| Jury selection begins in Pensacola road rage case | | Posted Monday, January 29, 2007 2:45:23 PM by Blog57 Team | | PENSACOLA, Fla. Jury selection is scheduled today in the trial of a Pensacola teenager accused in a road rage case that left a man with a broken jaw and cheekbone. Eighteen-year-old Christopher Polk is charged with felony battery after a confrontation with Brandon Ralph on April 14th. Escambia County deputies say it all started when a pickup truck tailgated Ralph's car as he drove to his job at a Wal-Mart. A store surveillance video shows Ralph talking with a man outside his car in the parking lot. The video shows the man punching Ralph in the face and Ralph falling to the ground. Polk was arrested April 25th on a Crime Stoppers tip. Polk says he punched Ralph in self-defense after Ralph approached him in a threatening manner. Information from: Pensacola News Journal, http:// WWW.PENSACOLANEWSJOURNAL.COM Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.... | |
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| | | Ford loses $31 million jury verdict in Bronco II rollover lawsuit | | Posted Thursday, November 09, 2006 6:46:22 AM by Blog57 Team | | Ford Motor Co., the second-biggest U.S. automaker, must pay $31 million to a South Carolina teenager who suffered brain injuries in a Bronco II rollover accident in 2001, a jury ruled. The verdict is the largest jury award in 2006 against an automaker, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Jesse Branham III, 17, was a rear-seat passenger in a 1987 Bronco II when it flipped over on a country road in southwestern South Carolina. Branham's parents, who sued on their son's behalf, said the Bronco II rolled over because the sport-utility vehicle is inherently unstable. ``A high center of gravity causes the Bronco to roll over,'' during evasive driving maneuvers, said Branham's attorney Johnny Parker. The Branhams also claimed the seat belt was defective.... | |
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| | | Seton Hall fatal fire trial jury picked | | Posted Tuesday, October 31, 2006 2:45:47 PM by Blog57 Team | | NEWARK: Jury selection concluded Monday for the murder-and-arson trial of two former college students accused of setting a fire that killed three freshmen at Seton Hall University nearly seven years ago. A panel that includes four alternates must wait two weeks before opening statements, which are set for Nov. 14. The jury of 10 women and six men was chosen over five court sessions in the past week from a pool of nearly 150. Sean Ryan and Joseph T. LePore could each face at least 30 years in prison if convicted of murder. The Associated Press .... | |
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| | | Delayed jury selection pushes George trial to 2007 | | Posted Friday, October 27, 2006 12:46:11 PM by Blog57 Team | | Jury selection in the case against state Rep. Camille "Bud" George, D-Houtzdale, was postponed from this week to February. As a result, any trial in the matter will be moved from November to early 2007. Officials pushed back the civil case because an overabundance of criminal cases took priority this week in Clearfield County jury selections, according to the county Court Administrator's Office. Jury selection in the George case had been scheduled for Thursday. Because so many criminal cases have emerged, according to the administrator's office, the George case was bumped to Feb. 1 -- a date designated for jury selection in civil cases. Jim Bryant, the attorney for plaintiff John Gallagher, said he learned of the change only a few days ago.... | |
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| | | Suspects to face jury nearly seven years after blaze | | Posted Monday, October 23, 2006 2:45:44 AM by Blog57 Team | | NEWARK, N.J. Almost seven years after a dorm fire killed three students at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, the men accused of starting it are going to trial. Jury selection for the trial of Sean Ryan and Joseph LePore begins tomorrow. Both men face 14 counts each, including arson and three charges of murder for the students who died. Each murder charge carries a 30-year minimum prison sentence. The fire happened in 2000, but Ryan and LePore weren't indicted until 2003, after a lengthy investigation. The suspect's lawyers were unsuccessful in several attempts to have the charges dismissed. Since the fire, New Jersey lawmakers have passed the country's first law requiring sprinklers at all residential colleges and boarding schools. Copyright 2006 Associated Press.... | |
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| | | Jury: Wal-Mart violated labor laws | | Posted Saturday, October 14, 2006 6:45:39 PM by Blog57 Team | | Philadelphia - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. must pay at least $78.5 million for violating Pennsylvania labor laws by forcing employees to work through rest breaks and off the clock, a jury found Friday. Plaintiffs' lawyer Michael Donovan will also seek another $62 million in damages because the jury found that Wal-Mart acted in bad faith. Common Pleas Judge Mark Bernstein is expected to rule on that issue in the next few weeks. The jury awarded the exact amount the plaintiffs sought, rejecting Wal-Mart's claim that some employees chose to work through breaks and that the loss of a few minutes' pay here or there was insignificant. "It should send a message to corporate America that you can't say one thing and do another . . . and that you should put people ahead of profits," Donovan said.... | |
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| | | Grand Jury Begins 'Big Dig' Criminal Probe | | Posted Friday, October 06, 2006 10:45:56 AM by Blog57 Team | | BOSTON, Oct. 4 -- A special grand jury has been convened to investigate the construction and design of Big Dig tunnels as part of a criminal probe into a tunnel ceiling collapse that killed a Boston woman. Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly has said his probe would determine whether anyone who worked on the $14.6 billion highway project should be charged with a crime in the July 10 accident that killed Milena Del Valle 39. .... | |
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| | | Jury sides with Agawam priest in defamation case | | Posted Thursday, September 28, 2006 2:45:36 AM by Blog57 Team | | A Springfield Superior Court jury decided Wednesday that a Catholic priest never defamed a former church secretary in front of his congregation. Ann Jackobek had sued the Rev. Steven Amo, of All Saints Parish in Agawam, and the Springfield Diocese. She said Amo had called her "a cancer within the parish" after she accused him of stealing money from the church in 2002. Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney said there was no evidence that Amo stole any money. Jurors took about an hour to return their verdict after a four-day trial. "We're very happy with the verdict," said Maurice Cahillane, Amo's lawyer. Jackobek's attorney, Tani E. Sapirstein, did not return a telephone call to The Associated Press. .... | |
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| | | Clothing store robbery case goes to grand jury Robbery, carjacking case goes to grand jury | | Posted Tuesday, September 19, 2006 10:45:47 AM by Blog57 Team | | CRANSTON -- A Providence man charged with robbing a clothing store and allegedly commandeering a car at gunpoint during an attempted getaway has had his case referred to a grand jury. Stanley Palmer, 25, of 235 Gentian Ave., appeared before Judge Michael A. Higgins in District Court, Providence, on Sept. 5. He was ordered held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions. Palmer faces eight felony charges in connection with the Sept. 3 robbery at the Players Store, in the Brewery Parkade, on Garfield Avenue: two counts of first-degree robbery, three counts of assault, and one count each of discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence, altering identification marks on a firearm and firing in a compact area. He also faces three misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest, driving recklessly while eluding the police, and driving without a license.... | |
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| | | Fair trial ends in hung jury | | Posted Monday, September 11, 2006 4:45:48 PM by Blog57 Team | | The trial of Richard G. Fair, a Fayetteville man accused of aiding and abetting in the manufacturing of methamphetamine, ended in a hung jury Wednesday, Sept. 6 in the Brown County Court of Common Pleas. The case was declared a mistrial after jurors were unable to make a unanimous decision following several hours of deliberation. Fair's defense claimed that he was asleep downstairs on Oct. 29, 2005, and had no knowledge that Michael C. Garrett, 23, of Lynchburg, and Gabe Farrell, 31, of Fayetteville, had come into his home and were preparing to manufacture methamphetamine at his property located on U.S. 50 in near Fayetteville. Brown County Sheriff Deputy Larry Meyer testified that he smelled a strong chemical smell coming from Fair's home and that the sheriff's office had received prior information regarding methamphetamine production in the home.... | |
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