Controlled substances continue to
cast a dark shadow over a large segment of American society. That
situation is made even worse by the proliferation of new
permutations of such substances. Synthetic cathinones,
colloquially known as bath salts, represent one of these
permutations, and we recently had occasion to warn that their
illegal use was becoming a mounting problem i

Following two failed efforts to serve her former employer, D&S Community Services (D&S), with a wrongful termination and retaliatory discharge lawsuit, Debra Herron was successful in serving D&S with process 246 days after she received notice from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) of her right to file a lawsuit. D&S answered the lawsuit, and it affirmatively alleged that the statu

In this direct criminal appeal, Defendant-Appellant Matthew Yazzie contends
that his seventy-eight-month within-guideline sentence for assault resulting in serious
bodily injury is substantively unreasonable because the sentencing guideline used to
calculate his advisory sentencing range, U.S.S.G. § 2A2.2, produces disproportionate
sentences. Having jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3

This appeal arose from a law enforcement investigation into a drugtrafficking
operation in the Geary County, Kansas area. Agents gathered
evidence by making controlled buys of crack cocaine through a confidential
informant; monitoring telephones used by certain of the co-conspirators,
including Anthony Carlyle Thompson; and conducting searches of several
residences, including T

Patrick Dwayne Murphy asserts he was tried in the wrong court. He
challenges the jurisdiction of the Oklahoma state court in which he was convicted of
murder and sentenced to death. He contends he should have been tried in federal
court because he is an Indian and the offense occurred in Indian country. We agree
and remand to the district court to issue a writ of habeas corpus vaca

Levco Construction, Inc. (“Levco”) sued Cleveland Construction, Inc. (“CCI”) and Whole Foods Market Rocky Mountain/Southwest L.P. (“Whole Foods”) for claims arising out of its role as a subcontractor on a construction project to build a Whole Foods store in Houston, Texas (“the Project”). CCI and Whole Foods also asserted claims against each other and Levco. Following a bench trial, the trial cour

Petitioners-Appellants, BC Ranch I, L.P. (“BCR I”), and B.C. Ranch II, L.P. (“BCR II”), (collectively the “BCR Partnerships” or “Appellants”), claim that Respondent-Appellee, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (the “Commissioner”), wrongfully disallowed their charitable deductions for two conservation easements. Appellants contend that in ruling for the Commission, the Tax Court wrongfully class

Plano, TX - Collin County Man Guilty in Conspiracy to Illegally Export Radiation Hardened Integrated Circuits to Russia and China

A 62-year-old Plano, Texas man has pleaded guilty to federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas.

Peter Zuccarelli pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle and illegally export from the U.S., radiation hardened integrated circuits (RHICs) for us

This insurance coverage dispute arises from a massive explosion that occurred
when an unmarked petroleum pipeline was struck by an excavator. Numerous lawsuits
were filed against a range of defendants, including the pipeline owner and the staffing
agency providing personnel to the pipeline. After settling the lawsuits against the
pipeline owner, an excess insurer for the pipeline s

Pawhuska, OK - STATE OF OKLAHOMA V. ALICIA MERCEDES ANDERSON

1. POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE

2. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA, in violation of 63 OS 2-405

3. PUBLIC INTOXICATION, in violation of 37 OS 8, 537(A)(8)

Docket
Date Code Description Count Party Amount
02-11-2016

INFO CT1

Document

In this consolidated appeal, Financial Casualty & Surety, Inc. (FC Surety) appeals
two orders denying it relief from the forfeiture of a $150,000 bail bond. The trial court
denied FC Surety‘s bail agent‘s initial motion to vacate the forfeiture under Penal Code
section 980, subdivision (b).1
The trial court also denied FC Surety‘s motion to set aside
the summary judgment issue

Tucson, AZ - Board Patrol Agent Charged With Second Degree Murder

The United States of American charged United States Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Ray Swartz with second-degree murder under 18 U.S.C. 1111 for shooting and killing 16-year-old Antonio Elena Rodriguez who was in Mexico when he was shot by Swartz, who was in the United States. The shooting and resulting death occurred on Octob

In its lawsuit against Hulven International, Inc. (Hulven) and various other
defendants, PGA West Residential Association, Inc. (PGA West) alleged defendant
Dempsey Mork1 tried to fraudulently insulate the equity in his condominium from
creditors by naming Hulven, a sham corporation entirely owned and controlled by Mork,
as the beneficiary of a deed of trust and note, and by later

Raleigh, NC - Commercial Fisherman Pleads Guilty to Illegally Harvesting and Selling Atlantic Striped Bass and to Federal Tax Violations

GASTON L. SAUNDERS, JR., 53, of Wanchese, North Carolina, pled guilty on August 3, 2017 to federal charges regarding the illegal harvest and sale of Atlantic striped bass from federal waters off the coast of North Carolina. SAUNDERS also plead guilty to

* Pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 8.1110, this opinion is certified for
publication with the exception of parts III and V.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Chris A. Knudsen, Assistant Attorney
General, Christine Mersten and Jodi L. Cleesattle, Deputy Attorneys General, for
Defendant and Respondent California Department of Parks and Recreation.
Plaintiff Melo

This appeal concerns a
constitutional challenge brought by a protester who opposes
abortion. He seeks to enjoin the enforcement of a provision of
the Maine Civil Rights Act ("MCRA"), Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 5,
§ 4684-B(2), that, he contends, facially violates the First
Amendment's guarantee of the freedom of speech.1 The challenged
provision bars a person from making

Atlanta, GA - Convenience store owners sentenced for food stamp fraud and identity theft

Jonathan and Stephanie Dupiton have been sentenced for using stolen identities to steal over $395,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The defendants illegally obtained SNAP benefits for themselves, and then cashed them at stores they owned in

Houston, TX - E-Commerce Company and Top Executive Agree to Plead Guilty to Price-Fixing Conspiracy for Customized Promotional Products - Conspiracy Was Conducted Through Social Media and Encrypted Messaging Applications

An e-commerce company and its top executive have agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix prices for customized promotional products sold online to customers in the U

COURT OF APPEALS
SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS
FORT WORTH
NO. 02-16-00395-CV
DOW ROOFING SYSTEMS, LLC APPELLANT
V.
GREAT COMMISSION BAPTIST APPELLEES
CHURCH AND CHAMBE

Little Rock, AR - Couple Sent to Prison for Scheme to Steal HUD Funds Intended for the Cotton Plant Housing Authority

Chief United States District Judge Brian S. Miller sentenced Rhonda Williams, 50, and her husband, Gary Williams, 59, both of Des Arc, Arkansas, to prison for their role in a scheme to steal money intended for use by the Cotton Plant Housing Authority.

On Septembe

The Orange County Water District (District) was created by the California
Legislature to protect and manage groundwater supplies within its territory, which covers
most of Orange County, California. The District and other regulatory agencies have long
been aware of localized groundwater contamination caused by hazardous substance
releases at various sites in the so-called "South Ba

In this complex real estate purchase transaction, the seller brought a breach
of contract action against the buyers for failing to purchase the subject property.
The defendant buyers asserted an affirmative defense of novation, arguing that
they were not liable under the purchase agreement because it had been superseded
by the parties‟ option agreement; that option agreement

Since 1975, the United States Forest Service has protected and managed wild horses in the Devil’s Garden section of the Modoc National Forest in Northern California. That wild horse territory originally consisted of two separate tracts of land of roughly 236,000 acres. But at some point in the 1980s, a Forest Service map added in an approximately 23,000 acre tract of land known as the Middle Secti

Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty
and Dustin Heard (“defendants”) were contractors with
Blackwater Worldwide Security (ABlackwater@), which in 2007
was providing security services to the United States State
Department in Iraq. As a result of Baghdad shootings that
injured or killed at least 31 Iraqi civilians, Slough, Liberty and
Heard were convicted by a jury of

Minneapolis, MN - Russian Citizen Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Involvement in Global Botnet Conspiracy

A Russian citizen was sentenced August 3, 2017 for his participation in a criminal enterprise that installed and exploited malicious computer software (malware) on tens of thousands of computer servers throughout the world to generate millions of dollars in fraudulent payments.