Recent Updates
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Suspect in NY fire pleads not guilty
Court Alerts 06/24/2011An 18-year-old student has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder in a case that has brought unusual attention to a Hasidic Jewish enclave in New York.Shaul Spitzer of New Square is accused of severely burning a neighbor, Aron Rottenberg, with gasoli...
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Court says lab analyst must testify to own work
Court Alerts 06/23/2011The Supreme Court says that the lab analyst who testifies at a criminal trial must be the one who performed or witnessed the lab tests in question, the latest decision bolstering the constitutional requirement that defendants be able to confront witn...
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Strauss-Kahn said he had diplomatic immunity
Court Alerts 06/20/2011Dominique Strauss-Kahn declared he had diplomatic immunity and complained that his handcuffs were too tight after he was taken into custody on allegations he tried to rape a Manhattan hotel maid, court documents show.The documents filed Thursday by p...
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Court says age must be considered in interrogation
Court Alerts 06/19/2011A divided Supreme Court said Thursday that police and courts must consider a child's age when examining whether a boy or girl is in custody, a move the court's liberals called "common sense" but the conservatives called an "extreme makeover" of Miran...
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US court lets class action against Bayer proceed
Court Alerts 06/19/2011The Supreme Court will let two West Virginia residents revive a lawsuit against Bayer AG over its anti-cholesterol drug Baycol, which was withdrawn from the market in 2001 after reports of a severe and sometimes fatal muscle disorder.The high court o...
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Miss. court tosses exploitation conviction
Court Alerts 06/19/2011The Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the conviction of Vanessa Decker, who was given a 4-year suspended sentence in 2008 on a charge of exploiting her own mother.Last year, the state Court of Appeals upheld Decker's conviction.Decker ...
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High court upholds Ala. man's conviction
Court Alerts 06/16/2011The Supreme Court has upheld the criminal conviction of an Alabama man even though the justices agreed the police search that produced incriminating evidence was illegal.The high court's 7-2 ruling Thursday against Willie Gene Davis highlighted an un...
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Court says age must be considered in interrogation
Court Alerts 06/16/2011The Supreme Court says courts must consider age when examining whether a child is in custody and must be given Miranda rights.The high court on Thursday ruled that police and school officials were wrong when they interviewed a 13-year-old special edu...
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Court: NJ Megan's Law killer can continue appeal
Court Alerts 06/14/2011The man convicted of killing a 7-year-old girl who became the namesake of Megan's Laws across the country should be allowed to pursue claims that his lawyers were ineffective, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.But the appeals court did not agree wi...
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Suspected Colombian drug kingpin nixes plea deal
Court Alerts 06/14/2011The suspected leader of a Colombian cocaine cartel had planned to plead guilty Tuesday to a drug conspiracy charge, but opted at the last minute to go to trial instead because the deal prosecutors offered meant he would likely die in prison.An exaspe...
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Court to decide whether farmers must pay tax
Court Alerts 06/13/2011The Supreme Court will decide whether a couple must pay taxes on the bankruptcy sale of their family farm.The high court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from Lynwood and Brenda Hall.The Halls were forced to sell their family farm for $960,000 to s...
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Toyota class action suit to start with Utah case
Court Alerts 06/10/2011The first lawsuit to go to trial in a massive class action against Toyota Motor Corp. over acceleration problems that led the company to recall 14 million cars will involve a crash that killed two people in western Utah, a federal judge said Friday. ...