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More psych evaluation in castration killing case
Legal Marketing News |
2011/05/02 09:23
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A doctor will pay a second visit to a Portuguese model accused of castrating and killing a TV journalist in a Times Square hotel before his lawyer decides whether to pursue a psychiatric defense in the attack.
A psychiatrist visited Renato Seabra this month but needs a second evaluation of the 21-year-old model, defense attorney David Touger said Friday. Seabra was transferred two weeks ago from Bellevue Hospital to jail at Rikers Island, Touger said.
He is medicated because he has a psychiatric illness. He is doing well under the circumstances that he is under, Touger said after a short pretrial hearing in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.
Seabra, a former contestant on a Portuguese talent-search show, has pleaded not guilty to murder in Carlos Castro's Jan. 7 death. Castro, a 65-year-old Portuguese TV personality and writer, was found dead, naked and bloodied in a room they were sharing. |
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Appeals court overturns stem cell research ban
Lawyer Media News |
2011/04/29 09:22
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div class=entrydiv class=articlepOpponents of taxpayer-funded stem cell research lost a key round in a federal appeals court Friday./ppIn a 2-1 decision, a panel of the U.S. court of appeals in Washington overturned a judge's order that would have blocked taxpayer funding for stem cell research. The judges ruled that opponents of taxpayer-funded stem cell research are not likely to succeed in their lawsuit to stop it./ppThe panel reversed an opinion issued last August by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who said the research likely violates the law against federal funding of embryo destruction./ppWe're thrilled with this decision and look forward to allowing federally funded scientists to continue with their work without political constraints, said Sean Tipton, a spokesman for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine./ppResearchers hope one day to use stem cells in ways that cure spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease and other ailments. Opponents say the research is a form of abortion because human embryos must be destroyed to obtain the stem cells./ppThe 1996 law prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars in work that harms an embryo, so private money has been used to cull batches of the cells. Those batches can reproduce in lab dishes indefinitely, and the Obama administration issued rules permitting taxpayer dollars to be used in work on them./p/div
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Pierre contract dispute goes before high court
Headline Legal News |
2011/04/29 07:22
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The South Dakota Supreme Court has heard arguments in a dispute between Pierre and the union representing a majority of city workers.
The city a year ago imposed its final salary offer of a 1 percent raise for all employees and another 1 percent for eligible workers. A circuit court judge last fall ruled that the city was within its rights to do so. The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49 appealed.
KCCR radio reports that union attorney Todd Love told Supreme Court justices Thursday that the city didn't follow proper procedure. The attorney for Pierre argued that the city dealt with the union in good faith and had no other alternative.
Justices will rule later. Meanwhile, the city and union will continue under terms of the 2009 contract. |
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Conn. high court hears death penalty appeal
Topics in Legal News |
2011/04/29 05:22
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div class=entrydiv class=articleA lawyer told the state Supreme Court yesterday that his client’s death penalty case was the weakest one ever to go before the high court, alleging that the jury was biased and that key evidence was improperly withheld from the trial.
Justices heard the appeal of former Torrington resident Eduardo Santiago, 31, who prosecutors say agreed in 2000 to kill a West Hartford man in exchange for a pink-striped snowmobile with a broken clutch. He was sentenced to death by lethal injection in 2005 after a jury convicted him, despite no clear evidence that he was the one who pulled the rifle trigger.
Two other men are serving life prison sentences for the killing of Joseph Niwinski, 45, who was shot in the head while sleeping in his home.
Santiago’s lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Mark Rademacher, told the Supreme Court that there was no way a reasonable jury could have condemned Santiago. The defense presented 25 mitigating factors, including Santiago’s troubled childhood, for jurors to consider against the death penalty, while the state based its argument for execution on one aggravating factor, that Niwinski was killed in a murder-for-hire plot.
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Kan. House debates forcing lawsuit over casino
Topics in Legal News |
2011/04/28 09:23
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div class=entrydiv class=articleThe Kansas House is debating whether it should force the attorney general to file a lawsuit over a proposed state-owned casino south of Wichita.
A resolution being discussed Thursday would require Attorney General Derek Schmidt to sue the state Racing and Gaming Commission's over its decision to allow a casino near Mulvane.
Iowa-based Peninsula Gaming plans to build a $260 million casino complex 18 miles south of Wichita.
Critics question whether the commission's decision in January was premature.
They cite misdemeanor campaign finance charges pending against the company and two top executives in Iowa. Company officials have said they're confident the case will be resolved in their favor, and they've started work on the casino.
Kansas law allows one legislative chamber to direct the attorney general to file a lawsuit.
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Nebraska court rejects former candidate's lawsuit
Legal News |
2011/04/28 09:21
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The Nebraska Supreme Court has rejected a former legislative candidate's defamation lawsuit against the state Republican Party over campaign flyers.
The Lincoln Journal Star says the court ruled Thursday that tone of the publications constitute opinion and is protected by the First Amendment.
Democrat Rex Moats, of Omaha, sued the GOP after losing in the November 2008 election, saying he was defamed by 11 campaign flyers. The flyers referenced Moats' work with a vehicle-repair insurance company that failed in 2003 and left about 500,000 people without coverage. In the mailings, the Nebraska GOP claimed Moats received a $50,000 trust fund from the insurance company and misled creditors and the public.
Moats' attorney didn't immediately comment on the ruling. Mark Fahleson of the GOP hailed the ruling, calling the lawsuit frivolous. |
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