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Insurer settles suit with former USU frat members
Headline Legal News |
2011/05/02 16:01
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A Georgia insurance company that paid a wrongful death claim on behalf of a former Utah State University fraternity has settled the lawsuit it brought against four of the fraternity's members.
The Herald Journal of Logan reports that attorneys for RSUI Inc. told a 1st District Court judge the company had resolved a dispute with the four men. Court records show attorneys met with the judge April 20 — one day before a planned hearing.
RSUI sought $50,000 each from Sigma Nu pledge Chad Burton and chapter officers Cody Littlewood, Colton Hansen and Mitchell Alm as compensation for a settlement payment to the parents of Michael Starks.
Starks died Nov. 21, 2008, from alcohol poisoning after a fraternity event.
At the time, RSUI was the insurer for the fraternity and its members, including pledges. RSUI attorneys have acknowledged that both the company and the four defendants would have been jointly liable to Starks' parents, George and Jane Starks of Salt Lake City. The company claims it paid the full amount of a settlement with the Starks, although those terms have not been made public. |
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Iowa court reverses child endangerment conviction
Headline Legal News |
2011/04/28 16:07
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The Iowa Court of Appeals on Wednesday overturned the conviction of a mother who has been imprisoned for nearly four years after being found guilty of injuring her young son, basing its decision on the boy's newfound ability to speak and claim he was hurt after sticking his arm into a washing machine.
Tammy Smith was found guilty of hurting her then-4-year-old son in 2006, after his arm was broken in four places and his shoulder dislocated. Prosecutors could not prove how the injury happened, but doctors testified it could only have been caused by a lot of force or leverage being applied to the child's arm. Smith was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The boy was described as "developmentally delayed" and could only make grunting sounds and other noises at the time of Smith's trial. He has since been in school and met with counselors and has been able to talk about what happened, telling people he hurt his arm when he put it in a front-load washing machine that was on spin cycle. |
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Ohio man pleads guilty in abortion-gunpoint case
Headline Legal News |
2011/04/28 13:07
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A man charged under an Ohio fetal homicide law with trying to force his pregnant girlfriend at gunpoint to get an abortion pleaded guilty Thursday to attempted murder, weapons and abduction counts.
Dominic Holt-Reid pulled a gun Oct. 6 on girlfriend Yolanda Burgess, who was three months pregnant, and forced her to drive to an abortion clinic, police said. Burgess, who was 26 at the time, did not go through with the procedure but instead passed a note to a clinic employee, who called police.
Prosecutors had brought their case against Holt-Reid using the state's 1996 law that says a person can be found guilty of murder for causing the unlawful termination of a pregnancy.
Holt-Reid, 28, faces up to 20 years in prison and a $40,000 fine. A presentencing investigation was ordered, and the next hearing was scheduled for June 9.
Holt-Reid had previously pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, improper handling of a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon. His guilty pleas in Franklin County Common Pleas Court came a day after Prosecutor Ron O'Brien told The Associated Press in a statement that a plea deal was in the works. |
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High court rejects quick review of health care law
Headline Legal News |
2011/04/25 16:23
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The Supreme Court rejected a call Monday from Virginia's attorney general to depart from its usual practice and put review of the health care law on a fast track. Instead, judicial review of President Barack Obama's signature legislation will continue in federal appeals courts.
The justices turned down a request by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a leading opponent of the law, to resolve questions about its constitutionality quickly. The Obama administration opposed Cuccinelli's plea.
Only rarely, in wartime or a constitutional crisis, does the court step into a legal fight before the issues are aired in appellate courts. Hearings already are scheduled in May and June in three appeals courts.
The case still could reach the high court in time for a decision by early summer 2012.
Cuccinelli said he asked for speedy review to end "crippling and costly uncertainty" about the law. |
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Md. court considering same-sex spousal privilege
Headline Legal News |
2011/04/25 16:22
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A court in Hagerstown is poised to consider whether a woman who legally married her lesbian partner in another jurisdiction can assert the spousal privilege of refusing to testify against her in Maryland, where same-sex marriage isn't allowed.
Lawyers are set to argue their positions Monday during a hearing in a 2010 assault case
Washington County prosecutors want the judge to compel Sharron Saleem to testify about her statement to police that Deborah Snowden pushed her and threatened her with a knife.
A brief filed by Snowden's public defender cites a 2010 opinion by Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler that out-of-state, same-sex marriages may be recognized under Maryland law. But Gansler's opinion didn't directly address the question of spousal privilege. |
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US court turns away new appeal from Uighurs
Headline Legal News |
2011/04/17 16:38
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The five remaining Chinese Muslims who are being held at Guantanamo Bay lost their latest bid Monday to get the Supreme Court to hear their case.
The justices turned away a plea from the five detainees, who have been held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba for nearly nine years.
The detainees had previously declined an offer to be resettled in the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, where six other Chinese Muslims, or Uighurs, have gone to live. It is not clear why the five refused to go to Palau, or to a second, unidentified country that the Obama administration has said was willing to take them.
Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for three of his colleagues, said he agreed with the court's decision not to hear the case because of the two countries' offers and "the government's uncontested commitment to continue to work to resettle" the Uighurs. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Anthony Kennedy and Sonia Sotomayor joined Breyer's opinion.
Justice Elena Kagan, who worked on the case while serving in the Justice Department, did not take part in the court's action Monday.
The detainees wanted the court to consider the question of whether a judge can order detainees released into the United States. |
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Lawyers for NFL, players talk mediation with judge
Headline Legal News |
2011/04/10 18:54
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The locked-out NFL players don't want to go back to collective bargaining with the league. They have now made a move to allow their former union boss to be present if court-supervised talks take place between the two sides. Attorneys for the NFL and the players held a conference call Friday to discuss mediation with U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson, who is currently deciding whether to lift the lockout. League spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed the call took place and said Nelson wanted details to remain private. Jeffrey Kessler, a lawyer for the players, declined to comment. The most notable development Friday was the formal addition of DeMaurice Smith as an attorney for the players. Smith is the executive director of the NFL Players Association, which is now officially a trade association and not a union. Lawyers who practice in a different state must file for approval through the court. NFLPA spokesman Carl Francis confirmed that the move allows Smith to participate in any mediation sessions that might take place under Nelson's supervision. After a hearing Wednesday on the players' request for an injunction to stop the lockout, Nelson urged both sides to resume talks toward a new labor pact. Negotiations broke down last month. Both sides expressed a willingness to talk again after the hearing, but the NFL wants to resume negotiations before a federal mediator in Washington while the players prefer to remain in Nelson's court.
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