|
|
|
Court rejects Duncan's death sentence appeal
Court Watch News |
2015/03/31 13:11
|
A federal appellate court has dismissed the appeal of a man who was sentenced to death for kidnapping, torturing and killing a young northern Idaho boy after killing several members of his family.
Joseph Edward Duncan III faces the death penalty for the 2005 murder of 9-year-old Dylan Groene. He also faces several life sentences for the murder of three family members and the kidnapping of his then-8-year-old sister.
Duncan represented himself at his sentencing hearing and later waived his right to appeal. But he has since changed his mind and his defense attorneys say he wasn't mentally competent to waive his rights.
On Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that claim. The court said a lower court had correctly found Duncan competent. The justices said it was too late for Duncan to change his mind. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Court hears appeal in terror-related custody dispute
Industry News |
2015/03/27 16:35
|
A lawyer for a radical Muslim convert imprisoned for supporting terrorism urged a federal appeals court Thursday to revive the man's parental rights lawsuit, which a judge had dismissed as frivolous. Jason LaFond told a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Zachary Chesser's complaint against his mother and FBI agents, while lengthy and complicated, was not fanciful and was supported by numerous documents. The judge who dismissed the lawsuit "didn't say whether it was factually or legally frivolous, but it was neither," LaFond said. Court papers show that Chesser attempted to join the al-Shabab terrorist group in Somalia, taking his baby with him to the airport in an attempt to look less suspicious. It didn't work. Chesser, who had attracted law enforcement attention after posting threats against the creators of "South Park" for cartoons he felt insulted the prophet Muhammad, was arrested and pleaded guilty in 2010 to attempting to support terrorist groups and threatening violence online. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Indian court rejects ban on 'offensive' Internet messages
Court Watch News |
2015/03/27 16:35
|
India's top court affirmed people's right to free speech in cyberspace Tuesday by striking down a provision that had called for imprisoning people who send "offensive" messages by computer or cellphone. The provision, known as Section 66A of the 2008 Information Technology Act, had made sending such messages a crime punishable by up to three years in prison. In its ruling, the Supreme Court said the provision was "clearly vague" in not clarifying what should be construed as offensive. It also said the provision violates people's freedom of speech and their right to share information. "The public's right to know is directly affected," the judges said in deeming the provision unconstitutional. A law student who filed the challenge in 2012, Shreya Singhal, applauded the court's rejection of a provision she said was "grossly offensive to our rights, our freedom of speech and expression." "Today the Supreme Court has upheld that, they have supported our rights," Singhal said. "I am ecstatic." The law has been invoked in at least 10 recent cases, most often involving criticism of political leaders. In 2012, a chemistry professor and his neighbor in Kolkata were arrested for forwarding a cartoon that made fun of West Bengal's top elected official, Mamata Banerjee. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
New Jersey, leagues renew court tussle over sports gambling
Lawyer News |
2015/03/20 13:13
|
The fight over legalized sports gambling in New Jersey returned to a federal appeals court Tuesday, where attorneys for the state and the country's major sports leagues spent nearly an hour parsing language in a decades-old federal statute and in recent court rulings.
At issue: Whether a 2014 New Jersey law repealing prohibitions against sports gambling violates the 1992 federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which says states cannot "sponsor, operate, advertise, promote, license or authorize" sports betting.
A good portion of Tuesday's oral arguments before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals focused on the meaning of the word "authorize," and whether New Jersey did that when Gov. Chris Christie signed the law striking the betting prohibitions.
Attorneys from both sides endured sharp questioning from the court, which heard a previous incarnation of the case in 2013. In the ruling that followed that argument, the court said New Jersey couldn't be prevented from repealing its sports gambling laws. The state seized on that language to write its 2014 law.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mexican Supreme Court orders release of man in 1992 murders
Industry News |
2015/03/20 13:13
|
Mexico's Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of a Mexican-American jailed on a homicide conviction since 1992, ruling he had been tortured.
The court's ruling applied to the long-disputed conviction of Alfonso Martin del Campo Dodd in the murder of his sister and brother-in-law. It has been one of Mexico's longest and hardest-fought legal cases.
Lawyers for the dead couple's now-grown daughters criticized Wednesday's ruling, saying it was a blow to victims' rights.
"This is an offense to the victims," said Samuel Gonzalez, a former top anti-drug prosecutor who has helped defend victims' rights. "The victims did not get justice."
The court said police tortured Martin Del Campo Dodd into confessing to the killings, citing administrative proceedings filed against one officer two years after Campo Dodd was arrested. The court said he should be freed "in light of the proof that torture was used to obtain his confession in the two crimes, without there being any other incriminatory evidence."
The Mexican government fought for years to keep Martin Del Campo Dodd in prison despite pressure from abroad to release him. He holds U.S. and Mexican citizenship.
The couple were stabbed to death in their Mexico City home. Martin del Campo Dodd was at the home and said two masked assailants kidnapped him and stuffed him into the trunk of a car, which they later abandoned.
He signed a confession to the killings, but later claimed he did it under torture. He was sentenced to 50 years behind bars for the murder. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Personal Injury Attorney John Q. Kelly
Headline Court News |
2015/03/11 15:15
|
JOHN Q. KELLY, referred to “…as the most sought after wrongful death lawyer in the land”, has an unsurpassed track record in high stakes, high profile wrongful death and personal injury litigation.
Subsequent to his landmark verdict as lead attorney for the Estate of Nicole Brown Simpson in its wrongful death action against O.J. Simpson, Mr. Kelly continues to successfully handle matters that receive national and international coverage, and has a reputation as a meticulous, no-nonsense litigator, schooled in the nuances of physical, forensic and circumstantial evidence, battle-tested in the courtroom on countless occasions, and seasoned by 30 years of deftly interacting with the media.
Mr. Kelly has appeared as both a featured guest and/or legal commentator frequently on all major network and cable news shows (NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News) and been profiled/referenced in a multitude of publications, including Time Magazine, Newsweek Magazine, People Magazine, Worth Magazine, Greenwich Magazine, New York Magazine, New York Times, New York Post and New York Daily News.
Mr. Kelly is admitted to the New York State Bar and the Southern and Eastern Districts of the United States District Court and has argued appeals in the Second and Third Circuits of the U.S. Court of Appeals and New York State Appellate Division, 1st and 2nd Departments. He has handled matters in Connecticut, New York, Illinois, Arizona, California, Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Florida, Puerto Rico, Aruba and Australia. Mr. Kelly divides his time between his office in New York City and in Greenwich, CT. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Missouri appeals judge appointed to take over Ferguson court
Network News |
2015/03/11 15:15
|
A Missouri appeals court judge was appointed Monday to take over Ferguson's municipal court and make "needed reforms" after a highly critical U.S. Department of Justice report that was prompted by the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown.
The Missouri Supreme Court said it is assigning state appeals Judge Roy L. Richter to hear all of Ferguson's pending and future municipal court cases. The high court said Richter also will have the authority to overhaul court policies to ensure defendants' rights are respected and to "restore the integrity of the system."
Ferguson Municipal Judge Ronald J. Brockmeyer resigned Monday, saying through a spokesman that he was stepping down to promote public confidence in the court and help Ferguson "begin its healing process."
The Ferguson City Council met in closed session Monday evening, but members left without taking questions and a city spokesman didn't disclose the purpose of the meeting. Ferguson City Manager John Shaw was escorted to his vehicle by a police officer without fielding questions, and Mayor James Knowles III declined comment to The Associated Press afterward except to say that the city on Tuesday would begin seeking Brockmeyer's permanent successor.
Richter will take charge of the court on March 16. The Supreme Court said it also is assigning staff from the state court administrator's office to aid Richter in reviewing Ferguson's municipal court practices. |
|
|
|
|
|
Legal News RSS Feed
