The latest example of no-knock mistakes:  FBI Uses Chainsaw In Raid On Wrong Fitchburg Apartment At 6:04 last Thursday morning, just before Sanchez’ alarm was set to go off, she heard a pounding outside her second floor apartment. [...] Within moments, the chainsaw had cut through most of her door, and someone on the FBI’s [...]

Another death row inmate. Another case of prosecutorial misconduct from the office of Harry Connick, Sr.

A truly bizarre story from Dallas that, quite honestly, raises questions about the entire immigration system: DALLAS – “It’s very frustrating,” Lorene Turner said. She has spent hours on Facebook trying to find her granddaughter, Jakadrien. “Once I get home I am up until 3 or 4 in the morning searching and looking,” Turner said. [...]

Today’s New York Times reports that New York City Police officers are apparently not reporting some crimes: Crime victims in New York sometimes struggle to persuade the police to write down what happened on an official report. The reasons are varied. Police officers are often busy, and few relish paperwork. But in interviews, more than [...]

Domestic dispute or criminal act?

From today’s edition of the stupid criminal files: An 18-year-old Pittsburgh man is accused of burglarizing a market with three teens, then posting pictures on his Facebook page showing the suspects mugging with some of the loot. Isaiah Cutler who has been jailed since Friday in the Dec. 12 burglary. Online court records don’t list [...]

I’m beginning  to have serious doubts about the legal strategy of Jerry Sandusky’s legal team. First, they let him engage in media interviews, including one in which he couldn’t give a straight answer to the question “Are you attracted to young boys?,” then they start issued veiled threats against Sandusky’s accusers and accusing them of [...]

The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice has released a harsh assessment of the practices of the Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriffs Department, which happens to be led by a man who has become something of a darling of the right: PHOENIX — In a harshly worded critique of the country’s best-known sheriff, the [...]

In something of a surprise move, former Penn State Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky and his lawyers appeared at the start of what was expected to be a two-day preliminary hearing on the charges against him and exercised the right to waive the hearing: BELLEFONTE, Pa. — Jerry Sandusky waived his preliminary hearing this morning on [...]

Penn State Assistant Coach Mike McQueary is, as far as we know, the only independent witness to the alleged child abuse committed by Jerry Sandusky. In the Grand Jury Testimony that led to Sandusky’s first arrest, McQueary describes seeing Sandusky naked in the showers at the PSU athletic facilities with a young boy, also naked, [...]

A disturbing flashback to 2007′s massacre is taking place in Blacksburg, Virginia right now: A Virginia Tech police officer was fatally shot during a routine traffic stop on the Blacksburg campus and a second person was found slain in a nearby parking lot after the gunman fled, the university reports. The shooter is still at [...]

Former Penn State Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky was arrested for a second time this morning at his home after two new men accused him of having abused them when they took part in the Second Mile program: The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office has filed new charges against Jerry Sandusky, 67, as part of an investigation [...]

A Virginia man has been exonerated after 27 years after it was determined that the eyewitness identifications that convicted him were faulty: RICHMOND — A Virginia appeals court declared Thomas Haynesworth an innocent man Tuesday, clearing his name and acknowledging that he spent 27 years behind bars for rapes he did not commit. It is [...]

New head-scratching revelations in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case.

A short clip, submitted for your consideration here: Christie isn’t really talking about legalization or decriminalization here, of course, and it took him awhile after he became Governor to get on board with New Jersey’s medical marijuana program. Nonetheless, he’s making a good point here. Since the Nixon Administration, the response to drug use has [...]

The inanity that is Black Friday took a new turn in California last night: Matthew Lopez went to the Wal-Mart in Porter Ranch on Thursday night for the Black Friday sale but instead was caught in a pepper-spray attack by a woman who authorities said was “competitive shopping.” Lopez described a chaotic scene in the [...]

Just when you thought the Penn State child rape scandal couldn’t reveal anything worse about human nature, it does: Victim One, the first known alleged victim of abuse by former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky, had to leave his school in the middle of his senior year because of bullying, his counselor said Sunday. Officials [...]

Just breaking now, an arrest in the shooting incident near the White House: The Secret Service says the suspect from Friday’s shooting near the White House has been taken into custody. Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez was arrested at a hotel in Pennsylvania. Good Update: More details via The Washington Post A 21-year-old man suspected of firing [...]

Late Friday night, the local news in Washington D.C., as well as Twitter, lit up briefly when it was reported that gun shots had been fired out of a moving vehicle proceeding down Constitution Avenue near the White House: A gun — possibly an AK-47 — was recovered Friday night after reports of gunfire and [...]

Is the star witness in the Penn State case changing his story, or just trying to protect his reputation?

As if we needed another child rape scandal involving a famous institution of higher learning . . .

Jerry Sandusky, the longtime defensive coordinator for the Penn State football team, is being charged with eight counts of child sex abuse.

A Virginia television station is reporting a rather improbable theft: NBC12 has uncovered one of those stories that makes you think: “How in the world does that happen?!”  A truck filled with President Obama’s podiums and audio equipment was stolen in Henrico just days before his visit to Chesterfield. We confirmed an investigation with the [...]

When the FBI essentially creates a terrorist in order to arrest him, have we really accomplished anything?

It’s a small part of the Federal Budget, but this is likely to be an example of government waste that’s remembered for a long time: The federal government pays out millions of dollars to dead people each year — including deceased retired federal workers, according to a new report. In the past five years, the [...]

Just last week I wrote about the investigative work that Danger Room’s Spencer Ackerman had done in discovering the FBI’s use of bizarre anti-Muslim propaganda in some of its advanced counter-terrorism training programs. Yesterday, the FBI issued this statement: The FBI is currently conducting a comprehensive review of all training and reference materials that relate [...]

The execution of Troy Davis brings back to the forefront the reasons why the death penalty is inherently flawed.

The FBI has been using some odd materials to train its counterterrorism agents.

The FBI executed search warrants today at the headquarters of the now defunct, and bankrupt, solar energy firm Solyndra, recipient of a half a billion dollar federally guaranteed loan from the Energy Department:   F.B.I. agents on Thursday served search warrants on Solyndra, the large manufacturer of solar arrays that announced last week that it [...]

There was a somewhat disturbing moment during last night’s GOP Debate.

Everyone has rights, even the person accused of the most vile of crimes.

Why was the ATF allowing thousands of weapons to be smuggled to Mexican drug gangs?

The Attorney General of New York has been on the receiving end of what seems like an unusual amount of pressure from Obama Administration officials to accept a settlement with mortgage lender rather than pursue the criminal fraud investigation that he opened several months ago: Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York, has [...]

Prosecutors as asking a Judge to dismiss all charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, because that’s their only option.

Weeks after revelations that cast serious doubt on the veracity of his accuser, it’s now being speculated that the rape charges against former IMF head Dominque Strauss-Kahn are about to be dropped: Manhattan prosecutors will meet with the woman who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault on the eve of a court appearance in which [...]

Oregon Democratic Congressman David Wu is at the center of another bizarre story: Rep. David Wu has been accused of an “unwanted sexual encounter” with the teenage daughter of a longtime friend, the latest scandal to engulf the troubled Oregon Democrat. The Oregonian reported that the 56-year-old Wu “acknowledged a sexual encounter to his senior [...]

The newly-launched FBI investigation of possible News Corporation, or News Corporation International, hacking in the United States is apparently moving forward quite rapidly: The Wall Street Journal, one of Rupert Murdoch’s own papers, reports that the Justice Department is preparing subpoenas as it ramps-up its early investigations into claims News Corp. journalists in Britain sought [...]

Even if Casey Anthony had been convicted, there’s a good chance she would have won on appeal.

A shocking, but as I will explain below not surprising, study: Black men are half as likely to die at any given time if they’re in prison than if they aren’t, suggests a new study of North Carolina inmates. The black prisoners seemed to be especially protected against alcohol- and drug-related deaths, as well as [...]

The phone hacking scandal that started at one newspaper in London, has now crossed the Atlantic Ocean: In response to requests from members of Congress and at least one news media report, the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York on Thursday opened a preliminary inquiry into allegations that News Corporation journalists sought to gain [...]

The result in the Casey Anthony case is leading, inevitably, to a host of new proposed laws.

Usually, Defendants plead guilty for perfectly rational reasons.

The prosecution against Dominique Strauss-Kahn may be falling apart, but the case is taking another interesting turn: The hotel maid in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case filed a libel suit against The New York Post on Tuesday over a series of articles it published during the Fourth of July weekend claiming that she was a prostitute. [...]

A Florida jury has found Casey Anthony not guilty of murdering her daughter. The criminal justice system works.

Given last week’s revelations, this is not at all surprising: U.S. prosecutors will drop sexual assault charges against ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn at his next court appearance in two weeks, or earlier, because of doubts about the credibility of the alleged victim, the New York Post said on Tuesday. The newspaper quoted an unnamed top [...]

VIA TPMuckraker:  With Drunk Driving Charge, Voter ID Bill Sponsor Might Not Have A License Anymore: The sponsor of an Ohio bill which restricts access to the ballot box was arrested back in April on drunk driving charges while he had a 26-year-old woman in his car and Viagra in his system, according to police [...]

Cory Maye has spent ten years on death row after a trial tainted by racism and corruption. In a few days, he will be free.

Further thoughts on Dominique Strauss-Kahn and our justice system.

After dodging a bullet last August, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich came to the end of his rope today: CHICAGO — A jury on Monday convicted Rod R. Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, of trying to personally benefit from his role in selecting a replacement for President Obama in the United States Senate. Mr. [...]

Via Reuters:  Former New Mexico professor arrested in prostitution probe A former University of New Mexico president was arrested on Thursday for an alleged role in a massive online prostitution scheme run by a New Jersey professor, police said on Thursday. F. Chris Garcia, 71, a former professor of political science, was arrested by Albuquerque [...]