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Court close to seating Blagojevich jury
Court Watch |
2011/04/28 09:06
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Jury selection in the retrial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is entering the home stretch after dragging on for longer than expected.
Thursday should be the last day of questioning of would-be jurors by U.S. District Judge James Zagel. He told attorneys Wednesday that opening arguments would take place Monday.
After a week of jury selection, 42 people are in the pool of potential jurors. Zagel says he only needs a few more before picking the final 12 jurors and six alternates.
One person the judge agreed to dismiss was a woman who had tickets to The Oprah Winfrey Show. She had worried jury duty would force her to miss it.
Another person bumped was a school teacher who the judge said displayed terrible grammar in his questionnaire. |
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Ohio man pleads guilty in abortion-gunpoint case
Law Center |
2011/04/28 09:06
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A man charged under an Ohio fetal homicide law with trying to force his pregnant girlfriend at gunpoint to get an abortion pleaded guilty Thursday to attempted murder, weapons and abduction counts.
Dominic Holt-Reid pulled a gun Oct. 6 on girlfriend Yolanda Burgess, who was three months pregnant, and forced her to drive to an abortion clinic, police said. Burgess, who was 26 at the time, did not go through with the procedure but instead passed a note to a clinic employee, who called police.
Prosecutors had brought their case against Holt-Reid using the state's 1996 law that says a person can be found guilty of murder for causing the unlawful termination of a pregnancy.
Holt-Reid, 28, faces up to 20 years in prison and a $40,000 fine. A presentencing investigation was ordered, and the next hearing was scheduled for June 9.
Holt-Reid had previously pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, improper handling of a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon. His guilty pleas in Franklin County Common Pleas Court came a day after Prosecutor Ron O'Brien told The Associated Press in a statement that a plea deal was in the works. |
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Kan. House debates forcing lawsuit over casino
Topics |
2011/04/28 09:06
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The Kansas House is debating whether it should force the attorney general to file a lawsuit over a proposed state-owned casino south of Wichita.
A resolution being discussed Thursday would require Attorney General Derek Schmidt to sue the state Racing and Gaming Commission's over its decision to allow a casino near Mulvane.
Iowa-based Peninsula Gaming plans to build a $260 million casino complex 18 miles south of Wichita.
Critics question whether the commission's decision in January was premature.
They cite misdemeanor campaign finance charges pending against the company and two top executives in Iowa. Company officials have said they're confident the case will be resolved in their favor, and they've started work on the casino.
Kansas law allows one legislative chamber to direct the attorney general to file a lawsuit. |
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Iowa court reverses child endangerment conviction
Law Center |
2011/04/28 09:05
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The Iowa Court of Appeals on Wednesday overturned the conviction of a mother who has been imprisoned for nearly four years after being found guilty of injuring her young son, basing its decision on the boy's newfound ability to speak and claim he was hurt after sticking his arm into a washing machine.
Tammy Smith was found guilty of hurting her then-4-year-old son in 2006, after his arm was broken in four places and his shoulder dislocated. Prosecutors could not prove how the injury happened, but doctors testified it could only have been caused by a lot of force or leverage being applied to the child's arm. Smith was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The boy was described as developmentally delayed and could only make grunting sounds and other noises at the time of Smith's trial. He has since been in school and met with counselors and has been able to talk about what happened, telling people he hurt his arm when he put it in a front-load washing machine that was on spin cycle. |
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US envoy says rights talks with China yield little
Topics |
2011/04/28 02:05
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| pAn American human rights envoy said Thursday that China provided no useful information when probed about specific cases of individuals who have been detained or who disappeared in a major crackdown on dissent in recent months./ppHundreds of lawyers, activists, and other intellectuals have been questioned, detained, confined to their homes or have simply disappeared, apparently to squelch any chances of the kind of popular uprisings roiling the Middle East and North Africa. The clampdown on dissent is the broadest and harshest in years by China's Communist government./ppMichael Posner, U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, said that his delegation received no satisfactory answers to its questions about Teng Biao, a law professor who disappeared in February, and the artist Ai Weiwei, who was apparently detained by authorities April 3 but has yet to be formally charged./ppWe need to and will continue to raise these issues in a range of forums, Posner said. The most senior government officials in the United States are deeply concerned about the deterioration of human rights in China over the last several months./p |
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High court rejects quick review of health care law
Law Firm News |
2011/04/25 09:27
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The Supreme Court rejected a call Monday from Virginia's attorney general to depart from its usual practice and put review of the health care law on a fast track. Instead, judicial review of President Barack Obama's signature legislation will continue in federal appeals courts.
The justices turned down a request by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a leading opponent of the law, to resolve questions about its constitutionality quickly. The Obama administration opposed Cuccinelli's plea.
Only rarely, in wartime or a constitutional crisis, does the court step into a legal fight before the issues are aired in appellate courts. Hearings already are scheduled in May and June in three appeals courts.
The case still could reach the high court in time for a decision by early summer 2012.
Cuccinelli said he asked for speedy review to end crippling and costly uncertainty about the law. |
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