Doug Berman, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University: "As regular readers know, I typically try to avoid blogging about high-profile criminal law cases (unless and until there is a Blakely issue). But now that the Scott Peterson case is past the guilt stage and moving to sentencing, I guess it is time to jump [...]

Officials at HMP Manchester at Strangeways announced Friday that a clerical error resulted in accused murderer Bobby Phipps being released 4 days after he was remanded for trial. Phipps was set free Monday and wasn't discovered as missing until Thursday, the day before his scheduled appearance before Manchester Crown Court. Phipps is accused of six [...]

The Supreme Court of Canada Friday ruled that government of British Columbia may decide whether to provide funding for the treatment of autistic children, overturning two lower court rulings that the funding was required. Parents of autistic children had argued that the government was required to provide the treatment under section 15 of the Charter [...]

A high court judge in Sri Lanka and his bodyguard were shot and killed Friday by an unknown gunman. The judge, Sarath Ambepitiya, was returning to his home when he was shot, but a motive was not yet clear for the killing. Ambepitiya was known for issuing long sentences, including a 200-year jail sentence issued [...]

Doug Berman, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University: "It's perhaps a sober reminder of the realities of criminal justice that President Bush's ceremonial pardoning of turkeys received a lot more press than his actual pardoning of people.  (As an aside, I cannot help but wonder if Alberto Gonzales wrote clemency memos for Biscuits and [...]

The US Navy has announced that on Monday an unnamed SEAL lieutenant will face an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury, on charges that his abuse of an Iraqi prisoner lead to the prisoner's death. The prisoner, Manadel al-Jamadi, was captured and held at Abu Ghraib prison when the alleged abuse [...]

The US Supreme Court has stayed the execution of a Texas man for the second time in five months. Troy Kunkle was convicted of murder for the 1984 killing of man during an armed robbery. Prior to his scheduled execution in July of 2004, citizens opposed to Kunkle's execution started a petition to stay his [...]

Egyptian officials have requested the release of five Egyptian Guantanamo Bay prisoners after the US government placed them in the "least dangerous" category of detention. The US State Department says it will soon explain the procedures for release to the Egyptian government. This is the first time Egypt has sought release of its citizens being [...]

Senior officials from Iraq's political parties have called for a two or three month delay of the country's planned January election, citing ongoing violence. During a one-day summit in Northern Iraq Thursday, Ibrahim al-Janabi, aide to Iraq interim prime minister Iyad Allawi, said it is not likely the security and technical issues surrounding the election [...]

The Venezuelan government is investigating a car bomb that exploded in a suburb of Caracas, killing the driver, believed to be a senior government prosecutor who was investigating opposition groups allegedly involved in a 2002 coup against President Hugo Chavez. The Government of Venezuela website has more in Spanish. Reuters has more in English.