Augusta, ME Attorneys, Lawyers and Law Firms

Brian Patrick O'Callaghan is facing murder charges after it has been alleged that he had beaten his adopted son which resulted to the 3-year-old's death.

O'Callaghan is a former marine and a war veteran who now works for the NSA.

The suspicion against O'Callaghan started when police were called to the hospital where the boy was confined.

The boy was suffering from brain hemorrhage and fractures in the skull, injuries consistent with beating.

O'Callaghan had told police investigators that his wife had gone out of town thus he had been caring for the boy.

While under his care, O'Callaghan said the child had hit his shoulder in the shower after falling backwards. The next day, when he went to check on the boy who was napping, he said he noticed mucus coming out of the boy's nose and when he picked him up, the boy started vomiting so he brought him to the hospital.

Steven McCool, a defense lawyer in Washington representing O'Callaghan, is insisting on his client's innocence.

He said the allegations have no basis and that O'Callaghan is disputing that the child suffered several injuries in the head.

Stephen Cothran was acquitted of rape and kidnapping charges in connection to an incident that happened in 1993.

Cothran, 56, became a suspect when his DNA linked him to evidence gathered during the incident.

However, a negative test had the jury dismissing the charges against Cothran.

Reuben Sheperd, a criminal attorney in Cleveland defending for Cothran, said that the victim had agreed to have sex with his client.

A plea deal agreement has Broderick Kenyo Smith admitting to manslaughter instead of capital murder in the death of Arlando Maurice Pritchett in 2012.

The plea agreement will have Smith serving just a year in jail for a split sentence of 10 years.

His jail stay will be followed with probation for three years.

Should Smith violate his probation, he could be made to serve the rest of his 10-year sentence.

According to the police, Pritchett had an argument with a cab driver prior to his shooting while Smith admitted that he had been driving a cab during the time of the incident.

Birmingham defense attorney Charles Salvagio said Smith had shot Pritchett because the latter had robbed him.

Ken Anderson, the former District Attorney of Williamson County, was meted with a 10-day jail term after the judge accepted his no-contest plea for the charge of contempt of court.

The charge steamed from the wrongful conviction of Michael Morton who was found guilty for the murder of his wife in 1986 and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

However, in 2011, Morton's conviction was overturned using DNA as proof that he did not kill his wife.

In the light of that development, Anderson, who had prosecuted Morton's case, was scrutinized and was determined to have erred when he withheld evidence which would have been beneficial for Morton's defense.

Aside from the short jail stay, Anderson will also have to give up his license as a lawyer and as part of the plea bargain, he will also be disbarred for five years.

Austin attorney Eric Nichols, however, pointed out that there will be no conviction for Anderson on any criminal charge.

Morton, for his part, said he is more than happy with the result because all he wanted was for Anderson not to practice law anymore to prevent what happened to him from happening to anyone else again.

Anderson was also fined and made to do community service.

David Christopher Cruz was found guilty in the death of an infant, who is still five months shy of turning one years old.

The infant victim, the son of Cruz's girlfriend, was taken off life support a few days after he was brought into the hospital unconscious.

He suffered head injuries, several fractures and had bruises on his body.

Court heard that Cruz was the infant's baby sitter while the mother goes to work.

Cruz told the police that he had hit the baby because he keeps on fussing.

Michael Begovich, a criminal lawyer in San Diego defending for Cruz, said that the baby's mother also has a responsibility in her son's death because she had not consulted a doctor when the baby had an ear infection.