Recent Updates
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Smart case competency hearing begins second week
Lawyer Blogs 12/08/2009A New York psychiatrist is expected in federal court to discuss the religious writings of the man accused of abducting Elizabeth Smart.According to Dr. Michael Welner, some of Brian David Mitchell's writings claim that Smart went with him willingly a...
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Ohio inmate to get 1-drug, slower execution
Lawyer Blogs 12/08/2009Condemned killer Kenneth Biros could become the first person in the country put to death with a single dose of an intravenous anesthetic instead of the usual — and faster-acting — three-drug process if his execution proceeds Tuesday.The execution cou...
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Ohio dismemberment killer files new delay request
Lawyer Blogs 12/07/2009A condemned Ohio man asked a federal judge Thursday for an emergency order to stop next week's planned execution, arguing the state is rushing too fast to use its new, one-drug lethal injection process.Kenneth Biros said the untested method announced...
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Ohio inmate to get 1-drug, slower execution
Lawyer Blogs 12/07/2009Condemned killer Kenneth Biros could become the first person in the country put to death with a single dose of an intravenous anesthetic instead of the usual — and faster-acting — three-drug process if his execution proceeds Tuesday.The execution cou...
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FairPoint asks court to put rebates on hold
Lawyer Blogs 12/03/2009FairPoint Communications has filed a court motion asking that it not be forced to give Maine customers rebates because of its poor service as the company works through bankruptcy.The company is objecting to the Maine Public Utilities Commission's reg...
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Arizona court boots cities' challenge to budget
Lawyer Blogs 12/03/2009The Arizona Supreme Court late Wednesday dismissed the League of Arizona Cities and Towns' constitutional challenge to budget law provisions on immigration enforcement and other topics.The immigration enforcement provisions toughen and expand existin...
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Beachfront property dispute at Supreme Court
Lawyer Blogs 12/02/2009The Supreme Court is weighing whether Florida homeowners must be compensated because a beach-widening project cost them their exclusive access to the Gulf of Mexico.The justices heard argument Wednesday in a case with potentially widespread implicati...
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Conn. diocese expected to release sex abuse papers
Lawyer Blogs 12/01/2009The Roman Catholic diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., is expected to release thousands of documents connected to sexual abuse lawsuits.The diocese was ordered by a Waterbury Superior Court judge to release the papers Tuesday.The files include more than 12...
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US Supreme Court to hear Fla. beach dispute
Lawyer Blogs 12/01/2009The latest property rights battle before the U.S. Supreme Court started where the Gulf of Mexico laps at the crystalline white beaches of this seaside resort.The justices will hear oral arguments Wednesday over whether a nearly seven-mile stretch of ...
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Court says defendant must be resentenced
Lawyer Blogs 11/30/2009The Iowa Court of Appeals has ruled a Washington County man convicted of shaking his 6-month-old daughter to death must be resentenced.Jared York was found guilty of child endangerment with bodily injury and involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced...
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Polanski stuck in jail; must pay full $4.5M
Lawyer Blogs 11/30/2009Roman Polanski remained in jail Monday, despite visits from his lawyer and a French diplomat, and it was unclear if the director had met Switzerland's demand of a full bail payment of $4.5 million to be released. The Swiss Justice Ministry declined t...
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Federal court allows Dec. 8 execution in Ohio
Lawyer Blogs 11/25/2009A federal court has ruled that an execution set for Dec. 8 can go forward due to a change in Ohio's lethal injection policies.The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said Wednesday that the change renders moot Kenneth Biros' argument that...