Judge tosses molestation suit against Jackson
Compiled from news services
In a surprise move Tuesday, a Los Angeles judge dismissed a long-running lawsuit claiming Michael Jackson molested choreographer Wade Robson over a period of several years when Mr. Robson was a child.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff said in a 17-page order that Mr. Robson was too late when he filed his original lawsuit against Mr. Jackson’s probate estate in 2013 and that his later attempt to reposition the case and go after the dead pop star’s companies was also flawed. He did not rule on the merits of the sex abuse claims.
Mr. Robson’s lawyers vowed an appeal.
Virginia victory overturned
A day after a dramatic recount handed Democrats a single-vote victory in a Virginia House of Delegates race, the outcome abruptly shifted on Wednesday as a three-judge panel declared the race now tied.
The judges meeting in Newport News, Va., agreed to a Republican request to count a problematic ballot discarded the day before, said Philip L. Hatchett, a lawyer for David Yancey, the Republican incumbent who seemed to have lost his seat to Shelly Simonds, a Democrat. A victory by Ms. Simonds, a school board member in Newport News, would evenly split the Virginia House 50-50 and end 17 years of Republican majorities.
Under Virginia law, the State Board of Elections chooses the winner of a tied election “by lot,” which experts said effectively means a coin flip, drawing of straws, or pulling names out of a hat. The loser of a drawing may petition for a recount, the law states. Virginia’s elections commissioner, Edgardo Cortés, said he was awaiting a final court order before determining how the tie would be broken.
Fla. senator resigns
TALLAHASSEE,Fla. — A powerful Florida state senator and Republican candidate for governor resigned Wednesday, the day after an investigation found credible evidence of sexual misconduct.
Republican Sen. Jack Latvala continued to deny any wrongdoing as he announced he’s stepping down Jan. 5.
The day before Mr. Latvala submitted his resignation, former Judge Ronald Swanson issued a report that Mr. Latvala likely inappropriately touched a top Senate aide and may have broken the law by offering a witness in the case his support for legislation in exchange for sex acts.
Mistrial in Bundy case
A federal judge in Las Vegas declared a mistrial on Wednesday in the case of cattle ranchers and one of their supporters, whose dispute with the government over grazing rights turned into an armed standoff in 2014. The judge stated that prosecutors had improperly withheld evidence from the defense.
The ruling by Judge Gloria M. Navarro was the latest failure by federal prosecutors to convict participants in the standoff led by Cliven D. Bundy and his sonsAmmon E. Bundy and Ryan C. Bundy. Two earlier trials against other defendants ended in hung juries.
The judge ruled that prosecutors violated the rights of the defendants — the three Bundys and a supporter, Ryan W. Payne — by failing to turn over an array of material before the trial. The evidence included video taken from within the Bundy ranch during the standoff by a federal informant, evidence that FBI snipers were present, and a threat assessment of the Bundys drafted by the Bureau of Land Management.
A retrial was set for Feb. 26.