is sentenced for killing her husband. Today, Brady said Point Richmond attorney Charles Hoehn, who had tentatively agreed to represent Polk in July for pre-sentencing purposes, had stepped down. Hoehn has said he couldn't effectively represent her without the trial transcript -- Brady declined his request for the voluminous record -- and also cited scheduling concerns. Further complicating the issue, Brady said that the Contra Costa County...

MARTINEZ -- A defense attorney who stepped in to represent convicted murderer Susan Polk at her sentencing stepped down Monday. Defense attorney Charlie Hoehn took Polk's case after her conviction to assist in writing pre-sentencing motions, including a motion for a new trial. A jury convicted Polk in June of second degree murder in the 2002 stabbing death of her husband, Felix Polk. She acted as her own attorney at trial and testified that she killed him in self-defense. On Monday, Brady said a trial transcript will not be available until Polk's appeal. Hoehn had requested a copy of the...

Routier asks judge to retest evidence 07/03/2002 Associated Press Dallas - Death row inmate Darlie Routier was back in a Dallas courtroom today, wanting to retest evidence used to convict her for stabbing her two sons in 1996. Routier's attorneys are asking to retest the night gown she was wearing the night of the killings, which had cuts and blood evidence. The attorneys also want to test carpet, tile and floor samples to see if bloody footprints were left by someone else. AP Darlie Routier State District Judge Robert Francis said he would review their request and possibly rule...

TACOMA -- A man who was convicted of killing a teenager while in the military in the 1980s has been charged with raping a child and capturing the act on videotape. Dean Eric Bagley, 47, of Yelm has undergone two mental health evaluations at Western State Hospital since he was arrested in October and faces a competency hearing this month, Pierce County Deputy Prosecutor Grant Blinn said Tuesday. Bagley is charged with first-degree child rape and possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He also is under investigation in reported sexual assaults on at least two...

Yates' lawyer seeking appeal 04/03/2002 By JEFF McSHAN / 11 News (Houston) HOUSTON - Andrea Yates was convicted last month of drowning her children. Now she's in an East Texas prison serving a life sentence. But the fight over what her attorney calls an injustice is only in the beginning stage. Also Online Crime's magnitude, finger pointing fueling talk, legal experts say KHOU-11's Jeff McShan reports Yates' attorney George Parnham plans to file an appeal Wednesday seeking a new trial for his client. It's been a little over two weeks since Yates was sentenced to life in prison, but...