- Tuesday headlines
Little headway on lethal injection: It was an uphill slog for opponents of this form of capital punishment as they tried to make their case before the Supreme Court. Even the liberal wing of the court seemed skeptical about their efforts to change the way executions are carried out. From the NYT:
Donald B. Verrilli Jr., the lawyer for two inmates on Kentucky’s death row who are facing execution by the commonly used three-chemical protocol, conceded that theoretically his clients would have no case if the first drug, a barbiturate used for anesthesia, could be guaranteed to work perfectly by inducing deep unconsciousness. But as a practical matter, Mr. Verrilli went on to say, systemic flaws in Kentucky’s procedures mean that there can be no such guarantee, and the state’s refusal to take reasonable steps to avoid the foreseeable risk of “torturous, excruciating pain” makes its use of the three-drug procedure unconstitutional. It was here that Mr. Verrilli met resistance from both sides of the court, and the closely watched case appeared to founder in this gap between theory and practice.
Of the 36 states with the death penalty, all but Nebraska, which still uses only the electric chair, specify the same three-drug sequence for lethal injections. The second drug, pancuronium bromide, paralyzes the muscles with suffocating effect. The third, potassium chloride, stops the heart and brings about death, but not before causing searing pain if the anesthesia does not work as intended. The paralyzing effect of the second drug gives the inmate a peaceful appearance and, even if he is in great pain because of inadequacy of the anesthesia, renders him unable to communicate that fact.
GenRe-AIG trial begins: In opening arguments defense lawyers insisted that executives of the two insurers did not conspire to hide a 2000 transaction, which prosecutors say improperly bolstered AIG's loss reserves. The defense said these executives had no reason to suspect the transaction was improper. Prosecutors argued otherwise. "The deal was nothing but a sham transaction to deceive analysts and shareholders -- and these five defendants knew it," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Raymond Patricco in his opening statement. The trial is getting lots of attention, in part because Gen Re is a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. (Reuters)
Judge sanctions Qualcomm lawyers: This involves the alleged mishandling of evidence in the big patent case against Broadcom Corp. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major referred the conduct of the six lawyers to the California State Bar Association for an investigation into possible ethical violations. Also, five in-house Qualcomm attorneys were ordered to take part in a "comprehensive" review of the company's procedures associated with producing evidence. Qualcomm had failed to produce thousands of pages of documents that had been requested by the chip maker Broadcom. (WSJ)
Countrywide "recreated" letters: That's otherwise known as fabrication. The documents claimed that a Pennsylvania borrower owed the company $4,700 because of discrepancies in escrow deductions. “These letters are a smoking gun that something is not right in Denmark,” said federal bankruptcy judge Thomas Agresti. The phony documents will no doubt raise more questions about whether Countrywide pushed borrowers into making risky loans. But a company spokesman said that Countrywide does not fabricate documents and that the ones at issue were generated "as an efficient way to convey the dates the escrow analyses were done and the calculations of the payments as a result of the analyses." (NYT)
Baltimore sues Wells Fargo: The administration of Mayor Sheila Dixon is alleging a pattern of predatory lending in black neighborhoods - specifically, that Wells Fargo sold higher-interest subprime mortgages to blacks more frequently than to whites. The practice, known as reverse redlining, violates federal housing law. Baltimore's lawsuit could be the first in the nation in which a city tries to recapture costs associated with foreclosed homes that wind up vacant. (Baltimore Sun)
Case finally closed: A federal judge has granted approval of $39 million in settlements by the last two defendants in a long-running case in which auto repair shop owners allege that paint manufacturers secretly agreed to "fix, raise, maintain and stabilize" the prices of refinishing paints. The suit alleges that during the 1990s, the price increases for auto refinishing paints continued to rise despite a drop in the prices of crude oil and natural gas (the principal raw materials used to manufacture refinishing paints). All told, more than $105 million in settlements have been garnered. (Legal Intelligencer)
Author sues Mrs. Seinfeld: Missy Chase Lapine accuses the wife of Jerry Seinfeld of "brazen plagiarism." Seinfeld has written a best-selling cookbook called "Deceptively Delicious" that employs hidden puréed vegetables in its recipes for children - much as Lapine uses in her book, "The Sneaky Chef" (also a best-seller). In the complaint, Lapine also accuses Jerry Seinfeld of "malicious defamation" for insinuating on the David Letterman show that she was a "wacko." From the NYT:
The complaint cites similarities in the books, which it says include “original expression, philosophy, premise,” as well as specific words. On the Letterman show, Mr. Seinfeld did not refer to Ms. Lapine by name, but spoke of a “three-name woman” and said that “if you read history, many of the three-name people do become assassins.” The complaint states that Ms. Lapine is “not a violent or dangerous person.” Richard G. Menaker, a lawyer for the Seinfelds, said he had not seen the complaint but called the copyright infringement claim “absolutely without merit” and the defamation claim “absolute nonsense.” He added that Mr. Seinfeld’s status as a public figure “does not mean he loses his First Amendment rights of free speech.”
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| 06:06 AM Jan 8, 2008 | Email the Daily Dragon | Email this Article | Post Comments |
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