“The bank has asked the U.S. to review demands that any settlement include a guilty plea to a felony charge, according to people briefed on the matter,” reports Matthew Goldstein in The New York Times Business.

“Lawyers for the bank have asked Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to review demands by some federal prosecutors that Goldman pay more than $2 billion in fines and plead guilty to a felony charge…”

“The bank has sought to pay a lower fine and avoid a guilty plea, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are continuing.”

“Authorities in the United States and Malaysia say more than $2.7 billion was diverted from the fund, known as 1MDB, in a scheme that involved the flamboyant financier Jho Low, the country’s former prime minister, and other powerful people. The fund was meant to finance projects for the benefit of the people of Malaysia, but some of the cash went to buy luxury apartments, yachts, paintings and even finance the movie ‘The Wolf of Wall Street.'”

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“A 49-year-old Canon City man remains hospitalized after being shot during a downtown protest” by an Alamosa attorney, reports Meg Colwell in Alamosa News.

The man was in critical but stable condition.

“Law enforcement identified a suspect, 27-year-old Alamosa resident James Marshall, and subsequently placed him into custody … Marshall was charged with attempted 2nd Degree homicide, 1st Degree assault, reckless endangerment, felony menacing, criminal mischief, illegal discharge of a firearm, and prohibited use of weapons. Marshall reportedly is an attorney with a second-story office in downtown Alamosa.”

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“A Princeton graduate and a human rights lawyer were both charged in an attack that left a police car dashboard charred. No one was injured,” report William K. Rashbaum and Andrea Salcedo in The New York Times.

“Two lawyers were charged with taking part in a Molotov cocktail attack on a police patrol car over the weekend — a human rights lawyer and a Princeton-educated associate at a Manhattan law firm.”

“The attack during the Brooklyn protests left the dashboard of a blue-and-white police car charred after a night of violent clashes between protesters and police, a symbol of the chaos wrought over a weekend of sometimes peaceful and sometimes violent demonstrations.”

“Both were arrested shortly after the incident early Saturday during protests against the killing of George Floyd, federal authorities said.”

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“Racing and casino company Churchill Downs, organizer of the world-famous Kentucky Derby race, has agreed to pay $124 million to settle two class action lawsuits, according to news reports. Australian computerized gambling system and spinning reel slot machine maker Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. will pay the rest of the $155 million settlement, or $31 million,” reports Rhian Hunt in The Motley Fool’s Investing News.

“The lawsuits, Thimmegowda v. Big Fish Games and Kater v. Churchill Downs, relate to the Big Fish Games online gambling brand, which Churchill Downs sold to Aristocrat in 2018. That year, a 9th Circuit court ruling said the Big Fish’s virtual chips indeed constitute online gambling, making them illegal in Washington state, where groups of online bettors launched civil lawsuits over their Big Fish losses, which in one instance stacked up to more than $300,000.”

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“A well-known Waco, Texas defense lawyer, who once ran for county district attorney, sat behind bars on Saturday after a local police sting allegedly caught him plotting to kill a colleague’s ex-husband using a hitman,” reports Blake Montgomery and Olivia Messer in MSN News’ Crime.

“Seth Andrew Sutton has long held an upstanding reputation in Waco as a criminal defense lawyer, successfully defending clients in high-profile cases.”

“The would-be killer … was actually an undercover policeman all along, and police arrested Sutton and Tijerina on Friday under felony charges of conspiracy to commit capital murder.”

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Police arrested a Staten Island lawyer in the middle of international drug-smuggling investigation, reports Jeff Bachner in New York Daily News’ NYC Crime.

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“An Iowa lawyer described as a ‘superb advocate’ has been suspended for overbilling the state public defender for her legal services and car mileage,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s Daily News.

“Lawyer Jennifer Meyer was well regarded, but her billing practices require a one-year suspension, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in a May 15 opinion.”

“Meyer provided services to the state public defender as a contract attorney. She billed the agency for more than 24 hours in a day on 30 different days, according to an audit spanning four years. During the same period, Meyer had duplicated reimbursement requests for mileage, attributing trips to a location to multiple clients 147 times.”

“Before the grievance commission, Meyer consistently argued that she did the legal work and was entitled to payment, despite billing irregularities. She often worked beyond customary hours and on weekends, she said.”

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“The state’s highest court issued an order permanently disbarring a once popular Tampa attorney now accused of withholding his clients’ settlement money,” reports Jackie Callaway in ABC Action Taking Action for You.

“The Florida Supreme Court issued the order disbarring Jose Toledo as of May 14.”

“Toledo practiced personal injury and immigration law in the Tampa Bay area for two decades.”

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“An Ohio lawyer crossed a border and also a line, leading to a two-year suspension and a restitution order under an opinion the state supreme court handed down this week. The suspension was based on ethics violations as to numerous clients, but one involved the prohibitions against unauthorized practice and sexual activity with clients. The opinion continues the disciplinary trend in the Buckeye State to treat all forms of lawyer-client sex harshly — even in the absence of physical contact. It also shines a light on the perils of unlicensed cross-border practice,” reports Karen Rubin in The Law for Today’s How Not to Practice.

“The client’s divorce action was already pending in Monroe County, Michigan when she retained the lawyer, who practiced in Toledo, Ohio, just across the border from Michigan. The lawyer advised the client that he was not licensed to practice in Michigan, but would file a motion for pro hac vice admission and affiliate himself with an Ohio lawyer he knew who was licensed in both states.”

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“Jennifer Loya, 30, helped a drug network in San Antonio stay a step ahead of drug enforcement agents through her access to information as a federal employee, according to court documents,” reports Christine Hauser in The New York Times.

“A paralegal in the San Antonio headquarters of the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas is accused of using her access to help a notorious drug cartel evade the authorities.”

“Just before they were raided by federal agents, drug dealers in San Antonio affiliated with a Mexican cartel moved their stockpiles of heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine. A paralegal in the federal prosecutor’s office tipped them off, the authorities said.”

“Court filings in Texas describe a career path that took Jennifer Loya, 30, from a low-level post in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Antonio to a promotion in February to paralegal, a position that prosecutors said she turned into an inside job helping a network of Cartel del Noreste associates stay a step ahead of the authorities.”

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“The Ohio State University announced today details of a $40.9 million settlement reached with 162 survivors in 12 lawsuits related to sexual abuse by Richard Strauss, a university-employed physician from 1978 to 1998 who died in 2005,” was reported in Ohio State News.

“An independent investigation launched by the university determined in 2019 that Strauss abused students during his time at Ohio State and the university administration failed to appropriately respond at the time.”

“In March, Ohio State announced a monetary settlement with nearly half of the individuals who brought claims against the university related to Strauss. All have now signed on to the terms of the settlement.”

“Ohio State continues to participate in good faith in the mediation process with the survivors involved in the remaining lawsuits, and remains committed to a resolution with plaintiffs, including a monetary resolution.”

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“Curtis Holly broke into tears as the judge in Manhattan criminal court announced that he had to put up bail or sit in jail. Charged with choking his wife during a fight the night before, Holly declared through his lawyer that he was too poor to afford bail and too sick to go into the Rikers Island jail complex, where a COVID-19 outbreak is underway,” reports Simone Weichselbaum in The Marshall Project.

“Holly says he has an immune disorder, asthma and an infected gunshot wound to his leg. The prosecutor calmly detailed Holly’s several felony convictions, and said that while the victim didn’t want to press charges, the photographs of her injuries justified bail of $25,000. The judge reduced it to $5,000, but eight days after his court appearance Holly remained in jail.”

“With courts across the country, largely closed by the coronavirus, defendants recently charged with felonies can expect long waits for justice. Whether they spend that time in a possibly virus-infested jail cell or at home depends on where they get arrested.”

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“An attorney that once represented former Alabama Chief Justice and Senate candidate, Roy Moore, was arrested Thursday night in Gainesville,” reports Patricia Matamoros in WCJB’s Local News.

“Deputies arrested Trenton Rogers Garmon, 40, after they were called to the Hotel Indigo in Celebration Pointe about a man causing a disturbance.”

“As deputies arrived staff told them that the disturbance was coming from the 4th floor, saying an older man was screaming racist profanities at some of the hotel guests.”

“While deputies were getting on an elevator, they could hear a man screaming coming from the 4th floor. Before they arrived, they heard Garmon in an adjacent elevator that opened up back in the lobby.”

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“A New York lawyer representing two clients in separate but related criminal matters faces a ‘likely unwaivable’ conflict of interest based on the facts presented, a recent state bar association opinion said,” reports Melissa Heelan Stanzione in Bloomberg Law’s The United States Law Week.

“A conflict of interest exists for a lawyer in this situation if it will involve the lawyer in representing opposing interests, or that there’s a ‘significant risk’ that the lawyer’s professional judgment will be adversely affected by the lawyer’s own interests, the April 22 opinion said.”

“The lawyer asked the bar about ethical implications of the dual representation.”

“The clients are in a relationship, and one is charged with a crime where the other was a victim, the opinion recounted. But the alleged victim was intoxicated when the event occurred, and was arrested for driving while intoxicated after the alleged perpetrator was arrested, it said. And each is a witness in the others case, with the alleged victim wishing to testify in favor of the perpetrator, it said.”

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“Federal authorities in New York have charged a Santa Rosa attorney with conspiring to sell one million protective masks in short supply during the coronavirus pandemic at a steep markup, in violation of the Defense Production Act invoked by President Donald Trump,” reports Kerry Benefield in The Press Democrat.

“Kent Bulloch, 56, of Santa Rosa, and William Young Sr., 64, of Arizona, are accused in a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday in Brooklyn of attempting to sell the masks at prices inflated by as much as 50%, according to a complaint filed by federal prosecutors in New York. Bulloch was arrested in Santa Rosa on Monday night.”

“Bulloch and Young allegedly sought investors to sell one million KN95 respirator masks at double or triple their purchase price, according to the complaint. Bulloch allegedly tried to conceal the markup and the scheme by creating an escrow agreement that falsely stated the profits would not exceed the federal limit of 10%, according to the complaint.”

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“A retired FBI agent arrested Friday near his home in Lafayette accepted more than more than $200,000 in cash bribes and gifts in exchange for funneling sensitive information to Armenian organized crime,” reports Bay City News.

“Babak Broumand, who retired from the FBI last year after 20 years as a special agent, was arrested by special agents with the FBI and Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.”

“Broumand was charged in a criminal complaint Tuesday in United States District Court in Los Angeles, with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official.”

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“The Supreme Court said Monday that unanimous jury verdicts are required in state criminal trials for serious offenses, handing a victory to criminal defendants including petitioner Evangelisto Ramos, who was convicted of murder in Louisiana on a 10-2 vote,” reports Ariane de Vogue in CNN Politics.

“Ramos argued that Louisiana’s non-unanimous jury provision violated his federal constitutional right to trial by jury and that the law had racist roots meant to diminish the votes of minority jurors.”

“Justice Neil Gorsuch penned the opinion and was joined in key parts by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer and Brett Kavanaugh.”

Gorsuch wrote, “We took this case to decide whether the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial — as incorporated against the States by way of the Fourteenth Amendment — requires a unanimous verdict to convict a defendant of a serious offense. One of these requirements was unanimity a jury must reach a unanimous verdict in order to convict. The answer is unmistakable.”

“Justice Clarence Thomas concurred in the judgment on narrower grounds, whereas Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Elena Kagan joined Justice Samuel Alito’s dissent.”

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