At a Glance . . .

 Federal Bar kicks off Power Lunches series

The RISE Committee of the Federal Bar Association, Eastern District of Michigan Chapter, will begin its 2014-2015 Power Lunches:?Selected Topics in Federal Litigation brown bag lunch series on Tuesday, October 7.

The event will be held from noon to 1 p.m. in Room #115 of the Levin U.S. Courthouse in Detroit.

Speaking on the topic of “Removal” will be Cynthia M. Filipovich of Clark Hill PLC and Robert M. Jackson of Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn LLP.

This event is free (bring a lunch), but space is limited.  

To register, contact Bethany Stawasz at 313.965.8412 or bstawasz@clarkhill.com.

Ex-lawmaker sentenced for role in drug ring

DETROIT (AP) — A former state lawmaker from Detroit has been sentenced to one year in prison for his role in a major drug ring.

The Detroit Free Press reports that ex-state Rep. Ken Daniels was sentenced last week after a jury convicted him of structuring bank transactions to evade certain reporting requirements.

A federal indictment unsealed in 2012 charged Daniels and 11 others. The investigation turned up more than $20 million in cash, real estate and luxury cars.

Three other defendants disappeared after the verdict but were eventually captured.  Authorities say the ring operated from 2006 to 2010.

Defense attorney Tom Jakuc says Daniels, a member of the    state House from 1999 to 2004, was “a victim of circumstances.”

 

Kagen performs her first same-sex wedding

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Elena Kagan has officiated for the first time at a same-sex wedding, a Maryland ceremony for her former law clerk and his husband.
 
Kagan presided on Sunday over the wedding of former clerk Mitchell Reich and Patrick Pearsall in the Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said the same-sex ceremony was the first at which Kagan officiated.

Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg have previously officiated at the wedding of gay and lesbian couples, including at the Supreme Court. Ginsburg most recently performed the wedding of Washington theater director Molly Smith.

The court could decide in its upcoming term whether same-sex couples nationwide have the right to marry under the Constitution.
 

Exonerated NYC man dies from asthma attack

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City man freed after serving 23 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit died over the weekend.
 
His lawyer tells the New York Post William Lopez died suddenly Saturday from an asthma attack.

Lopez’s $124 million federal civil lawsuit against the city for false imprisonment was set to begin this month.

The 55-year-old Bronx man was freed in January 2013 after a judge called the case “rotten from Day 1” and threw out the conviction.

The case dated back to 1989. Prosecutors said two men shot a drug dealer with a double-barreled shotgun. Although no murder weapon or forensic evidence was found at the scene, prosecutors relied on two witnesses.

Attorney Jeffrey Deskovic says Lopez had hoped to travel and go to law school.
 

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