Judge dismisses Calif. sex offender law challenge
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A U.S. federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Thursday challenging a California voter initiative that increases monitoring of sex offenders and limits where they can live.
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SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- A judge today rejected a defense effort to remove the district attorney in the Michael Jackson child molestation case on the grounds that the pop star had been the victim of an overzealous prosecution.
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A federal judge dismissed charges  against a New York record store owner on Friday who had been  selling unauthorized recordings of concerts, saying a law  against boot-legging was unconstitutional.
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A judge has rejected a defence bid to remove the District-Attorney trying pop star Michael Jackson on child molestation charges. He says there is no proof Santa Barbara County District-Attorney Tom Sneddon had acted improperly or over-zealously.
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A judge bans the word from a sexual assault case, sparking debate over freedom of speech and the right to a fair trial
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Lawyers for Michael Jackson have asked a judge to dismiss the child molestation charges against him, claiming that prosecutors were improperly trying to &#39;shock and intimidate&#39; the pop star when they raided his Neverland Valley Ranch two weeks ago.
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Lawyers for Michael Jackson have  asked a judge to dismiss the child molestation charges against  him, claiming that prosecutors were improperly trying to "shock  and intimidate" the pop star when they raided his Neverland  Valley Ranch two weeks ago.
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A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against a state judge who barred anyone from saying "rape" or "victim" during a criminal trial, ruling Tuesday that the accuser failed to prove that he should intervene.
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A self-described pedophile is leaving California after a judge ordered him to stay away permanently from places where children gather, the man told a TV station for a report that aired Sunday.
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A state judge in California on Thursday dismissed charges against the three remaining state criminal defendants in the Hewlett-Packard Co. spying case.
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A judge in the District of Columbia has dismissed a case against a dry cleaner who was sued for $54 million in damages over a pair of missing pants.
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(InfoWorld) - A state judge in California on Thursday dismissed charges against the three remaining state criminal defendants in theÂ Hewlett-Packard spying case. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Ray Cunningham dropped charges against former HP attorney Kevin Hunsaker and private investigators Ron DeLia and Matthew DePante. The charges were dropped for their part in the use of false pretenses to obtain phone records of individuals they were investigating for leaking HP board deliberations to news media. Cunningham agreed to the dismissal after each of the defendants performed at least 96 hours of community service. In fact, each of them did more than required. According to each of their attorneys, the defendants did the following: DeLia, the owner of Security Outsourcing Solutions, a security firm hired by HP, performed 100 hours of community service at a veterans' organization; DePante, of Action Research Group, an investigative firm hired by DeLia, performed 120 hours at a church organization; and Hunsaker performed 165 hours at a nonprofit legal organization "At worst, the conduct in this case amounted to boardroom politics and a betrayal of trust rather than criminal activity," Cunningham said from the bench in his courtroom in San Jose, Calif. None of the defendants were in the courtroom but were represented by their attorneys. Deputy State Attorney General Ralph Sivilla said the state agreed to the dismissal. "I think everybody at Hewlett-Packard thought they were doing the right thing, the legal thing," Tom Nolan, Hunsaker's attorney, said after the hearing. "They had a serious problem and they relied upon counsel.... But as the [judge] said, they really didn't commit any crimes." The serious problem Nolan referred to, of course, was the leaking of board deliberations to the media. To trace the source of leaks, the private investigators obtained calling records of HP directors, some employees, and several reporters covering HP. At a hearing in March, Cunningham dismissed all charges against former HP chairman Patricia Dunn and said he would dismiss the charges against the other three if they performed community service. The scandal "has achieved much public good," Cunningham said, in that it has brought attention to the problem of "pretexting," or using false pretenses to access private records. It has resulted in the passage of state and federal laws specifically banning the practice. Also, HP agreed to a $14.5 million civil case settlement with the State of California in December 2006 that will support a state program focused on privacy protection. Cunningham noted that The Wall Street Journal editorialized that his dismissal decision in March showed "wisdom and compassion." Given that a Journal reporter was one of the victims of the pretexting, that's a notable endorsement, he said. Bryan Wagner still faces sentencing in federal court in San Jose on one count of conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft. HeÂ pleaded guilty to those chargesÂ in January. Wagner was hired by Action Research Group to do the actual pretexting to obtain the phone records, according to court testimony.DeLia's attorney, John Williams, said his client hopes "he gets to go back to work and get on with his life." This story was updated on June 28, 2007
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A federal judge in San Francisco has dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of retired football players by former Cleveland Browns defensive back Bernie Parrish.
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A California judge on Thursday rejected a bid by Michael Jackson's lawyers to remove the district attorney from the pop star's child-molestation case, saying that there was no proof the prosecutor had acted improperly or overzealously.
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A federal judge has dismissed a 6-year-old sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former player against North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance.
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Court denies convicted spammer's appeal, rejects argument that the state law is unconstitutional.
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A Colorado judge on Wednesday dismissed a rape charge against basketball star Kobe Bryant after the young woman who made the accusations told prosecutors she could not go on with the case.