Legal News Archive For
May, 2010

“Homicidal Hitchhiker,” Ohio Inmate Denied Appeal, Is Executed

Added: 2010-05-31 10:15:06

The hitchhiker who went on a three-week shooting spree in the 1980s, killing one man and injuring two others in the Cincinnati area, has been executed by the state of Ohio. Despite a prison conversion to Roman Catholicism, and several appeals that went to the Ohio and United States Supreme Court...

Microsoft's Suppliers Face Labor Violations at Chinese Factories

Added: 2010-05-28 14:11:19

Two Chinese suppliers to the Redmond, Washington-based technology giant Microsoft have been cited for labor-law violations, including excessive overtime and the employment of unregistered and underage workers. Kunying Computer Products and Xieying Computer Products are both divisions of a parent...

NJ Police Chief Suspended Amidst Controversy, Federal Charges

Added: 2010-05-27 14:51:26

Hackensack, New Jersey's Police Chief, Charles “Ken” Zisa, has been suspended from the force with pay, after administrative charges were filed against him. The chief's leave of absence stems from criminal charges filed against Zisa and his former girlfriend, Kathleen Tiernan, by the Bergen C...

No Charges Will Be Filed in Teen's Boot-Camp Death

Added: 2010-05-26 14:01:30

The United States Department of Justice has announced that it will not file federal criminal civil rights charges against eight staffers at a Florida boot camp where a 14-year-old boy died. Martin Lee Anderson had been sent to the Bay County Sheriff's Office Boot Camp, a disciplinary facility wh...

Ohio Executes Serial Rapist; Fourth Lethal Injection In State This Year

Added: 2010-05-25 14:10:18

The serial rapist who maintained his innocence in the death of a 16-year-old Ohio girl, and who tried to delay his execution on grounds that he was allergic to the drug that would be used, has been put to death without complications. Darryl Durr, who had been on the death row at Southern Ohio Co...

Chico State Student Body President Attacked in Hate Crime Stabbing

Added: 2010-05-24 15:09:16

In what is being described by law enforcement authorities as a hate crime, the student body president of a California university was sent to the hospital with stab wounds. Joseph Igbineweka, a Nigerian-born political science major, is a senior at the University of California, Chico, commonly cal...

Wiretap Investigation Reveals Police-Killing Plot, Gang Unity

Added: 2010-05-21 11:58:24

A sting operation in Queens has not only netted a number of gang-related arrests, but also uncovered a plot to kill police officers and an unusual alliance between members of two notorious enemies: the Crips and the Bloods. Law enforcement officers have revealed the results of a massive investig...

Gunman Who Killed One, Injured Two Others Was Mentally Ill

Added: 2010-05-20 10:41:15

A man who shot several people at a Tennessee hospital, killing one and wounding two others, was mentally ill and off his medication, say law enforcement authorities. The gunman, Abdo Ibssa, entered a medical building near Parkwest Medical Center and asked to see the doctor who had performed his ...

Oil Spill Lawsuits Begin, Could Cost BP Billions in Damages

Added: 2010-05-19 16:10:59

Even before the massive Gulf oil spill has been cleaned up—or even contained—a wave of lawsuits, both individual and class-action, is already threatening BP, which operates the still-gushing Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Louisiana fishermen whose livelihoods are threatened, Florida condomi...

AZ Senate Passes One of Nation's Toughest Immigration Bills

Added: 2010-05-18 11:21:22

The Arizona state Senate has passed legislation that requires law enforcement officers to question people whom they suspect of being undocumented immigrants—but that opponents say legalizes racial profiling. The bill, which was approved by the Arizona House of Representatives last week, was pa...

Ex-Boyfriend Calls Feds Over Actress's Marriage Fraud

Added: 2010-05-17 09:14:34

A Mexican soap opera actress and her husband have been charged with orchestrating a sham marriage so that she could stay in the country, according to federal authorities. Fernanda Romero, 28, is a singer, actress and model who began her career at age 16 by touring Mexico and Central America with...

Teenager Convicted of Hate-Crime Manslaughter, Gang Assault, Conspiracy

Added: 2010-05-14 16:42:35

A Long Island teenager has been convicted on several charges relating to the hate-crime stabbing of an Ecuadorean immigrant. Jeffrey Conroy pleaded not guilty to murder and manslaughter as hate crimes, as well as additional charges. The trial was one of seven stemming from the November 2008 deat...

Kennedy Cousin May See Early Release from Prison

Added: 2010-05-13 12:02:43

According to officials, the Kennedy cousin who was convicted of fatally beating his 15-year-old neighbor with a golf club in 1975, could be eligible for parole in just a few years. Michael Skakel, who is a cousin of Ethel Kennedy, has earned the right to a parole hearing based on a good-behavior...

Navy SEAL Pleads Not Guilty, Witnesses Vary in Detainee Abuse Case

Added: 2010-05-12 10:50:40

The prosecution rested last Wednesday in the case of a Navy SEAL accused of abusing a military detainee in Iraq. Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe is accused of having punched Ahmed Hashim Abed in the stomach and the face, resulting in a his falling to the ground with a split lip. According...

SEC Charges Wall Street Behemoth Goldman Sachs With Fraud

Added: 2010-05-11 11:19:34

Investment giant Goldman Sachs and one of its vice presidents, Fabrice Tourre, have been charged with defrauding investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission brought the civil fraud complaint, which accuses the firm and Tourre of failing to disclose a conflict of interest during the 2007 sale ...

Settlement Reached in Suit Against Newark Archdiocese

Added: 2010-05-10 09:49:32

An out-of-court settlement has been reached between a woman assaulted by a priest and the church officials whom she accused of failing to protect her. The woman, who was identified in court documents only as Jane Doe, alleged that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark (NJ) knew about the “d...

School-Issued Laptops Took Pics, Screenshots of Students While Admins Watched

Added: 2010-05-07 13:01:40

A motion filed in a lawsuit against the Lower Merion (PA) School District for privacy violations indicate that school administrators secretly watched their students' activities, saw candid webcam snapshots of them, and could view which Web sites they visited—and that doing so was like “a little...

Federal Judge Overturns National Day of Prayer Law

Added: 2010-05-06 10:29:42

A federal judge has ruled that the statute allowing for a National Day of Prayer is fundamentally unconstitutional, since it violates a ban on government-supported religion. The decision comes in response to a lawsuit brought against the Obama administration by the Madison, Wisconsin-based Freed...

Florida Shuts Down So-Called Pill Mill As Part of Reforms

Added: 2010-05-05 12:06:49

The Florida Department of Health has closed down one of South Florida's many pain clinics, two weeks after suspending its main physician, Dr. Michael Lazzopina, for overprescribing prescription medications without sufficient medical examinations. The Fort Lauderdale Pain Relief Center is the fir...

Hooters Restaurant Facing Numerous Wage and Hour Class-Action Lawsuits

Added: 2010-05-04 15:31:35

The restaurant chain that is famous for its chicken wings and infamous for its servers' skimpy uniforms is now the target of a number of class-action lawsuits in California's Bay Area—more than 6,000 employees of Hooters are being represented by an attorney who has filed three suits. At issue ...

Suspected Somali Pirates May Be Tried In U.S.

Added: 2010-05-03 11:23:41

Five men accused of attacking a U.S. Navy ship near the Seychelles, just of the east coast of Africa, may be flown to the United States to face charges, say military officials. The men are suspected Somali pirates, and are currently being held aboard the USS Nicholas, which is the same guided-mi...

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