General Law and Lawsuits

[AndyinPA]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... geologists

A Swedish landowner has won a legal battle to keep a 14kg (31lb) meteorite after an appeal court ruled that such rocks should be considered “immovable property” and part of the land where they are found.

The land on which the meteorite landed contains iron, which the meteorite is made of. Therefore it “cannot be easily separated from what is usually regarded as (immovable) property”, the Svea court of appeal ruled on Thursday.

On 7 November 2020 an iron meteorite fell on the private property in Uppland, north of Stockholm. In December of that year two geologists found it and eventually handed it over to the Swedish Museum of Natural History in the Swedish capital.

The Swedish news agency TT said the owner of the private land where it was found, Johan Benzelstierna von Engeström, appealed against a December 2022 ruling by the Uppsala district court. That ruling gave the rock’s finders, Andreas Forsberg and Anders Zetterqvist, the right to the stone because the meteorite was not part of the property, and was a movable property without an owner.

On Thursday, the appeals court said the iron meteorite “is made up of substances that are already present in the Earth’s surface”. Judge Robert Green said that meteorites or space rocks should be considered “part of immovable property just like other stones, even though it may intuitively feel like it is something foreign to the Earth”.

A Swedish law known as “allemansraetten” might give everyone the freedom to roam freely in Sweden on the condition that nature and the animals are respected but it “does not give anyone the right to take a meteorite from someone else’s land”, the court said.

[RTH10260]

Dismay as Louisiana lookback law for child sexual abuse victims struck down
Court rules 4-3 to overturn law that had allowed victims to file civil suits over sexual abuse that took place decades ago

David Hammer of WWL-TV Louisiana in New Orleans
Fri 22 Mar 2024 23.59 CET

In a split ruling that has major implications for hundreds of child sexual abuse victims, the Louisiana state supreme court has struck down a law that had allowed victims to file civil lawsuits over molestation that happened decades ago.

Child molestation victims and their advocates were devastated by the 4-3 ruling from a court whose members are elected.

Lawyers Richard Trahant, Soren Giselson and John Denenea, who represented the plaintiffs in the case at the center of Friday’s ruling, said: “Today, four of the seven … justices overruled a law passed by a unanimous Louisiana legislature, signed by then governor [John Bel] Edwards, supported by then attorney general and current governor Jeff Landry and current attorney general Liz Murrill. That’s nearly 200 elected officials who viewed this law as being constitutional.

“Four elected officials just obliterated that. They cannot fathom the excruciating pain this decision has heaped upon adults who were raped as children and already suffer a life sentence.”



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... se-victims

[RTH10260]

[RTH10260]

Lego tells California police: stop putting our heads on your mugshots
Toy company makes request after altered images – which hide suspects’ identities in line with state law – go viral

Associated Press
Wed 27 Mar 2024 00.47 CET

A southern California police department has been handcuffed by Lego after the toy company asked the agency to stop adding Lego heads to cover the faces of suspects in images it shares on social media.

The Murrieta police department has been using Lego heads and emojis to cover people’s faces in posts on social sites since at least early 2023. But the altered photos went viral last week after the department posted a statement about its policy, prompting several news articles and, later, the request from Lego.

“Why the covered faces?” the department wrote in an 18 March Instagram post that featured five people in a lineup, their faces covered by Lego heads with varying expressions. The post went on to reference a California law that took effect on 1 January, limiting departments in sharing mugshots on social media.

“The Murrieta police department prides itself in its transparency with the community, but also honors everyone’s rights and protections as afforded by law; even suspects,” the department wrote.

Across the US, law enforcement agencies have often posted galleries of photos for “Mugshot Mondays” and “Wanted Wednesdays” to social media in efforts to bolster community engagement. But experts increasingly point to the harmful effects of putting such images online. For people awaiting trial, mugshots can carry a presumption of guilt. And for anyone seeking to move past a criminal conviction, the images can make it hard to get a job and haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Under California’s new law, police departments and sheriff’s offices are now required to remove any booking photo they shared on social media – including of people arrested for violent offenses – within 14 days unless specific circumstances exist; for instance, the person remains a fugitive and an imminent threat to public safety.

It builds on a previous version that took effect in 2022. The prior law prohibited posting mugshots of all non-violent offenders unless those circumstances exist. It also said departments should remove mugshots already posted to social media identifying any defendant who requests it if they can prove their record was sealed, their conviction was expunged or they were found not guilty, among a handful of other reasons.




https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... s-murrieta

[RTH10260]

Feds seek seizure of two New York apartments worth $14 million tied to former Mongolia leader in alleged mining scheme

Published Tue, Mar 26 20248:20 PM EDTUpdated an hour ago
Dan Mangan

• Federal prosecutors sued to seize two New York City apartments worth $14 million that were allegedly bought with proceeds from a corrupt scheme involving Mongolia’s huge copper mine, a former prime minister of that nation, and his Harvard Business School graduate son.
  The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn details a total of $128 million in allegedly unlawful contracts granted by a Mongolian state-owned mining company to shell companies, which benefited then Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold and his family, including his oldest son.
  A lawyer for Batbold said the allegations echoed those in a misinformation campaign by his political opponents.

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday sued to seize two New York City apartments worth $14 million that were allegedly bought with proceeds from a corrupt scheme involving Mongolia’s huge copper mine, a former prime minister of that nation, and his Harvard Business School graduate son.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn details a total of $128 million in allegedly unlawful contracts granted by a Mongolian state-owned mining company to shell companies, which benefited then Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold and his family, including his oldest son.

“During Batbold’s tenure as Prime Minister, Erdenet Mining Corporation inserted a middleman with ties to Batbold into the relationship with [the commodity trading firm] Ocean Partners, allowing Batbold to siphon off millions of dollars for his personal use and benefit, which included the purchase of the” luxury apartments in Manhattan, the suit alleges.

Batbold served as prime minister from 2009 through 2012. He currently is a member of the Mongolian parliament.

Money linked to another allegedly illegal contract for $30 million from Erdernet Mining went into a bank account in the United States controlled by the eldest son, Battushig Batbold, via wire transfers referencing “car payment,” trips and travel,” “school payment,” and “interior designer payment,” the suit said.

Batbold’s son, Battushig Batbold, a Harvard Business School graduate, is a member of the International Olympic Committee.

Battushig Batbold also worked as a summer associate at Blackstone in 2014, and as a mining analyst at Morgan Stanley from 2009 through 2011, according to his LinkedIn page.




https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/feds-su ... cheme.html

[raison de arizona]

[Ben-Prime]

I have to admit this now makes me think about how all the GA mugshots of TFG and his co-defendents would look if done this way. And it's good for a morning chuckle.

[Whatever4]

Oops…

A $500K house was built on the wrong Hawaii lot. A legal fight is unfolding over the mix-up

HONOLULU (AP) — A woman who purchased a vacant lot in Hawaii was surprised to find out a $500,000 house was built on the property by mistake.

She’s now mired in legal wrangling over the mix-up.

Annaleine “Anne” Reynolds purchased a one-acre (0.40-hectare) lot in Hawaiian Paradise Park, a subdivision in the Big Island’s Puna district, in 2018 at a county tax auction for about $22,500.

She was in California during the pandemic waiting for the right time to use it when she got a call last year from a real estate broker who informed her he sold the house on her property, Hawaii News Now reported.

Local developer Keaau Development Partnership hired PJ’s Construction to build about a dozen homes on the properties the developer bought in the subdivision. But the company built one on Reynolds’ lot.

Reynolds, along with the construction company, the architect and others, are now being sued by the developer.

Local developer Keaau Development Partnership hired PJ’s Construction to build about a dozen homes on the properties the developer bought in the subdivision. But the company built one on Reynolds’ lot.

Reynolds, along with the construction company, the architect and others, are now being sued by the developer.

“There’s a lot of fingers being pointed between the developer and the contractor and some subs,” Reynolds’ attorney James DiPasquale said.

Reynolds rejected the developer’s offer for a neighboring lot of equal size and value, according to court documents.

“It would set a dangerous precedent, if you could go on to someone else’s land, build anything you want, and then sue that individual for the value of it,” DiPasquale said.

Most of the lots in jungle-like Hawaiian Paradise Park are identical, noted Peter Olson, an attorney representing the developer.

“My client believes she’s trying to exploit PJ Construction’s mistake in order to get money from my client and the other parties,” Olson told The Associated Press Wednesday of her rejecting an offer for an identical lot.

She has filed a counterclaim against the developer, saying she was unaware of the “unauthorized construction.”

An attorney for PJ’s Construction told Hawaii News Now the developer didn’t want to hire surveyors.

A neighbor told the Honolulu news station the empty house has attracted squatters.

https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-house ... a40bc56a56

[tek]

An attorney for PJ’s Construction told Hawaii News Now the developer didn’t want to hire surveyors.

Brilliant!

[Rolodex]

I mean, I accidentally bought a house once*, but this is really something!

*Super low-balled the price, and the seller accepted! This was probably 20 years ago; we updated, repaired, general improvements and flipped it. Did not get low balled, but it sure made our price flexible!

[RTH10260]

Texas woman charged with murder in 2022 abortion sues prosecutors for $1m
Lizelle Gonzalez says she suffered harm from two nights in jail and being identified as a murder suspect before charges were dropped

Associated Press
Sat 30 Mar 2024 12.00 CET

A Texas woman who was charged with murder over self-managing an abortion and spent two nights in jail has sued prosecutors along the US-Mexico border who put the criminal case in motion before it was later dropped.

The lawsuit filed by Lizelle Gonzalez in federal court Thursday comes a month after the state bar of Texas fined and disciplined the district attorney in rural Starr county over the case in 2022, when Gonzalez was charged with murder in “the death of an individual by self-induced abortion”.

Under the abortion restrictions in Texas and other states, women who seek abortions are exempt from criminal charges.

The lawsuit argues Gonzalez suffered harm from the arrest and subsequent media coverage. She is seeking $1m in damages.

“The fallout from Defendants’ illegal and unconstitutional actions has forever changed the Plaintiff’s life,” the lawsuit stated.

The Starr county district attorney, Gocha Ramirez, said Friday that he had not yet been served the lawsuit and declined comment. Starr county judge Eloy Vera, the county’s top elected official, also declined comment.

According to the lawsuit, Gonzalez was 19 weeks pregnant when she used misoprostol, one of two drugs used in medication abortions. Misoprostol is also used to treat stomach ulcers.

After taking the pills, Gonzalez received an obstetrical examination at a hospital emergency room and was discharged with abdominal pain. She returned with bleeding the next day and an exam found no fetal heartbeat. Doctors performed a caesarian section to deliver a stillborn baby.

The lawsuit argues that the hospital violated the patient’s privacy rights when they reported the abortion to the district attorney’s office, which then carried out its own investigation and produced a murder charge against Gonzalez.

Cecilia Garza, an attorney for Gonzalez, said prosecutors pursued an indictment despite knowing that a woman receiving an abortion is exempted from a murder charge by state law.

Ramirez announced that the charges would be dropped just days after Gonzalez’s arrest but not before she’d spent two nights in jail and was identified by name as a murder suspect.

In February, Ramirez agreed to pay a $1,250 fine and have his license held in a probated suspension for 12 months in a settlement reached with the state bar of Texas. He told the Associated Press at the time that he had “made a mistake” and agreed to the punishment because it allowed his office to keep running and him to keep prosecuting cases.



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... urder-sues

[RTH10260]

A Kansas paper and its publisher are suing over police raids. They say damages exceed $10M

By JOHN HANNA
Updated 11:27 PM GMT+2, April 1, 2024

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A weekly central Kansas newspaper and its publisher filed a federal lawsuit Monday over police raids last summer of its offices and the publisher’s home, accusing local officials of trying to silence the paper and causing the death of the publisher’s 98-year-old mother.

The lawsuit did not include a specific figure for potential damages. However, in a separate notice to local officials, the paper and its publisher said they believe they are due more than $10 million.

The lawsuit from the Marion County Record’s parent company and Eric Meyer, its editor and publisher, accuses the city of Marion, the Marion County Commission and five current and former local officials of violating free press rights and the right to be free from unreasonable law enforcement searches guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit also notified the defendants that Meyer and the newspaper plan to add other claims, including that officials wrongly caused the death of Meyer’s mother the day after the raids, which the lawsuit attributes to a stress-induced heart attack.

The raids put Marion, a town of about 1,900 people set among rolling prairie hills about 150 miles (241 kilometers) southwest of Kansas City, Missouri, at the center of a national debate over press freedoms. It also highlighted the intense divisions over a newspaper known for its aggressive coverage of local issues and its strong criticism of some officials.




https://apnews.com/article/kansas-newsp ... 0c67313d8f

[RTH10260]

[RTH10260]

U.S. service members sue Maryland in federal court

WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore
3 Apr 2024 BALTIMORE

Several U.S. service members are battling with the state of Maryland in federal court. The legal dispute came after their wages were garnished and bank access was lost for months. A federal judge ruled that the state violated their rights. The kicker — none of them have any connection to Maryland.

[raison de arizona]

Wow, that's messed up. You can't do that to active service members, even I know that. Those judges screwed up, and they should pay damages to those service members who had to deal with this crap while on active duty.

[RTH10260]

‘Correct a black mark in US history’: former prisoners of Abu Ghraib get day in court
Jury trial against military contractor CACI over ‘sadistic, blatant and wanton abuses’ comes 20 years after scandal broke

Alice Speri
Sun 14 Apr 2024 13.00 CEST

The first trial to contend with the post-9/11 abuse of detainees in US custody begins on Monday, in a case brought by three men who were held in the US-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

The jury trial, in a federal court in Virginia, comes nearly 20 years to the day that the photographs depicting torture and abuse in the prison were first revealed to the public, prompting an international scandal that came to symbolize the treatment of detainees in the US “war on terror”.

The long-delayed case was brought by Suhail Najim Abdullah Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili and As’ad Al-Zuba’e, three Iraqi civilians who were detained at Abu Ghraib, before being released without charge in 2004. (A fourth man, Taha Yaseen Arraq Rashid, was dismissed from the case in 2019.) The men are suing CACI Premier Technology, a private company that was contracted by the US government to provide interrogators at the prison. The company has fought for 16 years to get the case thrown out, ultimately losing its last appeal in November.

“This is a historic trial that we hope will deliver some measure of justice and healing for what President Bush rightly deemed disgraceful conduct that dishonored the United States and its values,” said Katherine Gallagher, a senior attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, or CCR, which brought the case on behalf of the former detainees.

The suit was filed under the Alien Tort Statute, which allows foreign nationals to file cases in US courts for violations of international law; the plaintiffs are seeking damages. Al-Ejaili, who now lives in Sweden, will be the first torture survivor to testify about his treatment while in US custody from inside a US federal court. The other two men will testify remotely from Iraq as they were not granted visas to travel.



https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-in ... ture-abuse

[raison de arizona]

FIREWORKS...again...in #YSL #YoungThug trial as Judge Glanville and prosecutor Love SCREAM at each other. She is not happy when she leaves the podium. WATCH:

[RTH10260]

[RTH10260]

Judge finds 'equity theft' law unconstitutional, pressuring Massachusetts lawmakers to act
Ruling comes nearly a year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled so-called "equity theft" unconstitutional

WCVB
Updated: 6:19 PM EDT Apr 19, 2024

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. —
Nearly a year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled so-called "equity theft" unconstitutional, a Massachusetts judge confirmed the ruling applies to the way Massachusetts conducts tax foreclosures, pressuring lawmakers to act.

In a ruling released late Thursday, a Hampden County judge ruled in favor of a single mother from Springfield, who is fighting to keep the city from foreclosing on her home.


Ashley Mills fell behind by around $2,000 on her taxes, which ballooned to $17,500 with interest. The city was in the process of foreclosing on her home, worth more than $200,000, and could then sell it and keep the profits. It's a practice Massachusetts has allowed for over 100 years, but the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional last May in a case called Tyler v. Hennepin County.

In his order, Superior Court Judge Michael Callan wrote the law was "unconstitutional," further stating that "the statutory scheme, in its present form, is untenable and requires Legislative correction."

The ruling was a major victory for Mills' legal team, who have been fighting across the Commonwealth for elderly and low-income residents who lost their homes after falling behind on their taxes.

"I was ecstatic," retired Judge Frank Bailey said of the ruling. Bailey now heads the Pioneer Public Interest Law Center. "Municipalities are on message now. They're on notice that what they're doing is unconstitutional," he added.

Since the Supreme Court's ruling, the Massachusetts state legislature has yet to pass new legislation, despite lawmakers filing several bills addressing equity theft and Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell calling on the legislation to make changes.



https://www.wcvb.com/article/judge-find ... t/60551942

[RTH10260]

Wire fraud victim wins LAWSUIT against Citibank over drained trust account

NBC Chicago
21 Apr 2024

It’s been almost three years since a Skokie man had his Citibank account emptied by scammers. Now, a new lawsuit against Citibank out of New York is giving some fraud victims, including Scott Jacobson, fresh hope. NBC 5 Responds PJ Randhawa reports.

[raison de arizona]

Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by New York appeals court
Weinstein, 72, has been serving a 23-year sentence in a New York prison following his conviction on charges of criminal sex act.

Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction was overturned Thursday in New York, making way for a new trial.

The state Court of Appeals found that the judge in the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the former film mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ha ... rcna149328

[Dr. Ken]

Didn't know where to put this but this is huge.

[Maybenaut]

Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by New York appeals court
Weinstein, 72, has been serving a 23-year sentence in a New York prison following his conviction on charges of criminal sex act.

Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction was overturned Thursday in New York, making way for a new trial.

The state Court of Appeals found that the judge in the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the former film mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ha ... rcna149328

Interesting. I’m glad to see a conscientious application of the Rule (that hasn’t always been my experience). And before everyone starts wigging out, he’s going to remain in confinement until his retrial. Also, isn’t he facing charges in CA?

He’s lucky he’s not in the federal system where the Rules of Evidence carve out an exception for admission of character evidence in sex assault cases. Normally the prosecution has to show relevance to motive, intent, plan, etc., then the jury will be instructed that their consideration of that evidence is limited to the purpose for which it was admitted and they can’t consider it for any other purpose.

The Rule was amended in the 1990s or thereabouts to allow the jury to consider evidence of other sexual assaults for any purpose the jury deems relevant (i.e., he did it before, so he must have the propensity for this sort of behavior). I’m pretty sure California has a similar Rule.

I’ve beaten my little appellate head against the wall arguing that the danger is too high that an accused could be convicted and sentenced for a crime he’s not actually charged with, but I never got anywhere.

[andersweinstein]

And before everyone starts wigging out, he’s going to remain in confinement until his retrial. Also, isn’t he facing charges in CA?

Harvey Weinstein (no relation!) was found guilty on 3 counts in the LA case and sentenced last February to 16 years, to be served after the 23 year NY sentence.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/23/us/harvey-weinstein-sentence-los-angeles.html

[bob]

Interesting. I’m glad to see a conscientious application of the Rule (that hasn’t always been my experience). And before everyone starts wigging out, he’s going to remain in confinement until his retrial. Also, isn’t he facing charges in CA?

Already convicted. I read an article saying New York in going to ship him to California because it has a valid conviction for him.

He’s lucky he’s not in the federal system where the Rules of Evidence carve out an exception for admission of character evidence in sex assault cases. Normally the prosecution has to show relevance to motive, intent, plan, etc., then the jury will be instructed that their consideration of that evidence is limited to the purpose for which it was admitted and they can’t consider it for any other purpose.

The Rule was amended in the 1990s or thereabouts to allow the jury to consider evidence of other sexual assaults for any purpose the jury deems relevant (i.e., he did it before, so he must have the propensity for this sort of behavior). I’m pretty sure California has a similar Rule.

California does have a similar rule. Evidence Code section 1108 basically allows for the introduction of evidence of other sexual offenses (in some circumstances) to prove propensity. I'm actually a little surprised New York doesn't have this.

Other-acts evidence (including sexual offenses) can also be used to prove something else (like motive, intent, plan, etc.), but often is disallowed in non-sex-offense cases due to the potential for prejudice.

I haven't read New York's ruling, but an article said it was a 4-3 split.