Dallas morning news briefing

The man convicted of running the second-largest Ponzi scheme in American history filed a 299-page pro se brief with the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Dallas Morning News and Vice collaboratively reported.R. Allen Stanford, who is representing himself after firing his court-appointed attorney, had his lengthy appellate brief rejected when he filed it in September, the news report said, and had until Monday to refile at around half its length. PACER shows that Stanford had asked for permission to file a brief no longer than 60,000 words; the court granted permission, over prosecutors’ objections, to file a brief of no more than 30,000 words. The deadline to refile was Wednesday, but PACER shows Stanford won an extension to Oct. 22.Stanford’s scheme took in as much as $5.5 billion and had more victims than any other American investment scheme in history, the news report said. So far, only $72 million has been repaid. Another $300 million is frozen in … [Read more...] about 5th Circuit rejects convicted Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford’s 299-page brief

We need his inspirationI could not help it. Even before the first song, "This is My Country," was over, the tears came and continued throughout the service. Not only for a noble life belonging to a very special member of that greatest generation closing softly, but the accompanying sadness that President George H.W. Bush's dream and vision of a kinder and gentler nation was in jeopardy.  My hope would be that this tribute will be his last great act of service to the country he loved and encourage us to follow his example. When it came to tolerance and love, he was one of us sheep. When it came to courage and conviction, he was the shepherd.Ted M. Moore, Dallas/Preston HollowDo the right thingThis year the country lost Sen. John McCain and now President George H.W. Bush. It's my hope that local, state and congressional leaders and citizens take a moment and step back to understand what these men have given to our country. Their decisions were always based … [Read more...] about Letters: Saying farewell to a beloved president

Attorneys at two Texas law firms found themselves uncomfortably close to the latest domestic terrorism concerns as federal authorities charged two men in separate attempted-bombing cases in Dallas and Illinois.Both Hunton & Williams and Bracewell & Guiliani have offices in the Fountain Building in Dallas, and attorneys and other workers there were stunned by the news that the downtown office tower was allegedly targeted Thursday in an attempted bomb attack, reports the Tex Parte Blog.“It is certainly a wake-up call,” says Sandy Brown, who serves as managing partner of the Bracewell office. “We’re going to have a briefing this afternoon with the building. And after that the FBI is coming over here to meet with one or two representatives of each tenant. And then we’ll have an officewide meeting, all hands on deck kind of thing, after that.”The incident follows another such scare in the Illinois state capital of Springfield the day before, … [Read more...] about Two Law Firms in Texas Building Targeted by Alleged Would-Be Bomber

A Texas judge who has only been on the bench since January is now facing federal charges concerning the sex and bribes the FBI says he sought from defendants appearing before him in felony cases in El Paso.District Judge Manuel Barraza, 53, is facing a four-count indictment that includes charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and lying to a federal agent, reports the Dallas Morning News.Arrested at his home yesterday morning, he didn’t enter a plea during a brief federal court hearing yesterday afternoon and is scheduled to be arraigned next week. He is currently released on $10,000 bond.According to the indictment, an FBI agent working undercover and posing as a defendant in the judge’s courtroom is among those Barraza allegedly solicited for sex, the newspaper reports.The State Commission on Judicial Conduct has now suspended Barraza from the bench, without pay, reports KVIA, an ABC affiliate.He denies that he used his position to solicit sex and money from defendants, the … [Read more...] about Feds Charge New Texas Judge in Sex & Bribes Case

A Texas lawyer defending a voting rights lawsuit has apologized for writing a brief that said the plaintiffs’ method of estimating Hispanic voter numbers is like guessing the number of “beans in a jar.”Some Hispanics took issue with the comment, noting that “beaner” is a derogatory term for people of Mexican dissent, the Dallas Morning News reports.Lawyer C. Robert Heath said he wasn’t familiar with the slur and apologized for the reference.“It was just an analogy, and obviously it was ill chosen because it was offensive to some persons,” he told the newspaper. “That was entirely unintentional, and I apologize for it.” … [Read more...] about Lawyer Apologizes for ‘Beans in a Jar’ Comment