A California Marine accused of using Craigslist to arrange the rape of an ex-girlfriend in Wyoming has pleaded not guilty to five felonies.

Jebidiah James Stipe of Twentynine Palms, Calif., entered his plea in Wyoming's Natrona County District Court on Wednesday.

Prosecutors say Stipe posted an ad on Craigslist pretending to be a Casper woman and asking for someone to help play out a "rape fantasy." Prosecutors say a Bar Nunn man, Ty Oliver McDowell, replied to the posting.

McDowell is accused of raping the woman inside her home on Dec. 11. He has pleaded not guilty to five felonies.

A U.S. Marine Corps spokesman says Stipe was being discharged from the military "as a result of a pattern of misconduct" at the time of his arrest.

The state appeals court has upheld the involuntary manslaughter conviction of a woman in the June 2003 death of a baby in a Reading day care facility.

Ann Power had challenged her conviction in the death of 3-month-old MacKenzie Corrigan of Stoneham, who died of shaken baby syndrome after being injured in the day care facility Power ran in her home.

Power was convicted in 2006 of involuntary manslaughter by reasonof wanton or reckless conduct and received a three-to-five-year sentence. She also pleaded guilty to operating a family day care home without a license.

The Massachusetts Appeals Court rejected her appeal in a 16-page opinion written by Judge Mitchell J. Sikora.

A Luxembourg court ruled on Thursday that investors who lost money to Bernard L. Madoff through a fund set up by UBS cannot seek compensation directly from the Swiss bank, Reuters reported.

In November, private and institutional investors who lost money through the LuxAlpha fund, set up as a vehicle for wealthy investors to invest in Madoff funds, sued UBS and Ernst & Young for “seriously neglecting” their supervisory duties of the fund.
But the court rejected the demands of the investors, who wanted to file individual claims against the bank, rather than having to go through the fund’s liquidators, Reuters said.

Franc Greff, who represents clients in four of the 10 cases being reviewed, told the news service he would appeal the decision.

A Michigan judge has ordered a stay-at-home mom to attend a murder trial and serve 24 hours in jail because she arrived late for jury selection.

Carmela Khury was released Monday after a day and a half as a spectator in Oakland County Circuit court.

The State Court Administrative Office told Judge Leo Bowman he had no authority to punish Khury and to drop the order or face sanctions.

Khury appeared in court an hour late with her 8-month-old and 3-year-old children last Thursday, saying she could not find a baby sitter.

Bowman dismissed her from the jury pool and ordered her to return Friday to watch the trial. He said she would have to spend 24 hours in jail after the case.

Bowman declined to comment through his staff in suburban Detroit.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the United Nations is absolutely immune from such a lawsuit, and its former employees also have immunity.

The ruling upheld a lower court judge's decision to toss out a lawsuit brought by U.S. citizen Cynthia Brzak. She had alleged that ex-refugee chief Ruud Lubbers grabbed her in a sexual manner after a December 2003 business meeting in his Geneva office.

Lubbers resigned from the position in February 2005 because of the attention caused by the scandal. He's also the former prime minister of the Netherlands.

Anastasia Kelly, the former top in-house lawyer for American International Group Inc. who resigned Dec. 30 over compensation issues, has joined DLA Piper's Washington office, the firm announced today.

Kelly joins DLA Piper as of counsel. "She has a well earned reputation as the go-to counsel for companies in difficult circumstances and she will be a tremendous asset for our clients as they navigate this volatile market and these challenging times," DLA Piper Global Chairman Francis Burch said in a statement.

Frank "Rusty" Conner, the managing partner of DLA Piper's Washington office, said via e-mail that Kelly has worked at DLA Piper before. Kelly was not immediately available for comment. She joined AIG in 2006, and was named a vice chairman of the company in January 2009, after the insurance giant received a public bailout during the financial crisis. Before going to AIG, she was an executive vice president and general counsel of MCI/WorldCom, another company that faced the aftermath of an accounting scandal. She was a partner at the firm then known as Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering.
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