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Ex-Mass. chemist pleads not guilty in lab case
Court Issues |
2013/02/05 05:39
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A former Massachusetts chemist accused of faking test results at a state drug lab has pleaded not guilty at her sixth and final arraignment.
Annie Dookhan was arraigned Monday on a charge of misleading a grand jury prosecutor and judge. She and her attorney declined to comment after the brief hearing. She has been free on $10,000 bail and prosecutors did not ask the judge in Salem to increase it.
Dookhan is accused of falsely claiming she holds a master's degree in chemistry while testifying as an expert witness. She has already pleaded not guilty to a string of charges in five other counties.
Dookhan was indicted in December on a total of 27 charges related to her alleged misconduct at the lab.
The scandal could jeopardize thousands of criminal cases. |
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Court sets aside 2 of 4 Casey Anthony convictions
Court Watch |
2013/01/30 07:06
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A Florida appellate court on Friday set aside two of the four convictions Casey Anthony faced for lying to detectives during the investigation into her missing 2-year-old daughter.
Judges on the 5th District Court of Appeals agreed with Anthony's attorneys that two of the charges constituted double jeopardy, or being convicted or punished more than once for the same crime.
"We cannot conclude that the Legislature intended to authorize separate punishment for each false statement made during a single interview," the judges said in their ruling.
Anthony was acquitted of killing Caylee in 2011. Jurors convicted her of four counts of lying to detectives, and her attorneys appealed those convictions. Anthony was sentenced to time served for the misdemeanors.
She was sentenced to a year of probation after her release from jail for an unrelated case. Her whereabouts have been kept secret since she was released from state supervision last year.
Jeff Ashton, one of the prosecutors who tried Anthony and who was recently elected State Attorney in the Orlando area, said in a statement that he expected the case would be considered closed once the trial court drops the two counts. |
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Ex-BAE agent found guilty of manipulating evidence
Law Firm News |
2013/01/18 07:35
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An Austrian court has found a former agent for Defense Contractor BAE Systems PLC guilty of tampering with evidence but innocent of the more serious charge of money laundering.
After pronouncing his verdict Thursday, Judge Stefan Apostol sentenced Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly to a suspended two-month prison term.
Mensdorff-Pouilly was originally charged with paying out €12.6 million ($16.7 million) on behalf of BAE to contacts in Eastern and Central Europe in efforts to win contracts.
Prosecutor Michael Radasztics says he will appeal.
Mensdorff-Pouilly was charged in Britain in 2011 with conspiracy to corrupt in his efforts to secure contracts. But the charges were dropped after the company agreed to pay a multimillion-dollar fine to settle an arms export controls case with the U.S. Department of State. |
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Court won't get involved in inmate tug-of-war
Law Firm News |
2013/01/15 06:52
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The Supreme Court on Monday said it won't stop the federal government from claiming a Rhode Island inmate who will face the possibility of execution if convicted of murder, despite arguments that it violates the rights of a state without the death penalty.
The high court refused to hear an appeal from Jason Pleau and the state of Rhode Island. Pleau is currently awaiting trial in federal court in the killing of a gas station manager who was shot as he approached a Woonsocket bank to deposit money.
Pleau initially had been in state custody. After federal prosecutors charged him, Gov. Lincoln Chafee refused to turn over Pleau, citing the state's rejection of the death penalty.
But an appeals court ruled last year the state must surrender Pleau to federal officials, despite the state's insistence that the federal government is violating a legal agreement that authorizes the state to deny a request to transfer a prisoner.
U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha said he was pleased by the decision and that his office was prepared to move ahead with the case immediately.
Pleau's lawyer did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment.
Chafee was visibly shaken when he learned of the decision from a reporter Monday morning. He said he was disappointed but acknowledged the state's case was at an end. |
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