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Hells Angels biker in Nevada court over shootout
Legal Career News |
2011/12/02 17:01
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A California member of the Hells Angels pleaded not guilty Thursday to second-degree murder for his role in the death of his chapter president in a September shootout in a Nevada casino.
Cesar Villagrana of Gilroy also pleaded not guilty to shooting and wounding two members of the rival Vagos motorcycle gang in the melee.
Villagrana is not suspected of shooting his longtime friend and San Jose chapter leader Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew. However. authorities said he was charged with murder because he was a principal participant in the brawl the led to the death in Sparks on Sept. 23.
Washoe District Judge Connie Steinheimer set a tentative Jan. 17 trial date for Villagrana, the same day Ernesto Gonzalez of San Francisco — a Vagos member indicted for murder — is due to stand trial.
Authorities suspect Gonzalez fired the shots that killed Pettigrew
The judge, however, indicated the trial might not begin until the end of 2012.
Prosecutor Karl Hall expects suspect Gary Stuart Rudnick, who was arrested in Los Angeles in connection with Pettigrew's killing, to be returned to Reno and arraigned before Dec. 7.
Rudnick, vice president of the Vagos Los Angeles chapter, was indicted on a second-degree murder charge. |
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Pa. capital takeover challenged in federal court
Court Feed News |
2011/12/02 15:01
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The state takeover of Pennsylvania's financially troubled capital city received a fresh challenge Thursday, as three Harrisburg residents filed a federal lawsuit calling it an unconstitutional violation of their rights and asking for it to be stopped.
The suit names Gov. Tom Corbett, who signed a law on Oct. 20 enabling an unprecedented takeover of Harrisburg, and the Corbett appointee who, if confirmed, would have broad authority to force the city to pay down a massive debt tied to its trash incinerator.
The lawsuit was filed by a former mayoral candidate, a firefighters' union president and a religious leader. It alleges that the law and the state's takeover violate the plaintiffs' constitutional rights to due process and equal protection.
A Corbett administration spokeswoman said she had not seen the lawsuit and could not immediately comment.
The suit is the latest twist in a battle over who will end up footing the $300 million incinerator debt.
The first attempt to stop the takeover failed last week when a federal bankruptcy judge threw out a petition by a divided City Council to get federal bankruptcy protection for Harrisburg. The judge said the city had been legally barred by a separate state law — signed June 30 by Corbett — from seeking bankruptcy protection and, in any case, had no authority to go over the mayor's head to file it. |
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NY court hears hedge fund boss' bail arguments
Court Feed News |
2011/12/01 17:29
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A federal appeals court did not immediately rule Wednesday whether hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam must report to prison next week for an 11-year sentence for insider trading, the longest term ever given for the crime.
Attorney Patricia Millett told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that Rajaratnam should remain free on bail while the appeals court hears a challenge to his conviction in the biggest insider trading case in history.
Rajaratnam, 54, was sentenced in October after his conviction this year on charges that he engaged in insider trading from 2003 through October 2009 at the Galleon Group of hedge funds that he founded. Prosecutors said insider trading schemes involved the stocks of at least 19 different public companies and resulted in at least $70 million in illegal gains.
Rajaratnam was also ordered to forfeit $53.8 million and to pay a $10 million fine.
Millett said court papers filed to secure wiretaps that provided evidence crucial to his conviction were improperly made, raising a substantial question of law that entitles him to remain free until the appeals court hears the case sometime next year. |
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Man tied to Ohio Craigslist case appears in court
Court Feed News |
2011/12/01 15:28
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A suspect in a deadly Craigslist robbery plot was wheeled into court in an unrelated case Thursday, his head bobbing rhythmically, and he later ignored questions about the mounting body count and his relationship with a teen murder suspect.
Richard Beasley, unshaved and dressed in a white and gray striped jail outfit, didn't speak and kept his head down as Summit County Common Pleas Judge Tammy O'Brien revoked his bond on a drug-trafficking charge.
The legal problems faced by Beasley, a self-styled chaplain and youth mentor, are mounting: His attorney said a prostitution case involving the 52-year-old Beasley and a 17-year-old boy would be upgraded with a racketeering charge Friday.
The drug and prostitution cases in Akron are unrelated to a widening Craigslist homicide investigation.
Investigators say someone trying to lure robbery victims posted a bogus ad on Craigslist touting a cattle farm job in southeast Ohio.
Authorities have linked two bodies and the shooting of a man who survived to the scheme, which targeted single, out-of-work men in their late 40s or early 50s. The investigators heading up the Craigslist inquiry also found a third body but have yet to link it to the case.
A 16-year-old boy, Brogan Rafferty of nearby Stow, faces juvenile charges of aggravated murder, complicity to aggravated murder, attempted murder and complicity to attempted murder in the death of one man and the shooting of another. |
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Court reviews Ga. firing of transgender woman
Headline News |
2011/12/01 11:30
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A federal appeals court is considering whether a former Georgia state legislative aide who was fired amid her sex change was the target of sexual discrimination.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday heard the case of Vandy Beth Glenn, who said in a 2008 lawsuit that legislative counsel Sewell Brumby fired her after she told him she would come to work dressed as a woman as she transitioned from man to woman.
Glenn, formerly known as Glenn Morrison, said she was told she was fired because her gender transition would be seen as "immoral" by Georgia lawmakers.
State attorneys contend they broke no law and said federal laws that guarantee the rights of some minorities don't extend to transgender employees. |
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Wis. office wants to suspend former DA's license
Legal Career News |
2011/12/01 11:29
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The Wisconsin office that regulates attorney conduct asked the state Supreme Court on Wednesday to suspend a former prosecutor's law license for trying to spark an affair with a domestic abuse victim through a barrage of racy text messages and allegedly making sexual remarks to a number of other women.
The Office of Lawyer Regulation filed a complaint with the court alleging former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz violated multiple attorney conduct rules. The office recommended the justices suspend his law license for six months.
Kratz resigned in October 2010 after The Associated Press reported that he sent 30 texts over three days to a then-25-year-old domestic abuse victim in 2009. The Republican district attorney was prosecuting the woman's ex-boyfriend at the time.
Kratz, then 50, called the woman a "tall, young, hot nymph," told her he wanted her to "be so hot" and touted himself as "the prize" with a $350,000 house.
He has since set up a private practice that handles criminal defense, drunken driving, divorce and injury cases, according to the firm's website. Kratz didn't respond to an email or phone message left Wednesday at his office, and his attorney, Robert Bellin, also didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. |
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