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Court allows Edwards to hire mistress's lawyers
Court Feed News |
2012/03/16 12:00
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Former presidential candidate John Edwards got his wish Thursday and is changing his defense team ahead of his criminal trial on charges of campaign finance violations, hiring the same attorneys who once helped his mistress in a lawsuit over the couple's alleged sex tape.
The former U.S. senator from North Carolina testified under oath that he understood a jury might puzzle over the fact that lawyers Alan Duncan and Allison Van Laningham would be representing him after previously representing his mistress, Rielle Hunter.
Edwards faces charges that he broke federal campaign finance laws, allegedly using nearly $1 million from two wealthy donors to hide the pregnant mistress and prevent a scandal from erupting as he campaigned for the White House in 2008. He has pleaded not guilty.
U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Eagles told Edwards that shaking up his defense team was likely causing him stress, something the former senator's doctor said in a private letter to the judge Edwards should avoid to protect his health. The judge asked Edwards whether he was taking any narcotics or other medications that might fog his judgment before trial. |
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Supreme Court considers Fighting Sioux case
Lawyer Blog News |
2012/03/16 10:00
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North Dakota's Supreme Court grilled the state Board of Higher Education's lawyer Thursday about the board's tardiness in challenging a law that requires the University of North Dakota's sports teams to carry the Fighting Sioux nickname.
State lawmakers first approved the pro-nickname law in March 2011. Yet it wasn't until last month, after the law was repealed and then revived in a referendum campaign, that the higher education board sued to block the law, Justice Daniel Crothers said.
"That harm has been there since the statute was passed almost a year ago ... Why now? Why in the face of a referral?" Crothers asked Douglas Bahr, an assistant attorney general who is representing the board, during Supreme Court oral arguments Thursday.
Secretary of State Al Jaeger scheduled a June 12 referendum on the law after nickname backers turned in more than 16,000 petition signatures demanding a ballot.
The law says UND's sports teams must be known as the Fighting Sioux and keep a separate logo that depicts the profile of an American Indian warrior.
NCAA officials have told UND that as long as the nickname and logo are kept, the Grand Forks school may not host NCAA post-season tournaments. Its teams, cheerleaders and band members may not wear them on uniforms during post-season play. |
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Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP Announces Class Action
Class Action News |
2012/03/15 16:12
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Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased the common stock of Nevsun Resources Ltd. between March 31, 2011 and February 6, 2012, inclusive, seeking to pursue remedies under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Nevsun, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of mineral properties, including the Bisha Property, a gold, copper, silver and zinc mine in Eritrea, Africa.
The Complaint alleges that defendants issued materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose that: (i) Nevsun’s mining activities at the Bisha mine produced a material amount of waste rock, rather than gold ore; (ii) the amounts of gold and gold ore recovered from the Bisha mine were materially less than estimated by the Company's reserve estimate, a situation which defendants knew or had reason to know based on data routinely collected throughout the Class Period from the Bisha mine; (iii) Nevsun was progressing through the ore body at the Bisha mine much more quickly than planned, in order to maintain gold production at a rate that would not reveal to investors that the amount of gold was materially less than the Company’s estimate; (iv) the Company was aware that its resource model was materially defective because the actual amounts of gold mined at Bisha did not reconcile with the Company's reserve estimate previously disseminated to the investing public; and (v), Nevsun materially overstated its gold reserves at the Bisha mine.
No class has yet been certified in the above action. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. If you purchased Nevsun common stock between March 31, 2011 and February 6, 2012, you have certain rights, and have 60 days from March 13, 2012 to move for lead plaintiff status. To be a member of the class you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent class member.
www.glancylaw.com. |
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US court looks at possible Edwards lawyer conflict
U.S. Legal News |
2012/03/15 16:11
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A federal judge planned to hear Thursday whether former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards would create problems for his upcoming trial by hiring lawyers who represented his mistress in a lawsuit over the couple's alleged sex tape.
The hearing scheduled in Greensboro aims to air whether lawyers Alan Duncan and Allison Van Laningham could use insider knowledge of Edwards' mistress Rielle Hunter at the former presidential candidate's trial beginning next month.
Duncan and Van Laningham represented Hunter in a lawsuit that ended last month with a settlement that ordered all copies of the tape destroyed.
Federal prosecutors have said they'll likely call Hunter as a witness at Edwards' trial on campaign finance charges that he used nearly $1 million from two wealthy donors to hide the pregnant Hunter as he sought the White House in 2008. He has pleaded not guilty.
"To whom would Mr. Duncan's and Ms. Van Laningham's allegiance lie? Their new client or the one they represented as recently as two weeks ago in a lawsuit seeking to enforce those very privacy rights?" federal prosecutors said in a court filing last week.
Because of their previous attorney-client relationship with Hunter, Duncan and Van Laningham might take it easy on her if they were questioning Hunter under oath, prosecutors said. |
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Florida CVS stores' suspension put on hold
Business Law Info |
2012/03/15 15:11
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A federal appeals court has put on hold the suspension of two Florida CVS pharmacies that would have prevented them from selling controlled substances.
The court on Wednesday stopped the suspension while it considers an appeal from the stores. The Drug Enforcement Administration had issued the suspension because of alleged lax enforcement of restrictions on a powerful painkiller.
The DEA says the pharmacies were dispensing the painkiller oxycodone far in excess of legitimate needs. CVS says it has taken steps to reduce the prescriptions.
On Tuesday, a federal judge denied the CVS stores' request for a preliminary injunction in the case, but the stores immediately appealed.
The appeals court has already put on hold DEA's suspension of Cardinal Health's Lakeland, Fla.-based center that supplied the stores. |
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Vegas woman skips court in scissors death case
Court Feed News |
2012/03/14 17:15
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A mother accused of killing her 6-year-old daughter with scissors refused to leave her jail bed for her first court appearance Wednesday, drawing angry words from a Las Vegas judge and concern from her lawyer about her mental state.
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure reset Danielle Yvonne Slaughter's arraignment on a murder with a weapon charge for Friday, telling a jail supervisor by closed-circuit video that he wants Slaughter brought forcibly to court if necessary.
"I have concerns with delaying a case with such a serious charge," the judge said.
Slaughter was being held in supervised isolation at the Clark County jail, and Deputy Public Defender Andrea Luem told the judge she was worried about Slaughter's mental condition. Luem said she hoped to obtain a psychological evaluation.
"My concern is whether she's able to understand the charges," Luem said.
Several friends and supporters of Slaughter attended the brief court hearing and accompanied Luem back to her office afterward. They refused to speak with reporters or identify themselves. |
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