New York
Court: Negligence not cause of 3rd WTC collapse
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that negligence was not the cause of the collapse of a third World Trade Center tower several hours after the twin towers were destroyed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan issued the decision Wednesday in a 2-to-1 ruling. It stemmed from several decisions in recent years by a lower court judge who found that a company owned by developer Larry Silverstein and others could not be held liable.
The utility Consolidated Edison Co. had claimed negligence resulted when World Trade Center Tower 7 tenants were allowed to install diesel backup generators. The fuel burned for hours in the 47-story building after hijacked planes struck the two nearby towers.
Colorado
Court hears discrimination case over cake
DENVER (AP) — A discrimination complaint over a Colorado bakery’s refusal to make a wedding cake for a gay couple is being heard in a Denver court.
At issue in the complaint from David Mullins and Charlie Craig against Masterpiece Cakeshop in suburban Denver is whether religious freedom can protect a business from discrimination allegations from gay couples.
An administrative judge in Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission is scheduled to hear arguments in the case Wednesday morning. It’s unknown whether a ruling in the case will come the same day.
The American Civil Liberties Union initiated the process on behalf of the couple last year.
The bakery owner faces up to a year in prison if the court rules against him and he continues to refuse to make wedding cakes for gay couples.
Mullins, 28, and Craig, 33, filed the discrimination complaint against Jack Phillips after visiting his business in suburban Denver in the summer of 2012. After a few minutes looking at pictures of different cakes, the couple said Phillips told them he wouldn’t make one for them when he found out it was to celebrate their wedding in Colorado after they got married in Massachusetts. Phillips has said making a wedding cake for gay couples would violate his Christian religious beliefs, according to the complaint.
Phillips’ attorney, Nicolle Martin, has said the case is about religious conscience and that one person’s beliefs shouldn’t be held above someone else’s.
Colorado does not allow gay marriage, only civil unions. Colorado’s civil union law, which passed earlier this year, does not provide religious protections for businesses despite the urging of Republican lawmakers. Democrats argued that such a provision would give businesses cover to discriminate.
A case similar to Colorado’s is pending in Washington state, where a florist is accused of refusing service for a same-sex wedding.
Florida
Woman at center of 1998 murder to be released
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Valessa Robinson was 15 when she helped her friends kill her mother in a Tampa suburb in 1998 and 17 when she was convicted of third-degree murder. Now 30, Robinson is scheduled to be released from prison in Florida on Friday.
The Florida Department of Corrections said Tuesday that Robinson will be released from Homestead Correctional Institution in Miami-Dade County.
Department of Corrections Spokeswoman Jessica Cary says that as with any release date, Robinson’s scheduled departure from prison can be subject to change.
The murder and Robinson’s subsequent trial made the teen infamous. During trial, her defense attorney dressed her in schoolgirl clothes. Gone was Valessa’s previous attire of baggy jeans and colored nail polish. The brutal murder and the lengthy trial were covered extensively in local and national media.
Missouri
Lawyer hasn’t been seen since late October
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A St. Louis-area lawyer who helped solve a 2008 bombing that nearly killed an attorney is missing.
Friends and authorities say 39-year-old Jeffrey Witt hasn’t been seen since late October.
Witt recently lost an almost $1 million legal malpractice case and his law license is in jeopardy, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday.
The Missouri Supreme Court temporarily suspended Witt’s law license on Monday after clients complained they hadn’t been able to reach him for weeks and he wasn’t showing up for court hearings.
Calls to Witt’s cellphone by the newspaper went straight to a message saying he “is not accepting calls at this time.” A neighbor said she had not seen him in more than a month. A St. Louis County police spokesman said Witt was reported missing Nov. 22, but would not release additional details.
In the 2008 case, Witt told federal investigators that he believed his client, Milton “Skip” Ohlsen III, had planted a bomb intended to kill a lawyer representing his ex-wife. Instead, the bomb nearly killed a different lawyer. Ohlsen was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to explosives-related charges.
Missouri’s chief disciplinary counsel filed a 10-count complaint against Witt shortly before he went missing which alleges that as far back as 2009, Witt had lied to clients and the court, missed deadlines and court hearings, mishandled money, failed to file necessary documents or improperly filed them and didn’t tell clients that an employee was a disbarred former lawyer who was also a convicted felon.
Clayton police arrested Witt on Oct. 15 after he struck a vehicle while parking. A police report shows that he failed a field sobriety test and was lethargic, with constricted pupils. He refused a blood test and was ticketed for driving under the influence. His car was towed, and he went home in a cab.
A week later, a St. Louis County judge entered the malpractice judgment against Witt and his practice.
Michael Downey, who represented Witt in the attorney disciplinary process, said he has not heard from his client in two months. Witt had 58 open cases in Missouri courts filed since January and also is listed in four open federal civil cases.
Louis Basso, a lawyer for a Witt co-defendant, said the malpractice case had nothing to do with the disciplinary case.
“Now that doesn’t excuse Mr. Witt for not informing his clients before he left,” he added, “and I hope nothing has happened to him.”
Downey said that the original attorney disciplinary case was not something Witt saw as very serious.
“And we frankly thought we would be able to ... resolve it in a manner that would allow him to continue to practice,” Downey said.
