OKLAHOMA CITY—An Oklahoma appeals court on Thursday threw out a first-degree murder conviction because of a sexual relationship between the judge and a prosecutor in the case. In a 3–2 decision, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ordered a new trial for defendant Robert Leon Hashagen III, who was sentenced to life in prison after…

MINNEAPOLIS—The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s second-degree murder conviction in the killing of George Floyd, and let his 22.5-year sentence remain in place. Chauvin’s attorney had asked the appeals court to throw out the ex-officer’s convictions for a long list of reasons, including the massive pretrial publicity….

NEW YORK—A photo of another person with the same name led to the wrongful arrest of a New York City man who was exonerated and freed Thursday after spending more than 18 years behind bars for murder. The prosecution of Sheldon Thomas, now 35, “was compromised from the very start by grave errors and lack…

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—An attorney for Josh Duggar asked a federal appeals court panel on Thursday to reverse the former reality TV star’s conviction for downloading child pornography, saying investigators violated his rights by seizing the phone he was using to try to call his lawyer during the search that found the images. Attorneys for Duggar…

ST. LOUIS—A Missouri judge on Tuesday overturned the conviction of a man who has served nearly 28 years of a life sentence for a killing that he has always said he didn’t commit. Lamar Johnson, 50, closed his eyes and shook his head slightly as a member of his legal team patted him on the…

A federal appeals court on Friday overturned the conviction of a doctor accused of unlawfully prescribing addictive opioids in Arizona and Wyoming after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in his favor that made it harder to prosecute such cases. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that under last year’s Supreme…

A federal appeals court on Friday overturned the conviction of a doctor accused of unlawfully prescribing addictive opioids in Arizona and Wyoming after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in his favor that made it harder to prosecute such cases. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that under last year’s Supreme…

DELAND, Fla.—A man already imprisoned in Florida for another killing pleaded guilty Tuesday to the long-unsolved 1991 slaying of a woman he met at a bar. Michael Townson, 53, was sentenced by a judge to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years, state prosecutors said in a news release. Townson admitted…

ATLANTA—Georgia’s highest court on Wednesday overturned the murder and child cruelty convictions against a man whose toddler son died after he left him in a hot car for hours, saying the jury saw evidence that was “extremely and unfairly prejudicial.” Justin Ross Harris, 41, was convicted in November 2016 on eight counts including malice murder…

PARIS—France and Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema has dropped his appeal against a conviction for complicity in blackmail in a sex-tape case that rocked French soccer, his lawyer said Saturday. The Versailles court gave Benzema a one-year suspended jail sentence and a fine of 75,000 euros ($80,000) in last year’s trial, convicting him of involvement…