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Two Sago Mine Disasters Settle
Court Watch News |
2009/02/03 09:31
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Two families of dead mine workers form Sago Mine disaster settle death claims.
Charlotte, NC (JusticeNewsFlash.com)–Documents filed in the Kanawha Circuit Court in West Virginia claim lawyers, for the estates of two mine workers killed in the Sago Mine explosion, have settled their wrongful death claims. The West Virginia Gazette reported this week a total of six Sago MIne families may have resolved lawsuits involving the fatal mine explosion on January 2, 2006.
The deadly explosion happened at the Sago Mine owned by Wolf Run Mining a subsidiary of International Coal Group. The wrongful death lawsuits were filed by family members when a sealed underground tunnel exploded in the Sago Mine south of Buckhannon. A fire boss, Terry Helms, died after the blast from carbon monoxide poisoning and 12 remaining miners took shelter awaiting rescue. Only one man survived the more than 40 hours it took for rescue workers to reach the trapped miners.
Families of the deceased miners, who died from inhaling toxic fumes and smoke resulting in carbon monoxide poisoning, settled with two of the mine companies suppliers. Burrell Mining Products manufactured concrete foam blocks used to seal abandoned areas of the mine, like the sealed tunnel that exploded, and Raleigh Mine and Industrial Supply distributed the concrete foam blocks. |
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Girl Says Officer Forced Her into Oral Sex
Court Watch News |
2009/01/28 10:12
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A girl says an Ulster County deputy sheriff forced her to perform oral sex on him under threat of arrest. She claims Ulster County knew deputy Jeffrey Geskie was unfit to be an officer as citizens had sued him and the county twice before for his violent and unconstitutional, unlawful acts.
nbsp; nbsp; The girl, now 18, says she was sunbathing legally in Marbletown at 2 p.m. on June 2, 2008, when Geskie, in uniform, approached her, claiming she was trespassing. She says he searched her purse, and claimed to find drug paraphernalia.
nbsp; nbsp; The complaint continues: Deputy Sheriff Geskie then indicated in sum or substance that if the plaintiff did not remove her clothes, she would be arrested, placed in prison and he would notify her prospective college institution of her arrest and possession of drug paraphernalia. Deputy Geskie recorded the name of her future college in a note. Deputy Geskie, while in full uniform and with his service weapon on his person indicated to the plaintiff that, in sum or substance, that she had three options:
(1) go to prison and have her school informed of her arrest;
(2) perform oral sex upon him; or
(3) have sexual intercourse with him.
Deputy Geskie further ordered the plaintiff that upon the removal of all of her clothes, she was [to] spin around for him several times so that he could see all of her exposed, naked body. Under color of law and under direct threat of incarceration and imprisonment, Deputy Sheriff Jeffrey Geskie did force the plaintiff to have oral sex with him including ejaculating in the plaintiff's mouth and face. Deputy Sheriff Jeffrey Geskie forced her to perform oral sex while he was wearing his uniform and under the threat of incarceration.
The complaint adds: On two separate occasions, Deputy Sheriff Geskie, the County of Ulster and the Ulster County Sheriff's Department have been sued by members of the public for his violent and unconstitutional, unlawful acts. (See attached Exhibit 'A,' Boos v County of Ulster, Ulster County Sheriff's Department and Deputy Jeffrey Geskie - Case Number 1:07-cv-00828 filed on 8/15/07, and Exhibit 'B,' Krom v County of Ulster, Ulster County Sheriff's Department and Deputy Jeffrey Geskie - Case Number 06-CV-0760 filed on June 19, 2006).
Upon information and belief, following the previous complaints against Deputy Sheriff Geskie, no action was taken by the municipality, County of Ulster, or the Ulster County Sheriff's Department. More egregious is the fact that the Ulster County Sheriff's Department awarded Deputy Sheriff Jeffrey Geskie meritorious service awards for 2005, 2006 and 2007 despite having knowledge of his previous unlawful acts against citizens and the public at large. Said awards condoned the acts of Deputy Geskie.
nbsp; nbsp; She demands $15 million. She is represented in Federal Court by Joseph O'Connor of Kingston. |
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High court turns down daughter in pension dispute
Court Watch News |
2009/01/26 14:24
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| The Supreme Court says the daughter of a DuPont Co. worker is out of luck in her effort to collect his retirement benefits.pThe justices, in a unanimous decision Monday, said Kari Kennedy can collect nothing from DuPont because companies are bound by what a worker puts down on forms designating who is to receive retirement and other benefits after his death./ppIn this case, William Kennedy divorced his wife of 22 years and she waived her rights to the retirement money in their divorce decree. Kari Kennedy said her father wanted her to have the money after his death./ppBut Kennedy never changed his beneficiary on the retirement account, and DuPont properly paid $402,000 to Liv Kennedy, his ex-wife, Justice David Souter said./ppThe case is Kennedy v. Plan Administrator, 07-636. /p |
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Guilty Pleas in U.S. Death Plot
Court Watch News |
2009/01/20 09:20
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Two cousins from Chicago pleaded guilty in Toledo, Ohio Federal Court for their roles in a plot to recruit and train people to kill U.S. soldiers. Zubair Ahmed and Khaleel Ahmed face up to 15 years in prison after admitting they conspired to provide material support to terrorists.
nbsp; nbsp; Federal prosecutors say the two cousins were recruited by three Toledo men who were organizing the plot, and that the Ahmeds were training and planning to go overseas to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan. The three organizers have already been convicted and are awaiting sentencing, The Associated Press reported.
nbsp; nbsp; Both Ahmeds pleaded guilty to a one-count criminal information. They were arrested in February 2007. |
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Judge Upholds Detention of Two Gitmo Detainees
Court Watch News |
2009/01/02 09:27
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A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the U.S. government is properly imprisoning two people as enemy combatants in Guantanamo - the first legal victory for the Bush administration in the issue for a long time, and the first of an expected 200 or more similar cases.
nbsp; nbsp; U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., was the jurist who ruled about a month ago that the Bush administration had illegally imprisoned five Algerians at Guantanamo for nearly 7 years. He ordered the administration to release them.
nbsp; nbsp; The recent case involved a Yemeni, Moath Hamza Ahmed al Alwi, and a Tunisian, Hisham Sliti.
nbsp; nbsp; Judge Leon found that Sliti was an al Qaeda recruit who attended a military training camp in Afghanistan.
nbsp; nbsp; Judge Leon ruled that though there was no proof that al Alwi had made war upon U.S. forces, his ties to the Taliban were sufficient to justify his imprisonment as an enemy combatant. |
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Alamo seeks removal of religious language in suit
Court Watch News |
2008/12/23 09:16
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| A lawyer for jailed evangelist Tony Alamo asked a federal court Tuesday to remove religious references from a lawsuit against his client, saying they have the potential to draw the court into theological debate to decide the case.pJohn Hall of Little Rock said in a court filing that claims made by two former members of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries were based on religious beliefs and not matters for argument in a court of law./ppHall gave as examples claims that Alamo engaged in practices to intimidate church members by withholding food, marrying young girls and performing severe beatings. Hall said Alamo's defense to each of these allegations was based largely on the Bible, and the filing cites numerous biblical passages./ppAll of these fall within the ambit of defendant's religious beliefs, the filing says./ppThe suit, filed Nov. 25 in federal district court at Texarkana, claims that Seth Calagna and Spencer Ondrisek were beaten and subjected to abuse as teenagers in the church. The suit says the former church members, now adults, suffered physical pain, emotional distress, scarring and disfigurement. It seeks more than $75,000 in damages./p |
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Justices chide California-based appeals court
Court Watch News |
2008/12/03 18:53
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| The Supreme Court took aim at one of its favorite targets Tuesday, criticizing a California-based federal appeals court for its ruling in favor of a criminal defendant.pThe justices threw out a decision by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Michael Robert Pulido, who was convicted for his role in robbing a gas station and killing the defendant./ppA U.S. District Court judge set aside Pulido's conviction because the trial judge in the case gave the jury improper instructions./ppThe high court said in an unsigned opinion that the appeals court ruling affirming the federal judge's action used faulty reasoning. The justices did not reinstate Pulido's conviction./ppJustices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter agreed that the appeals court made a mistake, but would have affirmed its ruling anyway because the underlying decision in favor of Pulido was correct./ppLast month, the court overruled the 9th Circuit in an environmental case involving the Navy's use of sonar and its potential harm to whales./ppThe case is Hedgpeth v. Pulido, 07-544. /p |
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