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Man found guilty in Atlanta of killing boxer
Court Press News |
2011/08/17 09:28
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A Fulton County jury has found DeMario Ware guilty of felony murder and other charges in the shooting of former world champion boxer Vernon Forrest.
The jury acquitted Ware on a malice murder charge.
The 22-year-old Ware did not fire the gun that killed the 38-year-old welterweight, but was charged with malice murder, felony murder, armed robbery and aggravated assault. He could be sentenced to life in prison.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that in a police interview played for the jury, Ware admitted pointing a loaded gun at Forrest on the night of July 25, 2009, and taking the boxer's gold championship ring and Rolex watch. Police say Forrest chased Ware but failed to catch him and wound up being shot to death by Charman Sinkfield, one of Ware's codefendants. |
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EEOC sues, argues man on treatment should be hired
Legal News Digest |
2011/08/17 09:27
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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued a national insurance company, contending the firm violated federal law by refusing to hire a North Carolina man after he disclosed he was participating in a methadone treatment program for a drug addiction.
The suit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Raleigh against United Insurance Co. of America, said EEOC attorney Lynette Barnes.
The complaint argues the firm violated federal disability discrimination law by refusing to hire Craig Burns, 30, who applied for a job in the firm's Raleigh office in December of 2009. The firm made a conditional offer of employment to Burns the following month, depending upon his passing a drug test, the complaint said.
The test showed the presence of methadone in his system, so Burns submitted a letter to the firm from his treatment provider saying he was participating in a supervised methadone treatment program and taking legally prescribed medication as part of the treatment, the complaint said.
Upon receiving this information, United Insurance notified Barnes he was not eligible to be hired and withdrew the employment offer, the complaint said.
Barnes said the action violates the Americans With Disabilities Act, which protects employees and applicants from discrimination based on their disabilities. A recovering drug addict is covered under the act, the attorney said in an interview. |
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NY court rejects $18M class action writers deal
Law News |
2011/08/16 09:28
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A federal appeals court in New York has rejected an $18 million class action settlement reached after freelance writers sued publishers.
The writers had said their copyrights were infringed upon when their works were reprinted online without permission.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said Wednesday the 2005 deal had to be scrapped because the plaintiffs didn't adequately represent all members of the class. It says more than 99 percent of claims wouldn't be covered by the settlement because they involved writers who hadn't registered copyrights.
The settlement was reached after the Supreme Court in 2001 ruled freelance writers have online rights to their work. The case largely applied to articles, photographs and illustrations produced 15 or more years ago. |
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White House criticizes court's health care ruling
Legal Business |
2011/08/15 09:29
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The White House is expressing confidence that it's constitutional to require people to have health insurance and believes that President Barack Obama's health care law will be survive all legal challenges in the end.
Obama adviser Stephanie Cutter says the White House strongly disagrees with an appeals court ruling Friday that struck down the insurance requirement at the center of a law.
She says the White House is confident that ruling will not stand.
Cutter notes on the White House blog that four other courts, including a different appeals court, has upheld the law.
Many legal observers expect the U.S. Supreme Court to have the final say on the issue. |
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Nigerian who allegedly scammed 80 law firms, lawyers out of $31M extradited to US
Legal Business |
2011/08/14 09:29
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A Nigerian man who fled to his homeland after being accused of defrauding dozens of lawyers and law firms of more than $31 million dollars has been extradited to the U.S., Nigeria’s anti-graft agency said Friday.
Emmanuel Ekhator was arrested in Nigeria’s Benin City by the country’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in August. He was handed over to U.S. marshals in New York on Thursday, said Femi Babafemi, the anti-graft body’s spokesman.
“With the latest extradition, ... the message should be clear to anyone who travels abroad to commit crime and run back home to hide that Nigeria is no longer safe for them,” Farida Waziri, the anti-graft body’s chief, said in a statement. “We will get them and hand them over to face the law.”
Court records show Ekhator has yet to be assigned a lawyer. He remained in custody on Friday.
Charging documents from the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania show that Ekhator and others are accused of mail and wire fraud after using bank accounts in South Korea, Singapore, China and Japan to collect the stolen money.
Federal prosecutors say the complicated scam involved multiple players, with a fraudster calling a U.S. or Canadian law firm posing as someone usually in Asia who needed to collect a debt from a person or organization based in North America. Another scammer poses as the debtor and agrees to pay off the debt — using a fake check, authorities say.
The law firms or lawyers collect the fake check, which gets validated by a third scammer posing as a bank employee over the telephone. Before the victims realize the check is fake, they’ve already used their own money to pay the fake settlement amount to their supposedly Asia-based client. |
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