On the way home from work in Rochester, Patricia Martinez stopped at a liquor store and bought a small bottle of Champagne to celebrate her marriage to another woman. The wedding took place in Canada nearly four years ago, but it wasn’t until Feb. 1 that a New York appellate court declared it valid in the state.

Last week in Manhattan, a State Supreme Court justice, ruling in a divorce proceeding, recognized the Canadian marriage of two New York City women, known publicly as Beth R. and Donna M. - or Mom and Mommy to the two young children they had been raising together.

Less than two years after New York’s highest court refused to legalize gay marriage, leaving it up to a divided Legislature, courts in Rochester and Manhattan, as well as state and local officials, have begun to carry out what some say is the de facto legalization of gay marriage - and gay divorce - in New York for the price of, say, a ticket to Toronto.

Advocates for same-sex marriage say the two court decisions last month granting reciprocity in New York to gay marriages in other jurisdictions simply underline what most people would consider common sense.

Prosecutors are recommending a 30-year prison sentence for 42-year-old Adam Gault of West Hartford.

Judge David Gold indicated Wednesday that he will order at least 20 years in prison.

Gault pleaded guilty to eight charges, including second-degree sexual assault and kidnapping.

Authorities say the girl was 14 when she ran away from home to live with Gault in 2006. Police, who feared she was dead, found her hiding in a small storage area during a search of Gault's home last June. Gault's wife and another woman living with him were also arrested.

Court records show that between April and mid-December, Billy Long, 55, accepted $17,400 in what he was told were payments from convenience store owners "to protect their video poker business and other illegal activity," such as products used to make methamphetamine.

Long was arrested Feb. 2. He has since resigned as Hamilton County sheriff and remains in custody at the Bradley County Detention Center.

He appeared at a hearing at which U.S. Magistrate Bill Carter set a May 13 trial.

In addition to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, Long is charged with extortion, money laundering, providing a gun to a felon and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

A conviction on all charges would carry a minimum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life.

Long's attorney, Jerry Summers of Chattanooga, told the judge he intends to seek bond. Summers earlier opted to not seek a detention hearing but said Wednesday it is not practical to prepare for trial with Long in custody 30 miles away.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Humble at a previous hearing described the sheriff as a danger to the community.

The affidavit said Long also accepted $6,550 in cash as "his payoff to the undercover to a cooperating witness supposedly laundering $625,000 in drug trafficking proceeds." Long was told the drug money was being sent to a funeral home in Mexico hidden in cremation urns.

The affidavit said the sheriff in December gave the undercover informant a loaded revolver, knowing the recipient of the gun was a convicted felon and telling him never to say where he got it and to get rid of it if he shot anyone.

An FBI agent's affidavit shows Long first told agents he was doing his own investigation, although no one else at the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department knew about it.

Chief Deputy Allen Branum is running the department until voters in August elect a successor to finish Long's term.

Summers said Wednesday there is no evidence that anyone else in the department was involved in the case.

A Jessamine County District Court judge says 64-year-old David Blaisdell of Lexington must spend three days in jail for contempt of court. Blaisdell was wearing sunglasses and dressed in a rhinestone-studded shirt with a scarf draped around his neck when he was sentenced.

County Attorney Brian Goettl said Blaisdell was in court for a pretrial conference on misdemeanor charges of stalking and violating a protective order. Goettl says the judge had Blaisdell tested for intoxication. The result was nearly twice the .08 level at which a person is considered legally drunk in Kentucky.

Goettl says Blaisdell told the judge he had had a few drinks the night before his court appearance Tuesday.

Longtime San Diego criminal defense lawyer Kerry Steigerwalt has taken a majority ownership in Pacific Law Center, which has been the target recently of client complaints.
Steigerwalt will become managing partner of the 30-lawyer firm based in University City. It has been renamed Kerry Steigerwalt's Pacific Law Center.

Steigerwalt, a defense lawyer on several high-profile local cases, will have a 51 percent stake in the firm. Robert Arentz, former managing partner, will retain a 49 percent stake.

Six lawyers have been let go as a result of the merger of Steigerwalt's firm into Pacific Law Center, which Steigerwalt said should help the law firm erase some of its past problems.

The Better Business Bureau has fielded at least 38 complaints against Pacific Law Center – one of the most prolific legal advertisers in San Diego – over the past three years.

Lawsuits filed by former Pacific Law Center attorneys allege the firm gave lawyers too large a caseload for them to provide the type of service that the firm advertises. They also allege that the firm emphasized settling cases quickly.

Steigerwalt said in an interview yesterday that many of the firm's problems are behind it. "I recognize that Pacific Law Center has had issues in the past," he said. "You will not see any more client service complaints."

For Steigerwalt, the move allows him to tap Pacific Law Center's business model for growth. The law firm allows certain criminal defendants to pay legal fees over time instead of requiring large retainers upfront. It has a nationwide clientele.

"It's very successful," Steigerwalt said. "They're providing the service to the common guy who can't come up with a big lump sum payment."

In addition to criminal defense work, the firm provides bankruptcy and personal injury services. In addition to lawyers, the firm will employ 111 support staff.

Arentz formerly was a partner with Jeffrey Phillips, a Phoenix attorney, in Pacific Law Center. Phillips is no longer a partner in the new practice, but Arentz remains a partner with Phillips in an Arizona law firm.

Steigerwalt's mass tort – or class-action lawsuit – practice has been transferred to the Arizona firm in an asset swap as part of the transaction.

In addition, Steigerwalt operates a 22-employee legal marketing company to promote his firm. That company has been merged into Steigerwalt's Pacific Law Center.

"It will market our services locally and nationally, in the larger national markets through the Internet and TV commercials, and locally through TV, magazines and phone books," he said.

The three-member SEC voted unanimously to propose the rule, which targets sellers who intentionally deceive broker-dealers or purchasers about their ability to meet delivery deadlines.

Sellers sometimes deliberately fail to deliver securities as part of a scheme to manipulate the stock price. The SEC is seeking public comment on its proposal.