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Judge who presided over Kaufman County DA capital murder trial seeks U.S. Attorney job

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Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News
Former state District Judge Mike Snipes presided over the capital murder trial of Eric Williams in December. It was his last trial before retiring from the bench at the end of 2014. A jury sentenced Williams to death in connection to the murders of the Kaufman County District Attorney, his wife and a top prosecutor.
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Judge decides Dallas teen won’t be tried as an adult in baby girl’s drowning

Dallas teen admits she drowned baby, gets 40 years, the maximum sentence

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Dallas police officers used a sheet to cover the doorway as 2-month-old Justice Hall is removed from a Red Bird apartment on Jan. 26. (Ron Baselice/Staff Photographer)

Dallas police officers used a sheet to cover the doorway as 2-month-old Justice Hull is removed from a Red Bird apartment on Jan. 26. (Ron Baselice/Staff Photographer)

Updated at 11:28 a.m.:

A Dallas girl who admitted drowning a baby she did not want her mother to adopt was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison, the maximum punishment. She was 14 when she killed the baby and has since turned 15.

The girl will begin her sentence in state custody with the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. Before she turns 19, a juvenile court judge will decide whether she will be paroled or serve the remainder of her sentence in adult prison.

In a juvenile lockup, the girl will have more options than if she had been tried as adult. She will go to school and get counseling.

George Ashford, the teen’s attorney, said he wasn’t surprised by the sentence. He said the victory for his client came earlier this year when the case was not moved to adult court.

The attorney said the girl’s mother took the verdict “very hard.” She was not allowed to speak to her daughter after the hearing and will have to visit her another time.

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Judicial conduct commission scolds Dallas judge who said 14-year-old rape victim 'wasn't the victim she claimed to be'

Ex-prostitutes start new life: 'Men don't validate us anymore. We validate ourselves.'

Dallas County man freed after serving 25 years for murder over faulty science of bite marks

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Steven Chaney, with his wife, Lenora, spoke to the media after his release Monday. (David Woo/Staff Photographer)

Steven Chaney, with his wife, Lenora, spoke to the media after his release Monday. (David Woo/Staff Photographer)

Steven Mark Chaney is a free man after spending 25 years behind bars after the faulty science of bite marks sent him to prison for murder.

Dentist Jim Hales told a Dallas County jury that there was a “1 to a million” chance that someone other than Chaney made the bite marks on John Sweek’s body. Now, Hales says the science used to convict Chaney has been discredited.

Outside the courtroom, Chaney bear-hugged family members, including his wife, mother and four brothers.

“I haven’t gotten to hug my mom,” Chaney exclaimed as he squeezed his mother, Darla Chaney, and kissed the top of her head.

Chaney’s attorneys, Julie Lesser, and the New York-based Innocence Project asked state District Judge Dominique Collins to release him based on the new bite mark evidence and allegations of prosecutor misconduct, including withholding evidence and eliciting false testimony.

Collins wore a large orange flower pin on her robe and bought Chaney celebratory pumpkin pie. She gave the dessert to Lesser before the hearing, telling Lesser she wanted Chaney to have something tasty after all that prison food.

Dallas County District Attorney Susan Hawk, Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck and county Commissioner John Wiley Price attended the hearing. As usual, for hearings involving possible wrongful convictions, several local exonerees from Dallas and Ellis counties filled the benches in the courtroom to support Chaney.

Chaney, a 59-year-old former construction worker, is asking for the courts to overturn his murder conviction. In Dallas County, more than 30 people have been exonerated for crimes they did not commit. Most of those exonerations were based on DNA evidence.

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Ex-judge slammed for conduct on bench, as taxpayers foot the bill

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Etta Mullin

Etta Mullin

A former Dallas County criminal court judge who was scolded for her conduct on the bench has received an even harsher reprimand upon appeal.

Etta … [visit site to read more]

Daughter of murdered woman to killer: 'Why did you have to be brought into this world?'

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The turbulent marriage of Veronica Sauels and Ranji Alix Charles abruptly ended when he murdered her three months after they said “I do.” He shot her in the face and neck as she slept.

But violence and second chances in their relationship stretched back at least four years.

This week, in exchange for a 50-year sentence, Charles pleaded guilty to killing Sauels … [visit site to read more]


Court: Dallas attorney can't test room where client's blood drawn after DWI arrest

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