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Court throws out judge-drawn Texas electoral maps
Legal News |
2012/01/21 10:14
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The Supreme Court on Friday threw out electoral maps drawn by federal judges in Texas that favored minorities. The decision ultimately could affect control of the U.S. House of Representatives and leaves the fate of Texas' April primaries unclear.
The justices ordered the three-judge court in San Antonio to come up with new plans that pay more attention to maps created by Texas' Republican-dominated state Legislature. All four of the state's new congressional seats could swing based on the outcome.
But the Supreme Court did not compel the use of the state's maps in this year's elections, as Texas wanted. Only Justice Clarence Thomas said he would have gone that far.
The court's unsigned opinion thus did not blaze any new trails in election law or signal retreat from a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, as some supporters of the law feared would result from this case.
Still, the outcome appeared to favor Republicans by instructing the judges to stick more closely to what the Legislature did, said election law expert Richard Hasen, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, law school. |
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Court Upholds Burlington Man's Murder Conviction
Legal News |
2012/01/16 09:43
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The Iowa Supreme Court has overturned an appeals court ruling that threw out the conviction of a Burlington man in his ex-wife's death.
The court ruled Friday that even if the trial court erred in refusing to let a physical therapist testify, the error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt.
Dennis Richards was convicted of murder and arson after authorities found Cyd Richards strangled to death in a burning house in 2009.
The appeals court reversed the conviction because the trial court excluded testimony from a physical therapist who would have suggested Richards wasn't strong enough to strangle his ex-wife. A new trial was ordered.
The attorney general's office sought the Supreme Court review. |
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Court hearing Thursday on Credit Suisse loans
Legal News |
2012/01/13 10:14
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Attorneys for Credit Suisse told a federal judge in Idaho that a multi-billion dollar lawsuit brought by homeowners at four resorts should be tossed out because there's not enough factual evidence to support the claims.
The lawsuit from property owners at Idaho's Tamarack Resort, the Yellowstone Club in Montana, Nevada's Lake Las Vegas resort and the Ginn Sur Mer Resort in the Bahamas is backed by Yellowstone Club founder Tim Blixseth. The plaintiffs allege Credit Suisse inflated the value of the resorts and issued loans so large to developers that they could never be repaid in hopes of foreclosing on the properties as part of a so-called loan to own scheme.
Credit Suisse contends the lawsuit is baseless and that Blixseth is just trying to escape blame for the financial problems at the ultra-exclusive Yellowstone Club.
Roughly two dozen attorneys representing the plaintiffs, Credit Suisse and real estate consultant Cushman amp; Wakefield gathered before U.S. District Judge Ronald Bush in Boise on Thursday to argue over several motions, including one to have the lawsuit dismissed and one to have Cushman amp; Wakefield reinstated as a defendant. The real estate consultancy was listed as a defendant when the case was originally filed in 2010, but last year U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge dismissed all the claims against the company.
One of Credit Suisse's attorneys, David Lender, told the court that the plaintiffs have never been able to show there was any misrepresentation made to the homeowners by the bank. |
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Family plans lawsuit in Wash. state ice fatality
Legal News |
2011/12/29 01:49
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A law firm has announced a lawsuit in the death of a Washington state girl killed by huge chunk of falling ice in July 2010 at the Big Four Ice Caves, a popular hiking destination in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
The 11-year-old Marysville girl was on a family outing when a block of ice the size of a pickup truck broke loose and slid into where she was sitting with her mother, some distance from the caves.
The Daily Herald reports the family said it heeded warning signs and stayed off the ice at the caves, east of Granite Falls.
Mount Baker-Snoqualmie spokesman Kelly Sprute says the forest doesn't comment on ongoing litigation.
The lawsuit is being handled by the Tacoma law firm of Messina Bulzomi Christensen. The firm announced the suit at a news conference Tuesday. |
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Blagojevich team says he's guilty, asks for mercy
Legal News |
2011/12/06 09:21
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After all his claims of innocence and facing years in prison, Rod Blagojevich let his lawyers make an admission that he has so far avoided - that he is, in fact, guilty of public corruption.
The former Illinois governor will get a chance to do the same Wednesday, when he is scheduled to address the judge who will decide his sentence.
Judge James Zagel signaled Tuesday he may be prepared to impose a stiff prison sentence, saying he thinks Blagojevich lied when he told jurors he never tried to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat for campaign cash or a top job.
Throughout the first day of his two-day sentencing hearing, the impeached executive-turned-reality TV star known for his jocular personality was somber and ill-at-ease, staring down at the floor. His wife sobbed as a letter from their daughter was read begging Zagel not to send Blagojevich to prison.
The hearing was a stark contrast to the circus atmosphere around Blagojevich's trials on multiple counts of corruption.
The conciliatory tone came as something of a surprise — just days after defense filings that, as many times before, stridently declared Blagojevich's innocence and said he had been duped by aides but never intended to cross any lines into illegality. |
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NY court hears hedge fund boss' bail arguments
Legal News |
2011/12/01 10:27
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A federal appeals court did not immediately rule Wednesday whether hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam must report to prison next week for an 11-year sentence for insider trading, the longest term ever given for the crime.
Attorney Patricia Millett told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that Rajaratnam should remain free on bail while the appeals court hears a challenge to his conviction in the biggest insider trading case in history.
Rajaratnam, 54, was sentenced in October after his conviction this year on charges that he engaged in insider trading from 2003 through October 2009 at the Galleon Group of hedge funds that he founded. Prosecutors said insider trading schemes involved the stocks of at least 19 different public companies and resulted in at least $70 million in illegal gains.
Rajaratnam was also ordered to forfeit $53.8 million and to pay a $10 million fine.
Millett said court papers filed to secure wiretaps that provided evidence crucial to his conviction were improperly made, raising a substantial question of law that entitles him to remain free until the appeals court hears the case sometime next year. |
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