Karas on Crime

Baltimore Cop/Brian Rice--Trial
2016-07-05 09:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
Rice’s trial is now scheduled to begin today following the decision on March 8 from the MD Court of Appeals. The state’s highest court reversed Judge Williams’s order disallowing the testimony of Officer Porter. Porter will now be compelled to testify against Rice. Edward Nero and Caesar Goodson’s trials have already passed. Each waived a jury and each was acquitted by Judge Williams. Today, hearings will be conducted. Lt. Rice waives a jury today. Opening statements will be Thursday morning.

Live Chat with Beth at 6 pm EST
2016-06-29 18:00 - 19:00

Verdict to be Delivered in Goodson (Freddie Gray) Trial
2016-06-23 09:00 - 17:00
Judge Williams is expected to render a verdict in the murder trial of Baltimore Officer Caesar Goodson, one of six officers charged in Freddie Gray’s death on April 19, 2015. Goodson faces one count of depraved heart murder, three counts of manslaughter and one count each of second degree assault, misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment.

Live Chat with Beth
2016-06-20 21:00 - 22:00
Chat live with Beth at 9:00 p.m. ET!

Oscar Pistorius Sentencing Hearing -- Day 3
2016-06-15 09:00 - 17:00

Oscar Pistorius Sentencing Hearing -- Day 2
2016-06-14 09:00 - 17:00

Oscar Pistorius Sentencing
2016-06-13 09:00 - 17:00
Oscar Pistorius lost his right to appeal a murder conviction last month. He faces sentencing this week. The court set aside the entire week for the sentencing hearing. At his trial in 2014 for the 2013 shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, the judge convicted him of a lower version of homicide called culpable homicide and sentenced him to 5 years in prison. The prosecution appealed. The higher court found the trial court’s reasoning was flawed in finding that Pistorius was merely negligent; the verdict was enhanced to murder. Pistorius could be sentenced to 15 years.

Caesar Goodson/Baltimore Cop Bench Trial Begins
2016-06-09 09:30 - 17:00

Brandon Vandenburg Jury Selection to Begin
2016-06-08 09:00 - 17:00
Jury selection is set to begin today in the rape trial of former Vanderbilt University student, Brandon Vandenburg. Co-defendant Corey Batey was convicted of rape in April 2016; his sentencing is scheduled for July 15, 2016. (He faces 15 to 25 years on the most serious charge.) Batey, Vandenburg, along were two other former students still awaiting trial, were accused of sexually assaulting an unconscious female student on June 23, 2013, and video recording the assault. A jury is being selected in Memphis.

Live Chat with Beth & Fran Norton
2016-06-07 21:00 - 22:00
Fran Norton is a Star News reporter in Wilmington, NC who is covering some interesting murder cases.

Jerry Sandusky Hearing
2016-06-06 09:00 - 17:00, 2016-05-02 09:00 - 17:00

Caesar Goodson Trial/Baltimore Cop
2016-06-06 09:00 - 17:00
Caesar Goodson’s murder trial is scheduled to begin today. He is the only Baltimore officer of the six charged in Freddie Gray’s death in April 2015 to face murder charges. Goodson was the driver of the van that transported Gray. It was during the ride that Gray, unrestrained in the back of the van, suffered a fatal spinal injury.

Angelika Graswald Hearings
2016-06-06 09:00 - 17:00
Suppression hearings in Graswald’s case are scheduled to begin. A Huntley hearing is to suppress statements.

Charles Merritt Hearing
2016-06-03 09:00 - 17:00

6 p.m. ET--Live Chat with Beth
2016-06-01 18:00 - 18:30
Chat live with Beth on the Live Chat page (see top menu) at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Bill Cosby Preliminary Hearing
2016-05-24 09:30 - 17:00
Bill Cosby’s preliminary hearing in Norristown, PA is scheduled for today. It had been scheduled for March but was stayed while Cosby appealed the judge’s decision not to dismiss the aggravated indecent sexual assault charge. It is alleged that he assaulted Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, at his home in Montgomery County, PA in 2004. Newly-elected District Attorney Kevin Steele filed the charges last December. Bruce Castor, the DA at the time the allegations were reported in 2005, chose not to file charges.

Bashara Post-Conviction Hearing Resumes
2016-05-24 09:00 - 17:00

NY v. Pedro Hernandez
2016-05-23 09:30 - 17:00
Pedro Hernandez is charged with the 1979 murder of 6-year-old Etan Patz. He was not arrested until 2012. A jury deadlocked 11-1 for conviction at his first trial in 2015. He is facing a retrial in September. Today is a control date.

Verdict in Baltimore Cop Case to be Announced
2016-05-23 09:00 - 17:00
Officer Edward Nero chose to waive a jury and let Judge Barry Williams decide his fate. Nero is charged with assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office related to event surrounding the arrest and death of Freddie Gray in April 2015. Evidence finished last Wednesday; closing arguments were last Thursday. Judge Williams said he would announce his verdict today.

Dalia Dippolito Retrial Starts (UPDATE: Trial Postponed)
2016-05-23 08:00 - 17:00
Dippolito is charged with hiring a hit man in 2009 to arrange her husband’s death. But the hit man was an undercover cop. She was charged with solicitation to commit first degree murder. Dippolito was convicted after trial in 2011 and sentenced to 20 years. Her conviction was overturned in 2014. She now faces a retrial. In late April, the retrial originally scheduled to begin today, was postponed because Dippolito is appealing the judge’s decision not to dismiss the charges.

Jerry Sandusky Hearing/Cancelled
2016-05-20 09:00 - 17:00
Sandusky has been granted this Post Conviction Relief Hearing to prove allegations he raised earlier this month: that the Attorney General and the judge overseeing the grand jury investigation withheld Brady (exculpatory) material from the defense and that the Attorney General improperly leaked grand jury information in order to locate additional victims. On May 18, Judge Cleland cancelled the hearing with no explanation. It will be rescheduled.

Drew Peterson Trial
2016-05-20 09:00 - 17:00
Drew Peterson, serving a 38-year sentence for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, now faces murder-for-hire charges for allegedly soliciting an inmate to murder prosecutor James Glasgow who handled the 2012 murder trial. The murder-for-hire trial is scheduled to begin today in Illinois.

Hearing in John Charlton Murder Case
2016-05-11 09:00 - 17:00
John Charlton, 37, is charged with murder for killing and dismembering Ingrid Lyne, 40, in April 2016. Charlton and Lyne had recently started dating. Lyne was a nurse and mother of three. He has a court appearance today in a Seattle, WA courtroom.

Custody Hearing/Mark Sievers Case
2016-05-11 09:00 - 17:00
Teresa Sievers’s mother has custody of Teresa and Mark’s two daughters. Bonnie Siever, mother Mark, is challenging the custody. Her motion will be heard today. Teresa Sievers was murdered in June 2015. Her husband, Mark, is charged with murder.

Hearing Continues in Planned Parenthood Shooter Case
2016-05-10 09:00 - 17:00
The competency hearing in the murder case against Robert Dear continues today in a Colorado courtroom. On May 11, 2016, the judge found Dear incompetent to stand trial—at least for now.

Edward Nero/Baltimore Cop Trial to Begin
2016-05-10 09:00 - 17:00
Edward Nero is the first of the officers charged with Freddie Gray’s death to go to trial since the mistrial of Officer William Porter and the subsequent appeals. Porter is expected to be a witness for the State against Nero and the remaining four officers to be tried between now and October. Nero’s trial is scheduled to begin today.

Charles Merritt Hearing
2016-05-05 09:00 - 17:00
The evidentiary hearing scheduled for today was continued to June 3.

Charles Merritt Hearing
2016-04-29 09:00 - 17:00
Charles Merritt is charged with murdering the McStay family in 2010. The McStays disappeared from their family home in Feb. 2010 and were found in shallow graves in San Bernardino County in Nov. 2013. Merritt, a business associate of Joseph McStay, is now accused of 4 counts of capital murder.

Robert Dear Competency Hearing
2016-04-28 09:00 - 17:00
Robert Dear is accused of 3 counts of murder for a shooting at a Colorado Planned Parenthood facility. He’s competency to stand trial is challenged at a hearing today.
