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Jacksonville man guilty of lesser counts in music shooting
Attorney News |
2014/02/18 15:35
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A 47-year-old software developer was convicted Saturday of attempted murder for shooting into a carful of teenagers after an argument over what he called their “thug music,” but jurors couldn’t agree on the most serious charge of first-degree murder.
After more than 30 hours of jury deliberations over four days, a mistrial was declared on the murder charge that Michael Dunn faced in the fatal shooting of one of the black teens. The 12 jurors found him guilty of three counts of attempted second-degree murder and a count of firing into an occupied car.
Dunn was charged with fatally shooting 17-year-old Jordan Davis, of Marietta , Ga. , in 2012 after the argument over loud music coming from the SUV occupied by Davis and three friends outside a Jacksonville convenience store. Dunn, who is white, had described the music to his fiancee as “thug music.”
Dunn showed no emotion as the verdicts were read. Each attempted second-degree murder charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, while the fourth charge he was convicted on carries a maximum of 15. A sentencing date will be set at a hearing next month. |
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CA Supreme Court justice to retire
Attorney News |
2014/02/13 16:14
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The longest-serving current justice of the California Supreme Court announced Tuesday that she is retiring.
Justice Joyce Kennard notified Gov. Jerry Brown that she intends to step down on April 5, ending her 24-year tenure as a member of the state's highest court.
"The state and its people have been very well served by Justice Kennard," Brown said in a statement on Tuesday. "Her independence and intellectual fortitude have left a lasting mark on the Court."
Former Gov. George Deukmejian appointed Kennard to the Supreme Court in 1989, The San Jose Mercury News reported. She previously was a Los Angeles trial judge and an appeals court justice for a brief time before being elevated to the State Supreme Court.
Kennard, 72, has a unique personal history, according to the Mercury News, because she is a native of Indonesia, moved to the Netherlands as a teenager and lost part of her right leg to a tumor, forcing her to walk with a prosthetic the rest of her life.
Kennard moved to the United States in 1961, settling in Southern California. She earned her law degree from the University of Southern California.
In her tenure on the court, she became famous for interjecting questions during oral arguments, often turning them into lengthy speeches before pointing her finger at a lawyer and demanding an answer. Despite being an appointee of the conservative Deukmejian, she was often unpredictable in her rulings and would come down on the more liberal side of social issues before the court.
Kennard was in the 4-3 majority that in 2008 struck down California's long-standing ban on gay marriage, a ruling that preceded voter approval of Proposition 8 — which restored the same-sex marriage ban until the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated it last year. |
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Court: LAPD can continue eased auto impound policy
Attorney News |
2013/12/20 11:12
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A California appeals court has issued a stay allowing a Los Angeles police policy that makes it easier for unlicensed drivers to keep their cars instead of having them impounded.
In August a lower court struck down the policy known as Special Order 7, saying it conflicted with the state's vehicle code.
But in October the appeals court issued a temporary stay allowing the policy to continue, and Wednesday extended that stay until a city appeal is resolved.
Special Order 7 allows some unlicensed drivers who are stopped to produce registration and proof of insurance to avoid having their cars impounded for 30 days.
The police union sued to nullify the policy, saying it left officers with conflicting orders.
LA'S city attorney and police chief issued statements lauding Wednesday's decision.
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Appeals court to take up San Francisco jail suit
Attorney News |
2013/12/02 13:37
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A federal appeals court is set to take up a lawsuit over a former San Francisco sheriff's decision to remove male deputies from female housing units at the county's jail.
San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey made the decision in 2006 in response to inmate complaints of sexual misconduct. More than two dozen male and female deputies have since sued, saying it is discriminatory.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/1adufFe) that a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to consider the case next Wednesday.
Attorneys for the deputies say not one sexual misconduct claim made by a female inmate against a male deputy was sustained in the 16 years before the sheriff' policy change.
City attorneys dispute that, saying three deputies resigned and two others were suspended. |
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Russian court: Greenpeace activist to stay in jail
Attorney News |
2013/11/18 16:45
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A Russian judge refused Monday to free Australian Greenpeace activist Colin Russell, who was among 30 people arrested following a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic, signaling that others also could be kept in jail for three more months pending trial.
In a subsequent hearing, however, a judge agreed to free a Russian doctor who was on the Greenpeace ship when it was seized by the Russian coast guard on Sept. 18. Yekaterina Zaspa was released on bail of 2 million rubles ($61,500).
Investigators had asked St. Petersburg courts to extend the detention period of all 30. Hearings were scheduled Monday for seven of the group.
During similar hearings two months ago on whether to jail the defendants, the rulings were the same in all 30 cases, which made Monday's release of the Russian doctor unexpected.
The Russians arrested everyone on board the ship, including cooks and journalists documenting the protest, after a few of the environmental activists tried to scale an offshore drilling platform owned by Russian state energy giant Gazprom. |
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