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CA Aims to Appease Death Penalty Appeals Process
Court Feed News |
2007/11/21 19:43
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The California Supreme Court proposed a constitutional amendment to change the death penalty appeals process on Monday in an effort to ease the backlog in the state's death penalty system.
California has the largest number of inmates on Death Row in the nation. With 666 condemned inmates who must appeal through the Supreme Court, the average time between sentencing and execution is more than 17 years—twice the nation’s average.
Thirty people have been on death row for more than 25 years, 119 for more than 20 years and 408 for more than a decade.
Chief Justice Ronald George, who announced the proposal, said the court spends around 20 percent of its time on capital cases alone. The amendment would allow the Court, which is required to hear all death sentence appeals, to send some of the cases to one of six appeals court in the state.
“For many, many years, people have lamented the very slow process of these capital cases," George told the San Francisco Chronicle. "And rather than just speak about the delay and how the system is dysfunctional, I thought this would be a good idea to consider as a way to improve the system."
If the amendment were approved, the court would refer 30 cases a year at most to the appellate courts, according to George.
The chief justice said death penalty rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and the 400 death penalty cases decided by the State Supreme Court would provide considerable guidance to the state appeals court, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The state high court, however, would retain the right of final review, George noted.
George said he is looking for a legislator who will sponsor the measure, which he hopes will secure the two-thirds vote needed from lawmakers to appear on the November 2008 ballot. A majority of state voters would also need to approve the amendment.
Professor Evan Lee at UC Hastings College of the Law welcomed the proposal and said that the court should be spending more answering “highly controversial questions of law or novel questions of law.”
Many death penalty cases "are what we call fact-bound," Lee told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Those are the kinds of cases that for the Supreme Court are sort of a waste of time.”
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, a defense lawyers' association, disagreed that the constitutional amendments would cure “court congestion” in the state. The major problem instead is the lack of qualified attorneys, a matter not addressed in the proposal, argued the group, according to the Associated Press.
Stefanie Faucher, a spokeswoman for Death Penalty Focus, a San Francisco-based organization that opposes capital punishment, said the proposal has her “very concerned.”
"Further increasing of the number of individuals reviewing these cases ... could cause increased disparities in the already unfair administration of the death penalty,” she said. |
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No Return for Guantanamo Detainee to Kenya
Legal World News |
2007/11/21 19:10
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A Kenyan court ruled on Wednesday that it has no jurisdiction in a case filed by Kenyan relatives of an alleged al-Qaida operative in U.S. custody, but suggested Kenyan law be changed to ensure the rights of such suspects.
Abdul Malik, also known as Mohamed Abdulmalik Abduljabar, is accused in the deadly 2002 bombing of a hotel in Kenya in which 15 people were killed. U.S. officials announced in March he had been transferred to U.S. custody and sent to the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but the exact circumstances of his capture and transfer were never revealed.
Soon after the U.S. announcement, relatives filed a case demanding Malik be produced in court here to determine whether he was lawfully detained.
High Court Judge Jacton B. Ojwang said Wednesday he had no jurisdiction to order Malik be brought to court. Ojwang also declined to order Internal Security Minister John Michuki and anti-terrorism police chief Nicholas Kamwende, among other officials, to testify in court and produce records of any correspondence between Kenya and the U.S. regarding Malik.
But Ojwang said Malik's rights had been infringed, and recommended that a law be enacted to regulate "the exercise of executive discretion to take Kenyans away from the jurisdiction of local courts," to ensure the rights of suspects are safeguarded in future.
Lawyer Harun Ndubi, representing the family, said he will file an application on whether Malik's constitutional rights have been violated following Ojwang's ruling.
"We still have a chance," he said.
In October, police told the court that they arrested Abdul Malik in February and released him after 14 days.
An East Africa al-Qaida network is blamed for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 225 people, as well as the car bomb hotel attack in which Malik is implicated. The hotel attack was accompanied by a near-simultaneous, failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner. |
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New York Man Cleared on "Standing" Charges
Court Feed News |
2007/11/21 19:02
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New York state's highest court ruled it was not illegal to stand on a sidewalk, handing a win to a man arrested after refusing to move from the spot where he was standing and talking to friends in busy Times Square.
The New York Court of Appeals decided in favor of Matthew Jones on Tuesday. He was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest — by flailing his arms — on June 12, 2004. Police said other people "had to walk around" him, and he would not move when asked.
Jones man pleaded guilty to a violation after spending a night in jail, but he later appealed.
In order to prosecute someone for disorderly conduct in New York, the person must be acting "with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof" and obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic, according to the opinion written by Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick. The opinion was unanimous.
The court found that Jones' behavior did not meet the definition of disorderly conduct just because he stood in the middle of the sidewalk at 2:01 a.m. with friends.
"Otherwise, any person who happens to stop on a sidewalk — whether to greet another, to seek directions or simply to regain one's bearings — would be subject to prosecution under this statute," the opinion said.
The court also found that Jones could not have resisted arrest because his arrest was not authorized by the law. |
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Healy Law Firm Receives $20.2M Verdict
Law Firm News |
2007/11/21 18:23
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A Cook County jury recently awarded a total of $20.2 million to three families, whose children were killed in a car accident with a Dean Foods tractor-trailer at an Indiana intersection in case number L016261. Martin Healy, Jr., Daniel Malone, and David Huber of The Healy Law firm represented the estate of the passengers of the car, Diana Kakidas and Adam McDonald. The jury awarded $8 million to each of the families of these two passengers. The family of Christina Chakonas, the driver, was represented by another firm, and was awarded $7 million. Due to the driver's contributory negligence of failure to yield at a stop sign, this settlement was reduced by forty percent, and $4.2 million received.
According to a recording module on the truck, operator Jamie Reeves was driving 9.5 miles over the posted speed limit of 40 mph. It was also claimed that he was over the federally mandated hours of service for the week. All three plaintiffs filed suit against Jaime Reeves, The Alder Group, Inc. and Alco of Wisconsin, Inc., his employers, as well as Dean Foods Company, on whose behalf he was transporting milk at the time of the accident. Dean Foods denied that Reeves was its agent.
At trial, all parties presented expert testimony interpreting event recorders on both the tractor-trailer and the car. The Healy Law Firm contended the event recorders on the tractor-trailer showed the driver of the truck was in fact speeding. The defense argued the event recorder on the car showed that the driver failed to stop at the stop sign, and that the driver of the tractor-trailer was actually traveling under the speed limit prior to the collision.
The Healy Law Firm focuses on representing seriously injured individuals and their families against multi-million dollar corporations and insurance companies. By combining aggressive representation with compassionate client service, the firm offers superior legal counsel to injured parties, working tirelessly to secure fair financial compensation on behalf its injured clients. Among legal professionals and Illinois residents, the attorneys of The Healy Law Firm are recognized as an excellent choice for experienced and proficient legal representation. |
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Uzan Family's $1 Billion Upheld by Appeals Court
Court Feed News |
2007/11/21 18:02
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A U.S. appeals court upheld a $1 billion punitive damages award to Motorola Inc against the Uzan family of Turkey on Wednesday.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said the lower court "properly applied the variety of factors relevant to state and federal law."
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff had awarded the punitive damages against certain members of the Uzan family, which ran Turkey's second-largest mobile phone operator, Telsim, and a media and banking empire.
Rakoff had concluded that the defendants fraudulently obtained loans from Motorola for more than $2 billion and from Nokia for about $800 million.
Rakoff had said the family used a "campaign of lies and misrepresentations to swindle Motorola," but in February 2006 he cut the punitive award to $1 billion from $2.1 billion.
"Judge Rakoff's findings establish beyond cavil the extraordinary nature of the Uzans' wrongful behavior and form a valid basis for the substantial punitive award of $1 billion against them," Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi wrote in a 23-page opinion. |
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Reed Smith Enhances Tax Legal Practice
Law Firm News |
2007/11/21 17:49
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The US Law Firm Newswire - Reed Smith, one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, today announced the addition of Michael J. Wynne as a partner in the firm’s State Tax Practice in the Chicago office, effective November 19.
“Michael’s arrival at Reed Smith will greatly enhance our tax capabilities in Chicago and firmwide,” said Michael A. LoVallo, the firm’s Chicago Managing Partner. His many years of experience especially in Illinois tax practice will broaden our expertise in state tax litigation matters.”
Mr. Wynne brings 23 years of experience in state and local tax litigation, planning, policy and regulatory matters. His private practice background includes service as a partner in the law firms of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, and Baker & McKenzie LLP, in each instance leading that firm’s state and local tax practice. Mr. Wynne also served as partner in charge of the Midwest state and local tax services group for the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche LLP.
According to Lee A. Zoeller, firmwide chair of Reed Smith’s State Tax Practice, “Our State Tax Practice is already among the top five in the country. The addition of Michael moves us closer to our objective of building a state tax practice which provides our clients with the best legal representation in all major jurisdictions. Mike is one of the best state tax lawyers in Illinois and we are looking forward to having him on our team. With over 20 lawyers from coast to coast we can provide state tax representation wherever it is needed.”
A significant part of Mr. Wynne’s experience was gained in government service. He served as General Counsel to the Illinois Department of Revenue, leading the Department’s regulatory, legislative support, and adjudicative functions. He also served as Acting Chief, and previously Deputy Chief, of the Illinois Attorney General’s Revenue Litigation Division, where he participated as, and supervised, trial and appellate counsel for the State in all tax and revenue-related matters.
“A successful multistate tax controversy practice applies intimate knowledge of a particular jurisdiction’s law and its tax administration to the client’s issues, and does so with consistent high quality throughout the country.” said Mr. Wynne. “Reed Smith is building a State Tax Practice that makes that possible and is therefore capable of delivering outstanding results for its clients. I am delighted that I will get to work with other Reed Smith partners who have experiences similar to mine in other major states. I will continue to work in other states, but obviously the greatest contribution to the Reed Smith State Tax Practice will come from building on my long experience and significant work in Illinois.”
Mr. Wynne is a 1984 graduate of the John Marshall Law School and a 1981 graduate of Southern Illinois University. He has served on the Advisory Committee of the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois, the Tax Committee of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, and the State and Local Tax Section Council of the Illinois State Bar Association. He is also a former Chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s State and Local Tax Committee and a frequent national speaker and author on tax policy matters.
Since the merger of Reed Smith with Sachnoff & Weaver this past March, 19 lawyers have joined in the Chicago office. The Chicago office is well known for its litigation capabilities, especially in the areas of IP, Financial Services and Insurance Recovery. The office has one of the most sophisticated policyholder practices in the country particularly especially in the area of D&O liability issues. On the corporate side, in Chicago, the firm has a strong private equity practice, lending and real estate practice, and bankruptcy capabilities.
About Reed Smith
Reed Smith is one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, with more than 1,500 lawyers in 21 offices throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East. Founded in 1877, the firm represents leading international businesses from Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and emerging enterprises. Its attorneys provide litigation services in multi-jurisdictional matters and other high stake disputes, deliver regulatory counsel, and execute the full range of strategic domestic and cross-border transactions. Reed Smith is a preeminent advisor to industries including financial services, life sciences, health care, advertising and media, shipping, international trade and commodities, real estate, manufacturing, and education. For more information, visit reedsmith.com
U.S.: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Princeton, Northern Virginia, Wilmington, Century City, Richmond
Europe: London, Paris, Munich, Birmingham, Greece
Middle East: Abu Dhabi, Dubai |
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