DA: Court could order a new trial for Sims, Bell

The District Attorney’s Office is considering the next steps in the wake of a judge’s ruling last month that the dismissal of a juror in the lead-up to a 2001 capital trial of two men in the murder of an elderly Newton Grove woman was “improperly motivated by a gender discriminatory intent” by the state.

”This office is consulting with the Office of the Attorney General to determine what appellate action, if any, should be taken as to the trial court’s order,” District Attorney Ernie lee told The Independent this week.

A joint evidentiary hearing was held over two days

Prosecutors raise concerns over FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried’s hidden internet access

US attorneys raised new concerns about Sam Bankman-Fried’s electronic communication capabilities in new court documents filed late Monday and, along with the former FTX CEO’s lawyers, asked a federal judge for more time to negotiate tightened bail conditions.

“Today, it came to the government’s attention…that the defendant used a VPN or “Virtual Private Network” to access the internet on January 29, 2023, and February 12, 2023,” the prosecutors wrote in a letter to US District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan. Judge Kaplan is overseeing the government’s case accusing Bankman-Fried of multiple felonies tied to FTX, including fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.

California attorney Elliot Blair found dead on Mexico vacation likely ‘hit and dragged’: lawyer

An attorney for Elliot Blair’s family claims that his head was likely “hit and dragged” by more than one person before dying while on a vacation in Mexico.

Blair, a public defender in California, was vacationing in Rosita, Mexico last month with his wife Kimberly Williams celebrating their one-year anniversary when he was found dead outside an entrance to a three-story hotel.

Mexican authorities have been inconsistent in their explanations for Blair’s death, but the family believes it was a murder.

Mexican authorities claim that his death “was the result of an unfortunate accident due to the fall of the

Hae Min Lee family attorneys ask Maryland appeals court for redo of hearing that vacated Adnan Syed’s conviction



CNN

Attorneys representing the family of Hae Min Lee, the teen whose 1999 killing was on the “Serial” podcast, asked an appellate court on Thursday to redo a hearing that vacated the murder conviction of Adnan Syed – and to reinstate Syed’s conviction in the meantime .

Syed was accused of killing the teenager and served more than 20 years in prison before a judge vacated his conviction in a September hearing, leading to Syed’s release. Lee’s brother, Young Lee, requested a redo of that hearing, arguing in part that he didn’t have enough notice to attend in person.

Lawyer for Lion Air crash victims indicated for embezzlement

CHICAGO (CBS) — California attorney Thomas Girardi and two colleagues from his law firm are facing federal charges accusing them of stealing more than $3 million in settlement money from the families of victims of the 2018 crash of Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia.

Girardi, the estranged husband of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne, has been indicted on eight counts of wire fraud and four counts of criminal contempt of court. David Lira, an attorney at Girardi’s law firm, Girardi Keese; and Christopher Kamon, the former head of accounting at Girardi Keese, both also are

AG Fitch and 19 States Sue Biden Administration to Stop New Illegal Immigration Policy Authorizing Hundreds of Thousands of New Illegal Immigrants Each Year

Below is a press release from Attorney General Lynn Fitch:

Attorney General Lynn Fitch, along with 19 states, today filed a lawsuit to oppose the Department of Homeland Security’s new program that unlawfully creates a pathway to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.

“At a time when our nation is facing unprecedented levels of illegal migration, our government should be focused on securing the border,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “Instead, the Biden Administration unlawfully created a program that rewards and incentivizes hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants. This will just add to the mess that the Administration

UCLA Extension’s Annual Land Use Conference This Week

UCLA Extension’s annual Land Use Law and Planning Conference is the leading networking event and source of information on California land use legislation, case law, and the emerging issues that frame land use and development practices in the nation’s most popular state.

The program’s unique cross-disciplinary approach explores the full range of perspectives drawn from land use planning, legal, development, and environmental communities, and demonstrates how these factors influence the day-to-day work of planners, developers, environmental regulators, and attorneys .

Now in its 37th year, the UCLA Extension conference offers a big-picture view of land use law and planning practice,

Lok – Fall 2022 – MJEAL

SEC Focus on Climate Change Risk and Disclosure

Kathleen Lok


As environmental concerns continue to research, investors and companies have continued to contend with how to report the impact of climate related risks on their business. Currently, the SEC does not require any specific environmental risk reporting, and instead bases disclosures on materiality.[1] This lack of a standardized framework gives companies much discretion to decide what environmental and climate-related information they choose to report, which is often done through voluntary sustainability reports.[2] A 2022 survey by Deloitte showed that more than two-thirds of public companies with over $500 million in