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Louisiana man to get $2.8 million in Katrina case
Insurance | 2007/04/17 09:12

A US federal jury in Louisiana Monday awarded $2.8 million in damages and penalties to an Allstate Insurance Co. policyholder in the second federal lawsuit to go to trial involving Louisiana homeowners affected by the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Homeowners Robert and Merryl Weiss sued Allstate for bad faith, alleging that the insurance carrier did not correctly adjust their claim and underpaid them for the structural damage to their home. Allstate contended that they properly paid the couple $29,483 for the damage to the home and $14,787 for living expenses, since most of the damage was caused by the hurricane's storm surge and thus did not fall under the Weiss' hurricane policy. After conflicting expert testimony about the height of the storm surge and the strength of the winds, the jury found that the damage was caused by wind and was covered under the policy. A $1.5 million penalty was assessed for Allstate's delayed payment of the claim. The Weiss' have already received $350,000 in federal flood insurance. The jury also rejected Allstate's assertion that the Weiss' had voided their policy by misrepresenting their claim after attempting to claim at least $34,000 in damages for a boathouse that allegedly was not located on the insured property during the hurricane.

In February, homeowners in the first federal insurance trial brought by Louisiana homeowners abruptly dropped their suit after Allstate alleged they misrepresented their claims. There are 350 lawsuits pending in Mississippi against insurance companies over the issue of whether insurance policies should cover water damage when the policies, as written, cover wind damage created by a hurricane, but not water damage by "wind-driven surge."



Virginia Tech Shooter Identified by Police
Criminal Law | 2007/04/17 08:46

Authorities identify the gunman suspected of killing 32 people at Virginia Tech as 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui, an English major who has lived in the United States since immigrating from South Korea in 1992.  He had a Centreville, Virginia address and was a resident of VT's Harper Hall.

Police recovered two handguns, a nine millimeter and a 22 caliber.  Police say ballistics tests shows that one of the guns found with Cho Seung-Hui was used at the shootings in Ambler Johnston Dormitory and Norris Hall.

Steve Flaherty, with the Virginia State Police said, "The evidence has not led us to say with all certainty that the same shooter was involved" in both places.  However he said did not have evidence that there was another shooter.



22-Year-Old Guilty In UIC Beating Death
Court Watch | 2007/04/17 07:47

A Cook County jury convicted Mantas Matulis of second-degree murder Monday night in the death of Tombol Malik, a 23-year-old University of Illinois at Chicago student beaten to death with a bike lock in 2005.

Prosecutors had brought first-degree murder charges against Matulis, 22, alleging he kicked Malik in the head after an accomplice beat him with the lock. But the defense argued Matulis acted in self-defense, and the jury convicted him of the lesser charge after seven hours of deliberation.

The second-degree murder conviction carries a sentence of four to 20 years in prison.



Cop killer pleads guilty in assault on prison guard
Criminal Law | 2007/04/17 06:47

A convicted cop killer had choices Monday when it came to charges against him in connection with an assault on a Bucks County Prison corrections officer. He could have asked for a jury trial or pleaded guilty, but mentally ill. And he could have asked for a pre-sentencing investigation. Instead, and against his attorney's advice, Robert Flor, formerly of Bedminster, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and related charges for a brutal, unprovoked attack on corrections Officer Edward Miles and asked to be sentenced immediately.

Bucks County Judge Kenneth Biehn complied, accepting Flor's plea and sentencing him to seven to 20 years in prison. It seemed a moot point because Flor, 39, is on death row for the Sept. 29, 2005, slaying of Newtown police Officer Brian Gregg.

But Miles, who suffered a broken finger and two black eyes during the beating, deserved justice, Biehn said. The courtroom was dark and silent as Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Gambardella played a tape of the attack, captured via a video camera mounted on the wall in Flor's cell block.

The video shows Flor battering Miles, knocking him to the floor. When Miles got to his feet, Flor continued to push him and knock him down again. Another inmate, Timothy Heidelmark, blocked another officer who tried to help.

The attack was broken up when other corrections officers stormed the cell block. Miles was out of work for six weeks as a result of the assault.

Peter Hall, Flor's attorney, told Biehn that Flor did not want to endure any more legal proceedings, saying his client "didn't want to have any reason to return to Bucks County Court."



Padilla terrorism trial starts in Miami
Court Watch | 2007/04/17 04:51

The trial of Jose Padilla and two co-defendants on terrorism charges began Monday with jury selection. Defense attorneys have expressed concern that potential jurors may have been tainted by early accusations that Padilla had planned to set off a radioactive "dirty bomb", an allegation not among the charges against Padilla, and that jurors might associate the defendants with the Sept. 11 attacks. US District Judge Marcia Cooke has instructed prosecutors to only refer to Sept. 11 in a limited manner, but barred them from implying that Padilla or his co-defendants were involved.

Last week, Cooke refused to dismiss the terror charges based on Padilla's allegations that he was tortured. Padilla, a US citizen, was arrested in 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and subsequently detained as an "enemy combatant" at a Navy military brig in Charleston, South Carolina. Initially accused of planning to set off a "dirty bomb" in the United States, Padilla went from enemy combatant to criminal defendant when he was finally charged  in November 2005 on unrelated counts of conspiracy to murder US nationals and supporting terrorist activity. He was transferred to civilian custody  in January 2006 and has pleaded not guilty to the charges. In February, Padilla was ruled competent to stand trial.



Schwartz Simon Leases 43,150 SF in Morristown
Law Firm News | 2007/04/17 01:54



The law firm of Schwartz, Simon, Edelstein, Celso & Kessler leased 43,150 square feet of office space in the Washington Office Center, a 215,037-square-foot office building at 44 Whippany Road in Morristown, NJ. The firm expects to take occupancy on a 15-year deal in August.

Washington Office Center is a three-story, Class A building completed in 1984. It has access to I-287 and Rt. 24 and is adjacent to the 160-acre Morris County Arboretum.

Douglas Gaffney and Mike Staskiewicz of The Schultz Organization represented the law firm. The landlord, RexCorp Realty, was represented in-house by Brian Fitzsimmons.



S. Korea sentences five for spying for N. Korea
International | 2007/04/17 01:49

The Seoul District Court in South Korea sentenced five people to jail Monday for spying for North Korea. Group ringleader Korean-American Michael Jang received a nine-year sentence for encouraging anti-US sentiment in South Korea under orders from North Korea in 2005. Jang initiated contact with North Korean agents in 1998 and first established a spy ring to pass secret information to North Korea in 2002. The other group members were sentenced to between four and six year terms for violating an anti-communist National Security Law.

The group was indicted by South Korean officials last December in what has been labeled the largest spy case since the two countries began reconciliation at a North-South summit in 2000. North Korea has accused the case of being a plot by pro-US forces to bolster anti-North Korean feelings in the south.



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