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NY man gets 19 years to life in wife's poisoning
Law Center |
2010/07/20 08:51
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| A New York man who admitted killing his wife by lacing her coffee with cyanide has been sentenced to 19 years to life in prison.pDavid Steeves of Center Moriches pleaded guilty in June to second-degree murder in the death of 41-year-old Maureen Steeves./ppAn autopsy found the woman was killed by potassium cyanide poisoning. Prosecutors say her husband had laced her coffee with the lethal substance./ppDefense attorney Craig McElwee said the 45-year-old Steeves bought the cyanide to kill himself but chickened out and gave it to his wife instead./ppSteeves pleaded guilty after prosecutors assured him that his sons would not be in court for the sentencing. The boys, ages 17 and 15, wrote letters to the judge, saying their father deserved no mercy./p |
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Bankruptcy judge approves Visteon disclosure plan
Law Center |
2010/06/28 08:59
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pA Delaware bankruptcy court judge on Friday cleared the way for auto parts supplier Visteon Corp. to begin soliciting votes on its proposed reorganization plan, which would leave unsecured bond holders in control of the company./ppOverruling objections from certain shareholders and holders of unsecured trade claims, Judge Christopher Sontchi approved documents describing Visteon's proposed reorganization plan and the process for creditors to vote on it./ppCreditors will have until July 30 to vote on the plan, and Sontchi scheduled a plan confirmation trial to begin Sept. 28./ppThe shareholders could receive nothing under Visteon's plan, and the trade creditors would get no more than 50 cents on the dollar for their claims, which total about $48 million. Their attorneys argued that the disclosure statement outlining Visteon's plan did not contain enough information on the company's valuation, and that the plan itself was unconfirmable because of how it treats various creditor groups./ppAttorneys for Visteon argued that the objections to the disclosure statement were without merit, or that they should be addressed at what promises to be a contentious plan confirmation trial stretching over two weeks.
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NY woman sentenced for taking $700K from law firm
Law Center |
2010/06/14 10:05
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pA former secretary for a Hudson Valley law firm has been sentenced to up to 13 years in prison for stealing nearly $700,000 from her employer over a seven-year span.
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Mary Merten of New Paltz was sentenced Tuesday in Ulster County Court to 4 1/3 years to 13 years and also ordered to pay more than $600,000 to the Kingston law firm where she was employed as a confidential secretary. /ppThe judge who sentenced the 44-year-old Merten noted that her thefts forced one of the victims out of retirement and looted a child's college savings. /ppShe pleaded guilty earlier this year to embezzling from the law firm of Riseley and Moriello. /ppThe $625,000 she was ordered to repay to her victims was the amount agreed to during a restitution hearing.
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US court weighs school discipline for Web posts
Law Center |
2010/06/03 21:25
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| A U.S. appeals court in Philadelphia has heard arguments on whether schools can discipline students for lewd, harassing or simply juvenile Internet speech posted off-campus. Two students in two different Pennsylvania school districts are fighting suspensions they received for posting derisive profiles of their principals on MySpace from home computers.pThe American Civil Liberties Union says school officials cannot reach beyond school grounds to impose discipline. The two school districts argue the postings could be disruptive at school, and say they have the right to maintain order./ppIn a rare move, all 14 eligible judges on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Thursday./ppLegal experts hope the Supreme Court will clarify the rules in these types of cases./p |
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High court rules out life sentences for juveniles
Law Center |
2010/05/17 09:25
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pThe Supreme Court has ruled that teenagers may not be locked up for life without chance of parole if they haven't killed anyone./ppBy a 5-4 vote Monday, the court says the Constitution requires that young people serving life sentences must at least be considered for release./ppThe court ruled in the case of Terrance Graham, who was implicated in armed robberies when he was 16 and 17. Graham, now 22, is in prison in Florida, which holds more than 70 percent of juvenile defendants locked up for life for crimes other than homicide./ppThe state has denied him any chance to later demonstrate that he is fit to rejoin society based solely on a nonhomicide crime that he committed while he was a child in the eyes of the law, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion. This the Eighth Amendment does not permit./ppChief Justice John Roberts agreed with Kennedy and the court's four liberal justices about Graham. But Roberts said he does not believe the ruling should extend to all young offenders who are locked up for crimes other than murder; he was a no vote on the ruling./ppLife sentences with no chance of parole are rare and harsh for juveniles tried as adults and convicted of crimes less serious than killing, although roughly three dozen states allow for the possibility of such prison terms. Just over 100 prison inmates in the United States are serving those terms, according to data compiled by opponents of the sentences./ppThose inmates are in Florida and seven other states — California, Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska and South Carolina — according to a Florida State University study. More than 2,000 other juveniles are serving life without parole for killing someone. Their sentences are not affected by Monday's decision.
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DA opposes Polanski's request for sealed testimony
Law Center |
2010/05/10 09:26
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pRoman Polanski's request for access to sealed transcripts of testimony by a former prosecutor detailing alleged misconduct should be rejected because of the director's fugitive status, prosecutors argued Thursday in a court filing./ppPolanski's attorneys have asked a judge to unseal testimony taken earlier this year by the original prosecutor handling the case, Roger Gunson. They have said it will help their efforts to fight Polanksi's extradition from Switzerland, where he remains under house arrest./ppDeputy District Attorney David Walgren wrote in Thursday's filing that the request should be denied because Polanski has repeatedly refused to return to Los Angeles for sentencing./ppHe said allegations of misconduct in the case can and should be dealt with at Polanski's sentencing./ppA hearing on Polanski's motion is scheduled for Monday afternoon.
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