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Court denies execution stay for Fla. killer.
Legal Blog News |
2014/01/10 15:49
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The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to block Tuesday's scheduled execution of an inmate convicted of fatally stabbing a prison guard while already on Florida's death row.
Askari Abdullah Muhammad, previously known as Thomas Knight, was set to die by lethal injection Tuesday evening.
The 62-year-old Muhammad was first condemned to die for the 1974 abduction and killings of Sydney and Lillian Gans, a Miami couple. He was sentenced to die again for killing corrections officer Richard Burke in 1980 using a sharpened spoon.
His execution has been delayed for so long because of numerous appeals and rulings, including a 1987 federal appeals court tossing out his death sentence because he hadn't been allowed to put character and background witnesses on the stand during the penalty phase. |
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4 suspects in NJ mall carjacking plead not guilty
Topics in Legal News |
2014/01/10 15:48
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Four men charged in the fatal carjacking of a young lawyer outside an upscale New Jersey mall pleaded not guilty Wednesday to felony murder and other charges.
Hanif Thompson, 29, of Irvington, and Newark residents Karif Ford, 31, Basim Henry, 32, and Kevin Roberts, 33, are accused in the Dec. 15 carjacking and killing of Dustin Friedland outside The Mall at Short Hills.
The four men were arraigned Wednesday on charges of murder, felony murder, carjacking, conspiracy, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose. Their public defenders entered not-guilty pleas for them.
A state Superior Court judge in Newark continued their bail at $2 million each. The four have been in custody since their arrests about a week after the shooting.
Friedland, a 30-year-old lawyer from Hoboken, was killed while returning to his car in the mall parking garage with his wife after a shopping trip, authorities said. The carjackers confronted the couple and Friedland was shot in the head, authorities said. His wife was unharmed. |
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Supreme Court Puts Utah Same-Sex Marriage on Hold
Law & Court News |
2014/01/06 11:49
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The Supreme Court on Monday put same-sex marriages on hold in Utah, at least while a federal appeals court more fully considers the issue.
The court issued a brief order blocking any new same-sex unions in the state.
The order grants an emergency appeal by the state following the Dec. 20 ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby that the state's ban on same-sex marriage violates gay and lesbian couples' constitutional rights.
More than 900 gay and lesbian couples have married since then.
The high court order will remain in effect until the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decides whether to uphold Shelby's ruling.
The state's request to the Supreme Court was filed with Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who handles emergency appeals from Utah and the five other states in the 10th Circuit. Sotomayor turned the matter over to the entire court.
The action now shifts to Denver, where the appeals court will consider arguments from the state against same-sex marriage as well as from the three gay and lesbian couples who challenged the ban in support of Shelby's ruling. The appeals court had twice rebuffed the state's plea to stop gay weddings pending appeal. |
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Pa. monsignor due in court after leaving prison
Topics in Legal News |
2014/01/06 11:48
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A Roman Catholic church official is due in court Monday for the first time since his conviction in the priest sex-abuse scandal was reversed.
Monsignor William Lynn is not quite a free man. He must remain under electronic monitoring while prosecutors try to restore the conviction.
Lynn served 18 months in prison for felony child-endangerment. He was the first U.S. church official ever convicted over his handling of abuse complaints.
Lynn says he tried to protect children as secretary for clergy in Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004, but prosecutors say he sought only to protect the church.
The 63-year-old Lynn will appear in court to review terms of his release from prison last week.
A judge says he must live in Philadelphia and report weekly to probation. |
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Ga. banker accused of losing millions due in court
Law Firm Press Release |
2014/01/02 14:53
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A south Georgia bank director accused of losing millions of investor dollars before vanishing is set to appear in court.
The U.S. attorney's office in Savannah says 47-year-old Aubrey Lee Price is due to appear before a federal judge in Brunswick on Thursday. Price was arrested Tuesday during a traffic stop on Interstate 95 in Brunswick.
Price had disappeared in June 2012 after sending a rambling letter to his family and acquaintances saying he had lost millions of investment dollars and planned to kill himself.
A Florida judge declared him dead about a year ago. But the FBI had said it didn't believe Price was dead and continued to search for him.
Prosecutors say Price raised $40 million from his bank and 115 investors, and lost much of the money. |
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