Archive for June, 2009
On Thursday, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a state’s laboratory analyst must testify in person at a criminal defendant’s trial if the state wishes to introduce forensic reports showing a substance to be drugs.
In Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, the defendant, Melendez-Diaz, was arrested for distributing and trafficking in cocaine. Police were notified that he was acting in a suspicious manner while working at a Kmart and witnessed him make an apparent drug sale outside the store. ...
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The former principal and assistant principal of Atherton Elementary School in Decatur have been arrested on charges of cheating on student tests. A state investigation revealed last week that the two changed answers on student tests in an attempt to increase their school’s performance.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution has the story.
The principal, James Berry, had resigned last week during the investigation and was arrested at his home on Friday. He is currently being held without bond. The ...
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A Gwinnett County woman was arrested last Friday for restraining her 15-year-old son with handcuffs while trying to perform an exorcism. A family friend was also arrested with the mother.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution has the story.
Sandra Alfred, 46, has been charged with false imprisonment and cruelty to children for restraining her son against his will. The family friend, Larry Powell, was also charged with cruelty to children.
Police say that on June 10 one of the two called ...
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Since 1998, Georgia has collected the DNA of certain felons in a database in the hopes of solving cold cases and future crimes. Authorities accomplish this effort by taking DNA found at a crime a scene and comparing it with the DNA of prisoners collected in the database. Thus far, the database has led to 1,415 cases being solved in Georgia. There were 75 solved cases in the month of May alone.
The Macon Telegraph has the story.
The state’s DNA ...
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