| God/pot link claim won't fly, judge says
Robert George Henry told a Cumberland County judge Wednesday that smoking marijuana is vital to his efforts to connect with God. "The first thing I do every day is smoke a little bit of cannabis and say my prayers," said Henry, 48, of Fannettsburg. "I've come to the belief that smoking cannabis helps me commune with my Lord and understand what he wants me to do with my life." His argument quickly went up in smoke. Ten seconds after Henry finished testifying, President Judge Edgar B. Bayley dismissed a motion Henry filed seeking to avoid prosecution on drunken driving and drug possession charges on religious grounds. In that motion by defense attorney George Marros, Henry claimed his drug use is protected by the religious freedom guarantee of the U.S.
Lawyer announces run for Superior Court judge (w/ video)
Sal Mendoza Jr. is on a mission to become the first Latino judge in Benton and Franklin counties, if not Eastern Washington. The Kennewick lawyer announced his candidacy Wednesday, saying that he believes he is a perfect fit for the job because of his life and legal experiences. Mendoza is running for the Benton-Franklin Superior Court seat currently held by Judge Dennis Yule. .
Challenges facing kidnap suspect representing self
KINGMAN - A Bullhead City man facing numerous felony counts, including kidnapping and drive-by shooting, is finding out that representing himself in court is a challenging task.Santiago Fidel Sanchez, 22, is charged with 12 counts in five different cases. The defendant was back in Superior Court Wednesday seeking better access to the jail's law library and less scrutiny in his legal correspondence as compared to personal correspondence. Judge Robert Moon told Sanchez to file a written motion on specific complaints he has with the county jail. Sanchez even subpoenaed Mohave County Jail Director Bruce Brown, Assistant Director Jeff Brown and other jail staff to Wednesday's hearing.Moon again cautioned Sanchez that he faces most of his life in prison if he is convicted of all the charges and urged the defendant to retain an attorney or at least get an attorney to act as advisory counsel.
FBI chief: Are Americans becoming more crooked?
The FBI is grappling with growing numbers of public corruption cases and a surge in mortgage fraud investigations, FBI Director Robert Mueller said Thursday, wondering aloud whether Americans are "becoming more crooked." In a speech to the American Bar Association, Mueller asked the assembled defense lawyers for help in "creating a culture of integrity" by reporting evidence of wrongdoing by politicians and corporate executives alike. "Anyone who follows the news these days and sees repeated references to corporate fraud and public corruption might think the nation is in the midst of a moral crisis," Mueller told the defense attorneys. "Have we as a society become more corrupt? Or have we in the FBI simply become more adept at rooting out fraud and corruption?" Currently, the FBI has 2,500 cases of public corruption under investigation, an increase of 50 percent from five years ago, Mueller said.
US probes firefighter disability abuse
Federal authorities issued a flurry of subpoenas across the city yesterday as they launched a grand jury investigation of disability abuse in the Boston Fire Department, including whether dozens of firefighters faked on-the-job injuries to significantly enhance their pensions, according to several officials briefed on the probe. FBI agents served the subpoenas to more than a dozen current and former firefighters, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because grand jury proceedings are secret. Agents also delivered a grand jury subpoena yesterday to City Hall demanding what is likely to be tens of thousands of pages of disability records dating back to 2000. City officials "will cooperate in the investigation of any alleged illegal activity," said Dorothy Joyce, spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M.
All three detectives to walk, say lawyers
The three cops accused of killing Sean Bell with a 50-bullet barrage are likely to beat the rap, some of New York's top defense lawyers said Tuesday. The lawyers told the Daily News that prosecutors failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the detectives committed a crime when they shot Bell on his wedding day. "There is no one fact that shatters all reasonable doubt, so it comes down to the credibility of the witnesses," said lawyer Arthur Aidala, a former prosecutor. "The defense put some chinks in the armor of the key witnesses." Specifically Joseph Guzman, a survivor of the shooting that killed Bell and wounded their buddy, Trent Benefield. "You have Guzman testifying that a dying Sean Bell told him, 'I love you,' even though the medical examiner says the bullets tore his vocal cords," Aidala said.
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