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Wash. lawyers challenge secret court proceedings
Legal Business |
2012/05/26 15:15
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A defense lawyer in Eastern Washington was reading a detective's statement in his client's drug case when he came across a curious line. In asking to search the man's house and cars, the detective revealed that he had already seen the defendant's bank records.
That's odd, thought the lawyer, Robert Thompson of Pasco. There's no search warrant for the bank records. How'd he get them?
The answer — with a subpoena secretly issued by a judge — provides a window into the little-known use of "special inquiry judge proceedings" in Benton County and across the state. Prosecutors who use them say the proceedings are authorized by state law, make for more efficient investigations and have plenty of judicial oversight, but Thompson and other defense attorneys say they raise questions about privacy, accountability and the open administration of justice. |
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Court to decide if deportation ruling retroactive
Legal Business |
2012/05/01 10:08
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The Supreme Court will decide whether to apply retroactively its 2010 decision that immigrants have a right to be told that a guilty plea could lead to their deportation.
The high court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from Roselva Chaidez, who was in the process of being deported when the court made that March 2010 decision.
Chaidez pleaded guilty to fraud in 2004 after falsely claiming to be a passenger in a car wreck. Authorities started deportation procedures while she was applying for U.S. citizenship in 2007.
Her lawyer never told her that her fraud conviction may lead to her deportation. Chaidez says she should be able to take advantage of the Supreme Court decision that cemented that principle. |
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Mo. court denies tax break for convenience stores
Legal Business |
2012/03/07 09:28
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Missouri's highest court says convenience stores cannot claim a tax break on the electricity used to prepare food.
The Supreme Court's decision Tuesday hinged on whether the act of warming or cooking food qualified as "processing" a product. If so, then the electricity used for food preparation could qualify for a state sales tax exemption.
In a 5-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that food preparation was not "processing" and the tax break could not be claimed.
Casey's General Stores had sought the tax break for one month of electricity used at stores in Grain Valley and Greenwood.
The Missouri Department of Revenue said it did not have a specific figure for what might have been owed to Casey's, or to other companies that might have made similar claims.
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Attorney: Accused NYC madam unfair target of case
Legal Business |
2012/03/07 09:27
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Prosecutors and defense attorneys have presented contrasting views of a New York woman jailed on a seven-figure bail on a single charge of promoting prostitution.
Anna Gristina's lawyers have portrayed her as a dedicated suburban mom, animal rescuer and former real estate broker who was working on building an online dating service. They said she's a target of an unfairly sensationalized case.
But prosecutors contend she's an arrogant, multimillion-dollar madam who boasted of ties to law enforcement and stashed cash to flee if authorities tried to close in on her.
"A caring mother of four has been slapped with a $2 million bond," one of her lawyers, Peter J. Gleason, said after a judge refused Tuesday to lower the bail.
In an interview Wednesday on "Good Day New York," Gleason said the prosecution has not shared with the defense team information about its allegations that the Monroe, N.Y., woman peddled underage girls and had police protection.
He said the underage allegation was "a ploy that the police will sometimes use if they have a hostile client that they want to break," he said.
He also said he never asked his client about reports of a "black book" containing names of influential clients. |
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Cook County court building named after famed Judge
Legal Business |
2012/03/02 10:18
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After decades of merely being known as 26th and California, the Cook County Criminal Courts building on Chicago's southwest side has been officially named "The Honorable George N. Leighton Criminal Court Building."
Members of the Cook County Board voted unanimously Thursday to rename the building after the 99-year-old Leighton — a county judge who was the first African American to sit on the Illinois Appellate Court, and later was named a federal judge.
Leighton wasn't at the meeting, but his daughter, son-in-law and grandson were in attendance.
Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Tim Evans, who was a student of Leighton's when he taught at Chicago's John Marshall Law School, called the renaming of the building a well-deserved honor. He added that Leighton was his "star in the judicial constellation." |
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