Somerville, NJ Attorneys, Lawyers and Law Firms

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.

The murder charge filed against Freddie Earl Patton,53, for the shooting death of his girlfriend's father, Kenneth Millar, 81, has been dismissed upon the request of the Deputy District Attorney.

An order for Patton's release from jail has been signed, however, he may not be off the hook yet as the DA's office has stated that the case will be turned over to the grand jury in Jefferson County.

The prosecution moved for the dismissal after arguing with the defense who wanted to further question the detective about the autopsy report.

Birmingham criminal attorney John Lentine said that a manslaughter charge should have been filed instead of murder because the shooting was an accident.

If Patton gets indicted, he will have to go back to jail.

Theft charges against Subhanna Beyah were dropped after her victim, New York Giants' Shaun Rogers, refused to cooperate with the authorities.

Jonathan Meltz, Beyah's lawyer in Miami, could not be contacted to comment on the issue.

Miami prosecutors believed that Beyah did to Rogers what she did to two other men, wherein she drugged them before stealing their valuables.

According to the police, Rogers had met Beyah at the nightclub of the hotel where he was staying.

Together with another couple, they had gone up to his room where he went to sleep while the others were partying. Before he went to sleep, he put his jewelry inside a safe in the room. When he woke up, Beyah was already gone and so was his jewelry worth almost $500,000.

Rogers had told the prosecution that he was not willing to cooperate during the one time he spoke with them.

Despite the failure of the theft charges to prosper, the prosecution instead will go ahead with charging Beyah for violating her probation wherein she is looking at a 20-year prison sentence if convicted.

William S. Kern, a Baltimore Police instructor, was handed a 60-day jail stay, for shooting Raymond Gray, a police recruit, while they were doing exercises.

Kern, who has been in service for 19 years, told the court during his trial that he had brought a live gun to the exercises and he had accidentally used it instead of the training weapon.

Gray was hit in the head and was blinded in one eye when Kern fired his gun through the window to show the recruits the danger of lingering near the door, the window or the hallway.

Kern said that he brought his gun to the training for the safety of the recruits because the facility where they were having their exercises is not secure.

Baltimore defense attorney Shaun F. Owens had argued for Kern's release saying that his client's eventual dismissal from the service would already be enough of a punishment.

Kern is on a 60-day suspension while the Baltimore Police conducts an investigation within its ranks.

Gray's family, who expressed dissatisfaction with the sentence, has also filed a civil lawsuit in relation to the incident and is being represented by Baltimore litigator A. Dwight Pettit.

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.