FORT PIERCE — As Roscoe Tanner stood before the judge who would rule on the plea bargain that would leave him facing only a misdemeanor worthless-check charge, the prosecutor made sure the former tennis star knew what a sweet deal he was getting.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A 26-year-old Portland man is going to prison for 25 years for producing child pornography.        

The week in science: Bee-harming pesticides banned in Europe, North Korea atomic bomb detected, and chemist goes to trial over lab accident.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Jane Kelly will become a federal appeals court judge Friday with an unusual background that supporters say makes her a perfect fit for the job and a potential U.S. Supreme Court candidate someday.

NEW HAVEN — A federal court jury is scheduled to hear closing arguments and begin deliberations in the corruption trial of an aide to former Connecticut House Speaker Chris Donovan.

Orange County defendants on pretrial release will be fitted with new ankle monitors as the county adds a new GPS monitoring program on Monday. Orange County has hired 3M to monitor the 50 defendants awaiting trial.  Orange County spokesman Steve Triggs said the ankle monitors are an added layer of security for people already out on bond and on probation. But the state of California said their ...

Trying to beat back salacious allegations against his client, the lawyer for creepy Assemblyman Vito Lopez dropped a bombshell, accusing Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver of inappropriate personal conduct.

WASHINGTON — Prosecutors say a Virginia man who planned a mass killing at the Washington headquarters of a conservative Christian lobbying group should spend 45 years in prison for his plot.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — New Jersey casino regulators have approved Revel's plans for turning around the financially troubled business. The state Casino Control Commission voted Wednesday on Revel's reorganization plan, which has already been approved by a bankruptcy court. The plan sheds most of the casino's debt in...

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina judge declares that a man accused of raping and killing a 5-year-old Fayetteville girl is competent to stand trial in a case that could end with the death penalty.

Volunteers, National Guardsmen and even prison inmates join in effort to ward off fast-rising water

A man has pleaded guilty in the death of a Macon legal secretary and has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Legislative notebook: House bill would fight convictions of innocent Dubbed the "Michael Morton Act," Senate Bill 1611 would require prosecutors to turn over evidence to lawyers who represent the accused to help them prepare for defense and to ensure that key facts aren't hidden during trial. A group "demanding" votes on gun-friendly legislation hoped showcasing their firearms at a rally Monday ...

Police in Isabella County say a Central Michigan University student tried to poison her roommate. 19-year-old Kayla Bonkowski is accused of putting bleach in her roommate's iced tea at their apartment

An Indiana attorney has been suspended from practice for three years for pursuing a romantic relationship with a summer law clerk and attempting to destroy her legal career when she rejected his advances.

Bernalillo County Commissioners are being ordered to face a judge in a nearly two decades old, multi-million dollar lawsuit over overcrowding in the county jail, but will the court hearing bring anything new?

A trial date has been set for a homeless man facing attempted murder charges. A jury trial for Samuel Wheless is set for September 30.

A Taylor County man has been sentenced to 110 years in prison after pleading guilt to creating child pornography with two girls under the age of 5.

Charles Cullen was handed down six life sentences in 2006 after he admitted poisoning at least 40 people in New Jersey and Pennsylvania over the course of his 16-year nursing career.

An Arizona man who became a fugitive rather than go on trial in two assault cases now faces 7 1/2 years in prison.

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Thursday alleged that a former federal government lawyer helped the Cuban intelligence service recruit a woman who was later sentenced to 25 years in prison for spying. An indictment filed in 2004 was unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia charging Marta Rita Velazquez with conspiracy to commit espionage for ...

CAIRO (Reuters) - A prominent Egyptian blogger and political activist went on trial on Sunday charged with insulting President Mohamed Mursi, in a case his supporters see as evidence of an escalating crackdown on dissent. Ahmed Douma is on trial for calling Mursi a criminal and a murderer during recent media interviews. His arrest on April 30 is the latest in several moves against dissidents ...

CONCORD – The New Hampshire Supreme Court will issue its ruling Tuesday on Christopher Gribble’s appeal on his first-degree murder conviction in the death of Mont Vernon mother Kimberly Cates. Gribble’s appellate defender argued in pleadings to the court that the jury pool in Gribble’s March 2011 trial was “deeply affected” by publicity before and during the trial. Gribble, formerly of Brookline ...

A 49-year-old woman was sent to prison Monday after she pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a hit-and-run that killed a 15-year-old boy.

SANTA FE - New Mexico's highest court is allowing the state's top water manager to decide proposed water rights transfers to increase flows in the drought-stricken Pecos River.

Family attorneys and parents awaited Florida Gov. Rick Scott's decision on a bill that would end permanent alimony in the state. The Florida House on Thursday passed a bill (SB 718) that sets limits on the amount of alimony and how long someone would receive financial support from an ex-spouse. Judges still will have latitude to make adjustment. The bill already passed the Senate. "Everything I ...

A U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor--who aggressively pursued a Los Angeles-based, Armenian organized-crime investigation with tentacles in Orange County but ran afoul of a federal magistrate...

DETROIT (AP) - An attorney for a former Michigan Supreme Court justice says community service would be an appropriate sentence for a scandal that forced her out of office.

An Idaho man convicted of breaking into a Boise zoo and brutally beating to death a Patas monkey will spend up to a year in state prison, where he'll take part in a treatment program.

(AP Photo/Steven Senne). Herbert Robbins, of Worcester, Mass., right, joins with other demonstrators as they display placards and chant slogans on the street outside the Graham, Putnam, and Mahoney Funeral Parlors, in Worcester, May 5, 2013.

An inmate serving a 20-year sentence for multiple drug charges out of Cole County and other Mid-Missouri counties died Friday at the Jefferson City Correctional Center.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Bureau of Prisons lacks clear standards on when to grant compassionate release to inmates with terminal illnesses and limited life expectancies, the Justice Department's inspector general said Wednesday.

The contract for Willcox City Attorney is up for renewal, and Ann Roberts has expressed her interest in becoming a part-time city employee, rather than continuing her status as a contract employee.

MIAMI, May 20 (UPI) -- A south Florida woman was suffering from postpartum depression when she left her baby to die shut in a sweltering car, her lawyer said.

HASTINGS, Minn. - A former West St. Paul pastor has been sentenced to five years in prison after an alleged affair with a 16-year-old girl who was a parishioner.

A Florida administrative law judge has struck down a decision by the state’s parimutuel regulator to award a license to a north Florida track that offers betting on Quarter Horse barrel racing.

A Grandview, MO man who is a registered sex offender pleaded guilty in federal court to receiving child pornography over the Internet.

A bill passed by the Indiana legislature designed to divert low-level offenders out of state prisons would increase the strain on county corrections systems if signed by Gov. Mike Pence, local officials say.

The verdict for two brothers accused of stealing a winning $5 million scratch-off lottery ticket is expected Wednesday morning.

A Jackson Township man will stand trial in Blair County court on charges that he supplied alcohol to minors the night a Nanty Glo teenager led police on a high-speed chase and then crashed his car, killing 16-year-old Kelsey Lynn Miller of Nanty Glo.

WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court ruled today that it's legal for a state to limit use of its Freedom of Information Act to its own residents. The court unanimously upheld a federal appeals court decision validating Virginia's limitation of its FOIA law to state citizens and some media outlets.