California: Moore sues over ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ profits, $2.7M
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Moore has sued Bob and Harvey Weinstein, claiming the brothers used creative accounting to keep him from receiving millions in profits from the film “Fahrenheit 9/11.”
Moore’s lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court claims the documentary filmmaker is owed at least $2.7 million for the 2004 documentary.
The lawsuit states the Weinsteins, who distributed “Fahrenheit 9/11,” agreed to pay Moore half of the film’s profits but that an audit showed several accounting irregularities that cut into the filmmaker’s payments.
The film grossed more than $100 million.
Attempts to reach the Weinsteins for comment through their company, The Weinstein Co., were unsuccessful.
Ohio: State High Court announces seven execution dates
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has announced execution dates for seven condemned killers, ending what had been a break in capital punishment scheduling by the state’s highest court.
One of those inmates, Brett Hartman, came within about a week of being executed in 2009 before a federal appeals court allowed him to pursue an innocence claim.
The Supreme Court action Tuesday means Ohio now has executions scheduled each month through October.
The dates were set with no comment, but the announcement came two weeks after Ohio switched to a new execution drug after supplies of the previous drug grew scarce.
The state had repeatedly said it had enough of the former drug to carry out next week’s execution of triple murderer Frank Spisak but would not comment about its supply after that.
Georgia: State AG files brief in climate change case
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s attorney general has joined with 22 other states filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that lawmakers — not federal judges — should regulate carbon dioxide emissions.
Attorney General Sam Olens said Tuesday that the amicus brief was filed in the appeal, pitting American Electric Power Company Inc. against several states.
The states say excessive carbon dioxide emissions by certain power plants contribute to global warming and constitute a “public nuisance. The want the federal judiciary should by judicial decree limit the emissions.
Olens says the plaintiffs are attempting to use the power of federal courts to advance their agenda on the “highly political issue of global climate change.”
Arizona: Judge hears polygamy trust trespass case
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An Arizona judge is expected to rule by the end of the month whether a court-appointed accountant managing a southern Utah polygamous sect’s communal land trust is guilty of trespassing.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Colorado City Magistrate Court Judge Pro Tem Paul Julien declined Monday to postpone trial for Bruce R. Wisan and employee Jethro.
Wisan said he fired their attorney on Friday for failing to respond to a ruling excluding two important defense witnesses.
Prosecutor Ken Brednel accuses Wisan of authorizing break-ins of homes in Colorado City, Ariz.
Wisan manages the United Effort Plan Trust. It holds property in Colorado City and nearby Hildale, Utah.
The towns are home to members of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Mississippi: Prosecutors drop charges against ex-UM employee
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped charges against a former University of Mississippi employee accused of molesting a 2-year-old.
Court records show Lee Eric Smith of Oxford was arrested in October 2008 on charges of sexual battery and touching a child for lustful purposes.
After almost three years, prosecutors dismissed the charges against Smith.
However, they filed a new charge for aggravated assault against a female victim to which Smith pleaded guilty to during the January court term. Court documents did not show how old the victim was.
Smith was sentenced to two years on probation.
Smith was employed as a communication specialist at Ole Miss at the time of his arrest, but he left the position about a year ago.
Pennsylvania: Judge nixes acquitted man’s arrest lawsuit
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A federal judge says a Pittsburgh man waited too long to sue city police for charging him with a murder in which he was later acquitted.
Thirty-two-year-old Todd Akrie sued the city two years and one month after he was found not guilty at a nonjury trial of murdering a Sudanese man outside a nightclub in January 2005. One witness identified Akrie as the shooter, while others testified that someone else fatally shot 24-year-old David Agar, of Whitehall.
Senior U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose threw out the suit on Monday saying she found no good reason that Akrie delayed filing the lawsuit beyond a two-year statute of limitations. In rejecting his lawsuit, Ambrose did not address his claims that he was wrongly accused.
Texas: Conduct board reprimands judge over court ruling
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A judge has been reprimanded for improperly jailing a Caldwell County man after a 2009 restroom confrontation in a custody dispute.
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued the private reprimand against State District Judge Jack Robison. The judge did not immediately comment.
The Austin American-Statesman reported Monday that the Jan. 26 reprimand says Robison “exceeded the scope of his authority and failed to comply with the law.”
Don Bandelman was ordered to serve 30 days for contempt of court without a hearing or advance notice of the charge.
The newspaper reports Bandelman followed Robison into the courthouse men’s room and called him “a fool” after a custody ruling against his son. Bandelman served two days until an appeals court ordered Robison to explain his contempt ruling.
