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The Latest: Lambert, Ballou move to fall Supreme Court race
Law Firm News |
2018/05/16 00:24
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A state Court of Appeals judge and a circuit court judge have emerged from a three-way primary and will face off in November for a seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has easily won the Democratic nomination in his pursuit of another term, and he'll be challenged by a Metro councilwoman in the general election.
Republican Angela Leet defeated Bob DeVore in Tuesday's primary election to move on to challenge Fischer in November. Fischer dominated a five-way Democratic primary in Kentucky's largest city. The issues they'll face include violent crime and economic development.
Debra Hembree Lambert, a member of the state Court of Appeals, received nearly twice as many votes in Tuesday's primary election as the second-place finisher — Daniel Ballou, a circuit judge for McCreary and Whitley counties.
The Supreme Court race is nonpartisan, and the two candidates with the most votes move on to the November election.
David Tapp, a circuit judge for Pulaski, Rockcastle and Lincoln counties, finished a close third behind Ballou.
The Supreme Court seat is currently held by Justice Daniel J. Venters, who is retiring at the end of his current term. The district includes 27 counties in southern and south-central Kentucky. |
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Suspect in fatal bakery stabbing heads to court
Law Firm News |
2018/05/08 00:22
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The man suspected of fatally stabbing the co-owner of a Massachusetts bakery is heading to court to face a murder charge.
Prosecutors say 47-year-old Franklin Conza is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.
The Springfield man was arrested after police responded to the Ludlow Central Bakery just before 7 p.m. Friday and found 70-year-old Carlos Santos suffering from multiple stab wounds. He died at the hospit
Conza, who was being restrained by a bystander, struggled with police before being taken into custody.
He was held over the weekend on $1 million bail. It could not immediately be determined if he has a lawyer.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive.
The bakery said on Facebook that staff are heartbroken by the loss of "our dear Carlos Santos" and will be temporarily closed.
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Lawyers want Supreme Court to block Texas from executing man
Law Firm News |
2017/10/05 00:14
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Attorneys for an inmate convicted in a prison guard's death are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his Thursday evening execution.
Robert Pruett's lawyers want justices to review whether lower courts properly denied a federal civil rights lawsuit that sought additional DNA testing in the case. They are also questioning whether a prisoner who claims actual innocence, as Pruett does, can be put to death.
If the execution is carried out Thursday, Pruett would be the sixth prisoner executed this year in Texas, which carries out the death penalty more than any other state. Texas put seven inmates to death last year. His execution would be the 20th nationally, matching the U.S. total for all of 2016.
Pruett avoided execution in April 2015, when a state judge halted his punishment just hours before he could have been taken to the death chamber. His lawyers had convinced the judge that new DNA tests needed to be conducted on the steel rod used to stab the 37-year-old Nagle.
The new tests showed no DNA on the tape but uncovered DNA on the rod from an unknown female who authorities said likely handled the shank during the appeals process after the original tests in 2002.
In June, Pruett's execution was rescheduled for October. Pruett's attorneys then unsuccessfully sought more DNA testing and filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in August, arguing Pruett had been denied due process. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the lawsuit last week, and Pruett's attorneys appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.
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Raise drives justices to slash funding for advisory council
Law Firm News |
2017/08/23 08:33
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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has decided to quit funding a council that helps justices revise legal procedures across the state after the council's attorney got a raise of more than $22,000.
The 21-member council includes judges, legislators and attorneys. The group studies court practices and make recommendations to the Supreme Court on how to improve the system. The Supreme Court provides the council with $111,400 each year, with $59,600 going to pay the council's only employee, attorney April Southwick.
Council minutes indicate the panel's four-person executive committee voted via teleconference in June to give Southwick the title of executive director and raise her salary from $59,600 to $82,326. The committee decided that salary level was consummate with other similar positions in the judicial branch.
The Supreme Court notified the DOA by letter on Aug. 17 that the justices were concerned about the raise and had decided to stop funding the council by the time Gov. Scott Walker signs the 2017-19 state budget. The letter called the size of the raise "extraordinary" and said justices were concerned about the process used to award it.
Director of State Courts Randy Koshnick sent an email to the state Department of Administration on Aug. 1 alleging that under state law the executive committee couldn't authorize the raise. He pointed out that state law requires a quorum of at least 11 council members to take action.
Justices Ann Walsh Bradley and Shirley Abrahamson, who make up the court's liberal-leaning minority, dissented. Bradley wrote that the court didn't have a thorough discussion about defunding the council and called the decision "ill-advised." She said the council has served the court well for more than 60 years, helping craft evidence rules, civil and criminal procedures and appellate practices.
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