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Accused Auburn shooter in court on 3 murder counts
Topics |
2012/06/14 09:49
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The man charged in three slayings near Auburn University has had three attorneys appointed for him after telling a judge he cannot afford to pay for his legal defense.
Desmonte Leonard had his first appearance before a judge in Opelika, Ala., on Thursday morning. He's facing three counts of capital murder and two assault charges in the shootings last weekend.
The dead included two former Auburn football players, and a current player was among the three injured.
The 22-year-old Leonard told a judge he can't afford to pay for a legal defense. So the judge appointed three Montgomery attorneys to represent Leonard at taxpayer expense.
Leonard says he understands the charges against him. Leonard was chained at his hands and feet during the brief appearance and is jailed without bond. |
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Ariz. gov. orders training ahead of court decision
Opinions |
2012/06/13 14:54
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Arizona's governor on Tuesday ordered a state board to redistribute a training video on the state's controversial immigration law to all law enforcement agencies.
The move comes ahead of an expected ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court this month on the law, which was signed by Gov. Jan Brewer in 2010.
Brewer said in a statement Tuesday that she wants to make sure officers are prepared if the court upholds the law.
Parts of the law blocked from taking effect include a provision requiring police to question people's immigration status while enforcing other laws if there's a reasonable suspicion they're in the country illegally.
The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board's video outlines factors that constitute reasonable suspicion that someone is in the country illegally, including language, demeanor and foreign-vehicle registration. |
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Fort Hood shooter's beard stops court hearing
Topics |
2012/06/09 00:15
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A hearing to consider pre-trial motions in the murder case against an Army psychiatrist charged in the Fort Hood shooting rampage has been delayed after defendant Maj. Nidal Hasan showed up in court wearing a beard.
The trial judge, Col. Gregory Gross, said Hasan's appearance at the hearing Friday violated Army regulations and is considered a disruption to the proceedings.
Gross says the hearing will be delayed until the near future when Hasan either complies with military grooming standards or watches the hearing from outside the courtroom on a video feed. Hasan's lawyers say they'll seek an exception to the grooming rule on religious grounds.
Hasan faces the death penalty if convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the November 2009 attack. |
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Powerbroker tied to Nevada Sen. Reid goes to court
Court Watch |
2012/06/09 00:15
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A former developer and lobbyist with long ties to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Nevada's political elite turned himself in to federal authorities Thursday after being indicted on criminal charges involving federal campaign contributions.
Harvey Whittemore planned to plead not guilty later in the day before a federal magistrate in Reno, his lawyer, John Arrascada, told The Associated Press.
Whittemore, 55, was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on four counts related to campaign contributions made in 2007 to an unnamed elected federal official.
Once a kingpin in state political circles, Whittemore made campaign contributions to numerous politicians including Republican Sen. Dean Heller and Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley. But records show only Reid received donations of more than $100,000 on a single day in 2007.
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Groups sue to block Florida voter roll purge
Law Firm News |
2012/06/08 00:15
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Several groups and individuals on Friday asked a federal court to block Florida from carrying out its purge of potentially ineligible voters from the rolls.
A Hispanic civic organization and two naturalized citizens — backed by the American Civil Liberties Union and others — filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tampa seeking to halt the purge. Two days ago, the administration of Republican Gov. Rick Scott rejected calls by the federal government to stop the effort.
"The illegal program to purge eligible voters uses inaccurate information to remove eligible citizens from the voter rolls," said Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida. "...We now look to the courts to stop the Scott administration from assaulting democracy by denying American citizens the right to vote."
The lawsuit is likely to have little immediate impact because most local election supervisors have halted the removal of voters, citing conflicting legal opinions from the federal government and state officials.
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Appeals court knocks out Job Corps drug tests
Law Center |
2012/06/07 00:15
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A federal appeals court on Friday declared a random drug testing program for government workers at 28 U.S. Forest Service Job Corps centers unconstitutional.
The centers are home for at-risk youths from ages 16 to 24 from troubled environments. Residents are housed in remote rural locations and trained in various vocations.
In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the small number of drug use incidents among a workforce of several thousand over many years does not establish a serious problem, much less an immediate crisis necessitating expansion of a random drug testing policy.
The government "has thus offered a solution in search of a problem," Judge Judith Rogers ruled.
Absent from the record, Rogers said, is any demonstration that government staffers using drugs influenced youths at the center to use them, in violation of the centers' Zero Tolerance Policy. She was joined by Judge Douglas Ginsburg.
Previously, the only center workers undergoing random drug testing were nurses and employees required to hold a commercial driver's license.
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