"UK Judge OKs Extradition in Colorado Murder Case": The San Francisco Chronicle posted an article today on a British judge's approval of the extradition of a man wanted in Colorado on suspicion of the murder of his wife. Marcus Bebb-Jones, 46 and a professional gambler, faces charges of murdering his wife Sabrina in 1997 and dumping her body in a national park. Her skull was found and positively identified in 2004, but the full remains are still missing. Bebb-Jones was arrested last year in England. District Judge Howard Riddle rejected Bebb-Jones' claim that a life sentence in the U.S. would be a breach of his human rights. Colorado is not seeking the death penalty. The case will go to the Home Secretary for a final decision. Judge Riddle said LWOP would be a harsher sentence than Bebb-Jones would get for the same crime in Britain but that the more severe sentence would not be unreasonable under the circumstances.
No Body? Not 'the perfect crime' Anymore: According to an AP article by Samantha Henry, police in New Jersey believe they have solved one of the coldest cases in the state's history: the disappearance of five Newark teenagers in 1978. After 32 years of investigation, two men were arrested March 22 and charged with tying the teens up in an abandoned rowhouse, at gunpoint, and torching the building. Police say the blaze was so fierce that the bodies were incinerated, destroying any evidence. Prosecutors now must prove the teens were murdered although their bodies were never found, one of the biggest challenges in the legal profession, but advances in technology have made it a more common prospect. Former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who prosecuted and won two high profile murder cases where the bodies were not found, said it is a "very bad precedent to not prosecute people because there is no body--it encourages people to do away with with the body." Prosecutions for murders without bodies were once extremely rare, but advances in DNA technology, computer records and cell phone logs, and improvements in forensics, have increased the chances for winning convictions. Over 300 such cases have gone to trial since 1819 with more than 90 percent resulting in a conviction.
"ACLU Opposing Injunction Against Oakland Gang": A KTVU article published on Friday reports on the ACLU's opposition to Oakland's bid for an injunction against a local street gang that is notorious for drug sales and violence. Oakland City Attorney John Russo filed a suit on February 18 seeking an injunction that would declare the gang a public nuisance and prohibit its members from conducting certain activities in a 100-block "safety zone." The ACLU of Northern California and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area filed an amicus brief last Thursday opposing the proposed injunction. Russo and the city is targeting the North Side Oakland gang because it was involved in 18 serious incidents in 2009, including seven murders. In 1997, the California Supreme Court upheld gang injunctions as constitutional. If an injunction is granted against the North Side Oakland gang, restrictions against gang members would include a prohibition against associating with one another within the "safety zone," confronting or intimidating witnesses, possessing firearms or other weapons, or participating in drug activity. Violating the injunction would be considered a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. The Cal. Supreme case is People ex rel. Gallo v. Acuna, 14 Cal.4th 1090. CJLF filed an amicus brief supporting the legality of the injunction.
No Body? Not 'the perfect crime' Anymore: According to an AP article by Samantha Henry, police in New Jersey believe they have solved one of the coldest cases in the state's history: the disappearance of five Newark teenagers in 1978. After 32 years of investigation, two men were arrested March 22 and charged with tying the teens up in an abandoned rowhouse, at gunpoint, and torching the building. Police say the blaze was so fierce that the bodies were incinerated, destroying any evidence. Prosecutors now must prove the teens were murdered although their bodies were never found, one of the biggest challenges in the legal profession, but advances in technology have made it a more common prospect. Former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who prosecuted and won two high profile murder cases where the bodies were not found, said it is a "very bad precedent to not prosecute people because there is no body--it encourages people to do away with with the body." Prosecutions for murders without bodies were once extremely rare, but advances in DNA technology, computer records and cell phone logs, and improvements in forensics, have increased the chances for winning convictions. Over 300 such cases have gone to trial since 1819 with more than 90 percent resulting in a conviction.
"ACLU Opposing Injunction Against Oakland Gang": A KTVU article published on Friday reports on the ACLU's opposition to Oakland's bid for an injunction against a local street gang that is notorious for drug sales and violence. Oakland City Attorney John Russo filed a suit on February 18 seeking an injunction that would declare the gang a public nuisance and prohibit its members from conducting certain activities in a 100-block "safety zone." The ACLU of Northern California and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area filed an amicus brief last Thursday opposing the proposed injunction. Russo and the city is targeting the North Side Oakland gang because it was involved in 18 serious incidents in 2009, including seven murders. In 1997, the California Supreme Court upheld gang injunctions as constitutional. If an injunction is granted against the North Side Oakland gang, restrictions against gang members would include a prohibition against associating with one another within the "safety zone," confronting or intimidating witnesses, possessing firearms or other weapons, or participating in drug activity. Violating the injunction would be considered a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. The Cal. Supreme case is People ex rel. Gallo v. Acuna, 14 Cal.4th 1090. CJLF filed an amicus brief supporting the legality of the injunction.
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