Petition for a writ of mandate to dismiss defendant’s rape and other related charges as barred by statute of limitations is denied where: 1) the plain language of section 803(g)(1) of the Penal Code requires more than an initial match or positive identification of a suspect’s DNA with crime scene evidence; and 2) the legislative history supports the conclusion that the one-year limitations period is not triggered by an initial match or link....
Moving into the birth control mandate discussion on Friday, the D.C. Circuit ruled on a religious challenge to the ACA’s contraceptive in a split decision with some definite quirks. In Gilardi v. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, the D.C. Circuit was split on whether the Gilardi family, who are staunch Catholics and oppose contraception, were denied free exercise by having to choose between their businesses offering health care coverage and their religious beliefs....
A couple of Yankee fans were caught having sex in the bathroom stalls at Yankee Stadium. And the video proof of the tryst has now gone viral, thanks to Deadspin. The alleged fornication started during the second inning of the Yankees matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays and actually lasted until the fourth or fifth inning. Given the pace of baseball games (I’m guessing that those two innings lasted at least 40 minutes), and the fact that the couple was being watched by several vocal onlookers, the sexual feat was actually quite impressive and the culprits may have found a second career in porn....
A federal consumer protection agency has sued the nation’s largest student-loan servicing company for cheating borrowers, allegedly pushing them into higher interest rates and payments on federally backed loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Navient, which services more than $300 billion in loans, for failing to advise borrowers of programs that would have saved them money. Instead, the agency said, Navient gave student borrowers inaccurate information, processed payments incorrectly, and steered them toward higher-cost repayment options....
Do you have one of the highest paid careers in America? Lawyers are indeed among the Top 10 careers with the highest average compensation, but how exactly do legal careers stack up, moneywise, against other professions? Figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics help to answer that question. While lawyers are among the most well-paid professionals, according to number-crunchers at CNBC, the legal profession’s overall rank may surprise you. Here, in reverse order, are the Top 10 highest paid careers and their average annual salaries:...
In a move that surprised many, the California’s Supreme Court declined to revisit a controversial January ruling on mandatory registration for certain offenders. The case the court declined to rehear, Johnson v. Department of Justice, revived a mandatory registration law that many argued was homophobic and unjustly subjected gay and lesbian defendants to greater punishments than their straight counterparts. The Johnson decision received a strong dissent from two Justices. Court observers had expected Governor Brown’s recent appointees to push the court more to the left and to rehear the case....
Government attorneys in the criminal justice system are all too aware of the fact that public defenders’ offices, traditionally, are under-funded, under-staffed, and under-appreciated. However, a few recent cases have been filed seeking to challenge those norms and get PD offices more funding to hire more attorneys, reduce caseloads, and provide more funding for litigation services, like investigations and experts. Notably, one of these cases has just been cleared for trial, though one has not been scheduled yet, as the challengers to the Louisiana system not only succeeded in obtaining class cert, they also defeated the states motion for summary judgment....
Florida man John Calvery was arrested for allegedly making dozens of prank calls to 911 and local police in Port Orange. He also made similar phone calls in Orlando, where he was subsequently arrested, reports WFTV-TV. Calvery managed to call dispatchers around 80 times in a five-hour period, reports News 13. That amounts to about one 911 prank call every 3 to 4 minutes. John Calvery’s phone messages went from threats to the police to direct insults against law enforcement....
There’s no question that Craigslist is cluttered with strange things and strange people, but this story may just take the cake. Texas animal authorities are currently in the process of re-housing and identifying nearly 80 snakes – mostly Boas and Albino Burmese Pythons – all located at one East Texas house. Their owner, David Beauchemin, apparently fed the snakes pets he “adopted” off of Craigslist. Texas State Game Wardens, Wood County Police, and local zoo keepers were alerted to David Beauchemin when he failed to show up to a hearing in Louisiana, where KLTV reports that he is being charged with 22 counts of animal cruelty....
When the news broke that the once highly acclaimed gymnastics doctor, Larry Nassar, was accused of child molestation and possession of child pornography, the Michigan State University community was probably more taken aback than any other. Nassar had not only practiced sports medicine for the university’s athletes, he also taught osteopathic medicine. As a result of the Nassar scandal, fingers are being pointed at the university’s lawyers, and potentially rightly so....
Trial court’s conviction of defendant for kidnapping to extort a ransom is affirmed as the trial court did not err in denying defendant’s suppression motion as circumstances preclude any reasonable expectation of privacy in any markings displayed on the outside of an envelope, such as those identifying AT&T Wireless as the addressor. Read People v. Reyes, No. G038778 [HTML] Read People v. Reyes, No. G038778 [PDF] Filed October 30, 2009...
If you drew last in a gunfight in the Old West, you might’ve had time to write out your last will and testament on a scrap of paper before you died. And yep, pardner, you probably should – write your own will, that is. Time’s not like the undertaker; it waits for nobody. But that was so two centuries ago. Today, you can write a will on a computer faster than you can load a six shooter....
For lucky and unlucky students of the defunct Charlotte School of Law, the government giveth and it taketh away. Under a new program, former Charlotte students may have their federal student loans forgiven if they were enrolled after Dec. 30, 2016. That was about two weeks after the education department took away federal student loans from the school. The “closed-school discharge” is good news for about 300 lucky students who will not have to pay back those loans....
As Colorado has been selling legal pot to the general public for more than six months now, a new government study has found that residents and visitors alike are smoking tons of pot. Not figurative tons. Actual metric tons. According to The Associated Press, the Centennial State’s market demand for legal weed is about 130 metric tons a year. And most of that demand is coming from residents, not tourists....
A former Cedar Rapids, Iowa substitute teacher is claiming the local school district knew full well she was sexually involved with a student and ignored the relationship in an effort to avoid embarrassment. Mary Beth Haglin, who has been charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, claims the Cedar Rapids Community School District “turned a blind eye because they wanted to protect their school.” So does that make the school or the school district complicit in her crimes?...
In an unjust enrichment action by an independent consultant for Defendant Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), the District Court’s denial of Defendant’s motion to dismiss is affirmed where, by waiving immunity from unjust enrichment claims of independent consultants whom the IIC solicits to help negotiate the commercial lending agreements that are central to its function, the IIC gains a corresponding benefit that furthers its objectives. Read Vila v. Inter-Am. Inv. Corp., No....
Texas Tech head coach was recently handed walking papers This comes on the heels of his suspension based on complaints that he mishandled a concussion suffered by player Adam James, son of ESPN college football analyst Craig James. Now, the situation has quickly gotten legal, as Leach was fired before a judge had ruled on his request for a temporary restraining order in hopes of being able to coach in Saturday’s Alamo Bowl against Michigan State....
When Justice Menis Ketchum abruptly retired from the West Virginia Supreme Court, it left some serious questions. Why did he quit so suddenly? Who would take his place? What about his colleagues? Where is the state-owned car? Seriously, the car was at the center of all the questions. Ketchum quit and then pleaded guilty to a felony because he was caught driving the state-owned car on golf trips. The Company Car Ketchum’s plea is the latest in a scandal that has ensnared the entire state Supreme Court....
He may not be on an NFL roster this season and it’s been ten years since he played high school football, but Tim Tebow is still having an impact on how we view the relationship between home schooling and high school sports. So-called Tim Tebow laws aim to allow homeschooled kids to play on public school athletic teams, as their namesake did in Florida under similar legislation. But passing these laws isn’t easy, as a few states have recently found out....
Just got a waitlist response to your law school application? The good news is, the school is definitely interested in you. The bad news is, you’re going to have to wait a few months to know more. In the meantime, don’t worry because law schools generally don’t rank their waitlists. Nobody on the list has an advantage at this point. It’s like lottery balls, they are constantly moving and no one knows which one will come up....
