#Illinois Appeal Lawyer

[appealcounsel]

Post Conviction Lawyer | Appeal Counsel

Searching for a skilled Post Conviction Lawyer? Appeal Counsel offers expert legal services to navigate the complexities of post-conviction appeals. Our experienced attorneys are dedicated to overturning wrongful convictions and securing justice for our clients. Trust Appeal Counsel to provide the guidance and representation you need for a successful post-conviction appeal. Contact us today for a free consultation and take the first step towards reclaiming your future with our top-notch post-conviction legal services. For more details click https://www.appealcounsel.com/appellate-law/post-conviction-relief

[alwaysbewoke]

[brownstonelawil]

Brownstone Law

Brownstone Law is a top appellate law firm in Illinois. Our appeals lawyers handle civil and criminal appeals.

Visit Our Website

[bobjr4freedom]

MARCH MADNESS!

Already in Illinois, they're trying to get Trump off the ballot 🗳. Trump's lawyers appealed. Now there's 2nd thoughts. Hope so. The man was never convicted on this J6 bullshit. He must stay on the ballots. Dipshits say there's evidence of him being involved in an insurrection. Again bullshit!

In all, it'll end up between these two arch rivals. Although Dan Bongino thinks Biden will be off the ticket before the convention. In Michigan, Biden had 36,000 voters not committed to voting him under Democrat's. Despite winning Michigan with 20,000.

Democrat's should be worried, and they oughta be.

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Markled Tyler Perry RESCUES boys (& girls) that cry wolf.

Illinois Appeals Court Affirms Actor Jussie Smollett's Convictions and Jail Sentence | Newsmax.com

https://www.newsmax.com/us/jussie-smollett-illinois-appeal/2023/12/01/id/1144444/

An appeals court upheld the disorderly conduct convictions Friday of actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a racist, homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and lying about it to Chicago police.

Smollett, who appeared in the TV show "Empire," challenged the role of a special prosecutor, jury selection, evidence and many other aspects of the case. But all were turned aside in a 2-1 opinion from the Illinois Appellate Court.

Smollett had reported to police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two men wearing ski masks. The search for the attackers soon turned into an investigation of Smollett himself, leading to his arrest on charges he had orchestrated the whole thing.

Authorities said he paid two men whom he knew from work on "Empire," which filmed in Chicago. Prosecutors said Smollett told the men what slurs to shout, and to yell that he was in "MAGA country," a reference to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign slogan.

A jury convicted Smollett in 2021 on five felony counts of disorderly conduct, a charge that can be filed in Illinois when a person lies to police.

He now will have to finish a 150-day stint in jail that was part of his sentence. Smollett spent just six days in jail while his appeal was pending.

A message seeking comment from his attorney, Nenye Uche, was not immediately returned. Lawyers for Smollett, who is Black and gay, have publicly claimed that he was the target of a racist justice system and people playing politics.

Appellate Justice Freddrenna Lyle would have thrown out the convictions. She said it was "fundamentally unfair" to appoint a special prosecutor and charge Smollett when he had already performed community service as part of a 2019 deal with Cook County prosecutors to close the case.

"It was common sense that Smollett was bargaining for a complete resolution of the matter, not simply a temporary one," Lyle said.

Special prosecutor Dan Webb was appointed to look into why the case was dropped. A grand jury subsequently restored charges against Smollett in 2020, and Webb concluded there were "substantial abuses of discretion" in the state's attorney office during the earlier round.

Smollett was not immune to a fresh round of charges, appellate Justices David Navarro and Mary Ellen Coghlan said in the majority opinion.

"The record does not contain any evidence that (prosecutors) agreed Smollett would not be further prosecuted in exchange for forfeiting his bond and performing community service," they said.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

[follow-up-news]

The New York attorney general’s office has filed judgments in Westchester County, the first indication that the state is preparing to try to seize Donald Trump’s golf course and private estate north of Manhattan, known as Seven Springs. State lawyers entered the judgments with the clerk’s office in Westchester County on March 6, just one week after Judge Arthur Engoron made official his $464 million decision against Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization. Entering a judgment would be the first step a creditor would take to attempt to recover property. Additional steps, such as putting liens on assets or moving to foreclose on properties, or taking other actions in court would follow, if the asset is going to be seized. The judgment is already entered in New York city where Trump’s properties including Trump Tower, his penthouse at Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street, his hotel abutting Central Park, and numerous apartment buildings are located. Judgments have not been entered in Florida counties including Miami or Palm Beach where Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property and the Trump National Doral Golf Club and resort are located or Cook County, Illinois, where Trump’s hotel in Chicago is located, according to a review of records Thursday by CNN. Trump now has four days to satisfy the judgment or sway an appeals court to allow him to post a smaller amount or defer posting the payment until after the appeal.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

In 2007, Reginald Lane shot and killed Jwonda Thurston, his pregnant girlfriend. For the murder, he was sentenced to life in prison, following state statute for someone who is found guilty of killing “more than one victim.”

On Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments in Lane’s case, specifically around whether Lane was given the appropriate sentence. Lane’s appeal hinges, in part, on whether Thurston’s unborn child can be considered a “victim” of the murder and, more broadly, whether it can be considered an “individual” under the law.

“As it stands now, the unified code of corrections defines a victim as any natural person who suffered direct harm,” Talon Nouri, an attorney representing Lane, told the Justices. “And again, the statute on statutes notes that whenever the word ‘person’ or ‘individual’ is used, that person must have first been born alive.”

Nouri also cited the state’s Reproductive Health Act, a 2019 law that, among other things, stipulates fetuses do not have independent rights in the state of Illinois.

In addition to the question of what constitutes a “victim” under state law, Nouri also argued Lane’s sentence was inappropriately applied because the lower courts had sentenced Lane in alignment with the sentence for a double murder.

Lane was convicted of both first-degree murder and killing an unborn child – also called feticide – which are two distinct crimes.

“While the penalty section of the ‘intentional homicide of an unborn child’ statute states that the sentence shall be the same as for first degree murder, the relevant statutes and definitions unambiguously exclude intentional homicide of an unborn child from this double murder sentencing statute,” Nouri told the court.

Assistant Attorney General Josh Schneider, who argued the case on behalf of the state, relied on the statute’s language identifying the sentence for feticide as being the same as murder.

“When a person is convicted of intentional homicide of an unborn child, the sentence they receive for that offense is the same sentence they would receive if they had been convicted of first-degree murder under those same circumstances,” Schneider said.

Several Justices interrogated that line of reasoning.

“So we really don’t even need to go to these definitions in the other statutes because the legislature has directed us to apply the same sentence as in murder?” Justice Lisa Holder White asked of Schneider.

“That’s exactly right,” Schneider replied.

The Justices took the matter under consideration with a ruling to come at a later, unspecified date.

STOP AND FRISK

The justices on Thursday also considered the case of Francisco Lozano.

In 2018, Lozano was the subject of a “Terry stop,” sometimes also known as a “stop and frisk” or “field interview” in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood.

From their unmarked police car, two officers noticed Lozano running on a rainy afternoon with his hands in his pockets. After turning their car around, officers saw him run up the stairs of an abandoned apartment building before stopping him and finding that he had a car radio, two screwdrivers and a wallet.

As a result of this stop, Lozano was eventually found guilty of burglary to a vehicle and possession of burglary tools.

Lozano’s lawyer, Pamela Rubeo, argued the police violated Lozano’s 4th Amendment right against unlawful search and seizure by stopping him for “running in the rain.”

“The parties agree the officers needed reasonable suspicion of criminal activity at the inception of this stop,” Rubeo told the court. “Here, no such reasonable suspicion existed.”

Assistant Attorney General Jalan Jaskot, who argued on behalf of the state, told the Justices that police had reasonable suspicion by the time they stopped Lozano, citing the behavior that police observed as they approached Lozano for the stop.

This received some pushback from Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis, who referenced the lower court’s opinion on the case.

“According to the officer’s own testimony, the reason why he stopped him was to conduct a field interview and ask him why he was running,” Theis noted during oral arguments. “Why shouldn’t we just accept that was the basis of the stop – as the officer himself described – and evaluate whether that was an appropriate Terry stop?”

Jaskot responded that the officers saw Lozano “flee” to the abandoned building when they turned their car around and that while they were approaching, they saw a “bulge” in Lozano’s front sweatshirt pocket, giving them reasonable suspicion for a Terry stop.

“If the facts of this case were simply that the defendant was running in the rain, officers would not have the reasonable suspicion to conduct that Terry stop,” Jaskot said after further questioning on the subject from the Justices. “However that is not all that we have. Very importantly, we also have the defendant’s evasive behavior where he did change that direction and run towards this building that appeared abandoned.”

Rubeo also argued that some evidence in Lozano’s trial was inappropriately introduced, as it was taken from statements Lozano gave during his arrest, without being given a “Miranda warning,” a set of notifications police are required to give people they arrest. These notifications include the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney and the warning that anything a defendant says can be used against them in court, among other things.

In their court filing, the attorney general’s office argued that Lozano forfeited the chance to suppress the statements he made before being given a Miranda warning because his lawyers failed to bring it up in his trial.

The case will also be considered by the Justices, although there is not a set timeline for how long they will take to deliver a final opinion.

‘RIDING THE CIRCUIT’

The Justices did not hear arguments for these cases at their typical venue at the Supreme Court’s building in Springfield. Rather, the court was “riding the circuit” and heard arguments on the campus of Chicago State University on Chicago’s South Side.

The court uses a version of the historical practice of judges traveling to district courts to “raise public awareness and confidence in the judicial branch,” according to Theis.

It’s a practice that had been temporarily stalled in recent years amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The court held a virtual “riding the circuit” program in 2021 in conjunction with schools from the state’s Second Judicial District in northern Illinois. The court’s previous in-person road trip took place in Sept. 2019 when arguments were heard at Lewis & Clark Community College in Godfrey.

“It is the first time in our history of this court and our state that we have come to the First District here in Chicago,” Theis told attendees of the arguments on Thursday.

Around 300 students from schools around the region attended the event. Following the oral arguments, students participated in a question-and-answer session with representatives of the Cook County Bar Association.

[ask-zaukodar]

A semi-brief rant about Chris Avellone and his legal settlement.  I am not a lawyer and nothing I say is legal advice, just personal observations based on the writing presented.

I read today that Chris Avellone got a settlement from his Illinois-filed lawsuit that forced the two women he was suing to officially retract their statements and allegedly “provides for a seven-figure payment that includes the return of the attorney fee award entered against Mr. Avellone.”

Not going to link any of the news articles, they’re all out there dated around March 25 or so.  What’s interesting is the chest-thumping of his supporters about how “he was acquitted” and “found innocent” and “his accusers should be jailed for their lies” and all that usual drivel.

For those not in the know: Chris Avellone is a video game developer and writer, who famously worked on games such as “Planescape Torment”, “Icewind Dale”, “Fallout New Vegas”, “Divinity Original Sin 2″ and other RPG gems.  He was accused of sexual misconduct back in 2020 and decided to sue his accusers in California court in 2021.  That lawsuit was appealed and defeated by California’s anti-SLAPP laws in 2022, so later in 2022 he filed a second lawsuit in Illinois Federal Court.  Before any serious progress was made on the case there was a settlement which seems to heavily favor him: his accusers have issued public retractions of their earlier statements, he may (or may not) be getting a seven-figure paycheck, and with this win he may (or may not) get back on the horse of writing up video games.

Just want to point a few things out about all of this:

The exact terms of the settlement are confidential.

“Provides for a seven-figure payment” does necessarily mean it was outright paid, it could be a conditional “if you do this then you pay” as part of the terms.  See “The exact terms” above.

“The accusers retracted their statements” does not necessarily mean they were lies.  Within the American legal system “the statements were retracted as part of a legal settlement” and “the statements originally made were true” are not mutually exclusive.

The refrain of “he was found innocent/acquitted” is not true, as this was a civil suit and there is no judgment of guilty or not guilty.

Directly related to the above, the settlement was reached before discovery phase, which means no final judgments of any kind could be rendered.

“This means he will work on <game name here> again” is also not necessarily true, as businesses may decide to not touch him.

So what happened?  I don’t know, and that’s kind of the point.  I could speculate until the cows came home and that wouldn’t mean any of what I said is true.  The ultimate truth is buried in the confidential terms of the settlement, which won’t be revealed unless one party breaks confidentiality...which would almost certainly cost that party dearly.

Is any of this going to stop Avellone’s fanboys from engaging in rampant misogyny and harassment campaigns?  Probably not, as they tend to believe whatever fits neatly into their own little world view.  But if anyone else was disappointed by this, including me, there is at least some wiggle room for comfort: just because this outcome happened doesn’t mean the original issue wasn’t real and it doesn’t make any guarantees for the future.

[carinaserafina]

(camila queiroz, cis woman, she/her ) — Look who it is! If you take a look at our database, you’ll find that CARINA SERAFINA QUEIROZ is a THIRTY-TWO year old MODEL that’s been in Chicago for TEN YEARS. According to the file, they’re a mutant on LEVEL 1 with the power of VOICE MANIPULATION. That must be why they’re ASSERTIVE and SPOILED. If you ask me, they remind me of the flash of a camera, voices eerily echoing off walls, a smile that puts you at ease. They are affiliated with NOBODY.

basics;

FULL NAME: carina serafina queiroz NICKNAMES: rina GENDER: female BIRTHDATE: april 25th SPECIES: mutant AFFILIATION: neutral

personality;

ALIGNMENT: lawful neutral ZODIAC: taurus MBTI: isfj POSITIVE TRAITS: passionate, determined, independent, intelligent NEGATIVE TRAITS: stubborn, hedonistic, possessive, materialistic

backstory;

CHILDHOOD/TEENAGE YEARS:

born in rio de janeiro to human parents. she’s the only mutant in her family besides her grandparents and aunt. 

her mutation has been known since she was born. her cries echoed off walls in parts of the hospital that were nowhere near the maternity ward. 

her parents weren’t particularly happy about having a mutant child. especially one with such an annoying power. it’s safe to say that they rarely got any sleep, and neither did anyone in their neighbourhood. 

eventually they had to move to somewhere secluded. every cry was heard, every word she spoke when she started to talk rang through the homes of those within her powers radius. they had no choice but to leave their neighbourhood. 

when carina was old enough to understand rules and instructions (around 5/6) her parents hired someone to help her control her mutation. it took a few months, but eventually she could control where to send her voice and who around her would hear it.

the rest of her childhood went pretty normally. she went to school, had friends, loved her mom and dad, and was a normal little girl. her parents grew much more affectionate once she could control her voice.

grew into a typical, rebellious teen. drinking, smoking, piercings, staying out late. nothing major, though. she used her power to amuse her friends at parties, but she never used it to anything bad.

moved from rio de janeiro to america when she was 16. her father got a job at a law firm in new york that paid much more than his current job. her mother got a job at the same firm.

her first two years at an american high school were a nightmare. her english was very limited and broken. it made it hard to make friends. she became very depressed and withdrawn due to this. there were only a few students who understood spanish, and even less student who understood portugese.

ADULTHOOD:

after graduating high school, carina’s parents forced her to attend college to study law. most of her family are lawyers and they weren’t going to let carina choose her own path in life.

when she was 18 (2008), she met levi. he was studying veterinary care, which immediately appealed to her because it meant he loves animals. they fell for each other pretty quickly. her english still wasn’t great, but it was good enough for him and her college friends to understand her. spending a lot of time with levi definitely helped her get better at the language.

the glamour and glitz of new york city had her captivated. she was scouted to be a model while attending a fashion show one day, and she agreed to go for a shoot.

much to her parents absolute disgust, carina dropped out of college after a year or so. she pursued a career as a model and they cut her off financially hoping it would force her to change her mind. it didn’t. so they cut her out of their lives for being a huge disappointment.

in 2011, levi proposed to carina. she said yes! they had a lovely wedding, attended by people they loved. her parents didn’t attend, but her grandparents did. her abuelo walked her down the aisle.

carina was offered modelling opportunities in illinois a few months after the wedding. levi was excited for the move and found himself a job there. they packed up and went on their merry way. they were excited to start fresh somewhere else!

in 2013 carina fell pregnant with their daughter, charlotte. they’d been trying for a baby so they were both absolutely ecstatic. carina had to put her modelling career on hold for a couple of years but didn’t mind. starting a family mattered more.

2014 soon arrived and charlotte was born! carina’s screams were heard in every hallway of the hospital, as well as cussing in spanish. levi and carina were both completely in love with their new bundle of joy.

during 2016, carina goes back to work as a model.

everything goes perfectly until 2018. levi is so dedicated to routine and his job that it drives carina crazy. there is no spontaneity in their lives. everything is about sticking to a meticulous routine. it reminds carina of how rigid her parents were. she doesn’t want this for charlotte. 

after too many fights to count, carina ends up sleeping with a guy she did a modelling shoot with. the first time was a mistake, the second time... not so much. he was exciting and passionate and flirtatious. he desired her and gave her attention. it turned into an affair.

carina wanted to tell levi but she didn’t know how. she still loved him, but it wasn’t the same as it was when they first met. the spark had faded to nothing. she couldn’t break his heart, though. he loved her so much, and there was charlotte to consider. their little girl needed her parents together. 

one day, levi finds a condom wrapper that he knows doesn’t belong to him. carina keeps the affair going for a further three months until she can’t take it anymore and asks for a divorce because they can’t come back from this. she betrayed him and she doesn’t want him to forgive her. she wants out so that they can both be with people who deserve them. 

unbeknownst to her, levi gets drunk that night and casts a love spell on his family. after asking for a divorce only the night before, she wakes up the next morning completely in love with him again. i’m talking romcom, sickening levels of in love.

things continue like this for two years. carina continues modelling, she comes home to her husband and they talk about their day and are as loved up as a teenage, puppy love couple. charlotte is the perfect daughter, too. always making her parents proud and being an absolute delight. 

THE STEPFORD WIFE & DIVORCE YEARS:

one day in 2020, levi broke from his routine. he didn’t pay attention to carina for days. because of this, she turned into a frightening stepford wife. huge smile, completely subordinate to levi and charlotte. something felt off, but she couldn’t snap out of it.

after a couple of days, carina approached levi to remind him of their anniversary. she had the exact amount of months and days counted out. this wouldn’t have seemed so strange if it weren’t for her hand oozing blood everywhere.

bones the dog had bitten her, and she hadn’t felt a thing. her smile stayed plastered on her face, she continued her chores around the house, she helped charlotte with her homework. 

she waved off the horrible injury, grinning at levi like something out of a horror movie. picture mom from umbrella academy but... eerier because carina isn’t a robot.

realising that he’d cast a love spell, levi came clean to carina. the spell broke and she was furious, disgusted, and felt violated. she couldn’t believe that he’d cast a spell on his own family. she demanded a divorce and left with charlotte. 

she stayed with a friend for a couple of months until she found a suitable apartment for herself and her daughter. they moved in, decorated it together, and settled in happily. levi had signed the divorce papers; carina was finally free after being locked under a spell. 

in 2021, carina won sole custody of charlotte. the court ruled in her favour due to what levi had done. they couldn’t award custody to a man who would cast a love spell on his own family. 

THE CURRENT YEARS:

carina is still living in illinois with charlotte. levi has visitation rights, and she’s fine with that. their daughter needs her dad. she’s not a cruel person, so she would never do anything to get in the way of their time together.

she does supervise the visits because her trust is completely broken; she tries not to hover too much, though. around charlotte, she is civil with levi because their little girl is the most important thing in all of this. they need to be a family unit for her.

outside of visitation, carina avoids levi when she can. she doesn’t hate him, but what he did is unforgiveable. much like her affair. she doesn’t know if he forgave that, she also doesn’t care.

she travels for modelling sometimes. if it’s not during school time, she takes charlotte with her. if it is, she stays with her great grandma and grandpa who moved out to chicago when carina was going through the divorce. they wanted to support her. 

carina has had partners since her divorce from levi, but none of them have stuck. she can’t trust them enough to open up to them properly. she’s always worried that she’s going to be trapped in a doomed relationship again with no way out.

she’s completely fluent in english now, but still speaks with a spanish accent as she speaks spanish at home to charlotte to keep her close to her culture. 

carina’s personality is very bubbly, very social, fun loving, a little sarcastic, mischievous, and bright. she loves to party when she can, and she loves being around friends as she has minimal family in the city.

[yourreddancer]

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

July 5, 2022 (Tuesday)

Traditionally, Americans have celebrated the Fourth of July with barbecues, picnics, celebrations, and parades as people come together to celebrate our democracy without regard to political party. In Highland Park, Illinois, yesterday morning, a gunman opened fire on a Fourth of July parade with a high-powered rifle, killing 7, physically wounding at least 47 others, and traumatizing countless more. There were more than a dozen other mass shootings over the holiday weekend, as well. All told, mass shootings this weekend caused at least 15 deaths and injured at least 91. Police arrested the alleged Highland Park shooter, a white 21-year-old, without incident, inspiring comparisons to the police shooting of 25-year-old Jayland Walker of Akron, Ohio, last week after a stop for a minor traffic violation.

Walker fled from the scene in his car and then fled from the car. Officers shot him, saying now they believed he was reaching for a gun. A medical examiner found 60 bullet wounds (not a typo) in Walker’s body, which a medical examiner said was handcuffed when it arrived at the coroner’s office. Walker was unarmed. He was Black.Today, prosecutors charged the suspect in the Highland Park shooting with 7 counts of murder and said more charges will be forthcoming.

Last month, in the wake of the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and 2 teachers, Congress passed the first gun safety law in almost 30 years. The law provides incentives to encourage states to expand background checks before people aged 18 to 21 can buy a gun. It prohibits those who have been convicted of domestic violence from owning a gun, although it clears their record after 5 years without incident. It sets aside money for mental health resources and incentivizes states to create red flag laws. It also clarifies who requires a federal license to sell firearms.

Republicans rejected the reinstatement of an assault weapon ban such as we had between 1994 and 2004, federal background checks, and the law shielding gun manufacturers from being sued when their guns cause deaths. But enough Republicans joined the Democrats to break a filibuster, and the bill passed, 65 to 33, with all Republicans in the minority. President Biden signed the law on June 25, saying, "While this bill doesn't do everything I want, it does include actions I've long called for that are going to save lives.”

Meanwhile, New York legislators responded to the Supreme Court’s recent decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc., v. Bruen, which struck down the state’s 100-year-old law for concealed-carry permits and newly asserted that individuals have a constitutional right to carry a gun in public, by tightening gun safety laws. A new New York law prohibits concealed carry on private property unless property owners explicitly say it’s okay. It also makes it a crime to carry a concealed weapon in “sensitive locations,” which include schools, hospitals, demonstrations, bars, and Times Square, among other places. It requires background checks, training, and good moral character, and it provides an appeals process for applicants whose requests for a concealed carry license are denied.

The Supreme Court said the old New York law was not sufficiently uniform; the new one is designed to work within the court’s parameters. New York governor Kathy Hochul signed the law on Friday. It will go into effect on September 1, 2022. 

Today, a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, issued a stack of subpoenas as part of the investigation into whether Trump and his allies illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in that state. Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis opened the investigation after a recording of Trump pressing Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger came to light in early 2021.

The grand jury subpoenaed Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Cleta Mitchell, Kenneth Chesebro, Jacki Pick Deason, and Jenna Ellis, who is now working for Trump-endorsed Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano. In 2021, Ellis declared she was leaving the Republican Party because it was no longer “conservative” enough for her. 

The grand jury is looking at the creation of the fake electors from Georgia and at the various fake claims Trump allies put forward about the election being “stolen.” Eastman’s subpoena refers to his December 3, 2020, appearance before the Georgia State Senate, where he told lawmakers “that they had both the lawful authority and a ‘duty’ to replace the Democratic Party’s slate of presidential electors, who had been certified as the duly appointed electors for the States of Georgia after the November 2020 election, due to unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud within the state. There is evidence that the Witness’s appearance and testimony at the hearing was part of a multi-state, coordinated plan by the Trump Campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.”  

At least two phone calls Graham made to Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger or his staff in which Graham apparently asked about “reexamining certain absentee ballots cast in Georgia in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump,” are at the heart of the subpoena to Graham. 

 Representatives Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Liz Cheney (R-WY) of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol said this weekend that more witnesses have come forward since Cassidy Hutchinson testified last week. The aide to Trump’s White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows offered explosive testimony directly tying Trump and Meadows to planned violence on January 6.

Sarah Matthews, deputy press secretary in the Trump administration, will testify at a future hearing. Matthews jumped to Hutchinson’s defense after her testimony last week, tweeting, "Anyone downplaying Cassidy Hutchinson's role or her access in the West Wing either doesn't understand how the Trump (White House) worked or is attempting to discredit her because they're scared of how damning this testimony is." Matthews resigned on January 6, saying in a statement, “I was honored to serve in the Trump administration and proud of the policies we enacted. As someone who worked in the halls of Congress I was deeply disturbed by what I saw today. I’ll be stepping down from my role, effective immediately. Our nation needs a peaceful transfer of power.” 

 After Hutchinson’s testimony, we learned that the Trump organization and his allies have been paying for lawyers to represent those called by the January 6 committee as witnesses. Hutchinson offered much more information to the committee when she got rid of the lawyer Trump’s team provided and engaged her own lawyer. Immediately, Trump complained that “[h]er story totally changed!” suggesting that the Trump team might be pressuring witnesses not to cooperate with the committee.“

What they said to me is as long as I continue to be a team player, they know that I’m on the team, I’m doing the right thing, I’m protecting who I need to protect, you know, I’ll continue to stay in the good graces in Trump world,” one witness told the committee. “And they have reminded me a couple of times that Trump does read transcripts and just keep that in mind as I proceed through my depositions and interviews with the committee.”

The committee has planned the next public hearing for July 12 at 10:00 am.

[appealcounsel]

Detroit Appeal Lawyer | Appeal Counsel

Looking for a top Detroit Appeal Lawyer? Trust the expertise of Appeal Counsel to navigate your complex legal battles. With a deep understanding of appellate law, we provide unparalleled representation to ensure your case gets the attention it deserves. Choose Appeal Counsel for skilled Detroit appeal lawyers committed to achieving the best possible outcome for your appeal. Contact us today for expert legal assistance. For more details click https://www.appealcounsel.com/

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Severe Storms Move Through the Midwest After Tornado Kills 1 (NYT) Severe storms moved through the Midwest on Tuesday, bringing heavy rain and strong winds a day after tornadoes in the southern Plains killed at least one person and damaged dozens of homes. About 13.5 million people in parts of Indiana, northern Kentucky and western Ohio were warned about an enhanced risk for severe thunderstorms through Tuesday evening, with the possibility of strong tornadoes and large hail, according to the Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service. As storms moved through the region on Tuesday afternoon, the Weather Service issued a string of tornado warnings in cities across Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

Where 3 Dead Tourists Were Found Fast, Thousands Remain Missing (NYT) On Sunday, Mexican authorities announced that the bodies of three tourists in Baja California, found at the bottom of a well with gunshot wounds to their heads, had been identified by their families. The men had been killed in a carjacking gone wrong, the authorities said, and suspects had been detained within days of the men’s disappearance. It was a tragic yet somewhat fast resolution to a case that had drawn international attention. For many local Mexicans, however, the quick response from the authorities to locate the tourists and make arrests seemed to be an exception in a country where tens of thousands of missing-person cases have sat for years without ever being solved.

Panama’s Election Perplexity Comes To An End (Guardian) After a very confusing election season, Panama has a new president. José Raúl Mulino, a former government minister who served from 2009 until 2014, won the presidency with 34.3% of the vote, beating out lawyer Ricardo Lombana (24.8%) and former President Martín Torrijos (16%). Mulino only became a presidential candidate in February as a last-minute stand-in for former president Ricardo Martinelli (who’s avoiding money laundering charges by hiding in a Nicaraguan embassy) and almost had his bid disqualified by Panama’s supreme court just days before voting. Mulino was running as Martinelli’s vice-presidential running mate during the election until the Supreme Court rejected the former president’s appeal against his money laundering charges. The two were focused on cracking down on illegal migrant crossings and reviving Panama’s slowing economy. Many Panamanians said they still trusted Martinelli and his running mate because their past administration saw massive economic growth for the nation.

The rise of Sweden’s super rich (BBC) Sweden has a global reputation for championing high taxes and social equality, but it has become a European hotspot for the super rich. Although a right-wing coalition is currently in power, the nation has been run by Social Democrat-led governments for the majority of the last century, elected on promises to grow the economy in an equitable way, with taxes funding a strong welfare state. But Sweden has experienced a boom in the super rich over the last three decades. In 1996, there were just 28 people with a net worth of a billion kronor or more (around $91m or £73m at today’s exchange rate), according to a rich list published by former Swedish business magazine Veckans Affärer. Most of them came from families that had been rich for generations. By 2021, there were 542 “kronor billionaires”, according to a similar analysis by daily newspaper Aftonbladet, and between them they owned a wealth equivalent to 70% of the nation’s GDP, a measure of the total value of goods and services in the economy. One reason for the rise of the new super rich is Sweden’s thriving tech scene. The country has a reputation as the Silicon Valley of Europe, having produced more than 40 so-called unicorn start-ups—companies worth more than $1bn—in the past two decades.

Finland prepares for the worst (Financial Times) Finland has successfully tested its ability to run a war economy and has begun storing military equipment outside its national borders as the Nordic country renowned for its high level of preparedness deals with an increasingly aggressive Russia. Lieutenant General Mikko Heiskanen, deputy chief of staff for armaments and logistics in the Finnish defence forces, told the Financial Times that Finland had recently checked on more than 1,000 agreements it has with private companies to produce equipment or provide services for times of war. ‘We need to be prepared for a long-term crisis ... We are testing our strategic partners’ plans and readiness,’ he said.

The changes sweeping Russia (Washington Post) Vladimir Putin is positioning Russia as American’s most dangerous and aggressive enemy, and transforming his country in ways that stand to make it a bitter adversary of the West for decades to come. Over more than six months, The Washington Post examined the profound changes sweeping Russia as Putin has used his war in Ukraine to cement his authoritarian grip on power. The Russian leader is militarizing his society and infusing it with patriotic fervor, reshaping the education system, condemning scientists as traitors, promoting a new Orthodox religiosity and retrograde roles for women, and conditioning a new generation of youth to view the West as a mortal enemy in a fight for Russia’s very survival. Putin has squashed the political opposition in Russia making protests illegal, criminalizing criticism of the war, and designating liberal nongovernmental organizations and independent media, journalists, writers, lawyers and activists as foreign agents, undesirable organizations, extremists or terrorists. Hundreds of political activists have been jailed. Tens of thousands of Russians have fled in a historic exodus, with some worried they would be cut off from the world by sanctions, some afraid of being conscripted and sent to the front, and others fearing they would be persecuted for opposing Putin or the war.

High-speed rail from Budapest to Belgrade (Bloomberg) It’s 10 a.m. and the high-speed train leaves Belgrade’s new, glass-and-steel station right on time. Thirty-six minutes later it pulls into Serbia’s northern city of Novi Sad, the first completed section of a 350 kilometer-long (217 mile) upgrade going up to Budapest in Hungary. The route is the kind of European modernity that Serbia has coveted for years. Yet the line—being built by China—also represents something more political: how Beijing is helping transform a corner of Europe when much of the continent views China as a strategic rival. Moreover, the Belgrade-Budapest link will unite the capitals of two countries that have tightened their embrace of Beijing.

India votes in third phase of national elections as PM Modi escalates his rhetoric against Muslims (AP) Millions of Indian voters across 93 constituencies were casting ballots on Tuesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has mounted an increasingly shrill election campaign, ramping up polarizing rhetoric in incendiary speeches that have targeted the Muslim minority. In recent campaign rallies, Modi has called Muslims “infiltrators” and said they “have too many children,” referring to a Hindu nationalist trope that Muslims produce more children with the aim of outnumbering Hindus in India. He has also accused the rival Indian National Congress party of scheming to “loot” wealth from the country’s Hindus and redistribute it among Muslims, who comprise 14% of India’s more than 1.4 billion people. Modi had kicked off his campaign with a focus on economic progress, promising he would make India a developed nation by 2047. But in recent weeks, he and the ruling BJP have doubled down heavily on their Hindu nationalism platform, with Modi employing some of his most divisive rhetoric in his decade in power.

Israel Steps Up Attacks on Rafah (NYT) Israel’s war cabinet voted to continue the military assault on Hamas and Israeli forces carried out strikes in Gaza’s southernmost city, hours after Hamas said it would accept terms based on a cease-fire proposal put forward by mediators. As Israeli forces carried out strikes in eastern Rafah, the prime minister’s office said that the war cabinet had decided unanimously that Israel would continue with its military actions in the city to exert pressure on Hamas. The decision, the office said, sought to advance all of Israel’s war aims, including freeing hostages. Israeli leaders have vowed for months to invade the city in order to root out Hamas forces there, prompting international concern for the safety of the 1.4 million people sheltering there.

With Schools in Ruins, Education in Gaza Will Be Hobbled for Years (NYT) Amjad Abu Daqqa was among the top students at his school in Khan Younis, excelling in math and English, and he was applying for a scholarship to study in the United States when war erupted in the Gaza Strip last October. Teachers used to reward his good grades with trips to local historical sites or to the pier, where they would watch boats and take pictures of the sunset. He dreamed of going into medicine like his big sister, Nagham, who studied dentistry in Gaza City. But his old life and old dreams now feel far away. His school was bombed, many of his friends and teachers are dead, and his family fled their home to seek safety in Rafah, along with more than one million others. No end to the war in Gaza is in sight. Even if there were, it would do little to change the bleak educational prospects of more than 625,000 students who the United Nations estimates are in the territory. Seven months of war have devastated every level of education there. More than 80 percent of Gaza’s schools have been severely damaged or destroyed by fighting, according to the United Nations, including every one of its 12 universities.

5 workers dead, 49 still missing after a building under construction collapsed in South Africa (AP) Rescue teams worked through the night searching for dozens of construction workers buried for more than 12 hours under the rubble of concrete after a multi-story apartment complex that was being built collapsed in a coastal city in South Africa. Authorities said early Tuesday that the death toll had risen to five, while 49 workers remained buried in the mangled wreckage of the building, which collapsed on Monday afternoon. Authorities said a further 21 workers had been rescued from the rubble and taken to various hospitals, with at least 11 of them suffering severe injuries. The collapse happened in the city of George, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Cape Town on South Africa’s south coast.

Cicadas and the cycle of nature (Vox) While the emergence of cicada broods XIX and XIII will be somewhat brief, we’ll be feeling the reverberations of it for years to come. We are talking a lot of bugs here: During the swarms, a single acre of land can have over 1 million cicadas on it, which comes out to about 2,700 pounds of cicada in the aggregate. All of them are doomed, in one way or another, and that biomass will almost certainly lead to a substantial increase in the populations of birds that eat them—over 80 species—causing a population bump that will manifest across ecological generations, as that bumper crop of birds and rodents leads to a phenomenal year for the things that eat them, and so on and so on. It’s also a great year to be a caterpillar, as all the birds will be so gorged on cicadas that they can’t eat all the caterpillars they ordinarily would.

[brownstonelawil]

Role of a criminal appeal lawyer in presenting your case in Orlando

The long fight in criminal cases makes you more tired and disappointed when the decision comes against you. After a long fight, in the court, a decision that is against you makes you disappointed and sometimes hopeless. Well lucky for you that it is not the end of the road. There is more to fight and more to hope for with appeal lawyers in Orlando.

The American legal system does not leave you in a dead-end situation rather it opens a door for you to have a chance to give it another fight. The right to appeal against the decision of the lower court in a higher court is your way to fight for your rights once more.

The criminal appellate lawyers in the city of Orlando working with the Brownstone Law appeal lawyers are providing these services to give successful court fights to protect the right of their clients. Here, in this short writing, we intend to discuss some of the understandings of appeal cases when you receive a not guilty verdict.

So, let’s dive in…

What is an appeal? When the jury has given their verdict of not guilty, it means that they have made their decision with the best of their ability and understanding of the relevant law. However, to express that the court may have missed some legal points or might have failed to take some evidence into consideration that could have taken the decision to the other side gives you a way to ask for a review of the decision from a higher court.

This is called the right to appeal the verdict against you. If you feel that the outcome of the case is not according to the law and the court has made some legal errors in making the decision or you were not given a fair trial, then you can exercise the right of appeal.

You can hire a professional appeal lawyer in Orlando who is part of an experienced and reputed law firm such as Brownstone Appeal Lawyers, to present your case in the appellate court for a better and more favourable outcome.

What will the appellate court do? The appellate court is the court that hears your appeal to review the lower court decision for any error of law. It does not go through the whole trial process but only reviews your case and its decision that was made in the lower court. It ensures that the appellant was given a fair trial to reach this decision or if was there any legal flaw in making a judgment or ignorance of the evidence presented with arguments given in the court.

The judges of the appellate court take all the things into consideration that have influenced the decision including the testimonies of the witnesses. The arguments presented by an appellate lawyer in Orlando proved the basis for direction where to look for errors of law in the decision of the lower court.

The Appellate Lawyer The appeal process involves a complex set of arguments and presentation that makes your case strong to bring a favourable outcome. The drafting of arguments is what makes the case legally strong and winnable. An appeal lawyer, therefore, is a very important professional legal representation on your behalf to put these legal complications in front of the court to get a fresh trial or overturn the decision of the lower court.

Appeal lawyers in Orlando are very knowledgeable and well-versed in law for criminal appeal cases to get better and favourable outcomes of the appeal cases in the state of Florida. The whole team of Brownstone Appeal lawyers in Orlando is experts in handling appeal cases of all kinds to get a fair and legally error-free decision from the appellate courts.

They first review the case by themselves to look for the errors of law and then draft arguments based on these points to present in court. When they have studied the decision of the lower court, on which they have to file an appeal, the first thing they will put in while drafting the arguments is that the court has failed to provide a fair trial in your case.

The Possible Outcomes of the Appeal The appellate lawyer files the appeal with their drafted brief and arguments on the basis of which the appellate court starts reviewing the decision of the lower court. The brief presents all the legal errors of the decision while the oral arguments from both sides expound on these outlined errors of law. This makes it easier for the appellate judges to come to the right decision and see if there is an error made in the original decision of the court on which is appeal is being heard.

The court can come up with two possible decisions in general;

There was an error of law made in the original decision There was no error in the lower court’s decision

If your appeal lawyer manages to present your case successfully and is able to convince the appellate court that a legal error has been made in the decision, the court may come up with two possible outcomes:

The appellate court may order a fresh trial of your case The appellate court may overturn the decision and you are set free

These are the two favourable outcomes for your case with the latter being the best you can hope for. Our appeal lawyers in Orlando have seen many favourable outcomes and have seen the overturned decision in a maximum number of their cases.

A Third Kind of Outcome Talking about the outcomes of the appeal cases, there is another side of the outcomes of appeal cases that you do not want to hear. The appellate court may not find your claim of errors of law made by the lower court and uphold the original decision. This will result in the ‘not guilty’ verdict stand.

In Orlando, Brownstone Law appeal lawyers have a strong team of experienced lawyers who are determined to give their one hundred percent to make your appeal case successful. If you are charged with some criminal offence and want to give fight for your rights even after losing the case in a court of law, remember, it is not the end of the road.

Our team of appeal lawyers in Orlando is fully capable with a huge amount of experience at their hands to represent you in an appellate court and get a favourable decision. The complications and complexities of criminal law demand serious representation in putting your case in a court of law.

Brownstone Law Appeal Lawyers take their job very seriously and every client is a challenge for us to keep our success ratio on top. Take advantage of our expertise and knowledge combined with years of experience to put your case in a winning situation.

ORIGINALLY FOUND ON- Source: Brownstone Law(https://www.brownstonelaw.com/blog/role-of-a-criminal-appeal-lawyer-in-presenting-your-case-in-orlando/)

[xtruss]

Attorney General James Urges U.S. Senate to Confirm Adeel Mangi to Federal Appeals Bench!

AG James and Coalition of Attorneys General Call for Senate Confirmation of Mangi, Who Would Be First Muslim Judge on Federal Appeals Court

— April 20, 2024

Adeel Abudllah Mangi appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Born: 1977 (Age 46–47) Karachi, Pakistan. Education: Pembroke College, Oxford (BA), City Law School (PGDip), Harvard University (LLM). Adeel Abdullah Mangi is a Pakistani-American lawyer who was nominated to serve as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by President Joe Biden in November 2023. If confirmed, Mangi would be the first Muslim American to serve on a federal appeals court and the third Muslim-American federal judge overall.

NEW YORK — New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of 11 attorneys general today urged the U.S. Senate to confirm President Biden’s judicial nominee Adeel Mangi to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Mangi has broad support from legal and law enforcement communities and has decades of experience as a litigator, earning him the highest rating for a judicial nominee by the American Bar Association for his integrity, judicial temperament, and competence. If confirmed, Mangi would be the first Muslim American to sit on a federal appeals court.

“Adeel Mangi is an experienced litigator, knowledgeable jurist, and strong defender of justice who would administer the rule of law equally and fairly,” said Attorney General James. “Attacks against Mangi to derail his nomination have been Islamophobic, offensive, and misguided. Our justice system should reflect the rich diversity of our nation. I am proud to stand with my colleagues today to denounce the hateful attacks against Mangi’s nomination and to call for his confirmation.”

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Attorney General James and the coalition note that despite Mangi’s many qualifications, he is currently subject to an orchestrated campaign of anti-Muslim bias that includes dangerous claims that he is antisemitic and anti-law enforcement. The letter argues that at a time of rising hate against Muslim Americans, unfounded attacks such as those against Mangi are unacceptable and should be rejected outright.

Attorney General James and the coalition conclude their letter to Senate leadership by writing that Mangi possesses the fair-mindedness, commitment to equal justice for all, and temperament befitting of a federal judge. They urge senators to be on the right side of history.

Joining Attorney General James in sending today’s letter are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

— Letitia James, New York State Attorney General

[driverdefens]

Defend Against Criminal Defense Appeal With an Experienced Attorney

Championing justice, Cheronis & Parente LLC excels as your trusted criminal defense appeal attorney. With a relentless pursuit of fairness, their seasoned legal team crafts strategic and compelling appeals to secure the rights and freedom of their clients. They navigate the complexities of the appellate process with precision, leveraging their deep expertise in criminal defense. Contact them today to learn more.

[californiaprelawland]

Molina v. Book

By Catherine Kavalauskas, University of California Davis Class of 2026

November 23, 2023

Molina v. Book is an ongoing Supreme Court case that rests on an infringement of citizens’ First Amendment rights. More specifically, the case hinges upon an individual’s ability to observe police activity and peacefully assemble. 

In summary, Sarah Molina and Christina Vogel, two attorneys, attended a protest in St. Louis as legal observers – the protest surrounded a fatal police shooting. The two women attended wearing bright green hats, with the “National Lawyers Guild Legal Observer” written across the front. During the protest, local police ordered a dispersal order. However, when the crowd refused to leave, the officers administered smoke canisters to the group of protesters. Vogel and Molina remained at the protest, recording these events. However, once the officers switched to tear gas, Molina and Vogel left the protest and returned to Molina’s home located several blocks away. Later, while standing outside Molina’s home, police in an armored vehicle drove by her house and threw multiple tear gas canisters at the women (2).  

In response, Molina and Vogel sued the officers, their supervisor, the city of St. Louis, and St. Clair County, Illinois. The women argued that police officers had violated their First Amendment rights. By definition, the Constitution’s First Amendment prohibits the exercise of free speech, the press, or the right of people to assemble peaceably. Furthermore, Molina and Vogel defended their right to publicly observe police activity as they, “argued that the police retaliated against them for participating as legal observers in the protest” (3). The officers attempted to deny shooting tear gas canisters at Molina and Vogel, however, an after-action report proved otherwise (4).   

Despite their efforts, Molina and Vogel’s case was dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The court ruled that words printed on clothing don’t result in First Amendment protection unless a “particularized message” is expressed. Additionally, the court argued that the “right to passively observe law enforcement activity in public” is not clearly or blatantly established in the U.S. Constitution (5).  

Regardless of the court’s ruling, Vogel and Molina continued to defend their argument; stating that no matter if their hats expressed a “particularized message,” the words were ultimately a form of “pure speech” and thus, are protected by the First Amendment. Furthermore, the two women also countered that any and all individuals have a right to observe police in public. Moreover, dissatisfied with the court’s ruling, the women petitioned that the U.S. Supreme Court hear the case. They filed their case on October 12, 2023; in court, Molina and Vogel will be represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (6). 

______________________________________________________________

1) Wikipedia. “Seal of the United States Supreme Court”. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Seal_of_the_United_States_Supreme_Court.svg . 17 Nov 2023.  

2) Aclu.org. “Molina v. Book”. https://www.aclu.org/cases/molina-v-book. 17 Nov 2023.  

3) Aclu.org. “Molina v. Book”. https://www.aclu.org/cases/molina-v-book. 17 Nov 2023.  

4) Justia. “Sarah Molina v. Daniel Book, No. 21-1830”. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca8/21-1830/21-1830-2023-02-02.html . 17 Nov 2023. 

5) Rcfp.org . “Molina v. Book”. https://www.rcfp.org/briefs-comments/molina-v-book/. 17 Nov 2023.  

6) Rcfp.org . “Molina v. Book”. https://www.rcfp.org/briefs-comments/molina-v-book/. 17 Nov 2023.