Note: the following expresses the opinions of Stephen Lemons and no one else. The Backpage trial nearly jumped the tracks on Thursday in Phoenix’s federal court after the defense called twice for a mistrial, only to be denied each time…
Note: the following expresses the opinions of Stephen Lemons and no one else. On Tuesday, Sept. 12 in Phoenix’s federal court, Carl Ferrer, the government’s lead witness in the Backpage trial, followed the prosecution’s playbook to a T, testifying that…
Is the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arizona getting legal advice from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un? Forgive the jest, but on Thursday, prosecutors in the August 8 retrial of veteran newspapermen Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin filed nine pretrial…
On Thursday in Phoenix, U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa denied a defense motion asking her to dismiss the five-year-old criminal case against veteran newspapermen Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin. The ruling clears the path for an August 8 retrial…
In an order dated March 23, U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa in Phoenix set a new start date for the retrial of veteran newspapermen Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin, former owners of the Craigslist-esque classified listings site Backpage.com: August…
See judge’s order, here: Journalists Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin tell a federal judge that they do not oppose severing their retrial in Phoenix from four co-defendants, with some caveats, while prosecutors oppose the idea. Responding to a recent inquiry…
On Sunday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals tentatively scheduled oral arguments in the Lacey/Larkin case for Friday, September 2, nearly a year after prosecutorial misconduct caused a mistrial in the high-stakes First Amendment donnybrook. The hearing is one of…
The U.S. Department of Justice has wasted four years and untold millions of tax dollars on the wrongful prosecution of award-winning journalists and former Backpage owners Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin. Given the opportunity, the DOJ may waste more. Because…
Forget smoking guns. In an appellate brief filed recently at the Ninth Circuit, defense attorneys in the Lacey/Larkin case offer a series of flaming bazookas, detailing the prosecution’s unabashed intent to force the defense to move for a mistrial (and…
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…
