|
|
|
Lawyer questions handling of terror suspect
Topics |
2012/12/10 12:54
|
The attorney of a Southern California terror suspect is questioning authorities' handling of his client, who had injuries to his face and head when he was turned over to the FBI by U.S. military officials in Afghanistan.
When Sohiel Omar Kabir arrived in California last week he had a broken facial bone, lacerations and was suffering from memory loss, according to Deputy Federal Public Defender Jeffrey Aaron.
"We think a lot of the injuries occurred during his arrest," Aaron told the Long Beach Press Telegram. "We're investigating what happened and why he wasn't hospitalized."
Kabir, 34, was captured Nov. 17 by U.S. special forces in Kabul, where he was staying with family members, and held for two weeks by the military before being turned over to the FBI.
FBI spokesman Laura Eimiller said Kabir suffered "combat-related injuries" during his capture. The injuries were treated by American medical personnel and he was cleared to be taken back to the U.S.
Kabir, a naturalized U.S. citizen, is the suspected ringleader of a plot to kill Americans and bomb military bases overseas. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
UK murder suspect's extradition case set for 2013
Topics |
2012/12/03 16:23
|
A U.K. court will wait until next year to hold the extradition hearing of a Briton accused of hiring a hit man to kill his wife during their honeymoon in South Africa — after his mental state is reviewed.
The lawyer for Shrien Dewani says he has flashbacks and is a "husk" of his former self. Attorney Clare Montgomery said Monday it is unthinkable he would be able to plan any escape.
Dewani's mental condition will be reviewed in April, with a full extradition hearing set for July.
The 32-year-old is accused of arranging the murder of his wife, Anni, 28. She was found shot dead in an abandoned taxi in Cape Town's Gugulethu township in November 2010.
In March, a British court halted Dewani's extradition, citing his mental state. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Another blow for state's anti-eavesdropping law
Topics |
2012/11/27 22:07
|
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday delivered another blow to a 50-year-old anti-eavesdropping law in Illinois, choosing to let stand a lower court finding that key parts of the hotly debated law run counter to constitutional protections of free speech.
In that critical lower-court ruling in May, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the law — one of the toughest of its kind in the country — violates the First Amendment when used against those who record police officers doing their jobs in public.
Civil libertarians say the ability to record helps guard against police abuse. The law's proponents, however, say it protects the privacy rights of officers and civilians, as well as ensures that those wielding recording devices don't interfere with urgent police work.
The Illinois Eavesdropping Act, enacted in 1961, makes it a felony for someone to produce an audio recording of a conversation unless all the parties involved agree. It sets a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison if a law enforcement officer is recorded.
As it drew the ire of civil liberties groups, state legislators endeavored to soften the law earlier this year, but those efforts stalled. The high-court's decision could prompt a renewed push to overhaul it.
But state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, a vocal opponent of the law, said court decisions hitting at its constitutionality could effectively nullify the most contentious aspects of the law and make further legislative action unnecessary. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Generals backed Kelley's sister in court
Lawyer News |
2012/11/15 12:18
|
In the latest twist of the David Petraeus sex scandal, court records show the former CIA director and Gen. John Allen intervened last September in a messy custody dispute on behalf of Jill Kelley's sister, whom a judge described as dishonest and lacking integrity.
Kelley is the woman who received harassing emails from Petraeus' biographer and paramour, according to U.S officials. She also is thought to have exchanged flirtatious communications with Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Pentagon investigators are now examining Allen's relationship with Kelley.
The new court files are significant because they provide of a fuller picture of the twins' connections to Petraeus and Allen, two powerful figures ensnared in the scandal. It also raises questions why two decorated generals would vouch for Kelley's twin sister, Natalie Khawam, who had piles of legal troubles in recent years.
Petraeus resigned Friday as CIA director after disclosures that author Paula Broadwell sent the emails to Kelley, who in turn went to the FBI, setting off a series of stunning revelations that have engulfed Washington just days after President Barack Obama was re-elected.
Both Allen and Petraeus wrote letters in September supporting Khawam in her ongoing custody fight for her son, D.C. Superior Court records show. Allen met Khawam, 37, when he was deputy commander of U.S. Central Command in Tampa, where they attended social functions. Petraeus said he met Khawam three years ago through Kelley. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Court date postponed in Hines Ward extortion case
Court Watch News |
2012/10/26 16:48
|
A preliminary hearing for a man charged with trying to extort $15,000 from former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward was postponed Tuesday until Dec. 3 at the request of his attorney.
Defense attorney David Shrager said he needed more time to investigate the charges against Joshua Van Auker, 26, of Pittsburgh, along with the evidence. He struck a conciliatory tone when he addressed reporters after a brief court appearance, describing his client as naive and inexperienced.
"This is surreal for him, this is a nice young man," Shrager said of his client, who is accused of contacting Ward's personal assistant last week and threatening to go public with information that Ward had paid prostitutes for sex. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Italian court convicts 7 for no quake warning
Headline Topics |
2012/10/24 16:47
|
Defying assertions that earthquakes cannot be predicted, an Italian court convicted seven scientists and experts of manslaughter Monday for failing to adequately warn residents before a temblor struck central Italy in 2009 and killed more than 300 people.
The court in L'Aquila also sentenced the defendants to six years each in prison. All are members of the national Great Risks Commission, and several are prominent scientists or geological and disaster experts.
Scientists had decried the trial as ridiculous, contending that science has no reliable way of predicting earthquakes. So news of the verdict shook the tightknit community of earthquake experts worldwide.
"It's a sad day for science," said seismologist Susan Hough, of the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena, Calif. "It's unsettling." That fellow seismic experts in Italy were singled out in the case "hits you in the gut," Hough added.
In Italy, convictions aren't definitive until after at least one level of appeals, so it is unlikely any of the defendants would face jail immediately.
Other Italian public officials and experts have been put on trial for earthquake-triggered damage, such as the case in southern Italy for the collapse of a school in a 2002 quake in which 27 children and a teacher were killed. But that case centered on allegations of shoddy construction of buildings in quake-prone areas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
High court won't block early voting in Ohio
Political View |
2012/10/20 17:00
|
The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for voters in the
battleground state of Ohio to cast ballots on the three days before
Election Day, giving Democrats and President Barack Obama's campaign a
victory three weeks before the election.
The court refused a request by the state's Republican elections chief
and attorney general to get involved in a battle over early voting.
Ohio is among 34 states, plus the District of Columbia, where people
can vote early without giving any reason. About 30 percent of the
swing state's total vote — or roughly 1.7 million ballots — came in
before Election Day in 2008. Crucial to Obama's win that year was
early voting in Ohio, North Carolina and Florida.
Obama won Ohio four years ago, but Republican rival Mitt Romney is
making a strong play for it this year. No GOP candidate has won the
White House without Ohio in his column.
Obama's campaign and Ohio Democrats had sued state officials over
changes in state law that took away the three days of voting for most
people but made exceptions for military personnel and Ohioans living
overseas.
Their lawsuit cited a recent study saying nearly 105,000 people voted
in the three days before the election in 2008, and they argued
everyone should have the chance to vote on those days. They also said
eliminating the opportunity for most Ohio residents to vote in person
on those days, while giving military or overseas voters the chance to
do so, leads to unequal treatment. |
|
|
|
|
|
Legal News RSS Feed
