Charles' Crime / Punishment Blog November 2007 Archive

During a time when people are making strident efforts to keep their personal information private, the legal system is requiring more personal information from citizens chosen for jury service. Famed lawyer ... Read More

A Kansas college student, who has been missing since last Friday and who is believed to be the victim of foul play, apparently lived a double life as an ... Read More

O.J. Simpson pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, coercion and conspiracy at his arraignment in Las Vegas. Clark County District ... Read More

One college has come up with a way to improve the safety of its students by requiring them to purchase and carry a Global Positioning System enabled cell phone ... Read More

The toddler the nation came to know as "Baby Grace" after her body washed up in Galveston Bay in a plastic storage bin was tortured and beaten to death ... Read More

Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor died from a gunshot wound after he was shot in the leg at his home by an intruder. Taylor slipped into a coma after ... Read More

A Texas man and woman who did not report her child missing have been arrested in connection with the case of a two-year-old girl whose body was found ... Read More

Investigators are desperately seeking leads in the disappearance of a 20-year-old accounting major at Jackson State University who was last seen at an afternoon class Nov. 13. Jackson, Mississippi, ... Read More

Thomas Delmer Pyle, former drummer of the rock bank Lynyrd Skynyrd and known to fans as Artimus Pyle, was arrested in St. Johns County, Florida after failing to register ... Read More

A Michigan judge has issued a gag order in the case involving the murder and dismemberment of registered sex offender Daniel Gene-Vincent Sorensen, 26. The gag order was ... Read More

A man police believe committed a series of residential burglaries in the 1990s has been caught in Belgium after nine years as a fugitive and returned to the United ... Read More

A two-year multi-agency investigation into the violent MS-13 gang has resulted in the arrests of dozens of the group's leaders, including the head "shot-caller" in Los Angeles. Federal, ... Read More

Shopping during the holiday season can present unique danger. The holiday season is a time when busy people can become careless and vulnerable to theft and other holiday crime. ... Read More

Prosecutors say that three suspects previously arrested in connection with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba have been arrested again and officially charged with homicide. Joran van der ... Read More

The holiday season is a time when people are easily distracted and thieves are paying complete attention, just waiting for the right opportunity to steal. But there are good safety ... Read More

If you will be one of the 27 million people traveling by air this Thanksgiving weekend, you can save yourself time standing in security check lines if you pack ... Read More

Michael Sean Blakey is wanted for murder in connection with the death of the seven-month-old son of his girlfriend in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The baby was rushed to the hospital ... Read More

The latest FBI statistics indicate a slight increase in reported hate crimes in the United States in the past year with 7.722 incidents reported in 2006, compared with 7,163 ... Read More

What was it about the murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett that caused the jury in Lisa Montgomery's trial to vote to give her the death penalty? Why did they ... Read More

As the trial of Joseph Edward Duncan III approaches, his attorneys have filed motions asking that the entire federal case against him be thrown out along with statements he ... Read More

Middlesex Superior Court Diane Kottmyer has rejected another request from attorneys for Neil Entwistle to delay the start of his murder trial. Entwistle's trial for the murder of his ... Read More

For the fifth time, the murder trial of accused Atlanta Courthouse Killer Brian Nichols has been delayed due to a lack of funds for his defense. Sticking to his ... Read More

Prosecutors have appealed the ruling of Circuit Judge Marc L. Lubet earlier this month that tossed out most of the state's evidence against former astronaut Lisa Nowak. Judge Lubet ... Read More

Valentin Sanchez Garcia is wanted by the FBI for murder in connection with a drunken argument that turned violent in Canyon County, Idaho, in October 2002. Garcia is known ... Read More

It seems every week there is another report of a child being sexually assaulted. But what happens to the pedophiles? If you could sentence a pedophile, how would you vote? For ... Read More

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure has ordered O.J. Simpson and two co-defendants held over for trial on charges of kidnapping and armed robbery in connection ... Read More

Last week when Amanda Reagan Smith was arrested in Greenville, South Carolina for the deaths of her two children after claiming they were killed by a carjacker, it revived ... Read More

A four-time loser and registered sex offender, Tony Edward Massie is wanted by the FBI for escaping from the Tammany Parish Jail in Covington, Louisiana, on Aug. 18, 2007. ... Read More

Investigators say Bolingbrook, Illinois policeman Drew Peterson is now "clearly" a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife Stacey Peterson while authorities requested and received a court order ... Read More

DNA evidence has led police to arrest a Tacoma, Washington, man for the 1974 shooting of a 21-year-old Brigham Young University student. The body of Barbara Jean Rocky was ... Read More

Authorities have finally heard from the 11 and 12-year-old children of a missing Plainfield, Illinois, woman when they testified before a grand jury investigating the disappearance of Lisa Stebic. ... Read More

In the first two days of a preliminary hearing for O.J. Simpson on charges of kidnapping and armed robbery, one witness testified that Simpson may have never seen any ... Read More

Phil Spector, whose murder trial ended in a mistrial when the jury deadlocked 10-2, is seeking a new attorney for his retrial, which is scheduled to begin early next ... Read More

The convicted rapist and suspected Phoenix Baseline Killer has been denied a bid for a new trial by a Superior Court judge. Mark Goudeau was found guilty in September ... Read More

In order for anyone accused of a crime to stand trial, they must be able to help in their defense. For the mentally ill, this can be impossible. However, by ... Read More

A South Carolina woman who told police that a carjacker smothered her seven-year-old son with a pillow has been arrested and charged with the boy's murder. Amanda Reagan Smith ... Read More

The week-long manhunt for a man suspected of shooting a Philadelphia policeman during the armed robbery of a donut shop ended when Jordan (John) Lewis was arrested in Miami. ... Read More

The accomplice of a man accused of killing pregnant mom Jessie Davis has pleaded guilty as her own trial was about to begin and has agreed to testify against ... Read More

As opening statements were underway in his murder trial, Darren Mack changed his plea to guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his wife and entered an Alford ... Read More

Robert Douglas Preece, wanted by the FBI for robbing two banks in Salt Lake City, Utah, has been captured in Portland, Oregon. According to investigators Preece robbed one bank ... Read More

Authorities are treating the disappearance of 23-year-old Stacy Peterson as a missing-person case, but a week after the Bolingbrook, Illinois, mother of two was reported missing, those who knew ... Read More

Prosecutors and attorneys for Brian David Mitchell have filed final written arguments on whether the accused kidnapper of Elizabeth Smart should be forced to take medication in order to ... Read More

The Fulton County district attorney has filed a complaint with the Georgia Supreme Court in an effort to force the judge in the Atlanta Courthouse Shootings case to resume ... Read More

A female school teacher who apparently fled Nebraska to avoid charges of having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old student was found in Mexico with the boy. Kelsey Peterson ... Read More

A Florida judge has thrown out most of the evidence against former astronaut Lisa Nowak, who is accused of attacking her romantic rival with pepper spray at the Orlando ... Read More

The FBI was told of O.J. Simpson's plan to retrieve personal items he claimed were stolen by a sports memorabilia dealer three weeks before Simpson and a group of ... Read More

Police launched a search for a 13-year-old boy and a female middle school teacher who they believe fled together from Lexington, Nebraska, after authorities began to investigate their relationship. ... Read More

The Ponytail Bandit is still at large in spite of a nationwide search and the added publicity generated by the FBI's wanted posters. The smiling, blonde woman in her ... Read More

According to the latest statistics gathered by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), a Washington, D.C.-based organization of police chiefs, sheriffs, and other state and local law enforcement leaders, violent ... Read More

Michael Jason Registe is wanted for his alleged participation in a double homicide in Columbus, Georgia. On July 20, 2007, the Columbus Police Department responded to a shooting incident ... Read More