|
|
|
Ark. court upholds conviction in TV anchor slaying
Areas of Focus |
2011/06/02 15:53
|
The Arkansas Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a man convicted of killing a Little Rock television anchorwoman.
Justices said Thursday that Curtis Vance's objections are without merit.
Vance had appealed his capital murder and rape convictions in the October 2008 death of KATV anchor Anne Pressly in her Little Rock home. Last month, the state's highest court granted Vance's request not to hold oral arguments in his appeal and instead relied on briefs that had already been filed.
Vance was sentenced to life in prison in 2009 for the rape, robbery and slaying of Pressly.
Pressly was a 26-year-old anchor on KATV's "Daybreak" program. She appeared briefly in "W," Oliver Stone's biopic on President George W. Bush. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
NJ mom accused of starving child pleads not guilty
Legal Topics |
2011/06/02 15:53
|
Two women pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of child endangerment a week after an 8-year-old was found dead in their apartment from severe malnutrition and an untreated broken leg and her injured and emaciated siblings were removed alive.
The children's 30-year-old mother, Venette Ovilde, stared blankly and answered a judge's questions in a barely audible whisper as she entered her plea through a court-appointed attorney. She remains held on $500,000 bail on aggravated manslaughter and child endangerment charges.
Her 23-year-old roommate, Myriam Janvier, also pleaded not guilty through a court-appointed attorney to child endangerment charges. Her bail was continued at $100,000.
Christiana Glenn died May 22 from severe malnutrition and a fractured femur that authorities said had never been treated. Her 7-year-old sister and 6-year-old brother remained hospitalized for treatment of malnutrition and other injuries after being removed from Ovilde's Irvington apartment.
The children were discovered after the police were called to the home on a report of a child not breathing.
The women, who were both born in Haiti but came to the U.S. at a young age, radically altered their lifestyles about two years ago when they came under the sway of a man they described as their religious leader, according to friends and acquaintances. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
US investigating Google claim of China hacking
Areas of Focus |
2011/06/02 09:54
|
Authorities in the United States are investigating a Google claim that hackers in China stole email details of senior U.S. government officials -- an issue that illustrates the problem of attribution in cyberspace, the coordinator for cyber issues at the U.S. State Department said Thursday.
Google disclosed Wednesday that personal Gmail accounts of several hundred people, including senior U.S. government officials, military personnel and political activists, had been breached. The company said it traced the origin of the attacks to Jinan, China, the home city of a military vocational school whose computers were linked to an assault 17 months ago on Google's systems. China has said it does not support hacking.
"The issue of attribution and knowing whether a state or non-state actors are involved is a huge problem in cybersecurity," Christopher Painter, coordinator for cyber issues for the State Department, told The Associated Press on the sidelines of a cybersecurity conference in London. He declined further comment on the Google claim.
Yuan Xu of the Internet Society of China, an industry group, defended her country's actions against phishing -- the type of attack that Google says was used against its users. Phishing fools users into giving their personal details to rogue websites.
She declined to comment on the specifics of the Google case, saying she didn't know enough about it, but noted that the CNCERT -- one of China's Internet watchdogs -- regularly shares the addresses of suspected phishing websites with its international partners. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Attorneys to give openings in Mumbai terror case
Areas of Focus |
2011/05/23 15:51
|
The trial of a Chicago businessman accused of helping plan deadly attacks in Mumbai in 2008 is being closely watched worldwide for what testimony might reveal about the global fight against terrorism. Defense attorneys, though, say their case is about just one thing: Betrayal.
Opening statements start Monday in the trial of Tahawwur Rana, who prosecutors allege provided cover for his former schoolmate to scout out sites for the rampage that killed more than 160 people in India's largest city. Rana, 50, has pleaded not guilty.
The case has drawn keen interest because the testimony might give clues about suspected links between the Pakistani militant group blamed in the attacks and the nation's main intelligence agency, which has been under scrutiny for failing to detect Osama bin Laden since U.S. forces killed him May 2 outside Islamabad.
Prosecutors' key witness is expected to be David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American and Rana's former friend who pleaded guilty last year to laying the groundwork for the Mumbai siege blamed on the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Headley is cooperating with the government and may discuss allegations that Pakistan's government knew — or possibly helped plan — the attack. Six Americans were among those killed. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Texas lawyer wants extra pollution controls nixed
Areas of Focus |
2011/05/23 15:51
|
A lawyer representing the energy industry has filed a petition with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality seeking a relaxation of rules governing air-borne pollution that he says compel Texas businesses to pick up the tab for foreign polluters.
Attorney Jed Anderson said states should not be forced to make deeper cuts in smog-forming emissions to meet federal limits because of wind-borne pollution from places such as Mexico.
"It's important to push for cleaner air, but we need to do it in a way that is just and fair," said Anderson, of Houston.
He filed the petition last week, the Houston Chronicle reported Monday.
TCEQ has 60 days to respond to the petition. If the agency agrees with Anderson, it could ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to revise the rules.
Federal law gives states the primary responsibility for assuring that the air is safe to breathe. The law allows an exception if foreign pollution is the only reason that an area does not comply with smog limits, but that is difficult to prove. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn to plead not guilty
Areas of Focus |
2011/05/23 15:50
|
Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn will plead not guilty to sexual assault charges and will be acquitted, his lawyer says.
In an interview with Israel's Haaretz newspaper today, Benjamin Brafman said he was confident his client would be acquitted on charges of sexually assaulting a 32-year-old maid in a New York hotel.
"He'll plead not guilty and in the end he'll be acquitted," Brafman told Haaretz during a brief visit to Israel.
"Nothing is certain, but from what I've discerned in the investigation, he will be acquitted.
"He has impressed me very much. Despite the circumstances, he's doing well. He's not happy to have been accused of actions he didn't take."
Mr Brafman is known in the US for having taken on several high-profile legal cases, including the defence of Michael Jackson and rapper Sean Combs. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Head of Delaware Business Court Joining Law Firm
Legal Topics |
2011/05/21 15:52
|
The head of Delaware's Court of Chancery, a key venue for matters of corporate law, is taking a job with a California-based law firm.
Chancellor William Chandler III will join Palo Alto-based Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati on June 18. He had announced in April that he was retiring from the bench. In a statement released by the firm Thursday, Chandler said Wilson Sonsini has an outstanding legal practice and one of the most enviable client bases in the nation.
Chandler has served on the chancery court since 1989 and was appointed to the top post of chancellor in 1997.
He has presided over many high-profile cases, involving companies such as Walt Disney Co., Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp., News Corp., eBay Inc., Citigroup Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dow Chemical Co. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Headline Legal News for You to Reach America's Best Legal Professionals. The latest legal news and information - Law Firm, Lawyer and Legal Professional news in the Media. |
|
|
