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Evidence challenged: Miss. court blocks execution
Law Firm Legal News |
2013/05/13 23:52
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The Mississippi Supreme Court has indefinitely delayed Tuesday's scheduled execution of Willie Jerome Manning amid questions involving evidence in the case, intervening hours before he was set to die for the slayings of two college students.
Manning, who had challenged errors involving evidence analysis, was originally set to receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. CDT at the state prison in Parchman. But with mere hours remaining, the high court blocked the execution until it rules further in the case.
Manning was convicted in 1994 in the shooting deaths of two Mississippi State University students, Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller. Their bodies were found in a rural area in December 1992.
The FBI has said in recent days that there were errors in agents' testimony about ballistics tests and hair analysis in the case.
Manning's lawyers had argued in recent filings before the Mississippi Supreme Court that the execution should be blocked based on the U.S. Justice Department's disclosures about testimony that it says exceeded the limits of science.
The court ruled 8-1 on Tuesday for a stay. The court had previously split 5-4 in decisions in the case. |
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Court to mull Arizona's immigrant harboring ban
Law Firm Legal News |
2013/04/02 12:49
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An appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday in Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's bid to let police enforce a minor section of the state's 2010 immigration law that prohibits the harboring of illegal immigrants.
The harboring ban was in effect from late July 2010 until U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled in September that it was trumped by federal law and barred police from enforcing it. Brewer has asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Bolton's ruling.
Brewer's lawyers argue the ban doesn't conflict with federal policies, is aimed at confronting crime and that the law's opponents haven't shown they have legal standing to challenge the prohibition. The governor's attorneys also say there's no evidence that the ban has been enforced against any people or organizations represented by a coalition of civil rights groups that have challenged the law in court.
The coalition has asked the appeals court to uphold Bolton's ruling, saying the state law is trumped by a federal harboring law that leaves no room for state regulation. The coalition also argues that Bolton has repeatedly confirmed that it has standing to challenge the harboring ban.
Another federal appeals court has barred authorities from enforcing similar harboring bans in Alabama and Georgia. |
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Former Chicago Bear pleads guilty to tax charges
Law Firm Legal News |
2013/03/03 15:59
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Former Chicago Bears player Chris Zorich pleaded guilty Thursday to federal tax charges, admitting to the judge that he didn't file in a timely fashion.
The 43-year-old faced four misdemeanor counts of not filing federal income tax returns from 2006 to 2009. Over that time, he allegedly made more than $1 million, including income from a charity he founded.
The judge asked Zorich if he knew he was wrong not to file the returns.
Yes, your honor, Zorich said, wearing a black suit and tie.
His attorney previously said Zorich was looking forward to putting the case behind him.
The Chicago native was on the 1988 Notre Dame team that won a national championship. He played for the Bears from 1991 to 1996 and ended his career with the Washington Redskins in 1997.
Zorich must pay $71,000 in back taxes as part of a plea agreement. He is to be sentenced July 12. Each count carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. |
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Stephen Baldwin to avoid jail in tax ca
Law Firm Legal News |
2013/02/04 15:55
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Stephen Baldwin will avoid jail and will have up to five years to pay $350,000 in back taxes and penalties, his lawyer said Monday.
Attorney Russell Yankwitt said he and prosecutors tentatively agreed that Baldwin, youngest of the four acting Baldwin brothers, will admit in court this month that he repeatedly failed to file his New York state income tax returns.
Baldwin, who starred in 1995's The Usual Suspects and is currently on television in All-Star Celebrity Apprentice, is accused of skipping his 2008, 2009 and 2010 returns. When he was arrested in December, the district attorney said Baldwin could face up to four years in prison if convicted.
But at Monday's closed-door conference at the Rockland County Courthouse, The district attorney's office and the judge made it very clear that Mr. Baldwin will not be going to prison, Yankwitt said. If Mr. Baldwin can't work, he can't pay back his back taxes.
Baldwin, 46, of Upper Grandview, was not at the conference.
Prosecutor Anthony Dellicarri confirmed that a tentative agreement had been reached on a plea deal but would not detail the specifics. The district attorney's office said only that a possible resolution of the case was discussed.
Yankwitt said that if Baldwin pays back the money within a year, the case will be discharged on the condition he stay out of trouble. If Baldwin doesn't meet the one-year deadline, he will be sentenced to probation and given five years to pay back the money. |
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Court to hear 2 days of arguments on gay marriage
Law Firm Legal News |
2013/01/11 01:01
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The Supreme Court says it will hear two days' worth of arguments over laws affecting gay marriage during the last week of March.
Justices on Monday announced they will hear arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry on March 26 and United States v. Windsor on March 27.
The first case involves California's constitutional amendment that forbids same-sex marriage. The second concerns a federal law that denies gay couples who legally marry the right to obtain federal benefits available to heterosexual married couples. The court scheduled one hour's worth of arguments on each day. Justices can still extend the amount of time given to arguments in each case, however.
Nine states — Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Washington— and the District of Columbia allow gay marriage. |
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