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Accused White House intruder to appear in court
Law Firm News |
2014/09/29 16:43
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Following an embarrassing security breach at the White House, one of the most closely protected buildings in the world, the Secret Service is said to be considering establishing new checkpoints to screen tourists in public areas near the presidential mansion.
Meanwhile, the man accused of scaling a security fence and getting into the president's home carrying a knife is scheduled to have his initial appearance Monday in federal court.Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, of Copperas Cove, Texas, is facing charges of unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon.
The Army says Gonzalez served from 1997 until his discharge in 2003, and again from 2005 to December 2012, when he retired due to disability.The Secret Service tightened its guard outside the White House after Friday's security breach. Gonzalez is accused of scaling the White House perimeter fence, sprinting across the lawn and entering the building before agents could stop him.
President Barack Obama and his family were away at the time. Obama says he still has confidence in the troubled agency's ability to protect him and his family.Secret Service Director Julia Pierson has ordered increased surveillance and more officer patrols, and has begun an investigation into what went wrong. |
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Case of American jailed in Cuba back in US court
Court News |
2014/09/29 16:35
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A government subcontractor who has spent over four years imprisoned in Cuba should be allowed to sue the U.S. government over lost wages and legal fees, his attorney told an appeals court Friday.
Alan Gross was working in Cuba as a government subcontractor when he was arrested in 2009. He has since lost income and racked up legal fees, his attorney Barry Buchman told the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. A lawyer for the government argued the claims are based on his detention in Cuba, making him ineligible to sue.
The panel is expected to issue a written ruling on the case at a later date.
A lower-court judge previously threw out Gross' lawsuit against the government in 2013, saying federal law bars lawsuits against the government based on injuries suffered in foreign countries. Gross' lawyers appealed.
Gross was detained in December 2009 while working to set up Internet access as a subcontractor for the U.S. government's U.S. Agency for International Development, which does work promoting democracy in the communist country. It was his fifth trip to Cuba to work with Jewish communities on setting up Internet access that bypassed local censorship. Cuba considers USAID's programs illegal attempts by the U.S. to undermine its government, and Gross was tried and sentenced to 15 years in prison. |
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German court lifts injunction banning Uber
U.S. Court News |
2014/09/22 16:36
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A court in Germany has lifted an emergency injunction that banned the ridesharing service Uber from operating anywhere in the country.
The Frankfurt state court ruled Tuesday that the urgent measures taxi drivers won against their upstart rival last month weren't warranted.
The move means Uber can continue operating, though taxi associations have indicated they plan to appeal the decision and seek a full hearing of the suit.
Taxi associations accuse Uber of allowing its drivers to skirt safety and insurance regulations that conventional cabs have to abide by.
The San Francisco-based company has battled stiff opposition to its business model in several European countries and recently hired David Plouffe, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, as its senior vice president of policy and strategy. |
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Mom charged in son's 1991 murder is due in court
Court News |
2014/09/22 16:36
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A Florida woman charged in the 1991 death of her 5-year-old son is scheduled to make her first appearance in a New Jersey courtroom.
Middlesex County prosecutors say Michelle Lodzinski is due to appear Tuesday afternoon in New Brunswick. She is charged with killing Timothy Wiltsey, but her attorney has said she "adamantly denies" the charges.
Lodzinski, 46, has been in custody since her arrest August 7. She's was extradited to New Jersey on Friday and is being held in the county jail on $2 million bail.
She had said her son disappeared at a carnival, but investigators said her story kept changing. His skeletal remains were found in a marshy area of Edison 11 months later.
Lodzinski went into seclusion after her son's remains were discovered, and neighbors said at the time that she didn't appear distraught. In late July, a county grand jury handed up a one-count indictment stating she "did purposely or knowingly kill" Timothy or did "purposely or knowingly inflict serious bodily injury" resulting in his death. |
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