Court: LAPD can continue eased auto impound policy

A California appeals court has issued a stay allowing a Los Angeles police policy that makes it easier for unlicensed drivers to keep their cars instead of having them impounded.

In August a lower court struck down the policy known as Special Order 7, saying it conflicted with the state's vehicle code.

But in October the appeals court issued a temporary stay allowing the policy to continue, and Wednesday extended that stay until a city appeal is resolved.

Special Order 7 allows some unlicensed drivers who are stopped to produce registration and proof of insurance to avoid having their cars impounded for 30 days.

The police union sued to nullify the policy, saying it left officers with conflicting orders.

LA'S city attorney and police chief issued statements lauding Wednesday's decision.

Appeals court to review approval of BP settlement

A year ago, lawyers for BP and Gulf Coast residents and businesses took turns urging a federal judge to approve their settlement for compensating victims of the company's massive 2010 oil spill.

On Monday, however, the one-time allies will be at odds when an appeals court hears objections to the multibillion-dollar deal. That's because several months after U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier approved the settlement, BP started complaining that the judge and court-appointed claims administrator were misinterpreting it. The London-based oil giant is worried it could be forced to pay billions of dollars more for bogus or inflated claims by businesses.

Plaintiffs' attorneys who brokered the deal want the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the class-action settlement.

As of Friday, payments have been made to more than 38,000 people and businesses for an estimated $3.7 billion. Tens of thousands more could file claims in the coming months.

The settlement doesn't have a cap, but BP initially estimated that it would pay roughly $7.8 billion to resolve the claims. Later, as it started to challenge the business payouts, the company said it no longer could give a reliable estimate for how much the deal will cost.

The dispute centers on money for businesses, not individuals. Awards are based on a comparison of revenues and expenses before and after the spill. BP says a "policy decision" that claims administrator Patrick Juneau announced in January has allowed businesses to manipulate those figures in a way that leads to errors in calculating their actual lost profits.

Spanish court convicts 53 in corruption trial

A Spanish court convicted 53 people Friday in the country's biggest-ever corruption trial, which lasted two years and centered on widespread real estate fraud and bribery in the southern jet-set resort town of Marbella.

The defendants in the trial, which ended last year, included former town hall officials, lawyers and business representatives. The judge took several months to decide on the sentences — 40 other people were acquitted and two accused died while the case was being prepared.

Under a highly complex scheme in the mid-1990s, city funds were widely misappropriated, and public officials and business representatives divvied up under-the table kickbacks for planning permissions and construction of hotels, residential complexes and urban infrastructure. Much of the money was then laundered with the help of lawyers.

Marbella, located on Spain's southern coast, was a magnet for jet set and society figures from across the world during the 1970s and 1980s.

The man who prosecutors said was the mastermind of the fraud, former Marbella urban planning adviser Juan Antonio Roca, got the biggest sentence — 11 years — for money laundering, bribery and fraud. He also was fined 240 million euros ($326 million).

Roca has been in jail since 2006 when he was first arrested as the case broke. Back then, he was considered one of the richest people in Spain with his assets including ranches, fighting bulls, thoroughbred horses, art, expensive cars and boats.

The scheme began when late Atletico Madrid soccer club owner Jesus Gil y Gil was mayor of Marbella between 1991 and 2002. Roca began working for Marbella town hall under Gil and claimed during the trial that he was just following the mayor's orders.

Ind. high court to hear eminent domain lawsuit

The Indiana Supreme Court has agreed to hear an eminent domain case involving land in southern Indiana that a local board claimed for a planned airport runway expansion.

The state's high court recently vacated the Indiana Court of Appeals' ruling in the case involving the action by the now-defunct Clark County Board of Aviation Commissioners. That board used eminent domain in 2009 to acquire property owned by resident Margaret Dreyer for a runway expansion at the Clark County Regional Airport.

Dreyer sued the board, alleging its appraisals of the property acquired through eminent domain were wrong. She won and was awarded a judgment of $865,000.

The News and Tribune reported Clark County became party to the case last year when Dreyer's motion was granted to have the "civil government of Clark County" pay the judgment. The Court of Appeals later upheld the verdict.

South Central Regional Airport Authority Attorney Greg Fifer said last week in an email that the Indiana Supreme Court could either reach the same verdict as the appellate court, or affirm the county's position that the judgment was void.

Authority President Tom Galligan said the panel, which replaced the now-defunct Board of Aviation Commissioners, is pleased with the court's decision to hear the case. He said the airport authority thought the original ruling "was not a very good ruling."

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Court strikes down Arizona 20-week abortion ban

A federal court in San Francisco Tuesday struck down Arizona's ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law violates a string of U.S. Supreme Court rulings starting with Roe v. Wade that guarantees a woman's right to an abortion before a fetus is able to survive outside the womb. That's generally considered to be about 24 weeks. Normal pregnancies run about 40 weeks
Several states have enacted similar bans starting at 20 weeks. But the 9th Circuit's ruling is binding only in the nine Western states under the court's jurisdiction. Idaho is the only other state in the region covered by the 9th Circuit with a similar ban.
A trial judge had ruled that the ban could take effect. U.S. District Judge James Teilborg ruled it was constitutional, partly because of concerns about the health of women and possible pain for fetuses.
But abortion-rights groups appealed that decision, saying the 20-week ban would not give some women time to carefully decide whether to abort problem pregnancies.

RI Supreme Court settles $8,500 Vegas loan dispute

What happens in Vegas shouldn't necessarily stay in Vegas, the Rhode Island Supreme Court said Friday as it ruled a Providence man who called a friend from Sin City to borrow $8,500 for gambling losses must pay it back despite an old law that says otherwise.
The court opinion ends a long legal dispute over the money given to Juan Catala by David S. Vogel, a Providence attorney who ran for Congress last fall as an independent. But despite the ruling from the high court, Catala said he'll never repay his former friend.
"I'll go to jail before I give him a dollar," Catala told The Associated Press.
According to court documents, Catala and his fiancée were on a trip to Las Vegas in 2007 when Catala called Vogel for help. According to Vogel, Catala said he had lost a substantial sum of money gambling and needed to recover his losses. Vogel agreed to wire $8,500 to the Bellagio Hotel.
After Catala refused to repay the loan, Vogel sued. Catala initially disputed that he had received the money but later argued that the loan was void because of a more than century-old Rhode Island law that invalidates loan agreements when the lender knows the money would be used for gambling. On Friday, Catala said Vogel gave him the money as an investment, with the understanding that he would be paid back only if Catala won.

US appeals court grants Hobby Lobby full hearing

A federal appeals court has granted Hobby Lobby's request for the entire court to hear its challenge of a federal requirement that it provide insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency contraceptives.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced its decision Friday. Appeals are usually decided by a three-judge panel, but a total of nine judges will hear the appeal from the Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts chain.
Hobby Lobby is challenging a requirement in the new federal health care law that says the company must provide and pay for emergency contraceptives. The company says the requirement violates the beliefs of its Christian owners.
The Denver-based court also said it would hear Hobby Lobby's appeal on an expedited basis, with oral arguments expected this spring.

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Court to hear 2 days of arguments on gay marriage

The Supreme Court says it will hear two days' worth of arguments over laws affecting gay marriage during the last week of March.

Justices on Monday announced they will hear arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry on March 26 and United States v. Windsor on March 27.

The first case involves California's constitutional amendment that forbids same-sex marriage. The second concerns a federal law that denies gay couples who legally marry the right to obtain federal benefits available to heterosexual married couples. The court scheduled one hour's worth of arguments on each day. Justices can still extend the amount of time given to arguments in each case, however.

Nine states — Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Washington— and the District of Columbia allow gay marriage.