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Court: Firing worker who took hot dogs unjustified
Court Feed News |
2011/07/08 14:29
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The Indiana Court of Appeals says a department store wasn't justified in firing a worker who took two leftover hot dogs from a company picnic, so it must pay him unemployment benefits. The court ruled Thursday in the case of Nolan Koewler, who was fired from a Dillard's store in Evansville a year ago. Dillard's hosted a Fourth of July cookout for employees. Afterward, a manager ordered the leftovers stored in a break room freezer until Labor Day. The next day, Koewler took two hot dogs and ate them, an act caught on surveillance video. He claimed he never heard the instruction to save the hot dogs, and the three-judge panel sided unanimously with him. The opinion didn't reveal the amount of unemployment benefits at stake. |
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Media cross-ownership ban restored
Lawyer Blog News |
2011/07/08 13:31
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A federal Appeals Court has restored a long-standing ban that prevents media companies from owning both a newspaper and a television station in the same market.
The 3d US Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said yesterday that the Federal Communications Commission didn’t give the public adequate opportunity to comment on new rules that lifted the ban in the 20 largest media markets. The Appeals Court sent the rules back to the FCC to be rewritten.
The so-called cross-ownership ban dates back to 1975 - a time when newspapers dominated the media industry.
In 2007, then-FCC chairman Kevin Martin, a Bush administration appointee, moved to ease those restrictions in the biggest media markets. He argued that the ban no longer made sense in a media landscape where the Internet had left many daily newspapers struggling for survival.
Public interest groups challenged the changes and warned that too many media outlets falling under the ownership of a handful of large corporations could be detrimental to democracy, which relies on a vibrant press with many voices.
The decision is a setback for media conglomerates, which argue that consumers have more sources of information than ever in an age of 24-hour cable television and an endless supply of online news outlets. |
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Lululemon killing suspect, Brittany Norwood, in court
Criminal Law Updates |
2011/07/08 10:32
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A court hearing is set for a woman charged with killing a coworker at an upscale yoga clothing shop in Bethesda.
Brittany Norwood’s court hearing is set for 9 a.m. Friday in Montgomery County.
Norwood is charged in the March murder of Jayna Murray, a coworker at the Lululemon Athletica shop. Police say Norwood killed Murray during a dispute after Murray found suspected stolen merchandise in Norwood’s bag. Police say Norwood tried to conceal the homicide by tying herself up and blaming the attack on two masked men who she said entered the store after it closed.
Attorneys are expected to discuss future court dates and the sharing of information, known as discovery. |
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Defendant in 4 Calif. killings now wants lawyer
Criminal Law Updates |
2011/07/07 15:53
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The man charged with killing four Northern California women with matching first and last initials has asked for a court-appointed attorney to help him defend himself.
Seventy-seven-year-old Joseph Naso is currently acting as his own attorney. But he told a judge Wednesday his incarceration at the Marin County Jail has limited his ability to conduct legal research and has scared away attorneys who could help him.
He asked Judge Andrew Sweet to appoint an attorney to his case. Sweet is expected to continue hearing arguments about the request Thursday.
District Attorney Ed Berberian says Naso has enough money to hire his own attorney and doesn't need one appointed by the court.
Naso is accused of murdering four prostitutes in the 1970s and 1990s throughout Northern California. He has pleaded not guilty. |
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US court denies cash for suspected Somali pirate
Lawyer Blog News |
2011/07/07 13:53
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A federal judge has denied a request from a Somali man accused of piracy to have $1,600 in cash returned to him for humanitarian needs, saying he failed to prove he was lawfully in possession of the money.
Mohammad Saaili Shibin is accused of acting as the chief negotiator for a band of pirates that killed four Americans aboard the yacht Quest.
The owners of the Quest, Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., along with friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle, were shot to death in February several days after being taken hostage several hundred miles south of Oman.
They were the first U.S. citizens killed in a wave of pirate attacks that have plagued the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean in recent years, despite an international flotilla of warships that patrol the area. Four U.S. warships were shadowing the Quest and negotiations were underway when shots aboard the sailing vessel were fired.
Ten Somali men have already pleaded guilty for their roles in the hijacking of the yacht and a Yemeni man also has a plea hearing scheduled for Thursday. Prosecutors don't believe any of those men fired the shots that killed the Americans. Three others are also facing charges.
Unlike the other men charged in connection with the case, Shibin never set foot aboard the Quest. Court documents say he researched the Americans online to determine how much of a ransom to seek for them. |
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Feds urge court to let prison medicate Loughner
Legal Career News |
2011/07/07 11:53
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Federal prosecutors say an appeals court should let prison officials forcibly give anti-psychotic medication to the suspect in the Tucson shooting rampage.
The prosecutors say in court documents filed late Tuesday that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal should lift its order that temporarily bars prison officials from involuntarily medicating Jared Lee Loughner.
Loughner had been forcibly medicated between June 21 and July 1 at a federal facility in Missouri after prison officials determined his outbursts there posed a danger. His lawyers have objected.
Loughner pleaded not guilty to 49 charges in the Jan. 8 shooting that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
Loughner has been at the facility since late May after a judge ruled him mentally unfit to stand trial. |
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