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2 re-sentencings ordered in $1.9B Ohio fraud case
Legal Business |
2010/07/29 09:07
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| A federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered new sentences for two former National Century executives convicted in a $1.9 billion corporate fraud case once likened to the Enron scandal, saying the government had proved some but not all of its case.pA three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati overturned Donald Ayers' conviction of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and Roger Faulkenberry's conviction of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, saying the government didn't provide enough proof./ppRemaining in place are Ayers' convictions of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and securities fraud, and Faulkenberry's convictions of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., securities fraud and wire fraud./ppAyers, 74, is serving 15 years in Coleman federal prison in Florida after his 2008 conviction with Faulkenberry and four other top executives from National Century Financial Enterprises, a Columbus health care financing company. Federal prosecutors compared the case to Enron./ppFaulkenberry, 49, is serving 10 years in Gilmer federal prison in West Virginia after his 2008 conviction./p |
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BP spill cases head to court as Shell counts cost
Headline Topics |
2010/07/29 08:57
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| pThe tide of lawsuits unleashed by BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico breaks into an Idaho courtroom on Thursday, just as the company's rivals are counting the cost of a ban on offshore drilling./ppAttorneys hoping to lead the legal fight against BP are set to descend on Boise, Idaho, to address a special judicial panel considering how to bring order to the hundreds of civil lawsuits spawned by the spill after a rig explosion on April 20./ppThere will be more lawyers in that courtroom than exist in the entire city of Boise put together, Mark Lanier, a Houston-based lawyer who plans to attend the hearing, joked this week. It's going to be a circus./ppSeven U.S. federal judges will convene more than 2,000 miles from the Gulf's oil-smudged shores to consider which U.S. court, or courts, should oversee hundreds of spill-related suits by injured rig workers, fishermen, investors and property owners./ppPotentially adding its name to the line of claimants, Royal Dutch Shell Plc idled seven rigs and took a $56 million charge related to the drilling ban on Thursday. Saying the ban would reduce its production by almost 3 million barrels this year, the company did not rule out reclaiming the cash from BP./ppShell, one of the biggest oil producers in the Gulf of Mexico, said it had idled rigs rather than move them elsewhere because the ban's six-month duration meant it was not profitable to redeploy them to other areas. /p |
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Family of victims sues over Marine jet crash in SD
Topics |
2010/07/29 08:56
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| pThe family of four people killed in the crash of a Marine Corps jet in a San Diego County neighborhood two years ago sued the federal government and Boeing Wednesday./ppThe lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by Dong Yun Yoon, whose wife, two daughters and mother-in-law were killed in the December 2008 crash that incinerated two homes and damaged others in University City./ppThe suit accuses the military and Boeing, the aircraft's maker, of negligence and seeks unspecified damages./ppThe military disciplined 13 members of the Marines and Navy after the crash, which was blamed on mechanical problems and a string of bad decisions that led the pilot to bypass a potentially safe landing at Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado./ppThe suit claims the F-18 Hornet had a history of warnings and system failures related to its fuel system and never should have been cleared for takeoff./ppCalls to Boeing after hours Wednesday were not immediately returned./ppCourt documents accuse the Marine Corps of making decisions in violation of written military standards, which if complied with would have avoided the tragic ending./ppFour members of a Korean family were killed in their home — Young Mi Yoon, 36; her daughters Grace, 15 months, and Rachel, 2 months; and her mother Suk Im Kim, 60. Kim was visiting from South Korea to help her daughter move across town and adjust to the arrival of her second child./ppThe pilot, Lt. Dan Neubauer, described in a statement to investigators how he struggled to control the malfunctioning jet in the minutes before the crash./ppThe pilot was on a training flight from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln when he was forced to shut down one engine because of mechanical trouble. The hobbled jet was told to bypass a coastal Navy base that offered an approach over water and to instead fly inland over San Diego to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar./p |
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Jury finds south Texas man guilty of beheadings
Headline Court News |
2010/07/27 09:06
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| A South Texas man accused of beheading his common-law wife's three children was found guilty of capital murder Monday at his second trial. A state appeals court had overturned John Allen Rubio's previous conviction and death sentence in 2007, saying the children's mother had wrongly been allowed to testify. A second jury deliberated for about three hours before convicting him again.pRubio, 29, of Brownsville, had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and his defense attorneys had argued that the sheer brutality of the crime showed he was not in his right mind. Defense attorney Nat Perez described it during his closing argument as overkill./ppEvidence showed Rubio made increasingly ferocious attempts to kill the children, strangling and stabbing them, then finally cutting off their heads. Rubio initially said he killed the children, all under age 4, because they were possessed./ppPolice discovered the bodies of 3-year-old Julissa Quesada, 14-month-old John E. Rubio and 2-month-old Mary Jane Rubio on March 11, 2003, in a squalid Brownsville apartment./ppRubio was convicted on four counts of capital murder. Each death was covered by one count, and the fourth count included all of them./ppThe trial will now move to a punishment phase, in which prosecutors plan to again seek the death penalty./ppDuring closing arguments given before a packed courtroom earlier Monday, both sides showed enlarged photographs of the children from happier times. Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos got the last word and accentuated it by showing a photograph of a headless child and making a chopping motion on the floor with a cleaver./p |
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Neb. town may halt immigration law to save money
Topics |
2010/07/27 09:04
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pFaced with expensive legal challenges, officials in the eastern Nebraska town of Fremont are considering suspending a voter-approved ban on hiring or renting property to illegal immigrants until the lawsuits are resolved./ppThe City Council narrowly rejected the ban in 2008, prompting supporters to gather enough signatures for the ballot measure. The ordinance, which was approved by voters last month, has divided the community. Supporters say it was necessary to make up for what they see as lax federal law enforcement and opponents argue that it could fuel discrimination./ppBut the council's president, Scott Getzschman, insisted the elected body was concerned about money, not about any lack of support for the ordinance. The City Council is scheduled to vote on suspending the ban on Tuesday night, a day before the city goes to court over the measure./ppThe city faces lawsuits from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense amp; Educational Fund. City officials have estimated that Fremont's costs of implementing the ordinance — including legal fees, employee overtime and improved computer software — would average $1 million a year.
/p |
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N.J. gay-marriage case must begin in lower court
Headline Topics |
2010/07/27 09:03
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pThe push for gay marriage in New Jersey suffered a setback Monday when the state Supreme Court said six gay couples who claim New Jersey has denied them the rights granted to married heterosexual couples must argue their case through the lower courts.
The court was split, 3-3, in the decision; four affirmative votes are needed for a motion to be granted. /ppChief Justice Stuart Rabner and Justices Roberto Rivera-Soto and Helen Hoens said in an order that the issue cannot be decided without the development of an appropriate trial-like record, and denied the plaintiffs' motion without prejudice. /ppThey added that they reached no conclusion on the merits of the plaintiffs' allegations that the Civil Union Act violates their constitutional rights./p |
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Mass. judge who wrote gay marriage ruling retiring
Headline Topics |
2010/07/22 09:49
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| pMassachusetts Chief Justice Margaret Marshall said Wednesday that while she understands her tenure on the state's high court will always be linked to the legalization of gay marriage, that case holds no greater importance in her mind than the hundreds of other rulings she authored./ppI'm proud of every decision, said Marshall, who surprised even her closest colleagues with the announcement that she planned to retire from the bench by the end of October to spend more time with her husband, former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis, who has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease./ppThe court's 4-3 ruling in the 2003 case called Goodrich v. Department of Public Health paved the way for Massachusetts to become the first U.S. state to allow same-sex couples to wed, igniting a fierce national debate over gay marriage that continues to this day./ppWhether and whom to marry, how to express sexual intimacy, and whether and how to establish a family — these are among the most basic of every individual's liberty and due process rights, Marshall wrote./ppThe chief justice recalled how a courtroom packed with hundreds of people quickly cleared out after the court heard arguments in the gay marriage case, leaving only a handful of people who were there for other matters./p |
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