Recent Updates
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Calif Supreme Court says threats must be serious
Court Alerts 08/14/2011The California Supreme Court says state laws against threatening a crime victim or witness are valid only if a reasonable listener believes the threats are serious. The San Francisco Chronicle says last week's unanimous decision means a Riverside Cou...
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Miss. judge suspended for misconduct
Court Alerts 08/12/2011The Mississippi Supreme Court has suspended Alcorn County Justice Court Judge Jimmy McGee for misconduct. The Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance had accused McGee of interfering with a criminal case and making "statements in open court en...
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Dougherty siblings to appear in Colorado court
Court Alerts 08/12/2011A woman caught with her two brothers after a nationwide manhunt told Colorado authorities she "deserved to get shot" after pointing a gun at a police chief at the end of the siblings' run from the law, according to a court document. Lee Grace Dougher...
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Pa. judge gets 28 years in 'kids for cash' case
Court Alerts 08/11/2011A longtime northeastern Pennsylvania judge has been ordered to spend nearly three decades in prison for his role in a massive juvenile justice bribery scandal that prompted the state's high court to toss thousands of convictions. Former Luzerne Count...
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Wash. man pleads guilty to defrauding ID investors
Court Alerts 08/10/2011A Washington man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Idaho to cheating investors out of more than $2 million and using the cash for his own benefit. Federal prosecutors say 59-year-old Dale Edward Lowell, of Colbert, Wash., pleaded guilty to one c...
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Kansas lawyer gets nearly 4 years for Texas fraud
Court Alerts 08/10/2011A lawyer from Kansas has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison over a $2.3 million Ponzi scheme in Texas. A federal judge in Beaumont on Tuesday sentenced 62-year-old Clifford R. Roth of Leawood, Kan. Roth pleaded guilty March 14 to interstat...
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Court rules firing of NJ casino dealer unlawful
Court Alerts 08/09/2011A federal appeals court has sided with an Atlantic City casino dealer who says he was targeted because he was involved in union organizing. Bally's Park Place fired Jose Justiniano in 2007. The casino claimed he misused family medical leave time by a...
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Woman pleads guilty in videotaped beating
Court Alerts 08/07/2011A woman whose beating of a transgender woman at a McDonald's restaurant near Baltimore was captured on videotape has pleaded guilty to the attack.Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger says 19-year-old Teonna Brown pleaded guilty Thurs...
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Judge: Jail for driver in fatal US bus crash
Court Alerts 08/06/2011A tour bus driver who caused a crash that killed three Japanese tourists last year was spared a lengthy prison term Friday when a judge sentenced him to less than a year in jail for his role in the wreck.Yasushi Mikuni was facing the prospect of 15 y...
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Calif. court hears appeal on gay juror dismissals
Court Alerts 08/05/2011A federal appeals case pending in California could determine if trial lawyers should be barred from dismissing potential jurors because they are gay. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Thursday in Pasadena that challenge a Los Ange...
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Appeals court overturns rare Mich. death sentence
Court Alerts 08/03/2011A federal appeals court on Wednesday overturned a death sentence for a western Michigan man who was convicted of drowning a young woman in a remote lake to prevent her from pursuing a rape case against him. The court upheld Marvin Gabrion's convictio...
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NJ high court to rule in case of retired judge
Court Alerts 08/01/2011New Jersey's Supreme Court has upheld the censure of a retired Superior Court judge. Steven Perskie was disciplined in March for not recusing himself in a timely fashion from a case involving his former campaign treasurer. A state Supreme Court commi...