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Accused White House shooter to appear in DC court
Court Feed News |
2011/11/21 16:18
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A man accused of firing an assault rifle at the White House is expected to appear in court in Washington. Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez is scheduled to appear in federal court Monday at 1:45 p.m.
Ortega was arrested last week in Pennsylvania. The Idaho Falls, Idaho, resident is accused of driving by the White House on the evening of Nov. 11 and firing at the White House from his vehicle. Authorities say one of the rounds he fired cracked a window of the first family's living quarters.
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were away, and no one was injured. |
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Texas AG blasts court's redistricting maps
Court Feed News |
2011/11/21 13:16
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Texas' attorney general sharply criticized a federal court Friday over its proposed maps for state House and Senate districts in the 2012 election, saying the judges overstepped their bounds.
The San Antonio-based federal court released the proposed redistricting maps late Thursday and gave those involved in the case until noon Friday to comment. Minority groups have filed a legal challenge to the Republican-drawn maps, saying they are discriminatory. The court's maps are intended to be an interim solution until the case is resolved after the 2012 elections.
Maps for the House and Senate released Thursday restore many of the minority districts — where Democrats hold the seats — to their previous shapes. Republican lawmakers have denied their maps were intended to minimize minority representation, and say they merely reflect the GOP majority in Texas. |
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Lawyer: 'Bullying' led to Hawaii shooting by agent
Court Feed News |
2011/11/18 15:55
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The federal agent charged with killing a man in a McDonald's restaurant in Hawaii was protecting himself and others, his attorney said Thursday.
State Department Special Agent Christopher Deedy made his first court appearance Thursday on charges of second-degree murder in the Nov. 5 shooting of Kollin Elderts, 23, of Kailua.
During the brief hearing, a district judge agreed to turn over the case to Circuit Court, where Deedy is expected to be arraigned Monday. Circuit Court has jurisdiction in the case after an Oahu grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday.
"The reason this started was because Mr. Elderts was harassing and bullying others," Deedy's Honolulu attorney, Brook Hart, said in an interview before the hearing.
He didn't provide details but said Deedy was protecting himself and others from a man "who aggressed on him."
"This isn't a matter of a man who took out a gun and started shooting in a McDonald's," Hart said. "It's not a willy-nilly misuse of a firearm."
Deedy, a 27-year-old agent from Arlington, Va., was in Honolulu to help with security for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. |
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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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