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Posted by: In Session's Graham Winch
Filed under: Trials

Watch this video to see In Session's guest panel answer your questions about the John Goodman murder trial. The lead prosecutor, Ellen Roberts also joined the discussion.

Polo mogul, John Goodman was on his way home after a night out with friends, when he crashed his Bentley into Scott Wilson's car. Wilson's car rolled over and landed upside down in a canal where he drowned. Goodman is charged with DUI manslaughter and failure to render aid.

Posted by: In Session's Alice Feigel
Filed under: FL v. John Goodman

On Thursday, Jane Velez-Mitchell's panel discussed Jodi Arias' behavior in the court room. Arias is charged in the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander. Alexander's sister told In Session's Graham Winch that Arias smiles at her and her family in court.

Arias' trial is scheduled to start on November 19. She says she killed him in self-defense.

Posted by: In Session's Alice Feigel
Filed under: Jodi Arias

A lawyer took the stand Monday in the hearing for Jeffrey MacDonald, the North Carolina man convicted of killing his pregnant wife and two daughters in 1970. Jerry Leonard was the attorney for the late Helena Stoeckley, a woman who at one point claimed to have been in the MacDonald apartment the night of the murders. Leonard testified that she told him the cult members committed the murders.

WRAL reports, Leonard testified that Stoeckley, who died in 1983, told him she was a witch in a cult. She said the cult members decided to go to the MacDonald home to confront him because they were heroin users and they thought his drug treatment program discriminated against heroin users.

Stoeckley said they went to the house and things got out of control, but she said she had no part in the murders.

Prosecutors alleged MacDonald, who was 26 at the time, brutally stabbed his family to death with two paring knives and an ice pick and beat them with a piece of wood in their apartment on Feb. 17, 1970. MacDonald claimed four drug-crazed hippies, who were chanting, “Acid is groovy, kill the pigs,” murdered his family, stabbed him and left him for dead. He is seeking a new trial, because DNA technology didn’t exist during his original trial.

Posted by: In Session's Shannon Carnahan
Filed under: Fatal Vision

Editor’s note: Many of In Session’s Facebook and Twitter followers have asked us how does In Session track trials. In Session’s Trials Editor Jessica Thill wrote the following post to answer some of those questions.

TRIAL TRACKING IN FIVE STEPS

In Session’s Trial Tracking does a critical job for the network – finding interesting cases and keeping watch as they get closer to trial.

There are a number of ways the tracking team members find and research trials. They comb case leads in daily online periodicals, press releases and Google alerts. They also talk to prosecutors, defense attorneys, court clerks, and other court personnel. The trial tracking unit also uses social media to follow trending cases and get suggestions from In Session viewers. All of this information is stored in an extensive proprietary database that currently has data on more than 9,000 criminal and civil cases.

Here is an actual example of the unit’s five-step process for finding trials:

Step 1: FIND AN INTERESTING STORY

The tracker who covers Arizona finds an article about a woman who is accused of shooting and stabbing her ex-boyfriend and leaving his naked body in a shower in 2008. Police recovered photos of his body from a camera that was left in a washing machine. The defendant has given varying accounts of what happened, but ultimately claims she killed him in self-defense.

Step 2: THE DATABASE

The case is definitely one we want to follow, so the tracker starts a file with basic information, including a summary of facts.

Step 3: TRACKING THE CASE

As the case progresses through the criminal justice system, the tracker compiles articles and information on the case. The tracker also contacts key players, including the prosecutor and defense attorneys, for additional details and periodically checks with the court clerk and public information officer for updates on court dates and filings.

Step 4: PREPARING THE REPORT

The case is set for trial in November 2012, so the tracker writes an extensive report, making sure it includes all the pertinent information. Any gaps are filled and the final report is reviewed to ensure accuracy and completeness.

Step 5: TRIAL TRACKING MEETING

The Trial Tracking team and In Session executives meet every Tuesday to discuss upcoming trials. In Session executives make a final decision on whether the case will be covered and what resources to devote to bringing the case to the audience. The case is selected. The tracker sends a formal application letter to the judge and the attorneys involved. The judge approves our application to put cameras in the courtroom. Field producers, correspondents and technical staff will head to the courthouse and set up cameras and equipment before jury selection begins.

The last step is bringing you gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trial on In Session.

Posted by: In Session's Jessica Thill
Filed under: Case Updates

Andrea Sneiderman's friend, Elizabeth Stansbury, talked with In Session's Christi Paul about Sneiderman's testimony in the Hemy Neuman trial, and why she doesn't believe there was an affair. Sneiderman's friends created a website to share their personal stories and memories of her.

Sneiderman has been charged in the murder of her husband, Rusty Sneiderman.

On Thursday, a judge modified Sneiderman's bond to allow her to attend religious services. She will be able to attend a Yom Kippur service next week. Sneiderman must go directly to the specified services from her house, and must return to her residence immediately after.

Posted by: In Session's Alice Feigel
Filed under: GA v Hemy Neuman • GA v. Andrea Sneiderman

Arapahoe County Sheriff

The Arapahoe County Sheriff released a new mug shot of James Holmes, the alleged shooter in the Colorado movie theater massacre.

Holmes is facing 10 new charges for the Colorado movie theater shooting that left 12 people dead and 58 wounded. It is unclear what the new charges include.

Holmes was facing 142 counts, including 24 counts of first-degree murder, and now he is facing 152 charges total.

The charges were added during a hearing Thursday, where Holmes attended with cropped dark hair and a stubbly beard.

Prosecutors also announced at the hearing that they would not fight for the admissibility of the notebook Holmes allegdly sent to his psychiatrist, Dr. Lynn Fenton, hours before the shooting.

Holmes’ public defender, Tamara Brady, has argued that the notebook should not be used at trial, because it is confidential communication between a patient and doctor.

Prosecutors say they maintain the belief that the notebook is not confidential, but will drop the issue out of fear it will delay the trial.

Posted by: In Session's Alice Feigel
Filed under: Aurora Theater Shooting

Jeffrey MacDonald, the Green Beret doctor, convicted of killing his wife and two daughters in the 1970s, could get a new trial. A federal judge began hearing testimony Monday morning.

MacDonald says a group of hippies broke into his home in 1970 and killed his wife and two daughters. He also says they chanted “kill the pigs” and “acid’s groovy” before they stabbed him in the lung.

MacDonald and his attorneys will attempt to use DNA testing to show that hair samples under one of the victim’s fingernails did not come from him or a member of his family, but from one of the killers.

MacDonald was convicted in 1979 and is currently serving three life sentences for the murders.

Watch the video above to see In Session’s Jean Casarez and Christi Paul talk about MacDonald’s chances of getting a new trial.  

Posted by: In Session's Alice Feigel
Filed under: Case Updates

On Friday, a man who was in jail with Hemy Neuman called in to In Session to tell us he observed Neuman's behavior in jail.

Neuman admitted to shooting Rusty Sneiderman, Andrea's husband, outside of his son's daycare in an Atlanta suburb in 2010. Neuman pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He claims an angel told him to shoot Sneiderman.

Posted by: In Session's Alice Feigel, In Session's Brittany Lindsey
Filed under: GA v Hemy Neuman

In Session is working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to help find Alexis Newman. Alexis was last seen in Hazlehurst, Georgia. If you have any information on her whereabouts, call 1-800-THE-LOST or visit www.missingkids.com.

Posted by: In Session's Alice Feigel
Filed under: Find Our Children