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Missouri man sentenced for murder of attorney
Law & Politics |
2013/05/21 20:26
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A St. Louis man has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to murdering a lawyer who was beaten, stabbed and strangled in a 14-minute struggle.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports 46-year-old Cleophus King entered the plea Wednesday in the March 2008 killing of Luke Meiners, an assistant St. Louis County counselor.
King’s accomplice, Ferguson resident Ronald Johnson, received the same sentence after pleading guilty in 2010.
Prosecutors said Johnson lured Meiners — an acquaintance — to King’s home by saying he needed a ride there to laundry. In fact, prosecutors said, the two had planned in advance to rob Meiners and killed him when he resisted.
Johnson and King used Meiners’ vehicle to dump his body in Venice, then stole electronics from his University City apartment. |
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IMF head Lagarde in court in fraud probe
Law & Politics |
2013/05/20 20:26
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International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde is facing questions at a special Paris court Thursday over her role in the 400 million euro ($520 million) pay-off to a controversial businessman when she was France's finance minister.
The court hearing threatens to sully the reputations of both Lagarde and France. The payment was made to well-connected entrepreneur Bernard Tapie as part of a private arbitration process to settle a dispute with state-owned bank Credit Lyonnais over the botched sale of Adidas in the 1990s. It is seen by many in France as an example of the cozy relationship between big money and big power in France.
Lagarde has earned praise for her negotiating skills as managing director of the IMF through Europe's debt crisis and is seen as a trailblazer for women leaders. Her decision to let the Adidas dispute go to private arbitration rather than be settled in the courts has drawn criticism, and French lawmakers asked magistrates to investigate.
Lagarde, smiling at reporters, left her Paris apartment Thursday morning and appeared at a special court that handles cases involving government ministers. She has denied wrongdoing.
At the time of the payment, Tapie was close to then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was Lagarde's boss. Critics have said the deal was too generous to Tapie at the expense of the French state, and that the case shouldn't have gone to a private arbitration authority because it involved a state-owned bank. |
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3 guilty in Dallas-area, Houston health care fraud
Attorneys News |
2013/04/12 22:58
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Three more people have been convicted in a nearly $3 million health care fraud case involving Houston and Dallas-area companies.
Prosecutors say unlicensed doctors were recruited to treat patients at their homes and then wrongly bill Medicare.
A federal judge in Dallas on Wednesday convicted Godwin Umotong and Comfort Gates of Houston of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and health care fraud. A third person - Vagharshak Smbatyan of Grenada Hills, Calif., - was convicted of making a false statement to an agency.
All will be sentenced in July and face penalties ranging from five to 10 years per count.
Prosecutors say Umotong worked for Euless Healthcare Corp. in Hurst and Medic Healthcare Inc. of Houston. Gates worked for Medic. |
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Court to mull Arizona's immigrant harboring ban
Lawyer News |
2013/04/02 21:06
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An appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday in Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's bid to let police enforce a minor section of the state's 2010 immigration law that prohibits the harboring of illegal immigrants.
The harboring ban was in effect from late July 2010 until U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled in September that it was trumped by federal law and barred police from enforcing it. Brewer has asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Bolton's ruling.
Brewer's lawyers argue the ban doesn't conflict with federal policies, is aimed at confronting crime and that the law's opponents haven't shown they have legal standing to challenge the prohibition. The governor's attorneys also say there's no evidence that the ban has been enforced against any people or organizations represented by a coalition of civil rights groups that have challenged the law in court.
The coalition has asked the appeals court to uphold Bolton's ruling, saying the state law is trumped by a federal harboring law that leaves no room for state regulation. The coalition also argues that Bolton has repeatedly confirmed that it has standing to challenge the harboring ban.
Another federal appeals court has barred authorities from enforcing similar harboring bans in Alabama and Georgia. |
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Court bars retrial of Michigan arson suspect
U.S. Legal News |
2013/03/04 23:41
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The Supreme Court has ruled that a Michigan defendant cannot be retried for arson even though his initial acquittal was based on a judge's mistake.
The court voted 8-1 Wednesday in favor of Lamar Evans, who was charged with arson after he was seen running away from a burning vacant house in Detroit with a gasoline can in his hand.
A judge acquitted Evans midway through his trial based on a mistaken interpretation of the law.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor said for the court that the acquittal is final, even if granted in error. Justice Samuel Alito dissented. |
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Voting rights law gets Supreme Court challenge
Headline News |
2013/03/01 07:42
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The Supreme Court is wrestling with the fate of a section of a landmark civil rights law that has helped millions of Americans exercise their right to vote.
In an argument at the court on Wednesday, liberal and conservative justices engaged in a sometimes tense back and forth over whether there is an ongoing need in 2013 for a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The measure requires states with a history of discrimination, mainly in the Deep South, to get approval before making changes in the way elections are held.
Chief Justice John Roberts asked the government's top Supreme Court lawyer whether the Obama administration thinks Southerners "are more racist than citizens in the North."
The answer from Solicitor General Donald Verrilli was no. |
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