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Supreme Court won’t hear Giordano appeal in child-sex case
Topics in Legal News |
2017/01/10 16:41
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The U.S. Supreme Court has again refused to hear an appeal by former Waterbury Mayor Philip Giordano, who is fighting a 37-year prison sentence for sexually abusing two young girls while in office.
The court’s decision was released Monday. Justices previously refused to hear two earlier appeals by Giordano.
Giordano was challenging a federal appeals court decision in June to dismiss his request to set aside or correct his sentence. Giordano says the prison sentence is unconstitutional and his lawyer during his 2003 trial, Andrew Bowman, made several mistakes.
Bowman has denied that he provided ineffective counsel.
A federal jury convicted Giordano in 2003 of violating the civil rights of two girls, ages 8 and 10, by sexually abusing them in the mayor’s office and other locations.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
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Man who fired shots in DC pizza parlor expected in court
Topics in Legal News |
2016/12/19 16:13
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Family members noticed a change in the man charged with firing an assault rifle in a Washington pizza parlor after he hit a 13-year-old pedestrian with his car in October, his parents said.
Edgar Maddison Welch shifted from energetic and outgoing to melancholy and quiet, Terri Welch and Harry Welch Jr. told The Washington Post at their son's public defender's office Monday.
"He was very traumatized. We feel that accident changed him," Harry Welch said, and his wife said they have wondered whether it could have been a catalyst for the incident at Comet Ping Pong.
Police and prosecutors say that on Dec. 4, Maddison Welch went into the restaurant and fired an AR-15 rifle multiple times inside. No one was hurt.
He told police "he had read online that the Comet restaurant was harboring child sex slaves," and he wanted to investigate, according to court documents.
The couple from North Carolina was in town to attend a Tuesday court hearing for their son, whom they have not spoken with since the shooting. The 28-year-old Welch, of Salisbury, North Carolina, has been in jail since the shooting. He faces charges including assault with a dangerous weapon.
Harry Welch said his son felt guilty after the crash and worried about the long-term effects for the child, who had to be airlifted to a hospital with broken bones and a head injury. His parents said Maddison Welch began having nightmares but did not to seek help.
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Supreme Court rejects 2 death row appeals
Topics in Legal News |
2016/12/17 16:15
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The Supreme Court has denied appeals from death row inmates in Louisiana and South Carolina who questioned their lawyers' actions.
The justices on Monday did not comment on the cases of James Tyler of Louisiana and Sammie Stokes of South Carolina.
Tyler's lawyer conceded his client's guilt in the hope of drawing a life sentence, even though Tyler repeatedly objected to that strategy y.
Stokes' lawyer had previously prosecuted him for assaulting his ex-wife. The lawyer never informed the judge of his earlier role, not even when the ex-wife took the stand against Stokes.
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Muslim cleric is in US court fighting against deportation
Topics in Legal News |
2016/12/06 13:19
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The leader of one of New Jersey's largest mosques has taken the stand to defend himself against charges that he lied on his green card application.
Imam Mohammad Qatanani is the leader of the Islamic Center of Passaic County.
A judge ruled against immigration authorities' attempt to have him deported eight years ago. Federal officials say he didn't disclose that he'd been convicted in Israel for being a member of Hamas.
Qatanani began testifying Tuesday before an immigration court judge in Newark as part of the appeals process.
Qatanani denies he was ever part of the group classified as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. He says he was only detained and never convicted.
Qatanani came to the U.S. from Jordan. He was born in the West Bank.
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Lithuania wants Gorbachev to testify in war crimes trial
Topics in Legal News |
2016/10/16 20:41
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A Lithuanian court has called former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to testify in a mass trial related to the 1991 crackdown on the country's independence movement.
Gorbachev and Russian authorities haven't answered previous requests so it's unlikely he would comply with Monday's request from the Vilnius district court.
The case involves more than 60 former Soviet officials charged with war crimes and other offenses for their roles in a crackdown on pro-independence demonstrators that left 14 people dead in January 1991, when Gorbachev was still in power.
The judges approved a request by one of the plaintiffs in the case to call Gorbachev to the court as a witness.
Only two defendants are present in court. Others, mainly citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, are being tried in absentia.
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Hawaii Supreme Court affirms Maui solar telescope permit
Topics in Legal News |
2016/10/06 22:42
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Hawaii's Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed a permit to build a solar telescope on a Maui mountain.
The ruling denies a challenge by a group seeking to protect the sacredness of the summit of Haleakala (hah-leh-AH'-ka-lah). The University of Hawaii followed proper procedure for an environmental assessment, the Supreme Court also ruled in a separate ruling.
Last year, eight people were arrested when protesters tried to stop a construction convoy heading to the solar telescope site. Kahele Dukelow, one of the protest leaders, said opponents are disappointed and considering what their next steps will be.
"We only have one alternative now," she said. "We have to continue to protest in other ways."
They hoped the decision would be similar to the court's ruling last year that invalidated a permit to build the Thirty Meter Telescope on the Big Island's Mauna Kea. That project has been the focus of more intense protests. Opposition to both telescopes cite concerns that the projects will desecrate sacred land.
The permit approval process was not "procedurally flawed by prejudgment" nor was it "flawed by impermissible ex parte communication," the court's 3-2 majority opinion said.
State Attorney General Doug Chin said his office will look into whether the rulings have any impact on future matters before the state land board, including the Thirty Meter Telescope.
"We are disappointed with the court's decision," said a statement from the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., which represents the group that challenged the solar telescope project, Kilakila O Haleakala. "This decision impacts all who are concerned about the protection of Hawaii's natural and cultural resources."
Officials with the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope didn't immediately comment.
"We are still reviewing the full decisions, but we look forward to 'first light' when the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope will open a new era of discovery in Hawaii, about the sun and its daily impacts on all life on Earth," university President David Lassner said in a statement.
External construction of the Maui telescope is complete, with only internal work remaining, according to the university. The $340-million project is scheduled to be operational in 2019. Construction of the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope remains stalled pending a new contested case hearing scheduled to begin later this month.
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