Goldman and Citigroup opt for the courts

Wall Street is setting a new precedent that investor claims disputes need to go to court instead of arbitration through the Financial Industrial Regulatory Authority (FINRA), as the on-going Goldman Sachs and Citigroup cases show.
Wall St. Giants like Goldman and Citigroup are having investment firms sign a contract stipulating that future legal disputes will be resolved in court as opposed to arbitration.  Critics are claiming the contracts set double standards, because big banks require individual retail investors to settle things outside of court, based on which system is more likely to have a better outcome for the company.  Using litigation, investment banks can also draw out proceedings for years.  According to Los Angeles securities lawyer Jeffrey Riffer, investment firms prefer arbitration because unlike an individual investor, they are unlikely to gain any sympathy from a jury.
Joseph Peiffer, the  New Orleans lawyer who represented the city against Goldman, said: “They force everyone including an 80-year-old widow into arbitration, but when an institution wants to arbitrate with them they fight it tooth and nail."  The court cases brought by investors since the 2008 crisis are on-going six years after the fact

Chinese lawyers tortured by police

Three Chinese lawyers have given details of torture that was inflicted upon them over two weeks as they sought to protect clients within the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.
Tang Jitian, Wang Cheng and Jiang Tianyong were released on Sunday, after being detained in Heilongjiang province, near the Russian border. All three said that they signed confessions admitting that they had ‘disturbed public order’ during their detention. The three had been protesting against the detention of some five or six members of Falun Gong which was banned in 1999 as an ‘evil cult’. There is ‘absolutely no legal oversight at all’ of the detention of the Falun Gong members, say the lawyers. 

Lawyers advise Iran on nuclear arms deal

Iran's negotiating team is being helped by 'an advisory group in legal affairs' as it moves to negotiate a deal on its nuclear weapons capacity with the UN Security Council.
Iranian Foreign Minister  Mohammad Javad Zarif is leading the Iranian team and said: ‘In the next round, we will start writing the text of a final agreement which will be a complicated, difficult and slow task…Therefore, I formed an advisory group in legal affairs which comprises many prominent and well-known professors specialised in international law.’  Discussions are taking place in Vienna with representatives of the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.  Although the negotiations are not attracting the media spot light, they represent a crucial development - by attempting to negotiate away the development of nuclear weapons by Iran

Japan bar rides to the rescue of young lawyers

Japanese bar associations have come to the rescue of young Japanese lawyers unable to find a job following changes in the law opening up the profession
The bar associations have introduced a mentoring system where newly qualified lawyers can consult experienced lawyers in the light of a surge of legal professionals from 18,000 in 2001 to 33,000 currently. So far 28 of the country’s 52 bar associations have signed up for the system which is being used by 1372 lawyers

The Daini Tokyo Bar Association has gone further and is renting offices to young lawyers unable to invest in their own offices – offering affordable one year leases for seven rooms.  Meanwhile the Kamata Legal Consultation Centre is run by three bar associations in Tokyo where newly qualified lawyers can learn how senior lawyers offer consultations to clients.

Japan lacks lawyers to handle Hague Convention child cases

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations has registered about 150 lawyers to deal with new Hague Convention provisions on child abduction - but there are fears because lawyers that can speak English are not enough
The Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction rules came into force on 1 April, under the Hague Convention. Cases that fall under the rules will need a lawyer to represent each party. The 150 Japanese lawyers now registered do not cover all parts of the country evenly. For instance, the Osaka area has registered 12 lawyers -  but Ai Kuroda, representing the Osaka Bar Association, said: ‘We had a goal of registering 20 lawyers, but the bar is set very high, including being able to work in English.’ An official of the Akita Bar Association said: ‘We cannot provide any lawyers at present

Senior criminal judge criticised over QC VAT case

Barrister Rohan Pershad QC was jailed last year for three years for 'deliberately' not paying £600,000 VAT over a 12 year period.
 After taking the case to the Court of Appeal last month, criticising Judge Marron QC’s summing up of his case, the former 39 Essex Street silk's  conviction was upheld.  However, Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas said Judge Marron’s summing up was ‘open to material criticism’ and ‘was woefully organised and inaccurate in some respects’. He then stated “This court does not expect a judge in this day and age to deliver a summing up in a case such as this which is not properly prepared and which fails to set out the evidence in a manner which is helpful to the jury.” Despite criticism of the judge, Lord Chief Justice did conclude by saying the outcome of the case was in no way unfair or unjust.

Liberia faces legal crisis as Justice Minister was debarred

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia is consulting legal experts after the country's Justice Minister was debarred from practising law for six months for contempt of court.

However, the President and other ministers appear eager to stress that the issue will be handled in the proper way. Information minister Lewis Brown said: 'One thing you can be sure is that this President, as has been done in the past, will continue to respect the line of demarcation of the court, the independence of the various branches and the duty of the court to say what the law is.' Justice Minister Christiana Tah was suspended by the Supreme Court for releasing the managing editor of FrontPageAfrica from prison. He had been sent to prison when he did not pay a libel debt of $1.5m which was due to the former agriculture minister. Ms Tah said she released the editor on compassionate grounds

American’s death sentence for ‘spying’ overturned in Iran; gets 10 years in jail

An Iranian news agency is reporting that an appeals court has overturned a death sentence of an American man convicted of working for the CIA, instead sentencing him to 10 years in prison.

The semiofficial ISNA news agency reported Saturday that lawyer Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei says a Revolutionary Court issued the verdict for former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati. Tabatabaei described the verdict as final.

The Associated Press could not reach Tabatabaei on Saturday.

Iran charged Hekmati with receiving special training and serving at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan before heading to Iran for his alleged mission.

The 31-year-old Hekmati is a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen born in Arizona. His father, a professor at a community college in Flint, Michigan, has said his son is not a CIA spy

Bandit begs judge for a drink after he and pals get 32 years

Akeem Monsalvatge (right) and cohorts Derrick Dunkley and Edward Byam were each sentenced to 32 years Friday for robbing a check-cashing store in Queens while wearing high-quality masks.

He wanted one last trip to Margaritaville before spending the next three decades in prison.

One of three black men who wore Hollywood-grade masks to make them look white in a 2010 stickup begged a Brooklyn federal court judge for a stiff one before getting sentenced.

“Do I get a last wish?” Akeem Monsalvatge asked Judge Raymond Dearie. “I feel like it’s an execution. Do I get a last meal? Can I get a Patrón margarita?”

But happy hour was over for Monsalvatge, Edward Byam and Derrick Dunkley, each of whom Dearie hit with the mandatory minimum sentence of 32 years.

The judge suggested the terms were harsh but blasted the men for their outrageous robbery of a Queens check-cashing store.

“Each of you showed great potential,” he said. “You had the benefit of youth, which will be squandered behind bars.”

Inspired by the 2010 Ben Affleck flick “The Town,” the men paid nearly $3,000 for three masks and dressed up as cops during the $200,000 heist.

Afterward, the childhood pals set out on a shopping spree from Manhattan to Beverly Hills, buying such luxury items as $1,600 Christian Louboutin shoes and $600 Louis Vuitton belts.

But they made a series of missteps that led to their arrest and a conviction last August.

During the heist, the men flashed an employee a photo of her house to intimidate her. Cops found the picture at the scene and traced it to a nearby Walgreen’s, where surveillance footage showed one of the men buying a printout of the image.

And Byam e-mailed an effusive thank-you to the mask maker.

Prosecutors showed jurors pictures of the men cavorting in high-end clothes in hotels and nightclubs across the country.

One showed Monsalvatge in a T-shirt from “The Town.”

Aping the crooks in the film, the men wore masks and splashed the scene with bleach.

“They used masks and costumes to elude law enforcement, but as they have learned today, their disguises could not shield them from justice,” said Brooklyn US Attorney Loretta Lynch.

The men plan to appeal.A

Tunji Braithwaite’s Unrelenting Battle With Standard Chartered Bank

Successful lawyer and pro-democracy activist, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite is not backing down on his suit against Standard Chartered Bank seeking N10billion in damages and an order of the court for the high-rise complex of the bank to be levelled. Arguably Nigeria’s longest serving presidential aspirant, Dr Braithwaite has been at loggerheads with his neighbour, Standard Chartered Bank for, according to him, illegally erecting a 15-storey commercial building in an otherwise residential area in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Earlier this year, the octogenarian told Justice Doris Okuwobi of an Ikeja High Court, “There is an order of the Court of Appeal stopping them at the second floor yet they are now on the 15th floor. This is a serious case to try. My Lord, I’m not happy with the trend of this case.
This case will surely try the integrity of the Nigerian legal system and would either have a solitary effect or eternal condemnation of the Nigeria legal system.” He continued, Your lordship will recall that you granted us an order amending our process since June 2013, but up till now the defendant has deliberately refused to file their statement of defence and manipulating the Nigeria legal system while continuing to destroy the res by building up till 15th floor,” he added. More worrisome for Dr. Braithwaite is that the bank has installed giant industrial generators directly opposite his house with the concomitant fumes and noise shattering their air and serenity.

In view of this, Dr. Braithwaite is praying the court to grant him N10billion in damages and a demolition of the building. Those who know the pedigree of the founder of Nigerian Advance Party know that he doesn’t back down from a fight and thus should sound a note of warning to the bank that he might be withering physically due to old age, he is not in any way battle-weary

Ibori Did Not Receive a Penny from V-Mobile, Defence Lawyer Insists

The defence lawyer representing former Delta State governor, James Ibori in the confiscation of assets hearing, today in London insisted that his client did not receive a penny from V-Mobile account as alleged by the prosecuting team.

Ivan Krolick during his submission took hours trying to convince the court that out of the £37 million connected to V-Mobile which the prosecution team said Ibori’s benefit from, that there is no evidence that the money was paid into his account.

During the submission on V-Mobile, only the name of Ibori’s former solicitor and his former commissioner of Finance, Mr Bhadresh Gohil and David Edevbie respectively reverberated in the court. He insisted that Ibori only approved documents relating to V-Mobile.

He also told the court that even when a financial forensic expert was invited to the court and was cross-examined by both the defence and the prosecuting teams, there was no trace of Delta State money connected to Ibori’s benefit. The defence lawyer said their case was so clear because the forensic expert dealt with the issue of Delta State money in detail.

Krolick constantly reminded the court that the case now is a ‘pure law’ of money laundering, unlike trial issues. He said confiscation trial is a quantitative case and not because he pleaded guilty is enough for confiscation. “We said no, this is not so. This is not being ambushed,” Krolick said.

Another issue that dominated Krolick’s submission was the introduction of ‘assumption’ which the prosecuting team had prayed the court late last year to apply on some of Ibori’s loots including the £89 million as against limiting it to £330, 000 and £25,000 on Abbey Road management fees - one of Ibori’s property.

The issue of assumption which QC Shasha Wass introduced in the case is a criminal justice act of 1988 (as amended), seeking section 72AA of proceeds of crime act 1995 to establish Ibori benefits and possible forfeiture.

Krolick persistently argued that to make assumptions on the whole £89 million instead of the two items was what they are also against. But the prosecution team in their earlier submission said Ibori had not discharged the honour of proof regarding his income, but again we are arguing that they had enough time to bring in their witnesses, but could not, he said.

He told the judge that there was nothing pointing to the fact that they had deviated from their stand or amount to any surprise in this case relating to their skeletal argument.

Again, he reminded the Judge that the prosecution team could not say that they were unaware of their stand in this case; that all that was needed was evidence linking Ibori with what they are asking for. He said portraying Ibori as the master and Gohil as servant was not enough reason to link whatever Gohil had committed as part of Ibori’s deed.

“Your honour, sometime last year, you said the introduction of assumption by the prosecuting team is like not only removing the goal post, but removing the entire pitch,” Krolick told Judge Pitt.

The defence went further to say that in all their submissions, they had never asked for evidence of guilt, but evidence of obtaining benefits, saying that they are only concerned with what Ibori obtained. “But for the prosecuting team to ask for evidence is also what we are not happy with.”
The court will likely sit on Wednesday, though subject to confirmation.

S’Court Dismisses Suit Challenging FG's Power to Collect VAT

The Supreme Court Friday threw out a suit filed by the Lagos State challenging the legality of some of the provisions of the Value Added Tax Act which empowered the federal government to collect consumption taxes in states of the federation.

The apex court declined jurisdiction over the suit and upheld the objection filed by the federal government.

The Attorney General of Lagos, Ade Ipaye had in the suit, sought a declaration that the VAT Act is unconstitutional to the extent that it provides for the imposition and collection of taxes on goods and services in Lagos and other states, areas outside the legislative competence of the National Assembly.

It prayed for a perpetual injunction restraining the federal government, by itself, its servants or any of its agencies from continuing to give effect to the provisions of the VAT Act to impose and collect taxes on goods within Lagos State.

The suit had the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) as the first defendant and the Attorneys General of the other 35 states as co-defendants,

The apex court, in a judgment yesterday, held that the reliefs claimed by Lagos State did not fall within the provision of Section 232(1) of the Constitution, to enable the court exercise its original jurisdiction.

Justice Mahmud Mohammed, in the lead judgment, upheld the objection by the AGF and held that, since the reliefs sought in the suit were not against the Federation of Nigeria or any state or states of the federation as constituent units of the federation, the suit was not qualified to ignite its original jurisdiction to hear.

The court also held that the suit was an abuse of court process because there were similar cases existing on the same subjected matter in both the trial and lower courts.

It noted that the Court of Appeal decided one of such cases on July 13, 2007 but which decision the plaintiff failed to appeal, but instead, chose to initiate this fresh suit before it (Supreme Court) in 2008 exactly one year after the Court of Appeal judgment.
It then struck out the suit for lack of jurisdiction.

“It is quite clear that for this court to exercise its original jurisdiction under that section - Section 232(1) – the plaintiff’s action against the 1st defendant (AGF), this court has to be satisfied that the dispute for the adjudication in the action is one between the plaintiff, Lagos State of Nigeria, as a constituent unit of the Federation of Nigeria and the Federation of Nigeria, also as a distinct unit under the Constitution.

“The words used in Section 232(1) of the Constitution, describing the parties are ‘the federation,’ ‘a state’ and ‘states.’ In other words, the dispute must be between the Federation and a state or between the federation and more than one state or between a state or states in their capacities as members of the federating units of the Federation of Nigeria.

“The section, in my view, is not expected to provide avenue for the resolution of disputes between the Federal Government of Nigeria and a state government of Nigeria or between a state government and another state government of Nigeria, all of which are only products of elections.

“Therefore, since the reliefs claimed by the plaintiff, particularly the injunctive relief is against the Federal Government of Nigeria, its servants and its agencies, the relief is not being against the Federation of Nigeria or any state or states of the federation as constituent units of the federation, is not within the purview of Section 232(1) of the 1999 Constitution to confer original jurisdiction on this court,” the court held.

In also upholding the second leg of the AGF’s objection, the court held the fact that there existed, and still exists in the trial and lower court, suits relating to issues raised in this suit, it amounted to an abuse of court process.

Justices John Afolabi Fabiyi,  Sylvester Ngwuta, Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili, Musa Dattijo Mohammad, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun and John Inyang Okoro, who were on the panel that heard the case, agreed with the lead judgment.

Reacting to the judgment, the Attorney General of Lagos said since the apex court has said it lacked jurisdiction and struck the case out, his state would reassess the situation and take the necessary steps.

Man Accused Of Trying To Scare Citizens Disguised In A Ghillie Suit

This was certainly no laughing matter for residents in one Hampton neighborhood.

Police say an 18-year-old man, Collin Marcus Craig Ivy, was charged after he was seen hiding behind a tree wearing a ghillie suit.

Authorities say he was planning to scare other people who were using the Mattheson Trail in the 300 block of Butler Farm Road. In addition to the suit, he was also planning to use an air horn to startle people police say.

He was arrested and charged with wearing a mask in public

Man Given Suspended Sentence After Forcing Ex-Partner To Stand On Balcony In Her Underwear While He Burgled Her Flat

A Boston man who forced his ex-long term partner to strip to her underwear and stand outside on the balcony at her flat in Harlow while he burgled it was today spared jail.

Chelmsford Crown Court was told that as well as forcing his ex to strip and stand outside in the cold, David Dewberry, 26, of Hobhole Bank, Old Leake, Boston, also attacked the woman, smashed property in her flat and, when he allowed her back in, forced her to cut up her own clothes.

Dewberry, who was tracked to a hotel in Harlow through a phone he had stolen from his ex, was told by Judge Goldstaub QC that he had come close to a jail sentence.

But the judge instead imposed a 12-month jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered Dewberry, who pleaded guilty to burglary, assault and causing criminal damage, to attend a Building Better Relationship programme.

As he passed sentence, Judge Goldstaub told Dewberry: “I’m not going to send you to prison immediately although I have to say you were not far off.

“You behaved in a disgraceful way coming up to Christmas last year when you fell out with your former partner and lost your temper but I think it’s a one-off.”

Referring to the suspended sentence the judge told him: “You’ve got to have some threat hanging over your head so you don’t start thinking of bizarre things again.”

Prosecutor Karl Volz told the court that Dewberry and his ex had broken up in July 2013 after five years in a relationship and on December 21 he had been a guest at her address.

Mr Volz continued: “The following day he let himself in having taken the key the previous day, forced her down on the settee, smashed the television and slapped her around, forced her to strip to her underwear and go out onto the balcony on a cold day.

“After she returned inside he forced her to cut up her own clothes, sat on her feet causing her pain and bruising and stole her phone and keys but the police tracked him down.

"He had booked himself into a hotel near Harlow Station with a female.”

Nicola May, mitigating, told the court: “He does regret the incident and now accepts the relationship is over. He’s ashamed of his behaviour.”

LexisNexis launches litigation calculator

The product, LexisNexis Counsel Benchmarking, analyses data in relation to hourly rates, matter costs and alternative fee arrangements for litigation. The data is based on an analysis of millions of invoices. Justin Silverman of LexisNexis said: 'With ongoing pressure to reduce legal department costs, general counsel at corporations of all sizes are focusing on managing their spend while controlling risk

African law firms face global competition

African lawyers are facing competition from global service providers with estimates that up to 90 per cent of legal fees spent on matters relating to Africa are paid to global firms not based in the continent.  Furthermore, the legal profession is facing unprecedented competitive pressure from accountants, realtors, financial advisors and others. 
According to the Standard Digital, the Kenyan legal profession is having to face greater demands from the public for integrity, transparency, independence and competence in the law courts

Nigerian lawyers attack ambulance-chasers

Lagos-based lawyer Anthony Makolo said: 'Some of these lawyers, who chase briefs in court often times have no intention of undertaking full representation of the accused in the substantive trial….The situation is very disturbing because these lawyers by their conduct send wrong signals to members of the public that the profession is cheap.' Constitutional lawyer Ogedi Ogu pointed towards non-lawyers who pretend to be lawyers when doing this work. He said: 'This practice simply leaves the impression in the minds of litigants that lawyers are hungry and desperate people.  It is now very important for the legal system to make moves to check incidences of abuse on the profession by lawyers

Nigeria Police debate public order issues

Tension is already building up about the general election which is due to take place in a year's time for both the Presidency and the National Assembly. Public meetings will, therefore, become more of a regular occurrence. But  Assistant Inspector General Muhammad Yabo of the North-West Zone of Nigeria has said that existing Appeal Court decisions give conflicting views on whether a police permit is needed. He has, therefore, asked lawyer to get an interpretation. But he added that lawyers are reluctant since 'they are afraid that they will not get justice, meaning justice would favour the Nigeria Police

Oscar Pistorius's Fear of Crime Claim Under Spotlight During Murder Trial

PRETORIA—A South African prosecutor Friday sought to dismantle a central plank ofOscar Pistorius's defense that he shot and killed his girlfriend because he thought she was a burglar in his bathroom.

Capping a week of testimony by Mr. Pistorius, prosecutor Gerrie Nel engaged the double-amputee track star in a set of terse exchanges about the final moments before he fired four times through the closed bathroom door, killing 29-year old Reeva Steenkamp. A weary Mr. Pistorius said he thought his life was in danger because of high crime in the area. Mr. Nel was incredulous, and insisted Mr. Pistorius sought to kill his girlfriend in a fit of rage.

"Is it reasonable for an intruder to run into a toilet and close the door?" Mr. Nel asked.

"It was a possibility," the 27-year-old runner replied.

"It's so far-fetched," Mr. Nel responded. "You knew that Reeva was behind the door, and you shot at her. That is the only thing that makes sense."

Mr. Pistorius took the stand to defend himself on Monday after a month of testimony from witnesses for the prosecution, who painted a portrait of a quick-tempered and impulsive star athlete who shirked responsibility for his actions. After his cross-examination is complete, the defense will call witnesses who are expected to support Mr. Pistorius's claims that he was a fearful of his safety in a country with a high rate of violent crime.

The trial is scheduled to run through May 16.

The case has become a cultural touchstone in South Africa, largely because it combines national obsessions with crime and police competence with the fame of Mr. Pistorius and the glamour of Ms. Steenkamp. The murder trial continues to lead news programs and newspapers, even as a national election approaches early next month.

Prosecutors have charged Mr. Pistorius with premeditated murder, alleging that he shot Ms. Steenkamp after an argument overheard by some of his neighbors from his gated community in Pretoria. If convicted Mr. Pistorius could be sentenced to life in prison

Earlier Friday, Mr. Nel asked Mr. Pistorius how often he had reported crimes at a police station or been a victim of crime at his Pretoria home. Never, he said. Mr. Pistorius then added: "except the watches stolen by police" during their investigation after Ms. Steenkamp was killed.

Former police colonel Schoombie van Rensburg, who oversaw work at the crime scene, testified last month that at least one watch went missing during the investigation. He said the investigation is continuing.

Mr. Pistorius said Friday that he didn't trust the effectiveness of South African police enough to report several instances of crime against him in recent years.

Under questioning from Mr. Nel, he also said that police must have moved items in his bedroom, including a fan and a duvet. Crime-scene photos shown in court on Friday showed those items in different positions from his recollection of how things stood in the moments before he shot Ms. Steenkamp.

The prosecutor also challenged Mr. Pistorius's statement that he turned his burglar alarm off to let police and paramedics into his home in a gated community. Under a barrage of questions, the athlete said he didn't remember disabling it, but "must have" done so.

Judge Thokozile Masipa made a rare interjection, asking Mr. Pistorius if he was too tired to recall things clearly. Mr. Pistorius said he had simply made a mistake and could continue.

FBI Agent on Trial commits suicide

The apparent suicide of a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent testifying in the criminal trial of the president of a failed Idaho real-estate firm has created a difficult situation for the judge overseeing the case.

Following the death of FBI Special Agent Rebekah Morse, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill had to figure out how to instruct the jury that’s now deliberating whether to convict Douglas Swenson and others of fraud and conspiracy charges related to the now-bankrupt DBSI Inc.

Ms. Morse, the lead FBI investigator in the case, testified for the prosecution on March 18 and 19, court papers show. The second day, a juror told the court that while the judge was conferring with attorneys in the case, the juror had spotted Ms. Morse texting on the witness stand.

Judge Winmill said the juror’s comment couldn’t be ignored because it raised a “troubling possibility”—that jurors who had seen Ms. Morse texting on the stand might believe she was being coached during her testimony.

The judge wrote that he asked Ms. Morse about the texting, under oath and without the jury present. He said she responded that she was merely going to turn off her phone “to ensure that it didn’t distract me or make any noise.” She also specifically denied texting anyone. With that, Judge Winmill said he brought the jury back to the courtroom and informed them that he was “satisfied” that she wasn’t using her phone to communicate with anyone but had simply turned off the phone.

But the judge says further reflection led him to wonder whether the juror had spotted Ms. Morse on her phone multiple times. He raised the issue with Ms. Morse, took possession of her cell phone and directed her to return for testimony the following day, March 20. But that morning, Ms. Morse, whose phone records showed she had texted her husband while on the witness stand, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She was 34.

“Her death was devastating,” Judge Winmill wrote.

”A storm of emotion broke over all involved in this trial and drove the proceedings into uncharted waters. Her answers to the Court’s inquiry will now never be explained. The jury has been instructed that what they saw with their own eyes—texting—did not occur, when in fact it did occur. The Court must correct that inaccurate instruction. The Court must also determine how far it will go in recognizing the defendants’ rights under the Confrontation Clause to impeach a key Government witness while at the same time avoiding the morass of a mini-trial over text messages.”

Judge Winmill’s ultimate conclusion, the subject of this April 8 court order, is to issue a new instruction to the jury:

“The Court inquired of Special Agent Morse under oath about texting during a sidebar, and she stated that she was turning off her phone and was not texting. It has now been determined that Special Agent Morse sent four text messages and received four text messages during a sidebar. The text messages were between her and her husband. You may consider these facts in assessing Special Agent Morse’s credibility.”

According to court papers, Ms. Morse in the texts complained about being “[s]till on the stand” and how her testimony is “never going to end.” Her husband texted her, “How is it going?” to which the filing says she responded: “I fu—- up once I will get reemed for it I’m sure.”

Defense attorneys wanted the jury to read the content of Ms. Morse’s texts, arguing that it appears she was questioning her testimony. But Judge Winmill has declined to do so, reasoning that it wouldn’t be fair to present such information without knowing for sure what the texts meant.

“Any attempt by the defendants to infer some meaning would be utter speculation. Allowing that would be profoundly unfair to the Government because it has no way to explain what Special Agent Morse meant,” the judge wrote.

The jury instructions issued, deliberations are underway in the long-running criminal trial. Mr. Swenson and others were indicted last year on charges that they “essentially operated” DBSI like a Ponzi scheme, using new investor money to pay old investors. Mr. Swenson and others allegedly held DBSI out to be a profitable company when it fact it was “universally unprofitable.”

Mr. Swenson and the other defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Their attorneys have argued at trial that the company was a victim of the economic downturn.

DBSI filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008. Two years later, the bankruptcy court approved a payment plan that promised pennies on the dollar to some creditors while others went unpaid.

U.N. Ambassador Wants Texting-While-Driving Bans to Go Global

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power wants America’s crackdown on texting-while-driving to go global.

In a speech before the U.N. General Assembly, Ms. Power on Thursday touted a “road safety” resolution the U.S. co-sponsored that urges other nations to enact legislation to curb “inappropriate use of cell phones, including texting while driving.”

“Too many drivers simply don’t understand the danger of taking their eyes, even briefly, from the road,” Ms. Power said. “And while drinking is episodic, the use of hand-held devices is chronic. No one should die – or kill – because of a text message.”

The resolution, which was adopted by the General Assembly, “encourages Member States to consider enacting comprehensive legislation on key risk factors for road traffic injuries, including … inappropriate use of cell phones, including texting while driving.”

in America, 43 states, as well as the District of Columbia, have banned text messaging for all drivers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Thirty-seven states and D.C.  have also banned all cell phone use by novice or teen drivers