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Appeals court upholds sentence of former deputy
Court Feed News |
2011/12/30 18:07
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An appellate court has upheld a four-month prison sentence of a former Shelby County Sheriff's deputy involved in a fatal crash.
The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals this week rejected the petition of Alvin Dortch, who was convicted last year of filing a false report, according to The Commercial Appeal. Dortch was acquitted by the trial court of a reckless homicide charge.
In 2008, Dortch shot out the tire of a fleeing DUI suspect whose car crashed moments later, killing him. Investigators didn't discover that Dortch had fired at the vehicle until they reviewed dashboard video more than 12 hours after the incident. |
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Lawyer: Moms stole from Hawaii toy store for kids
Court Feed News |
2011/12/29 12:45
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Single mothers filled with regret were making arrangements to turn themselves after they were seen on surveillance footage taking toys from a Hawaii store before Christmas, according to a lawyer who referred to the theft as a "desperate" act.
Surveillance video from Dec. 1 and released by police last week showed five women and a man helping themselves to items in a Toys R Us display at Windward Mall in Kaneohe. Police said the group had hauled away about $1,000 worth of merchandise.
Attorney Myles Breiner said some of the women contacted him Friday, and he said the women knew what they did was wrong. He said he contacted police over the weekend and stored the items in his office.
Police on Tuesday took the items, which were brought gift-wrapped to Breiner's office, and returned them to the store manager, the lawyer said. Meanwhile, at least three women made arrangements to surrender to police Tuesday, and the others, including the man who has since contacted Breiner, were expected to surrender by the end of the week. |
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Court: Ark. can't stop desegregation funds
Court Feed News |
2011/12/28 18:26
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A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Arkansas can't cut off funding for desegregation programs in Little Rock-area school districts without a separate hearing and judge's order.
The ruling from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes months after U.S. District Judge Brian Miller ordered an end to most of the payments, calling them counterproductive. The appeals court heard the case in September.
The state has been spending about $38 million per year to help finance magnet schools that help keep a racial balance in the Little Rock, North Little Rock and Pulaski County school districts, according to Wednesday's ruling, which keeps the money flowing until the matter is resolved in a separate court proceeding.
The state is required by a 1989 settlement to fund magnet schools, transfers between districts and other programs to support desegregation. Lawmakers have long wanted to end the payments, but the districts say they're still necessary.
Battles over school desegregation in Little Rock date back to 1957, when nine black children needed the protection of federal troops to integrate Central High School. Little Rock sued the state and its two neighboring districts in 1982. Two years later, a judge agreed that the districts hadn't done enough to help the city schools desegregate. |
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Federal judge ends BP's probation for Alaska spill
Court Feed News |
2011/12/27 17:18
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A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed prosecutors' argument that a BP subsidiary violated its probation after an oil spill because of another spill on Alaska's North Slope. Judge Ralph Beistline also lifted BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.'s probation altogether. BP had been convicted of negligent discharge of oil in 2007 for a 200,000-gallon (757,000-liter) spill on the North Slope a year earlier. There was another spill of 13,500 gallons (51,100 liters) in 2009. Last month, government lawyers sought to have BP's probation revoked for the latest spill, meaning the probation period could have been lengthened or the company could have faced additional penalties. In his ruling, Beistline said the government failed to prove the company committed criminal negligence. "We are pleased with the decision and appreciate the court's attention," BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said in an email to The Associated Press. "We know that the privilege of working in Alaska comes with a responsibility to maintain high standards. We will continue our commitment to running safe and compliant operations." Emails seeking comment from the U.S. attorney's office in Anchorage were not immediately returned. Prosecutors said BP's history of environmental crimes in Alaska began in February 2001 when it pleaded guilty to releasing hazardous materials at its Endicott facility on the North Slope. The company was fined $500,000, placed on probation for five years and ordered to create a nationwide environmental management program, prosecutors said. |
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Pa.'s rhyming justice pens insurance fraud opinion
Court Feed News |
2011/12/22 18:15
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A state Supreme Court justice known for opinions written in rhyme has done it again, producing six pages of verse Thursday in the case of whether the maker of a forged check also had committed insurance fraud.
Justice J. Michael Eakin, writing for a 4-2 majority, concluded in six-line stanzas that a man's attempt to deposit a forged check appearing to be from State Farm didn't constitute insurance fraud.
"Sentenced on the other crimes, he surely won't go free, but we find he can't be guilty of this final felony," Eakin wrote. "Convictions for the forgery and theft are approbated -- the sentence for insurance fraud, however, is vacated. The case must be remanded for resentencing, we find, so the trial judge may impose the result he originally had in mind."
A dissenting three-page opinion by Justice Thomas G. Saylor didn't rhyme.
Eakin was first elected to the high court in 2001 after earning a reputation as the "rhyming judge" by issuing some opinions entirely in verse while sitting on an intermediate state appellate court in the late 1990s. Two former state Supreme Court justices, Stephen A. Zappala and the late Ralph J. Cappy, had expressed concern in the past that the practice could reflect poorly on the court. |
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Alleged Ponzi schemer due in court
Court Feed News |
2011/12/21 13:43
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Former Albuquerque real estate executive Doug Vaughan is due in court Wednesday to plead guilty to charges stemming from allegations he ran Ponzi scheme that swindled some 600 investors out of $74 million.
Vaughan's attorney, Amy Sirignano, last week told The Associated Press Vaughan would be changing his plea to guilty in the case, but that details of the agreement were still being worked out.
Vaughan is scheduled to appear in court in Santa Fe Wednesday afternoon.
The change of plea hearing was scheduled just a few weeks after court documents were unsealed showing Vaughan's long-time assistant planned to testify against him.
Victims have been identified in New Mexico, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, New Jersey, Texas and Colorado. |
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