ABA Journal
DOJ: $2.4 Million to Help Improve Indigent Defense
("U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has announced two new Justice
Department programs aimed at helping to bolster indigent defense services at
the state and local levels....Holder praised the efforts of the ABA (PDF) and
other groups, including the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers,
to improve indigent services.")
Law.com/New York Law Journal
Lawyer Whose Brother Stole From Firm Is Suspended for 2 Years
("A Long Island, N.Y., lawyer's failure to show 'appropriate vigilance
over his firm's bank account' has brought a two-year suspension four years
after the attorney's brother was convicted for embezzling more than $4 million
in client funds while working as the firm's bookkeeper.")
Blog of the Legal Times
Sidley Austin Client Suing D.C. Police in Fatal Shooting of Dog
("On June 15, 2010, Marietta Robinson claims Metropolitan Police
Department officers shot and killed her dog, Wrinkles, without cause during a
search of her home in northwest Washington. In a lawsuit (PDF) filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia, Robinson is suing the city and the officers allegedly
involved for more than $1.5 million. She's being represented by a pro bono team
from the Washington office of Sidley Austin.")
ABA Journal
Embattled DA Tells Judge in Ouster Hearing She Did Nothing Wrong
("A suspended North Carolina prosecutor accused of withholding exculpatory
evidence from defendants and misrepresenting facts in pleadings and during
court arguments took the stand in her own defense Friday at a special inquiry
ouster hearing. In her testimony, Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline, under
questioning from her lawyer, reargued cases concerning a judge she has harshly
criticized in the past, resulting in attorney complaints against the DA that
led to the special inquiry. It is only the second time in state history that
such a proceeding has been held, reports the Associated Press.")
Greedy
Gordon Gekko Stars in FBI Public Service Ad, Urges Viewers to Tip Feds re
Insider Trading ("In the FBI-produced video, which opens with a movie
scene, Douglas urges viewers to inform themselves about insider trading and tip
the feds, ABC News reports.")
Artist
Held in Contempt for Lying, Now Admits Basing Iconic Poster of Barack Obama on
AP Photo ("He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of criminal
contempt in a Friday hearing in federal court in Manhattan, admitting that he
had lied and concealed evidence about the true source of the image he used in
the poster, Reuters reports.")
Former
Top Drug Prosecutor Gets 9 Months in Crack Case; Judge Calls Prior Probation
Deal ‘Offensive’ ("Once the top drug prosecutor in Clark County, Nev.,
a former deputy district attorney has been sentenced to serve nine months in a
felony cocaine-possession case after allegedly buying a $40 rock of crack
cocaine in a neighborhood near the Las Vegas Strip last year. David Schubert
apologized and was scolded by the judge, who called him a 'disgrace' and said
an earlier plea deal that would have given Schubert probation and a chance to
expunge his record 'offensive,' according to the Associated Press and Fox 5 News.")
Justice
Thomas Is More Conservative Than 97 Percent of the Population, Researchers Say
("The U.S. Supreme Court “is quite representative of mass opinion,” though
some justices are outside the mainstream, according to two professors who
surveyed the public on recent decisions. According to the professors, Justice
Clarence Thomas is more conservative than 97 percent of the population and 93
percent of Republicans. Justice Antonin Scalia is more conservative than 89
percent of Americans and 77 percent of Republicans. The Washington Post reports on the
results.")
Wall Street Journal (sub. req'd.)
Show Trial: Puppets Act Out Corruption Case -- Ohio TV Station
Goes Low-Tech to Cover Big Story ("...Mr. Maynard's puppets—including
a bucktoothed squirrel, a lime-green lawyer and an obese man with a removable
beard—aren't putting on a show for kids or some offbeat comedy revue. They are
covering one of the biggest corruption trials in Ohio history—delivering their
reports of real testimony and wiretapped conversations from a yearslong
investigation of Jimmy Dimora, the Democratic kingpin accused of racketeering
by prosecutors in federal court in Akron.")
New York Times
A Fresh Blot on Murdoch’s Sun ("A top investigator
said Rupert Murdoch’s Sun newspaper had paid British officials large sums for
information.")
School Shooting in Ohio Leaves 1 Dead and 4 Wounded
("A teenager opened fire on a group of students in a high school cafeteria
outside Cleveland around breakfast time on Monday, leaving one student dead and
four others wounded, the authorities said.")
Gotham: Police Monitoring and a Climate of Fear ("Last
week, The Associated Press broke
the news that the Intelligence Division of the New York police had extended
its writ hundreds of square miles east and west, carefully detailing mosques,
dollar stores and restaurants, from Konak’s Turkish Cuisine in Farmingville, on
Long Island, to this luncheonette on the western edge of Newark. They carefully
recorded names, license plates and nationalities. Another Associated
Press report found that undercover city officers kept a close eye on Muslim
students at Yale, Columbia, Syracuse, Rutgers, New York University, Brooklyn
College and public state universities.")
Kelly Defends Surveillance of Muslims ("Police
Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly defended the New York Police Department’s
counterterrorism program on Monday, saying 'people have short memories as to
what happened here in 2001.'")
Britain: Nigerian Ex-Governor Guilty of Money Laundering
("A former Nigerian governor pleaded guilty in a British court on Monday
to laundering millions of dollars through British channels.")
Germany: Nazi Hunter Chosen as Presidential Candidate
("Beate Klarsfeld, who spent decades fighting fascism and rooting out
former Nazis with her husband, will run for president against a former East
German rights activist.")
President of Ecuador to Pardon Four in Libel Case
("Declaring victory over what he called a 'media dictatorship,' President Rafael Correa of
Ecuador
said Monday that he would pardon three newspaper executives and a columnist who
were sentenced to three years in prison in a libel case.")
Spanish Judge Is Acquitted of Abusing His Authority ("
Baltasar Garzón, a crusading human rights judge who was convicted this month of
illegally ordering a wiretap in a corruption case, was cleared on Monday by the
Spanish Supreme Court in a separate case of having abused his powers by
investigating atrocities committed during the Spanish Civil War and the ensuing
dictatorship of Francisco Franco.")
Colorado: Legalization of Marijuana Makes the Ballot
("A voter initiative that would legalize the possession of marijuana by
adults for recreational use qualified for the November ballot on Monday, state
officials said.")
Editorial: Justice for Upper Big Branch ("The filing
of criminal conspiracy charges against a top-ranking mine superintendent at the
Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, where 29 miners died, is a major step
forward.")
In Rutgers Case, Testimony About Text Message Exchange
("A day after Tyler Clementi disappeared, the only physical trace of his
whereabouts a wallet he left behind on the George Washington Bridge, Dharun
Ravi, his Rutgers University roommate, sent a series of text messages to a
friend, Molly Wei.")
City Room: London Jeweler Battles to Recover Stolen Diamonds
("'It is not every day that people use a Bentley to arrive at a premises
they intend to rob,' Detective Sgt. Sarah Staff of the London police said at
the time. 'I am sure there will be people who were in the street and saw this
car pull up.'")
A Close Call for an Officer in a Gunfight ("A police
officer narrowly averted a potentially life-threatening wound early Monday in a
gunfight that spanned several blocks across the Lower East Side, the police
said.")
Three Former Officers Plead Guilty in Gun-Smuggling Case
("Three former New York City police officers pleaded guilty on Monday to
taking part in a scheme to illegally transport firearms across state lines, the
authorities said.")
DealBook: F.B.I. Enlists Michael Douglas’s Help
("Gordon Gekko is cooperating with the F.B.I. No, there’s not another
big-budget Oliver Stone follow-up to “Wall Street” in the works. Instead,
Michael Douglas, who played the financier in the 1987 movie and the sequel, is
now starring in a straight-to-television video for the Federal Bureau of
Investigation meant to root out insider trading — the same crime that brought
down the high-flying Mr. Gekko.")
Former S.E.C. Lawyer Agrees to Pay $556,000 to Settle
Madoff-Related Claims ("The family of a former top lawyer for the
Securities and Exchange Commission, David M. Becker, agreed to pay about
$556,000 to settle claims over inherited money linked to Bernard L. Madoff’s
Ponzi scheme.")
Washington Post
64 men found dead in Syria ("Syrian activists: 64
bodies found near Homs in one of the worst mass killings")
Student declared brain dead in Ohio school shooting that killed
one other ("Three other victims remain hospitalized after witnesses
say gunman targeted certain students.")
NSA thwarted in cybersecurity initiative ("The
National Security Agency has pushed repeatedly over the past year to expand its
role in protecting private-sector computer networks from cyberattacks but has
been rebuffed by the White House, largely because of privacy concerns,
according to administration officials and internal documents.")
Russians skeptical of threat to Putin's life
Gulf War sailor who called suicide line offered counseling to
avoid charges ("Case outraged veterans groups, who said government
should not prosecute those seeking help.")
Suspect used nuclear threat to rob Prince George’s banks,
police say ("Authorities believe he has robbed at least four banks in
the county since late December.")
E.U. warns Google privacy policy may violate laws
NPR
Violence Exposes Crisis In Latin American Prisons ("A
series of fatal riots inside Mexican prisons last week and a deadly blaze at a
penitentiary in Honduras are prompting calls for major penal reform in Central
America. Violence at three different penitentiaries in Mexico last week left 48
inmates dead, while the inferno in Honduras earlier this month killed 360
prisoners. These deadly events underscore the problems of corruption,
overcrowding, prison gangs and crumbling infrastructure that prisons face
throughout the region.")
Human Rights Victims Seek Remedy At High Court ("Human
rights are front and center at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in two cases
testing how American law intersects with international law. At issue in both
cases is whether foreign nationals in the United States can sue corporations or
other entities in U.S. courts for alleged violations of human rights. The case
that has corporate teeth chattering is a lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell Oil,
which is accused of aiding and abetting the Nigerian government in committing
atrocities in the 1990s.")
2nd Murdoch Tabloid Focus Of Bribery Scandal ("The
senior police official investigating wrongdoing by journalists in London says
there was a culture of illegal payments at the Sun tabloid to create a
network of paid informants across the British government. The Sun is the
second tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp to be the focus of
wrongdoing.")
Google To Ramp Up Online Tracking ("Privacy
protections on Internet browsers are anything but ironclad. Companies
circumvent them routinely. Most people know they are being observed online but
figuring out how is complicated.")
Politico
ACLU, CAIR call for probe into W.H. funding for Muslim
surveillance ("The American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on
American-Islamic Relations are separately calling for investigations into White
House funding of a domestic spying program launched by the New York Police
Department against Muslim-Americans. The AP reported Monday that White House funds managed by the High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program went to buy equipment and
vehicles for a domestic surveillance program designed to infiltrate Muslim
groups.")
Senate may try House STOCK bill ("Reid will discuss
the next steps on the popular measure with his Democratic colleagues this
week.")
Report: Assange indicted in U.S. ("A top official at
the private research service Stratfor told colleagues via e-mail last year that
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was the subject of a sealed indictment by the
U.S. Government, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.")
The Hill
Bill to put cameras in Supreme Court won’t pass before
healthcare challenge
Threatening mailings containing suspicious powder hit Capitol
Hill
The AtlanticAnother Death Row Debacle: The Case Against Thomas Arthur
("In Alabama, a death row prisoner could be exonerated by a DNA test.
Why are the courts preventing this from happening -- especially when another
man has already confessed to the crime?")
Reuters
Judge rules Philadelphia cleric's cover-up trial must go on
("A judge on Monday refused to dismiss charges against the highest ranking
cleric in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia pedophilia scandal, saying dramatic
new evidence from the church's 'secret archives' was not enough to derail the
trial.")
Miami Herald
Guantánamo plea deal unveils new trial strategy ("The
plea bargain arranged with a former U.S. resident now detained on
terror-related charges emulates tactics federal prosecutors have used with
high-profile criminal cases.")
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sweeping criminal justice changes proposed ("State
legislative leaders on Monday proposed sweeping changes to criminal justice in
Georgia, including a plan to reduce prison terms for some offenders and divert
others into treatment rather than locking them up.")
Philadelphia Inquirer
U.S.: No control of how NYPD uses funds ("The city's
police chief was unapologetic about putting Muslims under surveillance.")
San Francisco Chronicle
High Court Won't Hear Death Row Inmate's Evidence of Innocence
("The U.S. Supreme Court [yesterday] refused to consider stopping the
execution of Larry Ray Swearingen, a Texas death row inmate who says newly
uncovered evidence proves his innocence. Swearingen's lawyers had asked the
high court to decide for the first time whether executing an innocent person
constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Constitution.")
Chicago Tribune
Stanford defense rests without calling Stanford
("Texas financier Allen Stanford's attorneys wound up their defense in his
criminal fraud trial on Monday without calling Stanford himself to the stand,
ending suspense over whether he would testify.")
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