Va. high court considers ex-King confidant's case

Lawyer Blogs

A lawyer has asked the Virginia Supreme Court to throw out the incest conviction of a former top adviser to Martin Luther King Jr.

The Rev. James Bevel, the architect of the 1963 Children's Crusade in Birmingham, Ala., died in 2008 at age 72 while his appeal was pending. His attorney, Bonnie Hoffman, is seeking what's known as an abatement. The idea is that a conviction is not final until the appeals process is complete.

However, Senior Assistant Attorney General Virginia Theisen (THIGH'-sun) said that under the law, convictions are presumed to be valid.

A Loudoun County judge refused to abate the conviction after hearing emotional testimony from Bevel's victim. The Virginia Court of Appeals upheld the decision.

A ruling by the Supreme Court is likely in early November.

Related listings

  • US says 11 currency traders operating illegally

    US says 11 currency traders operating illegally

    Lawyer Blogs 09/09/2011

    Federal regulators are suing 11 firms they say broke the law by selling foreign-currency contracts to the public without being registered with a government agency.The lawsuits announced Thursday were the second "sweep" by the Commodity Futures Tradin...

  • Guilty plea for Va. man in $318K Social Security fraud

    Guilty plea for Va. man in $318K Social Security fraud

    Lawyer Blogs 09/09/2011

    A Bristol man has pleaded guilty to stealing Social Security benefits and making false statements in an attempt to hide the thefts. Seventy-one-year-old David Ross entered the plea Thursday in federal court in Abingdon. Ross faces a sentence of up to...

  • Fed appeals panel upholds bar of videotape

    Fed appeals panel upholds bar of videotape

    Lawyer Blogs 09/06/2011

    A federal appeals court says a Mississippi court did not err in barring jurors from seeing a videotape made by a former butcher who had claimed it might have prevented him getting a death sentence. Gary Carl Simmons Jr. was convicted of capital murde...

Is Now the Time to Really Call a Special Education Lawyer?

IDEA, FAPE, CHILD FIND and IEPs: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees all children with disabilities to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). FAPE starts with a school’s responsibility to identify that a child has a disability (Child Find) and create an Individualized Education Program (IEP) to suit the needs of the child.

Forte Law Group is one of only a very few law firms within the state of Connecticut that is dedicated to exclusively representing families and children with special needs.

Parents need to be persistent, dedicated and above all else aware of the many services and accommodations that their child is entitled to under the law. As early as this point within your child’s special education, many parents will often find themselves in the situation asking, “is now the time to really call a special education lawyer?” Here are a few things to consider when asking yourself that question.

Business News

St Peters, MO Professional License Attorney Attorney John Lynch has been the go-to choice for many professionals facing administrative sanction. >> read