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Amanda Knox murder conviction overturned by Italy high court
Headline News |
2015/03/27 16:35
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Italy's highest court overturned the murder conviction against Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Friday over the 2007 slaying of Knox's roommate, bringing to a definitive end the high-profile case that captivated trial-watchers on both sides of the Atlantic. "Finished!" Knox's lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova exulted after the decision was read out late Friday. "It couldn't be better than this." In a rare decision, the supreme Court of Cassation overturned last year's convictions by a Florence appeals court and declined to order another trial. The judges declared that the two did not commit the crime, a stronger exoneration than merely finding that there wasn't enough evidence to convict. In a statement issued from her home in Seattle, Knox said she was "relieved and grateful" for the decision. "The knowledge of my innocence has given me strength in the darkest times of this ordeal," she said, thanking her supporters for believing in her. Experts have said such a complete exoneration is unusual for the high court, which could have upheld the conviction or ordered a new trial as it did in 2011 when the case first came up to its review on appeal. The justices' reasoning will be released within 90 days. The decision ends the long legal battle waged by Knox and Italian co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito to clear their names in the death of British student Meredith Kercher, after they spent nearly four years in prison immediately after the murder. |
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Ohio mother accused of decapitating baby due in court
Headline News |
2015/03/20 13:19
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A judge has set bail for an Ohio mother accused of decapitating her 3-month-old baby at $500,000.
Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Melissa Powers set bail at a brief hearing Friday, where a handcuffed Deasia Watkins didn't speak. She will go before a grand jury March 26.
The 20-year-old Watkins was charged with aggravated murder after her daughter's body was found Monday on a kitchen counter in an aunt's home.
Authorities say 3-month-old Jayniah Watkins had been decapitated and stabbed multiple times with a large chef's knife. Police found Watkins in bed covered with blood.
Watkins was previously forbidden to have contact with her daughter after being hospitalized for psychiatric problems.
Watkins was released from a hospital Thursday where she was under guard and remains in the county jail.
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Mexican Supreme Court orders release of man in 1992 murders
Headline News |
2015/03/20 13:19
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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. |
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Missouri appeals judge appointed to take over Ferguson court
Lawyer News |
2015/03/11 15:20
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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. |
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Attorney John Q. Kelly
Court Watch |
2015/03/11 15:20
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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. |
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'Suge' Knight taken to hospital after court hearing
Headline News |
2015/03/05 14:10
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Former rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight told a judge that he is suffering from blindness and other health complications moments before he was taken to a hospital Monday morning.
Knight told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Brandlin that he had fired attorneys handling his murder case and was receiving inadequate medical treatment while in custody.
The Death Row Records co-founder said he was blind in one eye and had only about 15 percent vision in his other eye during a brief court appearance on Monday. Knight said he was having difficulty comprehending the proceedings and told the judge he had been shot six times last year and had a blood clot in his lungs and other complications. He also said he had lost 35 pounds as a result of his injuries.
Brandlin transferred Knight's case to another judge, and he was taken for medical care before his case could be called in Judge Ronald Coen's courtroom. Coen said before calling the case that Knight had been taken to a hospital, but he did not elaborate.
Knight has pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run charges after he struck two men with his truck, killing one, on Jan. 29. He remains held without bail.
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