On Monday in Phoenix, U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa vacated a Feb. 9 start date for the second trial of veteran newspapermen and former Backpage.com owners Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin, while a defense appeal on the issue of…
In a 17-page decision filed Dec. 29 in federal court in Phoenix, U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa set the Lacey/Larkin case on track for a Feb. 9 retrial, rejecting a defense motion that the Constitution’s prohibition on double jeopardy…
Defense attorneys in the Lacey/Larkin case faced a high bar during Friday’s oral arguments in Phoenix’s federal court on their motion for dismissal for double jeopardy, filed in the wake of a mistrial declared on Sep. 14 by Judge Susan…
MAJOR POINTS Michael Lacey, Jim Larkin and four codefendants currently face 100 counts including the following: facilitating misdemeanor state prostitution offenses in violation of the U.S. Travel Act; money laundering; conspiracy to commit money laundering; and conspiracy to facilitate misdemeanor…
The grueling process of picking a jury in the Lacey/Larkin trial played out Wednesday in the ultra-humid “special proceedings courtroom” of downtown Phoenix’s Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse, itself a hothouse of steel and glass built by some architectural sadist…
A fiery motion to dismiss filed in the Lacey/Larkin case on May 1 in federal court in Phoenix accuses the U.S. Department of Justice of “outrageous government misconduct,” claiming federal pettifoggers and government agents repeatedly trampled upon the defendants’ attorney-client…
Federal prosecutors in Phoenix recently filed a new, superseding indictment against seven former owners and executives of the online listings giant Backpage.com. Dated July 25, the complaint largely reprises the dozens of allegations that formed the basis of the original…
If you didn’t know that the Backpage case was about online classified advertising, you might think the U.S. Department of Justice was mounting a prosecution against the Mafia. Late on Thursday, the DOJ announced that it has turned Backpage CEO…
Zero sex-trafficking charges. That’s the most glaring aspect of a Phoenix federal grand jury’s belatedly unsealed 93-count indictment against seven current and former owners and operators of the online listings site Backpage.com. The defendants include veteran newspapermen Michael Lacey and Jim…
