States consider reviving old-fashioned executions
With lethal-injection drugs in short supply and new questions looming about their effectiveness, lawmakers in some death penalty states are considering bringing back relics of a more gruesome past: firing squads, electrocutions and gas chambers.
Boy executed in 1944 has his day in court
Lawyers finally got the chance to argue on behalf of George Stinney, 70 years after the 14-year-old black boy was sent to the electric chair for killing two white girls in South Carolina.
Judge mulls retrial for executed boy
A 14-year-old black boy executed nearly 70 years ago in South Carolina is finally getting another day in court, but the judge and a prosecutor aren't sure whether it is fair to judge what happened in a segregationist-era courtroom by modern standards.
No executions in SC for more than 2 years
For the second year in a row, South Carolina saw no executions in 2013. The state had no new death sentences in the last year, either.
SC’s execution of 14-year-old riled people in 1944
Leaving a judge to decide whether to throw out the conviction of a 14-year-old boy executed in South Carolina in 1944 reminds supporters of George Stinney of how the teen's fate was also in one man's hands nearly 70 years ago.
Defendant in death penalty case strikes deal before trial
A Darlington man accused of ordering the deaths of two people in 2009 in Florence County has been sentenced to life in prison.
Man facing death penalty in Florence double murder
A Darlington man accused of killing two people in 2009 in Florence County is going on trial this week.
SC Supreme Court overturns death sentence
An inmate on South Carolina's death row for more than two years is set to get a new trial after a state Supreme Court ruling that a judge should have let the man testify in his own defense.
Criminal Practice – Habeas Corpus – Death Penalty — Murders
U.S. v. FulksA South Carolina defendant sentenced to death for his role in carjacking, kidnapping and the murder of two women in separate incidents during a crime spree after a Kentucky jail break cannot overturn his death sentence with claims of ineffective assistance of counsel; the 4th Circuit says none of the alleged errors by counsel would have made a difference in the outcome of thi[...]
Criminal Practice – New Trial – Death Penalty – Mentally Retarded Defendant
Elmore v. Ozmint A mentally retarded African-American handyman who was 23 years old when he was accused of the 1982 murder of a 75-year-old wealthy white woman for whom he did odd jobs is entitled to a new trial, as his trial lawyers’ “blind acceptance of the State’s forensic evidence” demonstrated constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel, says the 4th Circuit in a 2-1 s[...]
Criminal Practice – Constitutional – Habeas Corpus – Effective Assistance – Death Penalty
DeCastro v. Branker The 4th Circuit upholds denial of habeas relief for a North Carolina defendant sentenced to death for his role in the fatal stabbing of a husband and wife who owned a mobile home park where a co-defendant had lived; none of the multiple allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel by the lawyer who represented defendant at trial, from his investigation of the case [...]
Criminal Practice – Constitutional – Right to Counsel – Conflict of Interest – Death Penalty
State v. Justus There was conflicting evidence as to whether defendant's second-chair counsel had represented a potential state's witness by preparing his separation agreement or whether she was still representing the witness in his divorce action. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by disqualifying and replacing counsel two and a half years before defendant pleaded guilty.
Business Law
- Economy forces attorneys to get down to business
- Business Court judges trawl for customers
- Va. company's Web site did not subject business to personal jurisdiction in S.C., appeals panel rules
- Former running back from S.C. wins courtroom victory in contract dispute
- Contract – Government Contract – Qui Tam – False Claims Act
- Tort – Business Tort – Va. Computer Crimes Act – Trade Secrets
- Consumer Protection – FCRA – Auto Loan – Bank Accounting Errors
- Licenses & Permits – Beer & Wine Permit – Restrictive Covenant – Suitable Location
- Licenses & Permits – Veterinarian – Vaccine Maintenance
- State regulators look at car dealer accused of lying to customers
- Textile firm, railroad settle Graniteville train wreck lawsuit
- Subprime mortgage meltdown hits securities law
Commentary
- Virginia Tech student got due process in hearing
- High court justices cross the line of propriety
- High court’s term was rough on big business
- The flip side of generative AI in law and how to address it
- The fight for equal educational opportunity continues
- Letter From The Editor – Working from Home
- NLRB joins FTC in taking aim at non-competes
- Supreme Court leaves key internet protection untouched
- US Supreme Court bites back at parody’s use of the First Amendment
- My goal: Provide the information that you need now
- Case study: North Carolina courts provide guidance on scope, limitations of attorney-client privilege
- A Different Ode to Pro Bono Work