|
|
|
Wash. man pleads guilty to defrauding ID investors
Court Watch |
2011/08/10 08:54
|
A Washington man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Idaho to cheating investors out of more than $2 million and using the cash for his own benefit.
Federal prosecutors say 59-year-old Dale Edward Lowell, of Colbert, Wash., pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud Tuesday.
Investigators say Lowell, while living in northern Idaho in 2005, started raised money from investors by telling him he was a savvy options trader. He also told investors he had taken steps to cover losses.
Altogether, prosecutors say Lowell duped 22 investor groups and raised about $2.2 million that he ultimately lost in the market, used for personal expenses or to pay off investors to keep the scheme going. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
No class-action for suits over Calif. fish kill
Court Watch |
2011/08/08 09:15
|
An appeals court has rejected class-action status for a lawsuit prompted by efforts to kill off an invasive fish in Northern California.
The Sacramento Bee says the 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled last week that people suing the state had too little in common to comprise a single class and must sue individually.
In 2007, the state Fish and Game Department dumped thousands of gallons of poison into Lake Davis in Plumas County to kill the voracious northern pike. The lake was closed for several months.
The city of Portola and a number of businesses and property owners sued in 2009, arguing that the action caused a decline in tourism that hurt their income, property values and tax receipts. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Court rules firing of NJ casino dealer unlawful
Court Watch |
2011/08/08 09:15
|
A federal appeals court has sided with an Atlantic City casino dealer who says he was targeted because he was involved in union organizing.
Bally's Park Place fired Jose Justiniano in 2007. The casino claimed he misused family medical leave time by attending a pro-union rally on a day he took time off to care for his daughter.
Justiniano had been active in casino unionizing efforts.
A judge upheld the firing, but the National Labor Relations Board disagreed and said it was unlawful.
Friday's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., agreed with the NLRB. It noted that Justiniano attended the rally for 20 minutes. It also said Bally's policy on family leave didn't justify the firing.
A message was left seeking comment from an attorney representing Bally's. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jury deliberates in post-Katrina shootings trial
Court Watch |
2011/08/02 08:30
|
Jurors have begun deliberating the fate of five current or former police officers charged in deadly shootings on a New Orleans bridge after Hurricane Katrina.
Jurors began their deliberations Wednesday after U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt gave them instructions.
The jury heard several hours of closing arguments Tuesday after five weeks of testimony by roughly 60 witnesses.
Police shot and killed two people and wounded four others on the Danziger Bridge less than a week after the 2005 storm. Officers are also accused of engaging in a cover-up.
Prosecutors say Katrina's chaotic aftermath offers no justification for police to shoot unarmed people who posed no threat.
Defense attorneys urged jurors to weigh the conditions after the storm in judging whether the officers acted reasonably. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
NJ high court to rule in case of retired judge
Court Watch |
2011/08/01 08:48
|
New Jersey's Supreme Court has upheld the censure of a retired Superior Court judge.
Steven Perskie was disciplined in March for not recusing himself in a timely fashion from a case involving his former campaign treasurer. A state Supreme Court committee also found Perskie was not forthcoming in his remarks to a Senate committee about the incident when he was facing re-appointment.
Today's ruling found Perskie shouldn't have rejected a request during a 2006 case that he recuse himself. He later recused himself for different reasons.
The court also found that Perskie didn't intentionally mislead the Senate committee when he answered questions about the incident.
Perskie served on the Superior Court in Atlantic County and retired in January 2010. He also served as a state legislator. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Judge wants agency to investigate Meijer lawyer
Court Watch |
2011/07/25 08:18
|
A judge believes a lawyer committed perjury when he denied knowing anything about the role of Meijer Inc. in a 2007 recall election of township officials in northern Michigan's Grand Traverse County.
Judge Philip Rodgers said he has referred the matter involving Timothy Stoepker to the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission, a watchdog agency.
I believe it occurred, and I have an ethical responsibility to report it, Rodgers told the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Stoepker, an attorney at the firm Dickinson Wright in Grand Rapids, represented Meijer during a dispute over a new store in Acme Township. Voters rejected the store in 2005, and township officials were targeted for recall in 2007.
Meijer, a major Midwestern retailer, later acknowledged illegally financing the recall effort and subsequently paid a $190,000 fine.
During a deposition in a civil lawsuit by a township official, Stoepker was asked what he knew about Meijer's role. I have no knowledge of that at all, he replied. |
|
|
|
|
|
Legal News RSS Feed
