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2 ex-judges, lawyer back to prison in Miss scheme
Headline Legal News |
2011/06/13 20:28
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Two ex-judges and an attorney from Mississippi must return to federal prison for their convictions in a loan scheme.
A federal appeals court had vacated their bribery convictions but upheld the guilty verdicts on corruption charges. So they needed to be resentenced.
U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate denied requests by Paul Minor and former Harrison County judges Wes Teel and John Whitfield to be re-sentenced to time they have already served.
Wingate on Monday sentenced Minor to eight years, Teel to four and Whitfield about six — all less than previous.
Prosecutors said Minor would guarantee loans for the judges, then used cash and third parties to pay off the debts. Judges then ruled in his favor in civil cases. He has long said he is innocent and was making loans to help friends.
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Toyota class action suit to start with Utah case
Opinions |
2011/06/12 20:28
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A federal judge expects the first lawsuit to go to trial in a massive class action against Toyota Motor Corp. over a sudden acceleration problem that led the company to recall 14 million cars will involve a crash that killed two people in Utah.
U.S. District Judge James Selna told attorneys Friday that the case of Paul Van Alfen and Charlene Jones Lloyd -- whose Toyota Camry slammed into a wall in Wendover, Utah, in 2010 -- will go to trial in early 2013.
The case will be the first of several bellwether lawsuits, intended to determine how the rest of the litigation will proceed.
Toyota says it welcomes the first suit because it will focus on what it calls the alleged technical defects at the heart of the cases.
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Court orders reconsideration of parole judgment
Attorney News |
2011/06/11 20:29
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The Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to reconsider its decision to release a criminal on parole.
The high court threw out a lower court decision ordering John Pirtle and other prisoners released from prison on parole.
Pirtle was convicted of killing his wife, and the parole board started denying him parole in 2002. Pirtle sued in federal court, saying his parole was denied without any proof that he posed a danger if he got out.
The lower courts agreed with him and ordered him and other prisoners in similar situations released on parole.
The high court threw out that decision in a summary judgment and ordered the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to reconsider it.
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Fed proposes expanding capital reviews to 35 banks
Legal Business |
2011/06/10 23:51
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The Federal Reserve wants a broader group of banks to provide details each year about their finances, part of an effort to ensure banks can meet their capital requirements and avoid another financial crisis.
The Fed currently requires the nation's 19 largest banks to submit capital plans annually. The proposal unveiled Friday would expand the list to the 35 largest banks by requiring firms with assets of $50 billion or more to submit annual plans.
Capital is the amount of reserves that a bank holds as a cushion against losses. If the Fed determines a bank doesn't have adequate capital, it can order it to stop paying dividends to stockholders. The central bank is taking comments on the proposal through August and has plans to implement it by January.
The financial overhaul law passed last year directed federal regulators to do a better job monitoring the level of capital that banks keep on hand. Banks have been fighting many of the more stringent controls being imposed under last year's legislation. They contend the tighter rules are not necessary and will restrict their ability to make loans.
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Pa. appeals court upholds $188M Wal-Mart verdict
Topics in Legal News |
2011/06/10 23:50
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A $188 million class-action verdict against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Sam's Club over payment to employees for rest breaks and off-the-clock work was upheld Friday by a Pennsylvania appeals court.
A three-judge Superior Court panel said there was sufficient evidence at trial to conclude there had been a breach of contract, unjust enrichment and violations of state labor laws.
The judges also ruled in a 211-page opinion that the presiding Philadelphia judge erred in determining some of the plaintiffs' legal fees, and sent that part of the case back for recalculation.
The 2006 trial, which lasted 32 days, resulted in a finding that Wal-Mart did not pay employees for all the work they performed and did not let them take their paid, mandatory rest breaks, the judges wrote. The court awarded $46 million in attorneys' fees.
Wal-Mart spokesman Greg Rossiter said the retail giant believes the court decision was wrong in a number of respects and looks forward to additional review in the courts.
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