Albrecht Muth has always been an odd character, and a judge ruled today that he wasn't capable of representing himself in his upcoming trial for the murder of wife Viola Drath last year. more ›

A day after protesters at the Occupy D.C. encampment at McPherson Square dropped a massive tarp over the statue of Gen. James McPherson in protest of a planned enforcement of anti-camping regulations, the U.S. Park Police have asked occupiers to remove it. more ›

"Guilty as charged, your honor" was all that former D.C. Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. (D-Ward 5) had to say at a hearing in federal court this morning, bringing to a swift close a political and legal saga that has convulsed his ward and the District's political class at large over the last year. more ›

Despite a standing court order that forces the U.S. Park Police to give the Occupy D.C. encampment at McPherson Square 24 hours notice before moving to evict it, a lawyer representing the protesters is seeking to ban the government from acting against the occupiers altogether. more ›

Former Prince George's County Chief Executive Jack Johnson was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined $100,000 today. more ›

If the U.S. Park Police wants to get rid of Occupy D.C. campers, it will have to tell them ahead of time. more ›

Keith Silver, a Ward 6 ANC commissioner who was arrested during an April 18 D.C. voting rights protest on Capitol Hill, was found not guilty of a single charge of failing to obey a lawful order this afternoon. more ›

Nico Dauphiné, the National Zoo researcher and "Apocalypse Meow" author who was arrested and accused of poisoning feral cats around Meridian Hill Park earlier this year, was found guilty on animal cruelty charges in D.C. Superior Court today. more ›

This afternoon, one of the Apple Store employees who reportedly heard Jayna Murray being murdered by Brittany Norwood inside the Lululemon Athletica testified during the third day of Norwood's murder trial. more ›

Rodney McIntyre, who pled guilty to brutally murdering his 17-year-old daughter Ebony Franklin in July, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison. more ›

Nico Dauphiné, the National Zoo researcher who allegedly set out food laced with rat poison and antifreeze to kill off the population of feral cats which lingers around Meridian Hill Park, had the chance to defend herself in court yesterday. more ›

After two days of rigorous jury selection, opening statements in the trial of Brittany Norwood were delivered today. And based on what the defense presented this afternoon, it could be an even more explosive trial than expected. more ›

This afternoon, a man arrested in connection with a plot that planned bombings against two Washington embassies and targeted the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States pleaded not guilty to various charges. more ›

The family of the man who died outside DC9 nearly one year ago is planning on filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the club tomorrow. more ›

Perhaps realizing that "she used to use her head to hit a soccer ball" might not be the airtight defense they're looking for, attorneys for Brittany Norwood now say they plan to argue that police did not properly Mirandize the suspected murderer before she spoke with police. more ›

Yesterday, a Montgomery County judge denied a request made by attorneys representing Brittany Norwood, the woman on trial for the brutal murder of Jayna Murray inside the Bethesda Lululemon. more ›

Maurice Dews, who stands accused of three counts of arson, including one fire which led to the injury of several firefighters on April 8, will appear in court tomorrow morning after being ruled competent to stand trial. more ›

On August 22, 2010, Neil Michael Godleski was riding his bicycle through Sherman Circle when Eric Foreman, a 17-year-old who had in his possession a .38-caliber handgun that had been used less than 24 hours earlier in another gang-related shooting, shot him several times. Foreman was officially indicted yesterday on nine counts, including murder, robbery and firearm charges. more ›

Yesterday, Rodney James McIntyre, the father of slain 17-year-old Ebony Franklin, appeared in court, where several incredibly gruesome details -- including an admission that he had given Franklin "a bottle of his semen" to try and get pregnant -- were revealed. more ›

The D.C. Council passed emergency legislation yesterday which would allow it to take Sulaimon Brown and Cherita Whiting to court in order enforce subpoenas to compel their testimony -- and the strategy might actually work. more ›

Eight District residents arrested in a number of recent protests for D.C. voting rights and autonomy are headed to trial, while nine others opted to pay a fine after appearing in a D.C. courtroom this morning for a preliminary hearing. more ›

Joshua and Christian Benton, two of the five individuals on trial for the July 2008 murder of 13-year-old Alonzo Robinson in Trinidad, were acquitted this morning inside D.C. Superior Court, WTOP reports. more ›

Reports from today's hearing in which Brittany Norwood faced a judge for the first time after being arrested on first-degree murder charges revealed the extent of the brutality Norwood stands accused of committing against 30-year-old Jayna Murray inside a Lululemon Athletica store in Bethesda on March 11. According to reports from inside the courtroom, the struggle between the two women may have lasted as long as 20 minutes -- during which time Murray's skull was fractured by innumerable blows to the head and her spinal cord was severed by a wound which went through her neck. Police also hinted that Norwood may have used tools from a toolbox inside the store during the murder. more ›

WTOP reports this morning that a judge has ruled that former Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson no longer needs to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. Johnson's attorney argued that the bracelet was causing Johnson problems in his search for a new job, stating in a motion that the monitoring hardware made meeting "with other individuals outside of his residence...increasingly difficult and sometimes impossible" for the former County Executive. (Well, yeah -- isn't that kind of the point?) U.S. Magistrate Judge William Connelly agreed, though, ruling that Johnson could shed the bracelet last Monday. Johnson and his wife, County Councilmember Leslie Johnson, are still awaiting trial on evidence tampering and destruction charges. more ›

Back in October, D.C. police searched the Burlieth residence of CBS News radio anchor Howard Arenstein after several neighbors had complained that Arenstein, along with his wife Orly Katz, had been growing weed in the home's backyard. The cops proceeded to find several cannabis plants -- some at least eight feet tall -- and 12 ounces of packaged marijuana during the search. Open-and-shut, right? Well, not so much. Rend Smith reports that charges against both Arenstein and Katz were dropped without prejudice this morning because prosecutors were unable to locate the only witness they were planning on calling, likely the arresting officer. (Why the prosecutors didn't think about possibly investing in a backup witness, just in case something happened, wasn't clear.) Sounds like Arenstein and Katz got real lucky: their rumored defense -- that the dope was for medicinal use -- probably wouldn't have gotten them too far. more ›

Farooque Ahmed, the man who was arrested on terrorism charges as part of a federal sting operation in October, has pled not guilty, CNN reports. Ahmed was arraigned in an Alexandria district court this morning on charges of attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, collecting information to assist in planning a terrorist attack on a transit facility and attempting to provide material support "to help carry out multiple bombings to cause mass casualties" on Metro. Ahmed reportedly said nothing other than "yes, sir" when asked to confirm his signature on a document. Ahmed's jury trial has been scheduled to begin on April 11, 2011. more ›

For those of you who haven't been keeping up with the Chandra Levy murder trial, it has now hit the point where the really big witnesses are starting to take the stand. Gary Condit, the former Representative who is probably the most-anticipated witness scheduled to testify in the trial, is in the courtroom and could take the stand today, according to NBCWashington. Over the past week, the jury has heard emotional testimony from women who were also assaulted by Levy's alleged killer Ingmar Guandique, Levy's father Robert and various witnesses who state that the police investigation into Levy's death was tainted. All indications are that the prosecution is struggling somewhat to make its case, but there is still plenty of testimony -- including accounts from jailhouse informants -- to be delivered. more ›

According to reports from D.C. Superior Court this morning, all five DC9 employees who were arrested in connection with Friday morning's death outside the club have been charged with one count of aggravated assault. D.C. Superior Court Judge Frederick H. Weisberg ordered that club co-owner Bill Spieler, Darryl Carter, Evan Preller and Arthur Zaloga all be released under "heightened supervision." The fifth arrested employee, Reginald Phillips, has not yet been released; the court is still decided whether he is eligible for the additional supervision, which involves electronic monitoring. A preliminary hearing in the case has been scheduled for November 11. It's worth noting that the official cause of death has not yet been released, and the assault charges could change based on that ruling. more ›

Jorida Davidson, 30, is scheduled to appear in D.C. Superior Court this afternoon, where she will be charged with voluntary manslaughter in the death of Kiela Ryan, according to TBD's Dave Jamieson. In the District, manslaughter charges carry a maximum sentence of thirty years imprisonment. Jamieson also wrangled up a PDF copy of the police report of the incident, which notes that the driver of the car was positively identified by the witness who recorded her Maryland tag number and that Ryan was pronounced dead at George Washington Hospital at 5:04 a.m., nearly three-and-a-half hours after the incident occurred. more ›