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Defense witness in Murray case faces contempt fine
Court Feed News |
2011/11/16 11:32
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A scientist who was the star defense witness in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor will be in court Wednesday to fight a threatened $1,000 fine for contempt.
Dr. Paul White is a pioneer in the use of the anesthetic propofol. He clashed with Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor over comments in and out of court during Dr. Conrad Murray's trial.
Pastor says White deliberately brought up banned information in his testimony.
Pastor is giving White a chance to appear Wednesday and explain why he should not be found in direct contempt of court and fined $1,000. A member of the trial defense team, Michael Flanagan, is representing him.
Murray is in jail awaiting sentencing for involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death and is not required to attend the hearing. |
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Norway killer claims mantle of resistance leader
Court Feed News |
2011/11/14 18:39
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The anti-Muslim extremist who confessed to a bombing and shooting massacre that killed 77 people in Norway tried to declare himself a resistance leader Monday at his first public court hearing but was quickly cut off by the judge.
Anders Behring Breivik was escorted by guards into an Oslo court room packed with dozens of reporters and spectators, including survivors of his rampage at a youth camp near the capital who were seeing him in person for the first time since the July 22 attack.
"I am a military commander in the Norwegian resistance movement," Breivik said before the judge interrupted him and told him to stick to the issue at hand — his further detention.
The court extended his custody 12 more weeks until Feb. 6, but decided to gradually lift the restrictions on his media access, visitors and mail. Breivik is being held pending his trial on terror charges.
If found guilty, he could be sentenced to 21 years in prison. An alternative custody arrangement — if he is still considered a danger to the public — could keep him behind bars indefinitely.
At the end of Monday's hearing, the 32-year-old Norwegian asked Judge Torkjel Nesheim if he could address survivors and victims' relatives but was turned down. |
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Judge rejects appeal by Abramoff's former partner
Court Feed News |
2011/11/14 13:40
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Ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff's former partner in crime shouldn't expect relief on his appeal to reduce a $20 million restitution order.
The chief of the federal appeals court in Washington, Judge David Sentelle, told Michael Scanlon's lawyer at arguments Monday the court cannot change his client's plea agreement. The court will issue its final order in writing.
Scanlon is serving a 20-month sentence for bilking Indian tribes of millions. Abramoff persuaded the tribes that hired him for lobbying to pay inflated fees for Scanlon's public relations services, and they secretly split the profits.
Scanlon pleaded guilty in part to defrauding the tribal clients of their right to "honest services." The Supreme Court weakened the honest services law last year and Scanlon argues the restitution should be lowered to reflect that ruling. |
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Court likely to overturn Calif. law on livestock
Court Feed News |
2011/11/10 13:36
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The Supreme Court seemed ready Wednesday to block a California law that would require euthanizing downed livestock at federally inspected slaughterhouses to keep the meat out of the nation's food system.
The court heard an appeal from the National Meat Association, which wants a 2009 state law blocked from going into effect. California barred the purchase, sale and butchering of animals that can't walk and required slaughterhouses under the threat of fines and jail time to immediately kill nonambulatory animals.
But justices said that encroached on federal laws that don't require immediate euthanizing.
"The federal law does not require me immediately to go over and euthanize the cow. Your law does require me to go over and immediately euthanize the cow. And therefore, your law seems an additional requirement in respect to the operations of a federally inspected meatpacking facility," Justice Stephen Breyer told a California lawyer. |
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Supreme Court looks at warrantless GPS tracking
Court Feed News |
2011/11/08 17:02
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The Supreme Court has expressed deep reservations about police use of GPS technology to track criminal suspects without a warrant.
But the justices appeared unsettled Tuesday about how or whether to regulate GPS tracking and other high-tech surveillance techniques.
The court heard arguments in the Obama administration's appeal of a court ruling that threw out a drug conspiracy conviction because FBI agents and local police did not have a valid search warrant when they installed a GPS device on the defendant's car and collected travel information.
The justices were taken aback when the lawyer representing the government said police officers could install GPS devices on the justices' cars and track their movements without a warrant.
The court has previously ruled there is no expectation of privacy on public roads. |
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Judge mulling $410M BofA overdraft settlement
Court Feed News |
2011/11/07 17:46
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An attorney for Bank of America says 13.2 million customers may be eligible for a settlement in a lawsuit claiming the bank charged excessive overdraft fees.
The final tabulation came Monday as a Miami judge considers whether to finalize a $410 million settlement during a hearing to consider any objections or other issues related to the deal reached in May.
The class-action lawsuit contends the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank processed its debit card and check payments in a way that triggered more overdrafts and therefore more fees. Even though it agreed to the settlement, the bank insists the overdraft system was proper.
The lawsuit covers people with Bank of America debit cards between January 2001 and May 2011.
New bank regulations prohibit this type of debit card fee unless customers approve.
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