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Man accused in Obama threat uses crutches in court
Court Feed News |
2008/08/31 16:01
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A Colorado man suspected of making racist threats against Barack Obama limped into federal court on crutches Thursday and was formally advised of a methamphetamine-possession charge against him. Therin Gartrell, 28, was arrested Sunday, just before the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Authorities said he was pulled over in the suburb of Aurora in a rented truck that contained rifles, a bulletproof vest, wigs and fake IDs, and that Gartrell and two other men had talked about killing Obama. The U.S. attorney's office later said the men were drug users who made racist threats but had no firm assassination plot and no ability to carry one out. No one has been charged in relation to the alleged threats. Aurora police say Gartrell had been on crutches when they arrested him. Handcuffed to his crutches in court Thursday, he spoke little and did not enter a plea. Public defender Ed Harris was appointed to represent him. Harris was not present and did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment. Arapahoe County prosecutors had planned to charge Gartrell Thursday with state drug and weapons violations, but that was put on hold without explanation. U.S. attorney's spokesman Jeff Dorschner said it was "best from a coordination standpoint" if the cases against Gartrell and the two other men were in federal court. State prosecutors sometimes defer to their federal counterparts if a suspect can get a stiffer sentence in federal court. A federal conviction for methamphetamine possession carries a prison term of up to two years with no time off for good behavior. Penalties under the state charges were not immediately available. |
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Federal judge indicted on sex abuse charges
Court Feed News |
2008/08/29 16:22
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A federal judge accused of fondling a former court employee was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on sexual abuse charges. U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent is charged with two counts of abusive sexual contact and one count of attempted aggravated sexual abuse. A former case manager at the U.S. District Court in Galveston accused Kent of twice touching her under her clothing and repeatedly making obscene suggestions during the six years she worked with him. The indictment, first reported by the Houston Chronicle, alleges the criminal conduct happened on Aug. 29, 2003, and March 23, 2007, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich said in a statement. Kent's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, called any sexual contact that may have happened between Kent and his accuser consensual. "He's angry and ready for a fight. He is innocent. We will try this case. It is nothing but a false accusation," said DeGuerin said. Kent's accuser issued a statement Thursday saying she felt vindicated by the grand jury's decision. |
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Detroit mayor's political future back in court
Headline News |
2008/08/29 16:21
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Arguments are under way in a Detroit courtroom, where a judge is expected to decide whether Gov. Jennifer Granholm can hold a hearing to remove Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office. Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Ziolkowski (zill-KOW-ski) handled other cases Friday before calling Kilpatrick's lawsuit against the governor. Kilpatrick says he can't get a fair hearing from Granholm because the fellow Democrat held a private meeting in May to try to settle Kilpatrick's criminal perjury case and get him to resign. The Detroit City Council is asking Granholm to use her constitutional power to remove Kilpatrick from office for misconduct. That hearing is set for Wednesday. The mayor is accused of misleading council members into approving an $8.4 million settlement with fired police officers. |
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California prisons prepare for gay weddings
Lawyer Blog News |
2008/08/29 12:23
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Now that same-sex couples can get married in California, state prison officials are trying to figure out what that means for gay inmates. No prisoners so far have sought to arrange weddings with same-sex partners since the state Supreme Court granted same-sex couples the right to wed as of mid-June, according to Michele Kane, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Nonetheless, department lawyers are drafting guidelines to bring the state's 33 adult prisons into compliance with the court's ruling that same-sex couples must be treated the same as opposite-sex couples under the California Constitution, Kane said. What they have determined so far is that would mean allowing gay inmates to marry someone on the outside, but not a fellow prisoner — the same rules that apply to straight inmates, according to Kane. "They will have the same marriage rights as other inmates — they will be able to marry non-inmates, but barred from marrying other inmates in prison," she said. Prison officials were concerned that allowing two men or two women in the same prison to get married would pose novel safety and security concerns, according to Kane. |
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Court: US can block mad cow testing
Legal Career News |
2008/08/29 11:22
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A federal appeals court says the government can prohibit meat packers from testing their animals for mad cow disease. Because the Agriculture Department tests only a small percentage of cows for the deadly disease, Kansas meatpacker Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all of its cows. The government says it can't. Larger meat companies worry that if Creekstone is allowed to perform the test and advertise its meat as safe, they could be forced to do the expensive test, too. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday overturned a lower court ruling that would have cleared the way for the testing. The appeals court said restricting the test is within the scope of the government's authority. |
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Mexican Supreme Court upholds legal abortion
Legal World News |
2008/08/29 11:21
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Mexico's Supreme Court upheld the capital's abortion law Thursday, setting a precedent for the rest of the country that could inspire other Latin American cities. Mexico City is one of the few places in Latin America that allows abortion without limitations in the first trimester, although abortion rights groups complain most doctors still refuse to do the procedure. Within minutes of the 8-3 vote in favor of the law, abortion rights groups were thinking of ways to expand the decision to other parts of Mexico and even Latin America, where abortion is virtually unheard of. "It opens the road for all of Latin America to start visualizing legal paths to abortion," said Raffaella Schiavon, who directs the international abortion rights group Ipas and has been advising the city government. Mexico City officials said they were preparing to help other local governments in the region interested in approving similar laws. Elsewhere in Mexico, abortion is allowed only in cases of rape, when the mother's life is in danger or if the fetus has severe deformities. That is standard across Latin America, where only Cuba and Guyana allow abortions without restrictions in the first trimester. Nicaragua banned abortion in all cases in 2006. Anti-abortion groups were mobilizing to fight other local attempts to legalize abortion. |
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