A judge will allow a lawyer for Chrissy Mazzeo to continue to collect evidence in connection to Mazzeo’s civil lawsuit against Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons. Mazzeo, a Las Vegas cocktail waitress, accused Gibbons of assaulting her in a parking lot after a night of drinking at a Vegas bar. Though Gibbons was cleared of sexual assault charges by a police investigation, Mazzeo claims that her reputation and constitutional rights were harmed when Gibbons allegedly covered up a the 2006 assault. Gibbons’ lawyer Pat Lundvall said that this would amount to nothing more than a waste of time because the suit lacks legitimate federal claims. (Las Vegas Sun)
Probation officers recommended in court documents Tuesday that former Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona be sentenced to 78 months in prison for witness tampering. In January, Carona was convicted for asking Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl to lie to a grand jury investigating Carona for allegedly using his office to attract cash and gifts for his wife and mistress. The prison recommendation came to light in response to Carona’s request for a new trial or to have the conviction reversed. Carona was once named “America’s Sheriff” by CNN’s Larry King for spearheading the investigation into the killer of a five year old girl. (LA Times)
Former Oklahoma Sheriff Mike Burgess was sentenced to 79 years in prison Tuesday after being convicted on thirteen felony counts, including five counts of rape. Female drug court defendants said that Burgess led them to believe that they would be punished if they did not have sex with him. This is the newest in a long line of sexual exploitation allegations against the Custer County Sheriff’s Department, which was accused in 2007 of promoting wet t-shirt contests for female inmates and giving cigarettes to inmates who showed their breasts. (Associated Press)
It’s no surprise that immigrants detained in the United States are treated poorly. But an Amnesty International report released today bolsters the case by following a handful of legal and illegal immigrants who broke the law, to show that detained immigrants are kept in deplorable conditions and frequently denied due process. Among other due process shortcomings, the report specifies that detainees in immigration custody don’t have the same guarantee to challenge their arrest before a court, often transferred to new facilities with no notice given to their attorneys, and are subjected to excessive use of restraining devices. (San Francisco Chronicle)
The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct has accused a Texas judge of judicial misconduct and incompetence. Susan Keller, the chief judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, is charged with inappropriately refusing to keep court offices open past 5 p.m. to receive an appeal from Michael Richard, a convicted rapist and murderer on death row, because she had to meet a repairman at her home. Richard was put to death by legal injection that evening. Keller’s lawyers say that promptly closing the office is standard conduct and that Richard could have appealed to judges who were on call after 5 p.m. (New York Times)
A New York jury convicted former Morgan Stanley executive Darren DeMizio of conspiring to commit securities fraud and wire fraud Tuesday. The jury said that as the head of the Morgan Stanley domestic securities lending desk, DeMizio sent Morgan Stanley clients to affiliated stock finders who paid kickbacks and bribes to his father and brother over a period of thirteen years. From 2000 to 2004 alone, these payments totaled $1.6 million. DeMizio faces up to thirty years in prison at the June 19 sentencing hearing. (Reuters)
