Recent Updates
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Texas woman on death row gets new sentencing trial
Legal News Center 11/03/2011Texas woman on death row gets new sentencing trial A Texas appeals court says one of 10 women on the state's death row should get a new punishment hearing after her attorneys said prosecutors withheld evidence at her 2005 trial. Chelsea Richardson wa...
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Court reluctant on plea bargains after sentencing
Legal News Center 11/01/2011The Supreme Court seemed reluctant Monday to allow criminals to ask for a previously offered plea bargain after they've been sentenced, despite the inmates' claim of misconduct by their lawyers including neglecting to tell their clients that a deal h...
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High court reinstates 'shaken baby' conviction
Legal News Center 10/31/2011The Supreme Court has again reinstated the conviction of a California woman for shaking her 7-week-old grandson to death, a final ruling that ends a protracted dispute with the federal appeals court in San Francisco. The justices voted 6-3 Monday to ...
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Appeals court overturns key Cape Wind clearance
Legal News Center 10/28/2011A federal appeals court has rejected the Federal Aviation Administration's ruling that the Cape Wind project's turbines present "no hazard" to aviation, overturning a vital clearance for the nation's first offshore wind farm. A decision Friday from t...
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Hunger-striking prisoner fights force-feedings
Legal News Center 10/25/2011Attorneys for a British prisoner who lost more than 100 pounds during a hunger strike have asked Connecticut's Supreme Court to prevent prison officials from force-feeding him.The prisoner, William Coleman, stopped eating in September 2007 over claim...
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Couple arraigned in Wash. in Northwest crime spree
Legal News Center 10/20/2011A couple accused in a deadly crime spree through the Northwest pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two counts of aggravated murder.David "Joey" Pedersen and Holly Grigsby wore orange jail uniforms during their separate appearances at Snohomish County Sup...
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5 foreign nationals held in Texas court break-in
Legal News Center 10/19/2011Investigators have found 90-day visas, maps, cell phones and computers inside a recreational vehicle that may have been rented by five foreign nationals arrested after a break-in at a county courthouse in San Antonio.Sheriff's department spokesman Lo...
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Top Europe court bans stem cell technique patents
Legal News Center 10/18/2011The European Union's top court ruled Tuesday that scientists cannot patent stem cell techniques that use human embryos for research purposes, a ruling some scientists said threatens important research since no one could profit from it. The European C...
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US House group files motion in gay marriage suit
Legal News Center 10/17/2011Gays and lesbians are not entitled to the same heightened legal protection and scrutiny against discrimination as racial minorities and women in part because they are far from politically powerless and have ample ability to influence lawmakers, lawye...
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Court to hear bid to sue Shell for Nigerian abuses
Legal News Center 10/16/2011The Supreme Court said Monday it will use a dispute between Nigerian villagers and oil giant Royal Dutch Shell to decide whether corporations may be held liable in U.S. courts for alleged human rights abuses overseas. The justices said they will revi...
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Panel: Suspend ex-AG Kline's law license in Kansas
Legal News Center 10/14/2011A professional ethics panel recommended Thursday that former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline have his state law license suspended indefinitely over his conduct during criminal investigations of abortion providers, saying he was "motivated by dish...
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Lawyer: First Toyota case to go to trial in 2013
Legal News Center 10/12/2011A lawyer says a case against Toyota Motor Corp. that was dismissed by a federal judge in California last month has been refiled and will be the first to reach trial out of hundreds of sudden acceleration complaints. Plaintiffs' attorney Mark Robinson...