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Post reporter charged in Iran after day in court
Headline Legal News |
2014/12/08 14:06
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A Washington Post reporter detained in Iran for more than four months was formally charged Saturday after a day-long proceeding in a Tehran courtroom, the newspaper reported.
Jason Rezaian, the newspaper's bureau chief in Tehran since 2012, appeared in court almost five months after he was arrested July 22. The charges were the first against him since the arrest, the Post said. He is an Iranian-American who holds dual citizenship.
The newspaper, quoting a source familiar with the case, said the nature of the charges against him were not immediately clear to those not present in the courtroom. The State Department has repeatedly raised the subject of Rezaian and other Americans jailed in Iran during talks with the government about a deal to curb Iran's nuclear capacity and ease international sanctions.
The State Department tweeted early Sunday that Secretary of State John Kerry was "disappointed and concerned" with the latest developments and called on the Iranian government to drop any charges against Rezaian "and release him so he can be reunited with his family."
His detention has been extended to mid-January in recent days because the investigation is continuing, the Post said. |
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Nags Head homeowners get federal court victory
Headline Legal News |
2014/11/13 16:05
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Nags Head homeowners banned from repairing their beachfront property for five years because the town declared them a public nuisance are back at work, getting those homes renovated.
The Virginian-Pilot reported a U.S. District Court judge ruled last week for the homeowners on part of their claims, allowing them to start repairing their houses.
The dispute started with a winter storm in November 2009 that damaged parts of the town.
Nags Head wanted nine houses removed after the storm to protect the public and to maintain use of the beach, Town Manager Cliff Ogburn said. The homes take up most of the beach and block passage of rescue vehicles, he said.
"You can't walk north and south because of these houses," Ogburn said.
The town sent notices to homeowners saying the damaged houses sat on public trust property and would have to be removed or razed. Also, the town wouldn't issue building permits for repairs.
U.S. District Court Judge James Dever ruled the town is responsible for the homes becoming nuisances.
"But even assuming the damage from the November storm caused the cottages to become nuisances, no evidence suggests the cottages would have continued to be nuisances had the town allowed the owners to repair them, as North Carolina law obligated the town to do," Dever wrote in his decision, dated Nov. 6.
The decision involves a lawsuit brought by Roc Sansotta, owner of Cove Realty. He manages the nine cottages for the owners and has a partial ownership in five of them, the decision says. |
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Spanish court clears way for trial of princess
Headline Legal News |
2014/11/07 11:13
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A court cleared the way for Princess Cristina, the sister of Spain's king, to be tried on tax fraud charges Friday in a landmark investigation affecting the royal family.
The case's investigative judge, Jose Castro, must now decide over the coming weeks whether to formally indict the princess, but this might not occur given that the state prosecutor and tax authorities say there is no basis for tax fraud charges against her.
Cristina*s lawyers maintained Friday that Spain's Supreme Court has ruled that people can't be tried on tax charges if neither the prosecutor nor tax authorities present charges.
The Palma de Mallorca court paved the way for Cristina's indictment after rejecting appeals against her being listed as a suspect in a corruption and embezzlement investigation centering on her husband, Inaki Urdangarin.
Castro said Cristina, 49, is suspected of two counts of cooperation in tax fraud. The court dropped a possible charge for embezzlement against her.
Urdangarin is suspected of embezzlement and fraud. He too has yet to be formally charged. |
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Washington high court to hear charter schools case
Headline Legal News |
2014/10/27 15:23
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The Washington Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on Tuesday about whether the voter-approved charter school law violates the state constitution.
King County Superior Court Judge Jean Rietschel found in December that parts of the new law were unconstitutional. Her decision focused on whether certain taxpayer dollars can be used to pay for the operation of charter schools.
Those dollars are essential to the success of these new schools, according to the people who want to open nine charter schools in Washington state next fall. The state's first charter school, First Place Scholars, opened in Seattle this fall.
Both sides asked the state Supreme Court to skip the appeals court process and directly review the case.
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Judge accused of hitting wife enters court program
Headline Legal News |
2014/09/06 14:02
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A federal judge from Alabama accused of hitting his wife in an Atlanta hotel room can have a misdemeanor battery charge dismissed if he completes a court program that includes domestic violence intervention.
U.S. District Court Judge Mark Fuller will spend up to 24 weeks in the pre-trial diversion program, which also includes an alcohol and substance abuse assessment. Fulton County State Court Chief Magistrate Judge Stephanie Davis on Friday allowed Fuller to enter the program and ordered him to report back to the court on Oct. 14.
Officers were called to the Fullers' room in August at the Ritz Carlton in Atlanta, where a police report said Kelli Fuller answered the door in tears and had cuts on her mouth and forehead. She was treated by paramedics but refused to be taken to the hospital. The room smelled of alcohol, according to the report.
Kelli Fuller told police her husband became violent when she accused him of cheating, pulling her hair, throwing her to the ground, and kicking her. Mark Fuller told officers he threw her to the ground to defend himself after she threw a drink glass at him while he watched television.
During the brief court hearing Friday, Mark Fuller spoke only to answer a question on whether he had agreed to enter the program. He left without speaking with reporters but, in a statement later issued through his attorney, Fuller said he looks forward to addressing the concerns of the court and "hopefully" returning to the bench. |
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Top India court says coal allocations were illegal
Headline Legal News |
2014/08/27 13:16
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India's Supreme Court says all government allocations of coal reserves to private companies from 1993 to 2009 were conducted illegally, and it will hold a hearing to decide whether to cancel them.
More than 200 coal blocks, or areas of unmined reserves, were allocated during that period to companies for their use in power plants or steel or cement factories.Companies were allowed to sell excess coal on the open market, but the court said Monday that commercial sales of coal from the reserves must be suspended until it makes its decision.
The court's ruling extends beyond an initial case in which the previous federal government was accused of costing the treasury hundreds of billions of dollars by allocating about 155 coal blocks without competitive bidding in 2004-09. |
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