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Ga. Sheriff Pleads Guilty to Coverup
Court Watch |
2007/08/22 08:20
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| A sheriff accused of lying to investigators and hiding evidence to protect two deputies charged with a drive-by shooting pleaded guilty Tuesday to four criminal charges and resigned. "I knew what happened ... and I didn't tell them what happened," Towns County Sheriff Rudy Eller said. "I made a serious mistake, there's no doubt about it." Eller, 63, pleaded guilty to making false statements in a matter within a political subdivision, tampering with evidence, hindering apprehension or punishment of a criminal and violation of oath by a public official or officer. The two deputies, Jessie Gibson, 56, and Chief Deputy Eddie Osborn, 41, faced aggravated assault and obstruction charges in connection with a July 9 shooting at the home of Gary Dean of Hiawassee. Dean, who was not injured, was "involved in an ongoing intimate relationship" with Osborn's wife, according to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation affidavit. Gibson was found dead on Aug. 8 of a self-inflicted gunshot in what authorities called an apparent suicide. Outside the courthouse Tuesday, Eller apologized to the residents of Towns County. He wore an oxygen tube in his nose as he walked from the courtroom. Mike Weaver, his attorney, said Eller was suffering from diabetes and other health problems and could not answer other questions. He said Eller's sentencing is pending. |
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Lawsuit Filed Over California Teachers Qualifications
Breaking Legal News |
2007/08/22 07:31
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 A number of parents in Los Angeles are also taking part of this lawsuit and what we have seen in California is that many serving African-Americans and Latinos have a disproportionate number of under qualified teachers. We are not saying that they are bad, just that they are inexpirienced. And California has gotten away with it. Like most parents, Maribel Heredia of Hayward wants highly qualified teachers for her kids. She says many Hayward schools are not delivering. "My son came home and said his teacher went to college today and I was kind surprised by that," said Maribel Heredia from Hayward. Surprised because she thought her son's teacher was already fully credentialed and not a teacher-in-training. So when the teacher would to leave to go to college, a substitute would fill in. Heredia is suing the U.S. Department of Education. "It's very important for the parents to have this information. Who is teaching your child at school," said Heredia. While schools report the number of fully credentialed teachers, they don't specify which teacher is or is not. Under the "No Child Left Behind" Act, Congress said all teachers must be fully credentialed; only then are they considered highly qualified. But the U.S. Department of Education allows some states including California to also count their teachers in training as highly qualified. Why? Because California has a teacher shortage. "You know we have those big districts that are going begging. They are not being filled," said Merrill Vargo from Springboard schools. Fully credentialed teachers have taken more tests, and have had more on-the-job training. The suit also argues that quite often these teachers-in-training are more concentrated at low-income and high-minority schools. The State Superintendent of Schools, Jack O'Connell said today: "this is a factor in why we have an achievement gap in our state between students who are African American or Latino and their peers who are white or Asian." "Does it mean that all the teachers in Walnut Creek are better than all the teachers in Oakland? Of course not. But on average, you are going to see more highly qualified, more top-notch, experienced teachers in a suburban district that in an urban district," said Derecka Mehrens, from the Association of Community Organizations For Reform Now. The activist group acorn has also put its name on the lawsuit. "This lawsuit is being made in hopes that we can raise for what the Department of Education right now considers highly qualified," said Mehrens. The law firm Public Advocates is another plaintiff in this case. They say more than 10,000 teachers-in-training are labeled as highly qualified by the state. The case will be heard at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. |
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Vick football future in doubt after dog-fighting plea
Breaking Legal News |
2007/08/22 07:27
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| Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick may never play in the National Football League again after agreeing on Monday to plead guilty in a dog-fighting case. Vick, 27, faces up to five years jail if convicted on the initial charges related to the dog-fighting ring he was accused of operating at his Virginia property.
"Michael Vick typically does his best work when it appears he has nowhere to go," wrote Dan Pompei in Tuesday's Chicago Tribune.
"But the Atlanta Falcons' embattled quarterback is not going to scramble out of this one. He can't juke to his right to find a lane, or sprint to his left and outrun his pursuers.
"Throwing up a prayer isn't even an option -- though saying one is." Beyond any jail time Vick may serve, the strong-armed, fleet-footed Atlanta Falcons quarterback is likely to face further punishment from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who has cracked down on players in trouble with the law.
Vick told Goodell in a face-to-face meeting in the spring he had nothing to do with the dog-fighting allegations, which included gambling and executions of dogs that underperformed.
His decision to plead guilty came after his three co-defendants made their own plea deals with the understanding they would testify against the quarterback.
"Michael Vick destroyed dogs, according to his partners in the despicable and inhumane crime, and as partial punishment, he has destroyed his NFL career," wrote Gary Myers of the New York Daily News.
Myers speculated that Vick could end up losing at least two to three NFL seasons with an expected league suspension following any jail time.
"Depending what the NFL uncovers in the illegal gambling aspect of the case, Goodell has the power to suspend him for life," Myers wrote about the six-year veteran and three-times Pro-Bowl selection.
"Three years away from the game should just about rob Vick of his greatest gifts -- his incredible athleticism and electrifying speed. Working out in the prison courtyard is not quite the same as training camp."
Many columnists wrote that if Vick should try a comeback after seasons away from the gridiron, teams would shy away from a player who could be a public-relations nightmare.
"For one of the league's most celebrated and marketable players, it's a staggering plunge from NFL penthouse to possible federal penitentiary," said USA Today's Jon Saraceno.
Vick signed a 10-year, $130 million contract with the Falcons in 2004. He has had his ups and downs on the field, making dazzling touchdown runs with his breakaway speed while at times misfiring for costly interceptions.
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Charge dropped against SoCal pedophile
Court Watch |
2007/08/22 07:19
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| A self-described pedophile was released from jail after prosecutors dropped a criminal case accusing him of violating a judge's order prohibiting him from being within 30 feet of children anywhere in California for three years. Prosecutors could not pursue the case against Jack McClellan, 45, after they determined the order was invalid because the judge failed to schedule and give McClellan proper notice of a hearing required to argue the merits of imposing such a long-lasting order before it is issued. McClellan was released from jail Tuesday. He was arrested Aug. 13 for investigation of violating the order when he was found near a child care center at the University of California, Los Angeles. He had a camera with him at the time, but he told a local TV station that there wasn't any film in it. McClellan was arrested again — several hours later — this time for trespassing after he did an interview with the TV station on university grounds. He had been told not to return to the campus after his first arrest. Prosecutors did not pursue the trespassing charges. Superior Court Judge Melvin Sandvig issued the order Aug. 3 requiring McClellan to stay at least 30 feet away from every person under age 18 in California for a three-year period, said Nick Velasquez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney's office.
A three-year order amounts to what is termed a preliminary injunction, and cannot be issued without the statutory hearing and notice requirements, according to the city attorney's office. Superior Court spokeswoman Pat Kelly said Sandvig could not comment because the case is pending. A call to his chambers went unanswered late Tuesday. A cellphone message left for McClellan was not returned. McClellan is unemployed and has been living out of his car. He stirred controversy in Southern California when he arrived this summer from Washington state, where he had lived with his parents. McClellan maintained a website in Washington where he posted photos of children he had taken in public places. He also discussed how he liked to stake out parks, public libraries, fast-food restaurants and other areas where little girls, or "LGs," congregated. His server took his website down more than a month ago. McClellan, who said he lives on supplemental security income and suffers from depression, has maintained that he launched the site as a form of therapy and wouldn't do anything illegal. McClellen also has a hearing set for Friday on a temporary restraining order preventing him from coming within 10 yards of children in the city of Santa Clarita in northern Los Angeles County, authorities said. |
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Womble Carlyle named one of top law firms for women
Law Firm News |
2007/08/22 06:22
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Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice has been named as one of the Best Law Firms for Women by Working Mother magazine and Flex Time Lawyers LLC. Best Law Firms for Women honored 50 firms for their commitment to the retention and advancement of female talent.
Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers selected law firms based on survey data collected earlier this year measuring a variety of factors, including the number of women in leadership positions, parental leave, child care, flexibility options and programs to help train, retain and advance women. Womble Carlyle will be profiled in the August/September issue of Working Mother magazine. Flex-Time Lawyers is a consulting firm that advises law firms on work/life balance.
http://www.wcsr.com
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TD Ameritrade, E-Trade hold merger talks
Business |
2007/08/22 06:18
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Online brokerage giants TD Ameritrade Holding (AMTD) and E-Trade Financial (ETFC) have been holding talks for weeks about a possible merger, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The discussions currently are focused on making sure both companies agree on strategy, and the companies aren't yet close to a deal, the Journal reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. A spokeswoman for E-Trade said the firm's management team believes there is "tremendous value in consolidation that aligns business strategy and operational synergies and will do what is in the best interest of its customers." A spokeswoman for Omaha-based Ameritrade said the company has talked to and continues to talk to industry peers. The companies previously have discussed an alliance but never reached a deal. This time, however, there is the added pressure of two hedge funds with big stakes in Ameritrade that have publicly urged the two companies to talk. Jana Partners and S.A.C. Capital Advisors, which claim to collectively own 8.4% of Ameritrade shares, have been urging Ameritrade to join forces with a major competitor such as E-Trade or Charles Schwab (SCHW) in the interests of the majority of shareholders.
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Lawsuit filed over alleged rape by officer
Court Watch |
2007/08/22 05:38
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A 23-year-old Florida woman who said she was raped last December by an on-duty Inglewood police officer filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday, charging that the department's policies contributed directly to the attack.
The suit, which names as defendants the officer, his partner and the department's top brass, alleges that the Inglewood Police Department's hiring, training and retention policies created an "unrestrained, undisciplined and out of control" atmosphere in which some officers thought that they could "get away with anything and everything." It also contends that the woman was sexually assaulted and falsely imprisoned, and that her civil rights were violated.
Her attorney, Dylan Pollard, said the lawsuit comes many frustrating months after he and his client participated in a private meeting about the allegations with the U.S. attorney's office, the FBI, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office and Inglewood police.
No charges have been filed in the eight-month criminal investigation.
Inglewood police officials said the sexual assault case was still being investigated. They would not say whether that investigation was connected to a separate departmental inquiry into accusations that department employees, during work hours and off duty, have had sex with female masseuses.
Last month, the department announced that it had fired two officers in connection with the masseuse inquiry. Officials declined to name the officers or describe the scope of the investigation other than to say that an unspecified number of employees received "intent to discipline" notices.
Department officials had no immediate comment on the lawsuit.
A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said it is still investigating the alleged rape.
The 26-page lawsuit graphically describes what the woman calls a terrifying assault on Dec. 15. It says that she was followed by an Inglewood officer to her Econo Lodge motel room, raped and then forced to give the officer oral sex. Although the woman's identity is revealed in the lawsuit, The Times generally does not identify alleged victims of sex crimes without their permission. The lawsuit also gives the last names of two police officers -- the alleged perpetrator and his partner -- but The Times could not confirm their full names.
Recounting allegations that the newspaper first reported late last year, the lawsuit alleges that the woman was stopped by the two officers as she walked to a fast-food restaurant about 10:30 p.m. on a Sunday to get a late dinner. She was in town with her boyfriend, according to the lawsuit, to visit relatives for the holidays.
As she walked along Century Boulevard, a thoroughfare known for the presence of streetwalkers, the officers stopped her and accused her of being a prostitute, according to the lawsuit.
She denied the accusation and was followed back to her motel, where a night manager confirmed that she was a registered guest.
Nevertheless, the suit contends, one officer insisted that the woman take him to her motel room, where he again accused her of being a prostitute and then, with one hand on his handgun, forced her to have sex.
After the alleged attack, the lawsuit says, the officer left with his partner, who had been waiting downstairs in their patrol car.
Pollard said his client later provided a DNA sample from her alleged attacker to a rape treatment center and that the sample was turned over to the FBI.
The suit also names as defendants Capt. Eve Irvine, who heads the department's detective bureau, and former Chief JuliusDavis.
Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor, said she was not surprised that authorities are still investigating the case and said it did not indicate whether the allegations will lead to a criminal prosecution.
"These cases take some time to wind their way through the system because there is a constant prioritization of investigations," Levenson said. "On the federal side, the priority is terrorism cases, and in the D.A.'s office they have other types of crimes -- murder, serial violent offender -- that are the priority."
Delaying a resolution of such cases, Levenson said, can "be very frustrating for the victim." But barring more information, she said, it was impossible to know whether authorities are moving slower than they should.
"The fact is, they may be taking it seriously," Levenson said. "We have to remember that [the woman's] statement starts the process . . . it doesn't end the investigation." |
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Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
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