Karas on Crime

Teresa Sievers Murder/Case Management Hearing
2016-12-15 09:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)

Angelika Graswald
2016-12-16 09:00 - 17:00

Dylann Roof Federal Sentencing Hearing Begins
2017-01-03 09:00 - 17:00
Dylann Roof faces the death penalty for murdering nine parishioners during a prayer meeting at a South Carolina church. Opening statements in the penalty phase are scheduled for today.

Dalia Dippolito
2017-01-06 09:00 - 17:00
Following Dippolito’s December 14, 2016 mistrial, the judge set a control date for today–likely to set a new trial date. The State indicated it will retry Dippolito for solicitation to commit murder (for hiring an undercover hitman to kill her husband of six months in 2009). Her first trial ended in a conviction in 2011. She was sentenced to 20 years but an appellate court reversed and ordered a new trial—the one that took place last December.

Robert Durst Hearing
2017-01-06 10:00 - 17:00
A hearing is scheduled for today on motions in Robert Durst’s murder case in Los Angeles.

Dylann Roof Trial (State Capital Murder Case)
2017-01-17 09:00 - 17:00

James Rackover Control Date
2017-01-24 09:00 - 17:00
James Rackover is charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence in connection with the November 13, 2016 murder of Joey Comunale who bloody, broken and burned body was found in a shallow grave in New Jersey. Rackover lived in a swanky upper east side apartment building in Manhattan. Rackover is being held on $300,000 bail. He was arraigned on Dec. 13, 2016. Today is his next court appearance.

Larry Dilione Control Date
2017-01-31 09:00 - 17:00
Larry Dilione, together with James Rackover, is charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence in connection with the November 13, 2016 murder of Joey Comunale who bloody, broken and burned body was found in a shallow grave in New Jersey. Rackover lived in a swanky upper east side apartment building in Manhattan. Dilione is currently out on bail. He was arraigned on Dec. 13, 2016. Today is his next court appearance.

Dalia Dippolito Hearing
2017-02-02 09:00 - 17:00
At a hearing today, the judge modified Dippolito’s house arrest conditions. She’s allowed to attend her brother’s wedding, rehearsal dinner and brunch the following day. She can also walk the entire 1/4 acre property of her mother’s, extending the permission beyond the patio. Dippolito’s trial is scheduled for June 2.

Angelika Graswald
2017-02-07 09:00 - 17:00
Today is the new date set for a pretrial conference to make sure the attorneys are on track to begin jury selection on February 14, 2017. Since this hearing was supposed to occur two weeks ago, there’s a good chance the trial date will change.

Angelika Graswald Pretrial Conference
2017-02-14 09:00 - 17:00
Jury selection in the second degree murder trial of Angelika Graswald, 36, for the drowning death of her fiancé was scheduled to begin today. But that’s not happening. Instead, the court rescheduled a pretrial scheduling conference, that was to take place last week, for today. A new trial date should be set today.

Robert Durst Hearing
2017-02-14 10:00 - 17:00
Durst will be in court in Los Angeles for a hearing on a number of motions. Cameras are not allowed. He’s charged with murdering his friend and confidante, Susan Berman, in December 2000.

Michael Peterson To Plead Guilty
2017-02-24 01:11 - 17:00
Michael Peterson is scheduled to plead guilty to manslaughter instead of facing a retrial for the murder of his wife. Since he’ll receive credit for time already served, he’s not expected to receive additional prison time. He will be a convicted felon but he will be free.

Bill Cosby Hearing
2017-02-27 09:00 - 17:00
Today the judge will hear arguments on Cosby’s motion to change the venue of his sexual assault case currently pending in Montgomery County, PA. The judge ordered that Cosby must appear.

Pedro Hernandez Sentencing
2017-02-28 10:00 - 17:00
Pedro Hernandez, convicted on February 14, 2017 in a retrial for the kidnapping and murder of Etan Patz, will be sentenced today. He faces 25 years to life. Patz was only 6 years old when he disappeared on his way to school on May 25, 1979.

Michelle Carter Trial Continued
2017-03-06 09:00 - 17:00
Michelle Carter is charged with manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide via text messages. She was not with him when he killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning in 2014 in Massachusetts. Both were teens at the time. Carter is now 20 years old. The trial was scheduled to begin today but has been rescheduled for June 5.

Jeffrey Rackover & Lawrence Dilione/Control Date
2017-03-07 09:00 - 12:00
Rackover and Dilione are charged with crimes related to the death of Joseph Communale in Rackover’s upper east side Manhattan apartment. Neither has yet been charged with murder. Communale’s body was found in a shallow grave in New Jersey. Today is a control date, I suspect, to determine whether the DA has elevated the charges to murder.

Trial of One Defendant in 2011 Holly Bobo Murder
2017-04-03 09:00 - 17:00
The trial of at least one of the 3 men accused of murdering Holly Bobo is expected to begin today. As I write this (in Nov. 2016), the judge has not ruled on a motion to sever the trials nor has he stated which defendant will go to trial first.

Angelika Graswald Kayak Drowning Case
2017-04-06 09:00 - 17:00
Graswald, 37, is due back in court today after filing notice of intent to use psychiatric evidence at trial. That notice was filed a week before jury selection was to begin last month. The state was to have her evaluated by their own psychiatric witness. A new trial date could be set today.

Robert Durst Control Date
2017-04-25 09:00 - 17:00
Today is the next court date in Durst’s California murder case. He’s charged with shooting his close friend, Susan Berman, in the back of the head in December 2000 to silence her from talking to authorities about the disappearance (and presumed murder) of Durst’s first wife, Kathy, in 1982.

Michael Slager Federal Civil Rights Trial
2017-05-01 09:00 - 17:00
The federal civil rights trial of former North Charleston, South Carolina police officer Michael Slager was scheduled to begin today. Slater shot and killed motorist Walter Scott in April 2015 after Scott ran away during a routine traffic stop. Slager accepted a plea deal rather than go to trial. He pled guilty to violating Scott’s civil rights and will be sentenced up to 25 years later this year. The state charges were dropped as a condition of the plea agreement.

Dalia Dippolito Retrial
2017-06-02 09:00 - 17:00

Bill Cosby Trial
2017-06-05 09:00 - 17:00
In November 2016, the judge set this date for trial, noting that it could move up. Cosby is charged with the 2004 sexual assault of a Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, whom he allegedly drugged before assaulting.

Michelle Carter Trial
2017-06-05 09:00 - 17:00
Michelle Carter is charged with manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide via text messages. She was not with him when he killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning in 2014 in Massachusetts. Both were teens at the time. Carter is now 20 years old. The trial was continued to today from March 6.

Bampumim Teixeira Court Appearance
2017-06-08 09:00 - 10:00
This is the first court appearance since Teixeira’s hospital arraignment. He is being held without bond on two counts of murder for the May 5, 2017 murder of two Massachusetts physicians who were engaged to be married. Richard Field, 49, and Lina Bolanos, 38, both anesthesiologists, were found with their throats slit and their hands tied.

Adnan Syed Appellate Argument
2017-06-08 09:00 - 13:00
A Maryland Court of Appeals will hear argument on Syed’s appeal that he be granted bail pending a new trial.

Angelika Graswald Hearing
2017-06-20 09:00 - 17:00
A hearing is set for today as attorneys prepare for an August trial. Graswald is charged with second-degree murder in the drowning death of her fiance Vincent Viafore on April 19, 2015.

First Trial in Holly Bobo Murder
2017-07-10 09:00 - 17:00
The trial of Zachary Adams, the first of three men accused of murdering Holly Bobo in 2011 in Tennessee, was scheduled to begin today. It has been rescheduled for September 11, 2017.

Mark Sievers/Jimmy Rodgers Hearing
2017-07-14 08:30 - 12:00
A case management hearing is scheduled for today at 8:30 am in Fort Myers, FL (Lee County) in the capital murder case of Mark Sievers, accused of hiring Jimmy Rodgers and Curtis Wayne Wright to murder his wife Teresa, a popular physician in the community.

Angelika Graswald Pretrial Conference
2017-07-17 14:00 - 17:00
Graswald is charged with second degree murder for the drowning death of her fiance Vince Viafore on April 19, 2015 while the couple was kayaking on the Hudson River in New York. This could be the final pretrial conference before her August 15, 2017 trial.
