Court upholds murder conviction in toddler's death
Recent Cases
Georgia's top court has unanimously upheld the murder convictions and life prison sentences given to a metro Atlanta couple for strangling and beating to death the woman's young daughter.
The Georgia Supreme Court's decision on Monday involved the December 2008 death of Makayla Mack, who was 2 ½ when she was taken to the hospital.
An autopsy revealed she had hair loss, bruises and other signs of abuse, and Coweta County prosecutors charged Thomasina Mack and DeMario Steven Smith with her death.
The two were tried jointly in April 2010 and the jury found them guilty of murder and cruelty to children, sentencing them both to life in prison. Both appealed, but the Georgia Supreme Court's opinion found the evidence was sufficient to find them "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."
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USCIS Will Begin Accepting CW-1 Petitions for Fiscal Year 2019
On April 2, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting petitions under the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) program subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2019 cap. Employers in the CNMI use the CW-1 program to employ foreign workers who are ineligible for other nonimmigrant worker categories. The cap for CW-1 visas for FY 2019 is 4,999.
For the FY 2019 cap, USCIS encourages employers to file a petition for a CW-1 nonimmigrant worker up to six months in advance of the proposed start date of employment and as early as possible within that timeframe. USCIS will reject a petition if it is filed more than six months in advance. An extension petition may request a start date of Oct. 1, 2018, even if that worker’s current status will not expire by that date.
Since USCIS expects to receive more petitions than the number of CW-1 visas available for FY 2019, USCIS may conduct a lottery to randomly select petitions and associated beneficiaries so that the cap is not exceeded. The lottery would give employers the fairest opportunity to request workers, particularly with the possibility of mail delays from the CNMI.
USCIS will count the total number of beneficiaries in the petitions received after 10 business days to determine if a lottery is needed. If the cap is met after those initial 10 days, a lottery may still need to be conducted with only the petitions received on the last day before the cap was met. USCIS will announce when the cap is met and whether a lottery has been conducted.