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Italy court upholds Berlusconi tax fraud verdict
Legal Career News |
2013/05/14 00:10
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Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi's tax fraud conviction and four-year prison sentence were upheld on the first appeal Wednesday in a case that could see him barred from public office for five years.
In Italy, defendants are legally considered innocent until all appeals are exhausted, and Berlusconi's lawyers are expected to appeal the case to the nation's highest Court of Cassation once the reasoning for the decision is published.
Still, the ruling, which comes just days before prosecutors wrap up closing arguments in his sensational sex-for-hire trial, raises the question of whether Berlusconi's days as a political force are numbered.
His center-right forces are allied with the Democratic Party in a grand coalition, and although Berlusconi holds no governmental posts he remains influential. It was his decision to head the center-right coalition, after initially saying he would move aside for younger leaders, that gave a boost to his forces in February's election campaign, finishing a close second to the center-left. |
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OJ bid for new trial starting in Las Vegas court
Law News |
2013/05/14 00:04
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O.J. Simpson is back in a Las Vegas courtroom to ask for a new trial in the case that sent him to prison in 2008.
The former football hero and a new set of lawyers hope to convince a judge during a hearing that began Monday that trial lawyer Yale Galanter had conflicted interests and shouldn't have handled Simpson's armed case.
Simpson appeared in court wearing a blue jail uniform. His hair was short and grayer than it was during a previous court appearance in 2008.
He entered the courtroom in handcuffs, flanked by guards and nodded toward people he recognized in the second row.
Simpson is serving nine to 33 years in a Nevada prison. He's due to testify Wednesday.
Galanter is scheduled to testify Friday. He is declining comment before then.
Simpson says that Galanter knew ahead of time about his plan to retrieve what he thought were personal mementoes from two sports memorabilia dealers at a casino hotel room in September 2007. |
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Flavor Flav due in Las Vegas court on felony case
Law News |
2013/04/12 15:51
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A judge in Las Vegas is expected to hear evidence in a felony case alleging entertainer Flavor Flav attacked his longtime girlfriend and her teenage son last October.
The 54-year-old former rap and reality TV star is due Wednesday before a Las Vegas judge who agreed twice before to postpone his hearing.
Defense attorney Tony Abbatangelo has said he hoped to settle the case, but prosecutor Jake Merback says nothing is resolved so far.
The entertainer's legal name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr.
He's accused of pushing his girlfriend of eight years to the floor Oct. 17 and wielding two knives while allegedly chasing and threatening the woman's 17-year-old son.
He could face prison time on assault and child endangerment charges.
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Court considers Calif. prison mental health care
Law News |
2013/04/02 12:43
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A federal judge in Sacramento is set to hear arguments Wednesday over Gov. Jerry Brown's push to regain state control of inmate mental health care after 18 years of federal oversight and billions of dollars spent to improve treatment.
Lawyers representing the state argue that California is now providing a constitutional level of care to its prison inmates, while attorneys for the inmates say more improvement is needed.
California has spent more than $1 billion in construction for mental health facilities and increased salaries to hire more and better mental health workers. It now has more than 1,700 psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, social workers and nurses to treat more than 32,000 mentally ill inmates, or about one specialist for every 19 patients.
"California has invested tremendous amounts of money, resources and effort to transform its prison mental health care system into one of the best in the country," the state said in one of its recent court filings.
Inmates' attorneys say the efforts so far are not enough and that more mental health facilities must be built and staffed. They also say more must be done to reduce a suicide rate that exceeds the national average for state and federal prisons.
California's prison suicide rate was 24 per 100,000 inmates in 2012. That compares to 16 per 100,000 inmates in other state prisons and the historical average of nine suicides per 100,000 inmates in federal prisons. |
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US appeals court grants Hobby Lobby full hearing
Legal News Digest |
2013/03/30 16:04
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A federal appeals court has granted Hobby Lobby's request for the entire court to hear its challenge of a federal requirement that it provide insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency contraceptives.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced its decision Friday. Appeals are usually decided by a three-judge panel, but a total of nine judges will hear the appeal from the Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts chain.
Hobby Lobby is challenging a requirement in the new federal health care law that says the company must provide and pay for emergency contraceptives. The company says the requirement violates the beliefs of its Christian owners.
The Denver-based court also said it would hear Hobby Lobby's appeal on an expedited basis, with oral arguments expected this spring.
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