|
|
|
Supreme Court denies appeal in arson case
Headline Legal News |
2013/12/30 14:12
|
The Montana Supreme Court has denied a petition for post-conviction relief filed by a Billings man who argued that a District Court judge misinterpreted the state's arson law and that he had ineffective attorneys.
The Dec. 20 Supreme Court ruling left in place a five-year suspended sentence given to Lionel Scott Ellison in 2009 for an October 2007 fire that damaged a woman's car.
Ellison in 2008 entered a no-contest plea to arson on the advice of his attorney, Jeffrey Michael. Pleading no contest means a person admits no guilt for the crime, but the court can determine the punishment.
Ellison then changed his mind and his attorney, having Herbert "Chuck" Watson file a motion to withdraw the no-contest plea, contending Ellison didn't enter it knowingly or voluntarily. But a District Court judge rejected the request, and in May 2009 Ellison received a five-year suspended sentence.
He appealed the District Court's decision, and the Montana Supreme Court in November 2009 sided with the lower court.
In February 2011, Ellison filed for post-conviction relief, arguing the arson statute only applied to property valued at over $1,000. He said that because the damaged vehicle was worth less, there was no factual basis for his no-contest plea. He also argued that Michael and Watson provided ineffective counsel for allowing him to enter a plea for a charge that had an insufficient factual basis and that Watson didn't use those grounds on appeal. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Haiti protest derides Dominican court ruling
Headline Legal News |
2013/12/09 13:39
|
Hundreds of protesters gathered Friday to criticize a recent court decision in the Dominican Republic that could strip the citizenship of generations of people of Haitian descent living in the neighboring country.
The crowd peaked at about 2,000 people but thinned out during the march uphill to the Dominican Embassy to protest the decision passed two months ago by that country's court. The demonstrators urged people to boycott travel to the Dominican Republic.
Riot police set up metal barricades on a major thoroughfare that block protesters from reaching the district where the diplomatic mission is located.
The ruling has been met with sharp objection, from Caribbean leaders to the United Nations. On Friday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights became the latest international entity to oppose the court decision, calling on the Dominican government to take urgent measures to guarantee the rights of those people affected.
Advocacy groups estimate 200,000 people, many of them of Haitian descent, could lose their Dominican citizenship because of the court ruling. Dominican officials say only about 24,000 would be affected. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Court Declines To Take Liberty University's Obamacare Lawsuit
Headline Legal News |
2013/12/05 13:43
|
The Supreme Court has turned away a Christian university's attempt to overturn a key part of the Obama administration's health care law.
The justices did not comment Monday in leaving in place a federal appeals court ruling dismissing Liberty University's lawsuit.
Liberty made several arguments in challenging the portion of the health care law that requires most employers to provide health insurance to their workers or pay a fine. The 4th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Richmond, Va., rejected those claims.
The Supreme Court separately is considering whether for-profit corporations can mount religious objections to the law's requirement to include birth control among preventive health benefits.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Seattle lawyer left $188 million charitable trust
Headline Legal News |
2013/12/02 12:39
|
A Seattle lawyer who quietly amassed a fortune by investing his inherited family wealth has left a bequest of nearly $188 million to benefit Seattle Children's Hospital, the University of Washington School of Law and the Salvation Army.
Hospital officials said, in announcing Jack MacDonald's bequest Tuesday, that it was the largest charitable gift in Seattle Children's 106-year history. The Law School said it was also the largest gift in its 114-year history.
The three organizations will receive income earned by the trust each year, with 40 percent, or nearly $4 million a year, going to support pediatric research at the hospital in honor of his mother, a long-time hospital volunteer. Thirty percent of the income goes to support student scholarships and other needs at the law school, where he graduated in 1940, in appreciation of his education.
The remaining 30 percent supports the Salvation Army in honor of MacDonald's father, Frederick MacDonald, who owned MacDonald Meat Co. and wanted to help men and women in need.
Jack MacDonald died in September at age 98. He worked for three decades as an attorney for the Veterans Administration in Seattle.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ind. court to hear appeal in IBM welfare lawsuit
Headline Legal News |
2013/11/22 09:46
|
A panel of three judges will hear Indiana's appeal of a lower court ruling ordering it to pay IBM Corp. $52 million over a failed welfare privatization project.
The Indiana Court of Appeals will take up the matter Monday. Both sides will have 45 minutes to present their cases.
Former Gov. Mitch Daniels outsourced the intake of welfare clients to a team of private contractors led by IBM in 2006. He canceled the 10-year, $1.37 billion contract with Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM in 2009 amid widespread performance complaints from clients, their advocates and federal officials.
The state sued IBM for breach of contract and the company countersued. A Marion County judge ruled last year that neither side deserved to win but awarded IBM $52 million, far less than it was seeking. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
New Jersey & New York Real Estate Lawyers
Headline Legal News |
2013/11/02 23:19
|
The Mavroudis & Guarino, LLC, Real Estate Practice Group offers a full array of transactional and counseling services. While many firms offer complex real estate services, the MR&G difference is that we are not just attorneys, but established real estate professionals.
While many law offices offer complex real estate services, the M&G difference is that we are not just attorneys, but established real estate professionals. Our Real Estate Practice Group Chair, John M. Mavroudis, has developed over $1 billion dollars worth of commercial and residential real estate as founder, owner and Chief Executive Officer of Rio Vista, a prominent real estate development, construction and realty services company. Our lawyers have many years of skill and knowledge in a wide range of matters including regional and local office, retail, industrial and residential developments, home building, real estate brokerage, and other types of residential, industrial and commercial ventures.
Mavroudis, Rizzo & Guarino, LLC, is a full service law firm located in New Jersey and New York. Our Bergen County Real Estate Lawyers have established real estate, litigation, criminal defense and other boutique practice groups and is a legal representation for a spectrum of individuals, corporations, midsize and small private businesses, banks and nonprofit institutions.
Our Queens NY team involves a team made of former partners and associates from renown law firms in the nation, including general counsels to international organizations and construction companies, as well as other top companies in New York. With our team of legal advisers we have the reputation along with the talent.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legal News RSS Feed
