Trial | featured news

A Moscow judge has sentenced each of three members of the provocative punk band Pussy Riot to two years in prison on hooliganism charges following a trial that has drawn international outrage.

The judge in the case of Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes ruled on Monday to keep nearly all relevant court documents sealed from public view, and keep a gag order in place, saying disclosure of records could damage the investigation, and the defendant’s access to a fair hearing.

Attorneys for mass murder suspect James Holmes told a district judge Thursday that their client is mentally ill, setting the stage for an insanity defense for the man charged with murdering 12 people and injuring 58 in a movie theater rampage.

The one-day murder trial of Gu Kailai, the wife of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai, concluded with prosecutors telling the court that she slipped poison into a glass of water to kill British businessman Neil Heywood after he got drunk. Gu killed Heywood, they argued, because he threatened the security of her Harvard University son.

US news media will apply at a court hearing later to weaken a gag order on the case of the man accused of last month's Colorado cinema massacre. The alleged gunman, James Holmes, 24, is expected to be present for the hearing, as more than 20 news groups ask a judge to unseal documents.

George Zimmerman will seek to have second-degree murder charges dismissed under Florida's "stand your ground" law in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, his attorney said Thursday.

The son of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai says he is confident the "facts will speak for themselves" when his mother stands trial for murder Thursday in the country's most sensational political scandal in decades.

Trayvon Martin’s mother is pursuing more than $75,000 in damages from the homeowners’ association of the gated community where her son was killed, the Orlando Sentinel reported on Monday. Sybrina Fulton is also seeking money from a state fund set up to help crime victims and their families, it said.

Is it possible for the butler, who hasn't met with his lawyer yet, to get a fair trial in the poisoning of Neil Heywood, associate of political wife Gu Kailai? The lawyer for one of the defendants in China's most sensational murder case is emphatic: The butler did not do it.

The psychiatrist who was treating Colorado movie massacre suspect James Holmes warned a University of Colorado threat-assessment team that he could be a danger, but no action was taken because he soon dropped out of school, the Denver Post reported.