Appeals

Attorney Gary Dubin was in a Honolulu hospital, sedated and suffering from depression after the death of his son, when U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real had him handcuffed and taken to court -- still in his hospital gown -- to answer charges of failing to file tax returns. Real allowed him to send for clothes but refused to postpone the hearing, recalled Dubin, who had to defend himself in a medicated fog without his case files. Judged guilty by Real after a two-day bench trial, Dubin spent 19 1/2 months in federal prison, while his home went into foreclosure and his credit was ruined by identity thieves.

In the 26 years since former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal gunned down her cop husband on a Philadelphia street, Maureen Faulkner has often felt like a reed in a tornado. As death penalty opponents around the world rallied to win Abu-Jamal a new trial, contending that he had been framed by local police, Faulkner quietly fought back one hearing at a time. She never missed a court hearing through the long appeals process, even after she moved from Philadelphia to suburban Ventura County.

Robert Blake, the actor acquitted of his wife's murder, should not have to pay her survivors a $30-million civil court award because he did not get a fair trial, his lawyers told appellate judges Tuesday. "All we asked for was a fair trial, and it wasn't," M. Gerald Schwartzbach argued to the state 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles. "Celebrities have the same rights as anybody else. . . . Mr. Blake was denied that." Attorney Eric J.

Defense lawyers and prosecutors agreed Wednesday that California's death penalty system was deeply troubled but split over the causes and solutions. During a hearing in Los Angeles before a state reform commission, prosecutors called for quicker appeals and amending the state Constitution to permit the California state Supreme Court to transfer some of the initial review of cases to state appeals courts. Defense attorneys opposed the proposal, saying it would make the process more cumbersome.

Chief Justice Ronald M. George has told the state Judicial Council that because of California's fiscal problems, he is withdrawing a proposal to amend the state Constitution to speed up death penalty appeals. The amendment was put forth by the seven-member state Supreme Court in November and would have enabled that body to refer some cases to intermediate-level appellate courts for initial review.

Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman was released on bond from a federal prison Friday, saying he remains upbeat despite serving nine months for corruption. Leaving the prison in a black sport utility vehicle, he stopped on a road outside the lockup to comment. He wore a ragged shirt that appeared to be prison clothing. "I may have lost my freedom for a while, but I never lost faith," Siegelman, 62, told reporters.

Santa Monica officials on Thursday suspended a ban on high-speed jets at the city's airport until a federal court decides whether the controversial restrictions are legal. The city had planned to begin enforcing the ban Thursday morning for jets that have approach speeds of between 139 and 191 mph. They include aircraft popular with executives, such as the Gulfstream IV, Bombardier Challenger 604 and Cessna Citation X.

Advocates urged a state appellate court Monday to overturn a decision that severely restricted the ability of California parents to educate their children at home, saying family-based schooling works for hundreds of thousands of children. "You cannot deny parents the right to do good for their kids," said Michael P. Farris, representing the Home School Legal Defense Assn. in Virginia. "Anything that causes children to suitably learn, that should be encouraged." A Feb.

EUGENE, Ore. -- Justin Gatlin, the defending Olympic 100-meter champion, lost his appeal Thursday to run in the U.S. Olympic track trials and said he would not take the case to the Supreme Court, meaning there are no more back doors or last-second maneuvers that could land him in China in six weeks. But he will continue to seek monetary and other damages from the U.S. Olympic Committee, the U.S.

Convicted child rapist and murderer Mark Dean Schwab was put to death Tuesday at Florida State Prison, the state's first execution since a botched lethal injection 18 months ago raised concern that a condemned man had endured a "cruel and unusual" ordeal. Schwab, 39, was executed for the rape and murder of 11-year-old Junny Rios-Martinez of Cocoa. He killed the boy in April 1991, just a month after early release from a previous prison term for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy.