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Man pleads not guilty in Oakland bank bomb case
Topics in Legal News |
2013/03/14 15:45
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A 28-year-old former Marine has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to blow up an Oakland bank with a car bomb.
The Oakland Tribune reports Matthew Aaron Llaneza of San Jose entered the plea Friday in federal court. If convicted, he could face life in prison for attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.
LLaneza's attorney says his client was found to suffer from significant mental illness but was competent to stand trial.
Authorites say Llaneza tried to blow up a Bank of America branch last month and ignite a civil war by blaming the bombing on anti-government militias.
LLaneza has been held in jail since he was caught in an FBI sting operation involving an agent posing as a member of the Taliban. |
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Former Chicago Bear pleads guilty to tax charges
Court Watch |
2013/03/11 15:45
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Former Chicago Bears player Chris Zorich pleaded guilty Thursday to federal tax charges, admitting to the judge that he didn't file "in a timely fashion."
The 43-year-old faced four misdemeanor counts of not filing federal income tax returns from 2006 to 2009. Over that time, he allegedly made more than $1 million, including income from a charity he founded.
The judge asked Zorich if he knew he was wrong not to file the returns.
"Yes, your honor," Zorich said, wearing a black suit and tie.
His attorney previously said Zorich was looking forward to putting the case behind him.
The Chicago native was on the 1988 Notre Dame team that won a national championship. He played for the Bears from 1991 to 1996 and ended his career with the Washington Redskins in 1997. |
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Officials: Fla. lawyer at center of $300M scheme
Court Watch |
2013/03/01 15:45
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One of the men who authorities say was at the center of a scam to use a veterans charity as a front for an illegal gambling operation worth nearly $300 million was a well-known attorney who once ran a marathon in a suit as a publicity stunt.
Another man involved in the case was described by friends as a small-town “pool hustler” in South Carolina. Jacksonville attorney Kelly Mathis was identified by authorities as the man at the center of the alleged racketeering scheme. Two other men charged as co-conspirators had experience running gaming parlors, including Johnny E. Duncan, who was charged more than 20 years ago with creating a fake charity to sponsor bingo gaming, which allowed the games to operate tax-free. The other man, Jerry Bass, had previously worked as general manager of a video poker parlor in South Carolina.
Authorities said Mathis made about $6 million from the operation. During a news conference Wednesday, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi unveiled a poster with a photo of Mathis in the center and linked to dozens of alleged gambling operations. Officials said he was the registered agent for 112 businesses related to the investigation. Nearly 60 people have been arrested so far. |
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High court to review Kansas sheriff's killing
Court News |
2013/02/27 23:12
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The Supreme Court has agreed to consider reinstating the conviction and death sentence of a man who said he was high on meth when he killed a Kansas sheriff.
The justices on Monday said they will review a state Supreme Court ruling that granted a new trial to Scott Cheever, who admitted to shooting Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels.
The Kansas court said Cheever's rights were violated during his trial because a psychiatrist was allowed to testify about Cheever's psychological records without his consent.
Samuels' death prompted changes in the Kansas criminal code to make it more difficult to purchase the ingredients used in making meth.
The case will be argued in the fall. |
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Lawyer seeks dismissal in Ohio HS player rape case
Headline Legal News |
2013/02/25 15:47
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On the eve of their trial, the attorney for one of two Ohio high school football players charged with raping a girl after an alcohol-fueled party said Tuesday that moving forward with the case is "patently unfair and un-American" because important witnesses haven't been compelled to testify.
The attorney for Ma'Lik Richmond filed a motion Monday saying that further prosecution of Richmond violates his due process and equal protection rights and asks the judge or state to dismiss the case.
"You have case where it's clear — clear — that basic, fundamental, constitutional guarantees are not available to this child, my client, to put on a defense," Walter Madison told The Associated Press. "As such, it is patently unfair and un-American to continue knowing that that is not available."
Richmond, 16, and Trent Mays, 17, are scheduled to go on trial Wednesday in Jefferson County juvenile court in Steubenville on charges they attacked a 16-year-old West Virginia girl last August. Their attorneys have denied the charges.
But the attorneys for both teens said their clients will be denied a fair trial because of the availability of crucial witnesses. A West Virginia judge's ruled last week that three juvenile witnesses there could not be compelled to testify in the Ohio case.
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