Court: Assange can continue extradition fight

Topics in Legal News 2011/12/05 10:20   Bookmark and Share
A British court Monday gave WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange permission to continue his legal battle to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crimes allegations.

The decision means Assange does not face immediate deportation. British judges said Assange could apply to the Supreme Court to hear one specific point of his legal case — but there is no guarantee that the higher court will accept his request.

Assange's lawyers had argued that every European arrest warrant issued by police or prosecutors was flawed, because neither should be considered a judicial authority.

The High Court judges did not indicate whether they agreed with the argument, but said Assange's legal team should have the chance to ask the Supreme Court to grant them a hearing.

Assange seemed pleased by the ruling. Asked if it was a victory, he said yes. He had listened attentively to the hearing, frequently taking notes.

Assange now has 14 days to submit a written request to the Supreme Court, Assange's lawyer Gareth Peirce said.
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High court to hear suit over Cheney event arrest

Headline Legal News 2011/12/05 10:20   Bookmark and Share
The Supreme Court said Monday it will hear an appeal from Secret Service agents who say they should be shielded from a lawsuit over their arrest of a Colorado man who confronted Vice President Dick Cheney.

The justices will review a federal appeals court decision to allow Steven Howards of Golden, Colo., to pursue his claim that the arrest violated his free speech rights. Howards was detained by Cheney's security detail in 2006 after he told Cheney of his opposition to the war in Iraq.

Howards also touched Cheney on the shoulder, then denied doing so under questioning. Appellate judges in Denver said the inconsistency gave the agents reason to arrest Howards.

Even so, the appeals court said Howards could sue the agents for violating his rights — an unusual twist that the agents and the Obama administration said conflicts with other appeals court decisions and previous high court rulings in similar cases.

Justice Elena Kagan is not taking part in the case, probably because she worked on it while serving in the Justice Department.
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Farmers Insurance Settles Class Action Lawsuit

Headline Legal News 2011/12/02 10:23   Bookmark and Share
Farmers Insurance entered into a settlement of a nationwide class action lawsuit, In Re Farmers Med-Pay Litigation, pending in the District Court of Canadian County, Oklahoma. The settlement includes Farmers Insurance Company, Inc., Farmers Insurance Exchange, Truck Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange, Mid-Century Insurance Company, Farmers Group, Inc., Illinois Farmers Insurance Company, and certain related entities. The Court entered a final order approving the settlement on November 29, 2011.

Plaintiffs alleged that Farmers failed to pay reasonable expenses for necessary medical services related to automobile accidents under Medical Payments and Personal Injury Protection ("PIP") coverage in automobile policies based on Farmers' use of certain claim adjustment systems and procedures. Farmers denies all of Plaintiffs' claims in the lawsuit. However, Farmers agreed to resolve the lawsuit to avoid the burden and expense of continued litigation.

The Settlement Class includes all persons who submitted claims for payment of medical bills related to an automobile accident under Med-pay or PIP coverage if (a) the claim was adjusted from January 1, 2001 to February 9, 2009 based upon a recommended reduction from Zurich Services Corporation ("ZSC"), (b) the claim was paid at less than the amount billed, and (c) total Med-pay or PIP payments were less than the respective limits of coverage. The Class also includes medical providers who were assigned the right to assert these claims.

Those affected by this settlement must complete and submit a valid claim form postmarked no later than December 29, 2011. Further information and claim forms can be obtained by visiting www.MedpayClaimsAdministration.com.

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Wis. office wants to suspend former DA's license

Topics in Legal News 2011/12/02 10:22   Bookmark and Share
The Wisconsin office that regulates attorney conduct asked the state Supreme Court on Wednesday to suspend a former prosecutor's law license for trying to spark an affair with a domestic abuse victim through a barrage of racy text messages and allegedly making sexual remarks to a number of other women.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation filed a complaint with the court alleging former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz violated multiple attorney conduct rules. The office recommended the justices suspend his law license for six months.

Kratz resigned in October 2010 after The Associated Press reported that he sent 30 texts over three days to a then-25-year-old domestic abuse victim in 2009. The Republican district attorney was prosecuting the woman's ex-boyfriend at the time.

Kratz, then 50, called the woman a "tall, young, hot nymph," told her he wanted her to "be so hot" and touted himself as "the prize" with a $350,000 house.

He has since set up a private practice that handles criminal defense, drunken driving, divorce and injury cases, according to the firm's website. Kratz didn't respond to an email or phone message left Wednesday at his office, and his attorney, Robert Bellin, also didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
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NY court hears hedge fund boss' bail arguments

Court News 2011/12/01 10:22   Bookmark and Share
A federal appeals court did not immediately rule Wednesday whether hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam must report to prison next week for an 11-year sentence for insider trading, the longest term ever given for the crime.

Attorney Patricia Millett told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that Rajaratnam should remain free on bail while the appeals court hears a challenge to his conviction in the biggest insider trading case in history.

Rajaratnam, 54, was sentenced in October after his conviction this year on charges that he engaged in insider trading from 2003 through October 2009 at the Galleon Group of hedge funds that he founded. Prosecutors said insider trading schemes involved the stocks of at least 19 different public companies and resulted in at least $70 million in illegal gains.

Rajaratnam was also ordered to forfeit $53.8 million and to pay a $10 million fine.

Millett said court papers filed to secure wiretaps that provided evidence crucial to his conviction were improperly made, raising a substantial question of law that entitles him to remain free until the appeals court hears the case sometime next year.
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Man tied to Ohio Craigslist case appears in court

Legal Business 2011/12/01 10:22   Bookmark and Share
A suspect in a deadly Craigslist robbery plot was wheeled into court in an unrelated case Thursday, his head bobbing rhythmically, and he later ignored questions about the mounting body count and his relationship with a teen murder suspect.

Richard Beasley, unshaved and dressed in a white and gray striped jail outfit, didn't speak and kept his head down as Summit County Common Pleas Judge Tammy O'Brien revoked his bond on a drug-trafficking charge.

The legal problems faced by Beasley, a self-styled chaplain and youth mentor, are mounting: His attorney said a prostitution case involving the 52-year-old Beasley and a 17-year-old boy would be upgraded with a racketeering charge Friday.

The drug and prostitution cases in Akron are unrelated to a widening Craigslist homicide investigation.

Investigators say someone trying to lure robbery victims posted a bogus ad on Craigslist touting a cattle farm job in southeast Ohio.

Authorities have linked two bodies and the shooting of a man who survived to the scheme, which targeted single, out-of-work men in their late 40s or early 50s. The investigators heading up the Craigslist inquiry also found a third body but have yet to link it to the case.

A 16-year-old boy, Brogan Rafferty of nearby Stow, faces juvenile charges of aggravated murder, complicity to aggravated murder, attempted murder and complicity to attempted murder in the death of one man and the shooting of another.
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