Craig Opens Another Legal Battle

Legal News Feed

[##_1L|1301268931.jpg|width="130" height="93" alt=""|_##]Sen. Larry Craig has opened a new round in his legal battle stemming from his airport restroom arrest, appealing a judge's refusal to let him to withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct. Craig's appeal was filed Monday at the Minnesota Court of Appeals, less than two weeks after Hennepin County District Court Judge Charles Porter refused to overturn the plea.

The four-page filing did not detail the basis for the appeal, noting only that Craig was appealing Porter's Oct. 4 order. The documents were dated with Friday's date but were received and stamped by the Appeals Court on Monday.

"From the outset, Senator Craig has maintained that he is innocent of any illegal conduct at the Minneapolis airport," Craig's lead attorney, Billy Martin, said in a statement. "Like every other citizen, Senator Craig has the constitutional right to make every effort to clear his name."

Craig, a Republican from Idaho, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in August after he was accused of soliciting sex in a bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in June.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which owns and operates the airport, said the guilty plea reflected Craig's conduct in the public restroom.

"The facts in the case speak for themselves, and we are confident the senator's guilty plea will stand," spokesman Patrick Hogan said in a statement.

The appeals court must find there's been an "abuse of discretion" by the trial judge before overturning a ruling — in other words, that some aspect of the ruling was decided improperly.

It would most likely be well into 2008 before the Court of Appeals rules on the case. The process by which both sides prepare their legal briefs alone usually stretches to more than 100 days, and the Court of Appeals faces a heavy caseload.

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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

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