| Conviction could create case law | | Posted Saturday, December 09, 2006 12:45:51 PM by Blog57 Team | | A Westborough man last week was found guilty of trying to lure a 14-year-old girl into his truck in Ashland, a conviction legal insiders said could create case law in the state.Joseph E. LaPlante, 38, of 175 Flanders Road, was convicted Nov. 30 of enticement of a child after a jury trial in Framingham District Court. He is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday and is being held without bail in Middlesex Jail in Cambridge until then.It is the first conviction for that charge after a jury trial in Middlesex County, spokeswoman Melissa Sherman said. Other defendants charged with enticement of a child have pleaded guilty, she said.If the conviction is appealed, it would definitely create case law, said Edward P. Ryan Jr., a former president of the Massachusetts Bar Association. He and other MetroWest lawyers say this week the charge is a rare one.``I think this is a very difficult prosecution,'' said Ryan, a Boston attorney.... | |
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| | | Court Dodges Debate Over Parental Consent In Criminal Case | | Posted Monday, November 13, 2006 6:45:37 PM by Blog57 Team | | JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi's parental consent law for abortions is 20 years old. Lawmakers could not have envisioned that it would be used as a defense or as a means to prosecute in a criminal trial. Mississippi law allows girls younger than 18 to seek an abortion with either parental consent, or a determination by a judge that she knows what she is doing. This past week, the state Court of Appeals declined to get into a debate over the constitutionality of whether parental consent could be used as a defense or a prosecution in a criminal case. .... | |
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| | | Hollywood and Vino: 'Law & Order' Plays Off Mel Gibson Story | | Posted Sunday, November 05, 2006 6:46:51 AM by Blog57 Team | | Just in case someone could possibly watch tonight's edition of "Law & Order" on NBC and not figure out that it was "inspired" by last summer's Mel Gibson affair, the episode has been titled "In Vino Veritas," a Latin phrase that Gibson and Diane Sawyer invoked when the TV superstar interviewed the movie superstar on "Good Morning, America." Gibson scoffed at the expression and its implication that too much booze can cause He Who's Drunk to say things he really means but wouldn't say if sober and self-controlled. That is, just because he screamed vile racist tripe at a Jewish cop who stopped him for reckless driving does not mean, Gibson insisted, that he really believes any of those awful things. .... | |
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| | | DNR hires KC law firm to help with Taum Sauk case | | Posted Friday, October 27, 2006 6:46:16 PM by Blog57 Team | | ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources hired an outside law firm to help it settle a massive claim over the Taum Sauk reservoir collapse, deepening the division between the agency and Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, who also is working on the case. Nixon and the DNR have been holding talks this summer with utility Ameren Corp., which owns the southeast Missouri reservoir that collapsed last year. DNR Director Doyle Childers said his agency cannot trust Nixon to handle the case because Nixon's gubernatorial campaign received more than $19,000 in contributions that originated with Ameren after he launched an investigation into Taum Sauk this year. Nixon returned the donations after they were disclosed this summer. "If he weren't the attorney general, he would be disbarred.... | |
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| | | Case of mass brawl in N. Russia goes to court-PGO | | Posted Thursday, October 19, 2006 6:45:34 AM by Blog57 Team | | MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - The case of a man who purportedly started a brawl in the northern Russian city of Kondopoga, leading to mass riots, has been turned over to a court of law, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said Wednesday. A confrontation between locals in Kondopoga, in the Republic of Karelia, and Caucasus natives left at least two city residents dead, and culminated in riots that shook the town, as residents demanded Chechens be deported. "The Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Karelia has approved an indictment in the case of Sergei Mozgalev, who provoked a fight in Kondopoga's Chaika cafe the night of August 30, 2006. "Mozgalev has been charged with hooliganism, assault and battery under the provisions of Articles 213/2 and 116/2 of the Criminal Law Code of the Russian Federation," the PGO said in a statement posted on its official Web site.... | |
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| | | Hanahan case raises questions about state's fornication law | | Posted Tuesday, October 10, 2006 10:45:39 PM by Blog57 Team | | (Charleston-AP) September 30, 2006 - The case of a Hanahan city firefighter and his former girlfriend who police say unlawfully entered an unoccupied house to have sex is raising some questions about the state's fornication law. The law has been on the books since 1880 and prohibits sex between people who are not married. The charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. Paul Joseph Sloan and former girlfriend Courtney Michelle King were charged with second-degree burglary - defined in state law as entering a building or dwelling without consent with the intent to commit a crime. The underlying crime in the case is fornication even though the two were not charged with that. Prosecutor Ralph Hoisington says he has never seen the charge prosecuted and it's unlikely he will pursue that element of the case.... | |
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| | | Albright and Bray vie for judgeship | | Posted Thursday, October 05, 2006 12:45:38 PM by Blog57 Team | | When Judge Douglas Albright opted for an early retirement after 31 years on the bench in the fall of 2005, Gov. Mike Easley quickly appointed a successor with a familiar name for the Guilford County superior court judgeship. With a reputation as Guilford's hard-charging district attorney, Stuart Albright was already well known as the top prosecutor in the county since his appointment in 2001 and subsequent election the next year. A 1995 graduate of Wake Forest University School of Law who spent five years in private practice before going into public service, Stuart Albright is the son of Douglas Albright. "The biggest thing I've had to get used to is to learn to be a referee," Stuart Albright said. "Having held court in eight counties and presided over more criminal and civil trials than I can remember, I am developing my sea legs as a judge." Now, after surviving his May primary contest in a race that has been whittled down to two candidates, Albright faces Susan Bray, who is currently seated as a Guilford County district court judge, in the Nov.... | |
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| | | Upcoming Supreme Court case may affect patents | | Posted Monday, October 02, 2006 2:45:33 PM by Blog57 Team | | The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the eBay Inc. v. MercExchange LLC case earlier this year changed the prevailing law on patent infringement. That decision allowed trial court judges to take fairness into account and balance the harm that would be done before deciding whether to order an injunction that could shut down a company found to have infringed a patent. Previously, injunctions were virtually automatic. Another case that is now before the Supreme Court may change the law on how easy it should be to get patents, and how easy it will be for accused infringers to challenge them in court or in administrative proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. That case is KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc. The precise question before the court is whether Teleflex should have been granted a patent on an electronically controlled adjustable gas pedal.... | |
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| | | MINING NEWS: Mining and the Law: The case of the Tulsequah Chief | | Posted Sunday, September 24, 2006 2:45:56 AM by Blog57 Team | | If you have ever thought that the cost of manufactured goods is too low, and wondered what you can do about it, you might consider the case of the Tulsequah Chief prospect in nearby British Columbia. The Tulsequah Chief is an historic mine located up the Tulsequah River, a tributary to the Taku, abo.... [additional news subjects in this story] Taku empties into Lynn Canal Taku viewed as corridor of commerce You must be logged in to view this story. Please either log in or subscribe. Click here to subscribe to Petroleum News for as low as $49 per year. Subscribers log in here to read the entire newspaper (1998 to 09/22/2006) .... | |
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| | | No law on deposits to landlords | | Posted Friday, September 15, 2006 2:45:46 PM by Blog57 Team | | Q Why isn't there a state law to require that a landlord pay a fair interest rate to a renter on the amount of the security deposit? In my case, I put down $1,500, which would earn interest in a bank account. Other companies have to pay interest on deposits, why not landlords? A. Christine Hirasa, spokeswoman for the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, said the short answer is that landlords don't have to because there's no state law to require it. But she said the answer is more complex because there have been proposals at the state Legislature in the past to require landlords to pay interest on security deposits but no law has been enacted. Backers said an interest requirement would mean renters get the money back plus a little more when they leave.... | |
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