A federal judge has ruled that Bank of America Corp cannot have a lawsuit by investors seeking to force it to buy back mortgages heard in federal court, saying he lacks jurisdiction to decide the case.


Tuesday's ruling by Judge Richard Holwell of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan means the case will move to state court. Holwell did not decide the merits of the case.

"Congress passed two statutes within a year of each other to address the mortgage crisis," the judge wrote. "In neither of these statutes did Congress federalize the case."

The ruling is a win for investors, to the extent that Holwell rejected a claim by the bank's Countrywide Financial Corp unit that new federal laws to encourage loan modifications to help struggling borrowers stay in their homes govern this case.

The state's high court in Hartford ruled unanimously Monday to uphold the conviction of Keith Foster. He was convicted of nine charges, including felony murder, conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree sexual assault and three counts of first-degree kidnapping. He was sentenced in August 2006 to 60 years in prison on a murder charge and 50 years on the other counts.

Maryann Measles was kidnapped on Oct. 19, 1997, while she was waiting in the parking lot for her mother, who was shopping for groceries. She was raped and strangled, and her body was wrapped in a blanket and chains and dumped into the Housatonic River.

In a ruling late Saturday that fell in line with similar pronouncements by the military-backed regime, the high court said that Zelaya will not be allowed to return to power, and "cannot avoid having to submit to established procedures of the penal process" should he return to Honduras.

Zelaya was ousted from power in a June 28 military-backed coup and replaced with interim leader Roberto Micheletti.

The court decision also accused Zelaya of "crimes against the government, treason against the nation, abuse of power" and other misdeeds, as it affirmed the legitimacy of Micheletti's government.

Micheletti's government had been installed as part of a lawful "constitutional succession," the high court found.

Judge Sharon Keller, the presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, watched from her defense table while her attorney denounced accusations that she closed her court to death-row inmate Michael Wayne Richard as meritless and outrageous.

"Judge Keller didn't close the court to anybody," said Chip Babcock, Keller's attorney. "Michael Richard's lawyers never knocked on the right doors and they gave up."

Mocked as "Sharon Killer" by her detractors, Keller could be removed from the bench if the five judicial misconduct charges against her are upheld. At the heart of the charges is whether Keller denied Richard the ability to file a late appeal in the hours before his Sept. 25, 2007 execution.

Babcock's closing presentation, at times theatrical, was delivered as forcefully as Keller's unrepentant testimony earlier in the trial. He ended by going after those he said helped put the career of the state's highest criminal appeals judge in jeopardy: death-penalty critics.

In a decision released Thursday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says Sincerely Yours Inc. in Manchester is not a classified post office and doesn't need to be regulated like one.

The business is a contract postal unit operated by the Full Gospel Interdenominational Church.

The court says only the postal counter, boxes and shelving units must be cleared of religious material. The court says "a visual cue" should distinguish the postal facility from the ministry space.

In 2003, a customer sued the U.S. Postal Service and the local postmaster. The customer claimed the religious signs, prayer cards and church-related videos constituted a government endorsement of religion.

Kevin Lamson argued he was wrongfully discharged from Crater Lake Motors in Medford after he told his bosses he wanted no part of a sales campaign that he believed included deceptive ads and sales practices.

Lamson sued the dealership and won in trial court, but the Oregon Supreme Court reversed the decision. It said in a unanimous opinion Thursday that there was no evidence to support Lamson's claim he was fired for reporting the practices.

He had been at the dealership for 15 years when Crater Lake Motors contracted with another company, Real Performance Marketing, to hold a special weeklong sales event for used cars.

Lamson said he observed sales tactics he believed to be unethical and illegal, including "payment packing" by inflating monthly payments with life insurance and service contracts without the customer's knowledge.

When the dealership decided to hold a second sales event with the same company, Lamson complained to upper management in person and in two letters.