Recent Updates
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Texas woman on death row gets new sentencing trial
Recent Cases 11/03/2011A Texas appeals court says one of 10 women on the state's death row should get a new punishment hearing after her attorneys said prosecutors withheld evidence at her 2005 trial. Chelsea Richardson was convicted of masterminding the slayings of her bo...
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High court avoids dispute over highway crosses
Recent Cases 10/31/2011The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal of a ruling that 12-foot-high crosses along Utah highways in honor of dead state troopers violate the Constitution. The justices voted 8-1 Monday to reject an appeal from Utah and a state troopers' group that wa...
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Navy ship commander to face general court-martial
Recent Cases 10/28/2011A Navy ship commander is facing a military court hearing in San Diego Friday on accusations of sexually assaulting two women on his crew. Cmdr. Jay Wylie will undergo a general court-martial, the military court reserved for the most serious offenses,...
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Man pleads guilty to Picasso theft at SF gallery
Recent Cases 10/28/2011A New Jersey man who walked out of a San Francisco gallery with a pencil sketch by Pablo Picasso worth $275,000 pleaded guilty to grand theft Thursday. Workers at the Weinstein Gallery said Mark Lugo brazenly snatched the drawing, called "Tete de Fem...
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State budget cuts clog criminal justice system
Recent Cases 10/26/2011Prosecutors are forced to ignore misdemeanor violations to pursue more serious crimes. Judges are delaying trials to cope with layoffs and strained staffing levels. And in some cases, those charged with violent crimes, even murder, are set free becau...
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Top Europe court bans stem cell technique patents
Recent Cases 10/18/2011The European Union's top court ruled Tuesday that scientists cannot patent stem cell techniques that use human embryos for research purposes, a ruling some scientists said threatens important research since no one could profit from it. The European C...
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Utah man charged with threatening air marshals
Recent Cases 10/17/2011A Utah man has been charged in federal court after authorities say he threatened to shoot air marshals, hijack the flight and urinate in the cabin of a Delta Airlines plane en route from Amsterdam to Detroit. During a Thursday appearance in U.S. Dist...
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Court blocks Ala. from checking student status
Recent Cases 10/17/2011Armando Cardenas says he has thought about leaving Alabama because of the possibility of being arrested as an illegal immigrant and the hostility he feels from residents. But now that a federal appeals court has sided with the Obama administration an...
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High court to decide double jeopardy question
Recent Cases 10/12/2011The Supreme Court will decide whether a jury forewoman's offhand comment that the jury was unable to make a decision on a murder charge means the suspect can't be retried on that charge. The high court on Tuesday agreed to hear an appeal from Alex Bl...
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US court turns down Philly DA in cop-killing case
Recent Cases 10/11/2011The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a request from prosecutors who want to re-impose a death sentence on former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of killing a white Philadelphia police officer 30 years ago. The justices on Tuesday refused to g...
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Defense lawyer will not help Edwards at trial
Recent Cases 10/11/2011A key member of the legal team defending John Edwards against campaign finance charges will not represent the former Democratic presidential candidate at his upcoming trial following questions about a potential conflict of interest. A motion filed by...
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Court won't hear appeal from Alamo followers
Recent Cases 10/09/2011The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from followers of evangelist Tony Alamo (uh-LAHM'-oh) who had their children taken away when they wouldn't agree not to expose them to the controversial ministry. The high court on Tuesday refused to hear an app...