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Texas lawyer wants extra pollution controls nixed
Court Feed News |
2011/05/23 15:37
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A lawyer representing the energy industry has filed a petition with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality seeking a relaxation of rules governing air-borne pollution that he says compel Texas businesses to pick up the tab for foreign polluters.
Attorney Jed Anderson said states should not be forced to make deeper cuts in smog-forming emissions to meet federal limits because of wind-borne pollution from places such as Mexico.
"It's important to push for cleaner air, but we need to do it in a way that is just and fair," said Anderson, of Houston.
He filed the petition last week, the Houston Chronicle reported Monday.
TCEQ has 60 days to respond to the petition. If the agency agrees with Anderson, it could ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to revise the rules.
Federal law gives states the primary responsibility for assuring that the air is safe to breathe. The law allows an exception if foreign pollution is the only reason that an area does not comply with smog limits, but that is difficult to prove. |
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IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn to plead not guilty
Court Feed News |
2011/05/23 15:37
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Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn will plead not guilty to sexual assault charges and will be acquitted, his lawyer says.
In an interview with Israel's Haaretz newspaper today, Benjamin Brafman said he was confident his client would be acquitted on charges of sexually assaulting a 32-year-old maid in a New York hotel.
"He'll plead not guilty and in the end he'll be acquitted," Brafman told Haaretz during a brief visit to Israel.
"Nothing is certain, but from what I've discerned in the investigation, he will be acquitted.
"He has impressed me very much. Despite the circumstances, he's doing well. He's not happy to have been accused of actions he didn't take."
Mr Brafman is known in the US for having taken on several high-profile legal cases, including the defence of Michael Jackson and rapper Sean Combs. |
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Attorneys to give openings in Mumbai terror case
Legal Career News |
2011/05/23 09:37
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The trial of a Chicago businessman accused of helping plan deadly attacks in Mumbai in 2008 is being closely watched worldwide for what testimony might reveal about the global fight against terrorism. Defense attorneys, though, say their case is about just one thing: Betrayal.
Opening statements start Monday in the trial of Tahawwur Rana, who prosecutors allege provided cover for his former schoolmate to scout out sites for the rampage that killed more than 160 people in India's largest city. Rana, 50, has pleaded not guilty.
The case has drawn keen interest because the testimony might give clues about suspected links between the Pakistani militant group blamed in the attacks and the nation's main intelligence agency, which has been under scrutiny for failing to detect Osama bin Laden since U.S. forces killed him May 2 outside Islamabad.
Prosecutors' key witness is expected to be David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American and Rana's former friend who pleaded guilty last year to laying the groundwork for the Mumbai siege blamed on the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Headley is cooperating with the government and may discuss allegations that Pakistan's government knew — or possibly helped plan — the attack. Six Americans were among those killed. |
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Maine lawmaker due in court on gun-threat charges
Court Feed News |
2011/05/22 15:40
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A Maine lawmaker charged with pulling a gun in a parking lot confrontation is due in court as a legislative leader seeks to ban him from the State House.
Rep. Frederick Ladd Wintle, a Republican from Garland, has been in jail since being charged Saturday with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and carrying a concealed weapon. He is due in court Monday afternoon.
The confrontation happened outside a Dunkin' Donuts in Waterville. The victim told police that Wintle accused him of being a drug dealer and mentioned the death of a boy earlier in the week in a homeless shelter.
Lawmakers have expressed concern about Wintle's increasingly erratic behavior. House Speaker Robert Nutting asked that a judge make it a condition of bail that he's banned from the State House complex in Augusta. |
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Not guilty plea entered for teen in NJ webcam case
Criminal Law Updates |
2011/05/21 16:38
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A former Rutgers student accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate's same-sex encounter pleaded not guilty Monday to 15 charges including bias intimidation, invasion of privacy and evidence tampering.
It was the first court appearance for 19-year-old Dharun Ravi, the main suspect in the crimes allegedly committed against Tyler Clementi, a fellow Rutgers freshman who killed himself days after the alleged spying. His death sparked a nationwide conversation about bullying against young gays.
Ravi, of Plainsboro, was silent throughout the court appearance, which lasted less than 10 minutes. Clementi's parents and brother sat in the back of the courtroom for the brief hearing.
Ravi wore a dark suit and appeared to bite his lower lip as a chorus of cameras clicked his photo.
Lawyer Steven Altman entered a not guilty plea for Ravi and waived having the indictment against him read in court.
Authorities say the case began in early August, when Ravi learned who he'd be rooming with in his first year at Rutgers. |
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Head of Delaware Business Court Joining Law Firm
Legal Career News |
2011/05/21 15:39
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The head of Delaware's Court of Chancery, a key venue for matters of corporate law, is taking a job with a California-based law firm.
Chancellor William Chandler III will join Palo Alto-based Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati on June 18. He had announced in April that he was retiring from the bench. In a statement released by the firm Thursday, Chandler said Wilson Sonsini has an outstanding legal practice and one of the most enviable client bases in the nation.
Chandler has served on the chancery court since 1989 and was appointed to the top post of chancellor in 1997.
He has presided over many high-profile cases, involving companies such as Walt Disney Co., Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp., News Corp., eBay Inc., Citigroup Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dow Chemical Co. |
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