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Lawyer pleads guilty to illegal Edwards donations
Lawyer Blog News |
2011/08/05 16:03
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A prominent Los Angeles attorney could face six months in federal prison for making illegal contributions to the 2004 presidential campaign of former Sen. John Edwards.
The U.S. attorney's office says Pierce O'Donnell pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of making illegal campaign contributions and agreed to a six-month sentence and a $20,000 fine. O'Donnell is set to be sentenced in November.
In a statement, O'Donnell's attorney Brian J. O'Neill says he and O'Donnell are pleased with the resolution.
O'Donnell acknowledged he provided some $20,000 to Edwards' campaign for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination by reimbursing straw donors.
In 2006, O'Donnell was ordered to pay more than $155,000 after pleading no contest to using a false name while making political contributions to former Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn's campaign. |
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Calif. court hears appeal on gay juror dismissals
Court Feed News |
2011/08/05 15:02
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A federal appeals case pending in California could determine if trial lawyers should be barred from dismissing potential jurors because they are gay.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Thursday in Pasadena that challenge a Los Angeles prosecutor's decision to strike a lesbian from the jury in an assault case against a gay federal inmate.
The Los Angeles Times reports a favorable ruling could extend constitutional discrimination protections to homosexuality, along with race, creed and gender.
Inmate Daniel Osazuwa says he hugged a guard who was homophobic and he overreacted. The guard fell and Osazuwa landed on him.
A public defender argues the trial judge erred in dismissing a lesbian from the jury, but a prosecutor says she was let go for another legitimate reason. |
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Lawyer pleads guilty to $47 million Ponzi scheme
Attorneys News |
2011/08/05 13:02
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An Arkansas lawyer and businessman admitted today to staging a Ponzi scheme that netted more than $47 million, a scam that a prosecutor called the largest case of fraud in state history.
Kevin Lewis, 43, pleaded guilty today to one count of bank fraud in federal district court in Little Rock. He could face up to 30 years in prison, though U.S. Attorney Christopher Thyer said Lewis would likely receive between 10 to 13 years.
He will also have to pay restitution of almost $40 million, though that number could go down further as banks work to recover their losses.
Lewis acknowledged that he issued paperwork for fake rural improvement bonds often used by developers to defraud several Arkansas banks starting with a small bond in 1997.
That money went to maintain his business interests across the state, which range from a law firm to a clothing company. He used the money to make the payments on past fake bonds and support a personal lifestyle that included a house valued at more than $1 million, fancy cars and vacations, Thyer said.
Meanwhile, the bank that bought almost $23 million of the fake bonds, First Southern Bank in Batesville, was placed into receivership by authorities, Thyer said. Lewis had purchased majority ownership of First Southern, using a loan from another Arkansas bank that was backed by the fake bonds. |
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Arizona Court: $75M Cash-Only Bond 'Excessive'
Legal Career News |
2011/08/04 15:30
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A $75 million cash-only bond for a father accused of sexually abusing his children was unconstitutionally excessive and denied him the opportunity to be freed from jail while he awaits trial, the state appellate court ruled.
The court already had sent the case back to Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Tina Ainley before issuing a formal opinion last week, explaining its decision. Ainley held a status conference Tuesday afternoon but did not reset the bond.
The appellate court said only a handful of extraordinarily wealthy people would be able to afford the bond the judge had set. It was perhaps one of the largest bail amounts on record in U.S. history. In comparison, Osama bin Laden's bounty was $25 million, and BTK killer Dennis Rader's bond was set at $10 million. Jeffrey Dahmer's bail was $1 million.
"Nothing suggests that (defendant) — an unemployed man dependent upon others for financial assistance — falls anywhere near inclusion within such an elite group," the court wrote. "Although Judge Ainley ruled (defendant) was bailable, the oppressive requirements she imposed effectively constituted a denial of bail."
The defendant, a longtime Sedona resident and Brazilian national, faces two counts of continuous sexual abuse involving his children. Prosecutors argued that he was a flight risk and said his children feared for their safety. A defense attorney said his client had no plans to flee the country and has maintained his innocence. |
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Lawyer fees case before Miss. Supreme Court
Lawyer Blog News |
2011/08/04 15:27
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Republican state Auditor Stacy Pickering has asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to declare funds the attorney general collects from lawsuits to be public money and to require the money to all be turned over the Legislature, including what private law firms collect for their work.
Attorney Arthur Jernigan Jr. told the court Wednesday that Pickering has no dispute with Attorney General Jim Hood's hiring of private lawyers to help with litigation. Jernigan said the dispute centers on the legal fees that the firms collect; he contends the money should go to the state.
The Supreme Court heard Pickering's challenge to a judge's decision last year upholding $10 million in fees paid to lawyers for handling a state lawsuit against computer software manufacturer Microsoft Corp.
Microsoft is not a party to Pickering's lawsuit.
Hinds County Chancellor Denise Owens last April ruled against Pickering.
Microsoft reached a $100 million settlement with the state of Mississippi in 2009. It agreed to pay $10 million to private lawyers hired by the attorney general's office to handle the case. |
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Appeals court overturns rare Mich. death sentence
Court Feed News |
2011/08/03 15:23
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A federal appeals court on Wednesday overturned a death sentence for a western Michigan man who was convicted of drowning a young woman in a remote lake to prevent her from pursuing a rape case against him.
The court upheld Marvin Gabrion's conviction, but said the sentencing phase of his extraordinary 2002 trial in Grand Rapids federal court must start from scratch.
Gabrion's lawyers should have been allowed to tell jurors that he would not have faced a possible death sentence if prosecuted in state court because Michigan doesn't allow capital punishment, the appeals court said.
U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell barred Gabrion's defense team from making that pitch during the sentencing phase. It may not have made a difference in the ultimate result, but the appeals court said it's a legitimate argument to make to jurors, who unanimously chose the death penalty.
Rachel Timmerman's body was found in a lake in the Manistee National Forest in Newaygo County in 1997. The U.S. attorney's office had jurisdiction because the victim was found in a portion of the lake that is federal property.
During the sentencing phase, prosecutors blamed Gabrion for the disappearance of four other people, including Timmerman's daughter. The body of one, Wayne Davis, was found floating in another lake a few months after the trial. No charges have been filed. |
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