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Corruption trial begins for 'America's sheriff'
Attorney Legal Opinions |
2008/10/29 19:41
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| Former Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona was a sharp, inspiring leader consumed by greed, a prosecutor said Wednesday as the federal corruption trial began for the lawman nicknamed America's sheriff.pThe three-term sheriff took hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gifts and illegal loans for himself, his mistress and a close group of friends in exchange for political favors, get-out-jail-free cards and the power of his office, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Sagel told jurors./ppThis is the case of the two Michael Caronas: Sheriff Michael Carona, the bright, articulate, charismatic man who went from being the underdog candidate, Sagel said. Then there's the Michael Carona ... who declared, 'We're going to be so rich, we're going to make so much money.'/ppThe square-jawed Carona, once dubbed America's sheriff by CNN's Larry King after vowing to hunt down a child abductor, sat stoically through the prosecutor's opening statement./ppCarona, 53, has vigorously denied charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and witness tampering./ppAlso charged are his alleged mistress, who has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and bankruptcy fraud; and his wife, who has pleaded not guilty to a single count of conspiracy./p |
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Metrolink train crash may be linked to text message
Attorney Legal Opinions |
2008/10/06 07:50
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div class=articlepTop officials with the firm that contracts to run Metrolink trains made their first public comments Sunday night about last month's deadly head-on collision of a passenger train with a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth./ppWords cannot express how saddened we are over the loss of life and injuries suffered in this terrible accident, said Veolia Transportation Chief Executive Mark Joseph in a written statement given to The Times. Our hearts are broken and our entire company is stricken with grief./ppWhether the result of human error, system failure, or other causes, we will share in the broad responsibility of finding solutions to lessen the risks inherent in passenger rail service, Joseph added. Public transportation is an essential service for everyday life in this country, and this tragedy underscores more than ever before the need of improving our public transportation systems./ppIn an interview in San Diego, where Veolia officials are attending a mass transit convention this week, Joseph emphasized the firm's safety record and said Veolia is participating in the investigation of the crash by the National Transportation Safety Board./ppVeolia officials said that the NTSB has asked them not to discuss the crash while the probe continues, and they declined comment on all questions relating to potential causes of the crash, which killed 25 people. They also declined to discuss the personnel record of Robert Sanchez, the engineer of the Metrolink train who was an employee of Veolia and who was killed in the crash./pp
The NTSB has said the Metrolink train ran a red signal intended to stop the train before entering a stretch of single track in use by an eastbound Union Pacific freight train./ppIn addition, the NTSB has said preliminary data indicates that 57 text messages were sent from or received by Sanchez's cellphone while he was on duty on the day of the crash, including one sent 22 seconds before the collision. The agency, however, cautioned that the precise timing of the messages needed to be verified./ppI think up to this accident, we had the strongest [cellphone] policy in the business given the ones I'd seen, said Ronald J. Hartman, an executive vice president for rail for Veolia./ppHartman said Veolia's policy prohibits cellphone use by engineers and requires that devices be turned off and out of reach while engineers are in the cab of a locomotive. He said Veolia engineers encounter supervisors on a daily basis and that supervisors check for cellphone usage./ppHe added that Veolia supervisors sometimes call engineers' cellphones -- when the numbers for those phones are available -- to see if engineers are using phones while operating trains./ppa href=http://www.rkallp.com/metrolink-disaster-lawyers.htmlhttp://www.rkallp.com/metrolink-disaster-lawyers.html/a/p/div |
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Bailout bill gains momentum on House floor
Attorney Legal Opinions |
2008/10/03 07:15
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After a week of tumult, an unprecedented government bailout of the financial industry gained ground in the House on Friday and leaders in both political parties expressed optimism the $700 billion measure would clear Congress by day's end for President Bush's signature.
With the economy showing fresh signs of weakness, the measure advanced past a key hurdle on a 223-205 vote. pAn Associated Press tally showed 16 lawmakers who sent an earlier bailout bill to unexpected defeat on Monday had changed their minds and would vote in favor of the revised legislation, more than the dozen needed. Officials said changes made to the measure had sparked a far smaller number of defections among previous supporters. pI'm optimistic about today. We're not going to take anything for granted but it's time to act, said House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio. pI think it will pass, agreed Rep. Jim Clyburn, the chief Democratic vote-counter, as debate unfolded in the House chamber. pThe Senate passed the measure earlier in the week on a bipartisan vote of 74-25. pNo matter what we do or what we pass, there are still tough times out there. People are mad -- I'm mad, said Republican Rep. J. Gresham Barrett of South Carolina, who opposed the measure the first time it came to a vote. Now, he said, We have to act. We have to act now. pRep. John Lewis, D-Ga., another convert, said, I have decided that the cost of doing nothing is greater than the cost of doing something./p |
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EPA Must Set Pollution Standards for Builders
Attorney Legal Opinions |
2008/09/23 06:58
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The Environmental Protection Agency must develop pollution standards for storm water runoff from construction sites or risk violation of the Clean Water Act, the 9th Circuit ruled.
The EPA identified the construction industry as a point-source category of pollution in its 2000 environmental plan, but then exempted the industry from the plan in 2004, skipping a three-year deadline to develop standards after listing.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, along with the Waterkeeper Alliance, filed suit against the EPA and its administrator, Stephen Johnson, for violating their duty to promulgate effluent limitation guidelines and new source performance standards for toxic storm water runoff from construction sites.
The environmental groups have standing because the polluted storm water ran into waterways that the groups' members use for recreation, the appeals court ruled. The National Association of Home Builders and Associated General Contractors of America, intervening on behalf of the government, argued that even if the runoff contained pollutants, the water wasn't toxic. The 9th Circuit disagreed. In fact, the EPA has explicitly stated that storm water runoff from construction sites includes toxic and non-conventional pollutants, Judge Smith wrote.
The Clean Water Act clearly outlines the EPA's responsibility to develop standards for polluters within three years of developing a plan, the ruling states. The Act does not give the EPA authority to remove a point-source category from its plan once it is identified, or the three-year deadline would be meaningless, the court ruled. Also, the intensive listing process, which allows for public review and comment, shows that the agency seriously considered adding the construction industry before its listing.
The three-year delay ... is not to decide whether to list a point-source category, Smith wrote, but to allow the EPA to consider what the substance of the (standards) should be. |
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Psychologist group bars participation in interrogations
Attorney Legal Opinions |
2008/09/22 07:01
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The American Psychological Association announced Wednesday that it had adopted a measure prohibiting members from participating in interrogations of terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay and other military prisons where suspects have allegedly been tortured. The resolution, approved by a vote of 8,792 to 6,157 members, represents a reversal in position by the group, which last year rejected a similar ban. The measure states:
blockquote nbsp;nbsp; Whereas torture is an abhorrent practice in every way contrary to the APA's stated mission of advancing psychology as a science, as a profession, and as a means of promoting human welfare.
nbsp;nbsp; Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Mental Health and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture have determined that treatment equivalent to torture has been taking place at the United States Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
nbsp;nbsp; Whereas this torture took place in the context of interrogations under the direction and supervision of Behavioral Science Consultation Teams (BSCTs) that included psychologists....
nbsp;nbsp; Be it resolved that psychologists may not work in settings where persons are held outside of, or in violation of, either International Law or the US Constitution, unless they are working directly for the persons being detained or for an independent third party working to protect human rights. /blockquoteThe resolution will take effect by the APA's next annual meeting, in August 2009.
Last year, APA members passed a resolution stating that the group opposed the use of torture and specifying which practices it found particularly inhumane, including mock executions, sleep deprivation and sexual humiliation. The American Medical Association in 2006 adopted ethical guidelines restricting physician participation in interrogations, following the approval of a similar policy by the American Psychiatric Association. According to a report by the US Defense Department [official website], psychologists have been involved in military interrogations since 2002. Mental health specialists were also reportedly involved in prisoner abuse scandals at Guantanamo and at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. |
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