By ERICA GOODE New York Times Identifying the firearm used in a crime is one of the biggest challenges for criminal investigators. But what if a shell casing picked up at a murder scene could immediately be tracked to the gun that fired it? A technique that uses laser technology and stamps a numeric code…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The legendary New York mobster Henry Hill who turned government informant, and whose life was the basis for the classic movie Goodfellas, died Tuesday in California. He was 69. Philadelphia Inquirer mob writer George Anastasia wrote: More than any other mob figure in the late 20th century, Hill changed both the perception…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The case was suspect from the beginning, and when the verdict came back — one not guilty and five deadlocked votes — it seemed doom to go away with a whimper. So on Wednesday, the Justice Department announced it was not going to retry presidential hopeful John Edwards on the…
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Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A village in Illinois delivered a blow to federal officials who wanted to build an immigration detention center there, the Chicago Tribune reported. Without public support, Crete village trustees voted unanimously against the facility, which was to be medium-security and provide jobs. Residents wanted none of it, saying the facility would hurt…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The long-time girlfriend of mobster James “Whitey” Bulger showed little remorse before she was sentenced Tuesday in Boston federal court to eight years in prison, the Boston Herald reports. Catherine Greig said she had “no regrets” about helping the crime lord evade a worldwide manhunt for 16 years, according to the Boston…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The continuing clash between state and federal officials over how to handle medicinal pot in states that legalized it arrived in Sacramento again with a raid on a dispensary, the Sacramento Bee reports. Although the Obama administration pledged to respect state laws on medicinal marijuana, the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency executed…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The Justice Department has launched an anti-trust investigation into whether cable companies are acting improperly to hurt competition from online video, the Wall Street Journal reported. Justice Department officials have talked to cable companies such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable about setting data caps and limiting how much a subscriber can…
