Word: courtroom
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...intent was apparently to project an air of innocence, as well as optimism about the eventual outcome. The effect, however, was odd, to say the least. As New Jersey's Democratic Senator Harrison Williams entered a Long Island, N.Y., federal courtroom for the somber business of being sentenced to prison, he was smiling. Through most of the nearly one-hour court session, he was smiling. He left the courtroom smiling. But when Judge George Pratt ordered him to spend three years behind bars (out of a maximum of 15) and pay a $50,000 fine, Williams showed a deeper...
...their $2.5 million Hollywood Hills house? Majors demanded it, and Farrah's attorneys countered that she wanted it. Solomon might have split the home in two, but Superior Court Judge Harry T. Shafer couldn't decide and planned a visit to the home. Once outside the courtroom, the uncoupled couple chose to talk it over at a local cafe. Two hours and one dinner later, Majors determined that he would give the house to Farrah, declaring, "She deserves it. She's a nice lady, and I still love her very much...
...matter who prevails, the trial is highlighting a major development in the criminal courtroom. With the help of a variety of technical advances, more and more silent evidence is being turned into loudly damning testimony. FBI Laboratory Chief Thomas Kelleher (whose technicians handle half a million pieces of evidence a year) reports that forensic science is growing so fast that even the most sophisticated researchers cannot keep up. The granddaddy of scientific evidence is the fingerprint, introduced in 1901. Because a person's print is unique, there is still no better physical evidence. But now there are a number...
Even anthropology is making a courtroom contribution. University of North Carolina Anthropologist Louise Robbins applies the same procedures used on prehistoric footprints to modern mysteries. "There are 46 points of measurement and 120 points to examine for shape," she says. "I have not yet found even so-called identical twins with absolutely identical foot prints." She can identify barefoot prints as well as match a shoe to its wearer. Says Robbins: "If you'll check your shoes, you can see the marks for your toes...
...spectators start lining up a few minutes before dawn outside the Newport, R.I., Superior Court. Only about 80 can hope to get seats for the proceedings, which begin three hours later, but the whole nation is being offered nightly peeks inside the paneled courtroom. Television cameras are recording the trial, and excerpts have been shown on network news programs. Viewers have not been disappointed: in its opening weeks, "the case of the sleeping beauty" has lived up to its billing as an Agatha Christie drama in real life...