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Appeals court turns down Tymoshenko appeal
Lawyer Blog News |
2011/08/12 16:13
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A court in Ukraine on Friday refused to consider an appeal to release former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko from jail, where she has been kept for a week while her abuse-of-office trial proceeds.
Tymoshenko was jailed on Aug. 5 for violating court procedures at her trial, including refusing to rise when requested by the judge. She says her resistance is a protest of a trial she contends is politically motivated.
On Friday, the Kiev Appeal Court refused to hear an appeal, saying the country's criminal code does not allow appealing a preventive measure.
Tymoshenko attorney Yuriy Sukhov said that ruling will be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Tymoshenko is charged in connection with a natural gas deal with Russia in 2009 that prosecutors claim was disadvantageous to Ukraine.
The United States and the European Union have condemned court cases against Tymoshenko and several of her top allies as selective prosecution of political opponents. Tymoshenko was a key figure in the 2004 Orange Revolution protests that forced annulment of a presidential election purportedly won by Viktor Yanukovych. |
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Dougherty siblings to appear in Colorado court
Court Feed News |
2011/08/12 15:14
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A woman caught with her two brothers after a nationwide manhunt told Colorado authorities she "deserved to get shot" after pointing a gun at a police chief at the end of the siblings' run from the law, according to a court document.
Lee Grace Dougherty, 29, Dylan Dougherty Stanley, 26, and Ryan Edward Dougherty, 21, are being held in Pueblo County, Colo., on bonds of $1.25 million each. The three made their first court appearance Thursday by video from jail, and none made any statement during the brief hearing.
They face charges of attempted murder of a peace officer and assault on a peace officer. The charges stem from allegations that they shot rounds from an AK-47 at four patrol cars during a chase Wednesday on Interstate 25 in Colorado. The chase ended when troopers deployed spike strips to puncture the tires of the trio's Subaru, and the vehicle rolled and crashed into a guardrail. |
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Ex-UGA coach settles dispute over investments
Legal Career News |
2011/08/11 15:51
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A former University of Georgia head football coach has settled a legal dispute with a bankrupt liquidation company that accused him of recruiting other high-profile coaches to invest in a Ponzi scheme, according to federal court documents filed this week. Jim Donnan and his wife agreed to transfer about $5.5 million in cash, stocks and other assets to West Virginia-based GLC Ltd. to settle claims he profited by convincing investors to pump money into the company. Donnan has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing and defense attorney Ed Tolley said his client was "absolutely not involved in a Ponzi scheme." The settlement was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Bankruptcy Court and must be approved by a federal judge. It would end months of litigation between the Donnans and GLC, which claimed the ex-coach invested more than $5.4 million in the firm and that his family ultimately made more than $14.5 million. GLC, a liquidation company that purchased and then resold surplus retail products, is being restructured in an Ohio bankruptcy court and is now being run by new operators who targeted Donnan in the court filings. The firm said Donnan received a commission of up to 20 percent for each investment, and assured each potential investor the money would be used to buy retail items from major companies, according to court records. But only about $12 million of the $82 million was spent on inventory, the firm said. |
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Pa. judge gets 28 years in 'kids for cash' case
Court Feed News |
2011/08/11 15:50
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A longtime northeastern Pennsylvania judge has been ordered to spend nearly three decades in prison for his role in a massive juvenile justice bribery scandal that prompted the state's high court to toss thousands of convictions.
Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. was sentenced Thursday to 28 years in federal prison for taking $1 million in bribes from the builder of a pair of juvenile detention centers in a case that became known as "kids-for-cash."
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed about 4,000 convictions issued by Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008, saying he violated the constitutional rights of the juveniles, including the right to legal counsel and the right to intelligently enter a plea.
Ciavarella, 61, was tried and convicted of racketeering charges earlier this year. His attorneys had asked for a "reasonable" sentence in court papers, saying, in effect, that he's already been punished enough.
"The media attention to this matter has exceeded coverage given to many and almost all capital murders, and despite protestation, he will forever be unjustly branded as the `Kids for Cash' judge," their sentencing memo said.
Federal prosecutors accused Ciavarella and a second judge, Michael Conahan, of taking more than $2 million in bribes from the builder of the PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care detention centers and extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the facilities' co-owner.
Ciavarella, known for his harsh and autocratic courtroom demeanor, filled the beds of the private lockups with children as young as 10, many of them first-time offenders convicted of petty theft and other minor crimes. |
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Mom devastated after fugitive children's capture
Criminal Law Updates |
2011/08/11 11:50
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The mother of three siblings captured after an intense nationwide search says she is devastated by the arrest of her children. Barbara Bell of East Palatka, Fla., told The Associated Press on Thursday that "throughout all of this, I think everybody just wanted it to stop." Bell declined to discuss their ordeal in-depth, saying she didn't think it would help her children in the long run. The three siblings, 29-year-old Lee Grace Dougherty, 26-year-old Dylan Dougherty Stanley and 21-year-old Ryan Edward Dougherty were captured Wednesday in Colorado. Bell says she's grateful the three are not tried by the media. She says they will be tried in a court of law, "and their story will come out at that time. |
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Wash. man pleads guilty to defrauding ID investors
Court Feed News |
2011/08/10 13:51
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A Washington man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Idaho to cheating investors out of more than $2 million and using the cash for his own benefit.
Federal prosecutors say 59-year-old Dale Edward Lowell, of Colbert, Wash., pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud Tuesday.
Investigators say Lowell, while living in northern Idaho in 2005, started raised money from investors by telling him he was a savvy options trader. He also told investors he had taken steps to cover losses.
Altogether, prosecutors say Lowell duped 22 investor groups and raised about $2.2 million that he ultimately lost in the market, used for personal expenses or to pay off investors to keep the scheme going. |
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