Posted by Archie Parsons on January 25, 2012
HAMPTON An armed man was arrested in Hampton on Tuesday and charged with attempting to rob a store on West Mercury Blvd., according to police.
Police spokesman Cpl. Jason Price said a man was seen acting suspiciously by a detective at 10:38 p.m. on Tuesday near the E-Z Pick Convenience Store, a business at 3022 W. Mercury Blvd.
“The detective also observed that the suspect had his face concealed, was possibly carrying a firearm and was approaching the E-Z Pick Convenience Store,” Price said.
As the detective approached the man fled on foot.
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Posted by Rose Giorza on January 21, 2012
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The military policies of detention and interrogation worked out by the Bush Administration and continued at least in part by the Obama Administration cannot be challenged in damage lawsuits in federal courts, the Fourth Circuit Court in Richmond, Va., ruled on Monday. The Constitution assigns the making of such policy to Congress and the President, and the courts may not trespass, the Circuit Court decided in throwing out a lawsuit by one of the best-known post 9/11 detainees: American citizen Jose Padilla. The decision can be read here.
The 39-page ruling was a sweeping victory for the government as it fended off claims that top Pentagon officials and military prison supervisors violated a string of constitutional provisions, including the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment, while Padilla was detained. Suing along with his mother, Estela Lebron, their case sought a court-approved remedy fashioned directly under the Constitution. The Circuit Court said it had no authority to do so.
Padilla was captured nearly ten years ago at OHare Airport in Chicago on his return from Afghanistan, after allegedly being trained by the al Qaeda terrorist network for violent action in the U.S. But, rather than prosecute him for terrorist crimes, he was named an enemy combatant by direct order of President George W. Bush, and
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Posted by Cameron Heron on January 19, 2012
CINCINNATI — The Ryan Widmer jurors didn’t hear about former Hamilton Twp. Lt. Jeff Braley’s false employment records and neither will a jury in another case in federal court.
A lawsuit filed by Mary and Edward Pritchard several years ago accuses Braley, former Police Chief Frank Richardson, Lt. Phil Johnson, and former Officer Roger Gilbert and his wife, Gail, of staging an improper raid on their home in 2007.
The trial starts Monday in Cincinnati.
Braley was also the lead detective in the case against Widmer, who is serving 15 years to life in prison for drowning his wife, Sarah, in the bathtub of their home in August 2008. Widmer’s attorneys tried twice to get Braley’s falsified employment records before jurors to discredit him. The judge
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Posted by Rose Giorza on January 17, 2012
Ministers are considering plans to take away defendants’ rights to jury trial, according to the Magistrates’ Association.
The proposal is being considered as part of a cash-saving drive, building on lessons learned from processing offenders following last summer’s riots.
Cases known as “either way offences”, where the accused can opt for trial in a magistrates court or in front of a jury at crown court, are most likely to be affected.
Such cases usually involve relatively low-value thefts, such as shoplifting, or minor cases of criminal damage.
Ministers have been impressed with the speed with which justice was dispensed after August’s riots.
The attorney general, Dominic Grieve, has suggested that magistrates might be given greater sentencing powers, increasing the maximum term they might be able to impose from six to 12 months for a single offence.
But the Ministry of Justice played down reports of a review of trial procedures, insisting that: “We have no plans to remove trial by jury.”
Trials at crown court cost more than three times as much as in the lower courts.
Criminal barristers and human rights groups are likely to be extremely worried by an erosion of what is seen as a fundamental liberty.
A spokesperson for the Magistrates’ Association confirmed that discussions were taking place with ministers and that the organisation backed the move.
“It’s being considered, apparently in the light of the riots,” the spokesperson said.
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Posted by Archie Parsons on January 16, 2012
State police say Clerk of Courts Frank Conaway Sr.’s permit to carry a concealed handgun expired in March, raising the possibility that he could face criminal charges after Monday’s altercation with a blogger.
According to city police, Conaway “brandished” a firearm during an altercation with blogger Adam Meister outside his Northwest Baltimore home. Conaway said he had a permit for the weapon, but state police spokeswoman Elena Russo said records show it expired in March.
A major sticking point: Even if Conaway’s permit lapsed, he would be allowed to possess the gun on his own property, Russo said. But it is not clear whether Conaway left his property.
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