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Drew Barrymore officially files for divorce from Will Kopleman

Drew Barrymore has officially filed for divorce from Will Kopleman.

The 41-year-old actress reportedly filed official papers in a Manhattan court in New York on Friday (07.15.16), three months after announcing the end of their four-year marriage.

The divorce documents describe Barrymore’s petition as “uncontested”, according to the New York Daily News newspaper.

Barrymore and art consultant Kopelman, who wed in June 2012, have two daughters together – Olive, three, and Frankie, two – and said when they announced their split that their girls were their “first priority”.

Since then, Barrymore, who has been married twice before, and her estranged husband have divided their time between New York and Los Angeles in a bid to share parenting responsibilities.

Meanwhile, it was recently reported that the Hollywood star is set to become a talk show host.

The ‘Miss You Already’ actress is reportedly in talks about being at the helm of her own chat show in a joint deal with Warner Bros. and Ellen DeGeneres’ A Very Good Production company.

Despite her marriage troubles, Barrymore previously revealed the “strength” and joy she takes from being with her children.

When asked what makes her happy, she shared: “Just strength. Now that I’m a mom, and I know that it harkens back to the girls, aside from that, it really is girl power, badass. It is strength, clarity, conviction, health and focus …

“It’s funny, because there are times in my life that I am so loosey-goosey, so hedonistic, and it is so just ‘hippy-dippy,’ but right now I feel this great backbone is, ‘One foot in front of the other,’ which is sort of my attitude right now. That is anything but loosey-goosey – that if you don’t stay in a straight line, you are going to get into trouble.”

Sourced From – http://www.thespec.com/whatson-story/6770467-drew-barrymore-officially-files-for-divorce-from-will-kopleman/

Blog, Business Law, Criminal, Legal News, Organized Crime, Supreme Court

Extortionist to appeal prison sentence in Las Vegas sex tapes case

By JEFF GERMAN
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Ernesto Ramos is appealing his 366-day prison sentence for using sex tapes to extort $200,000 from a wealthy businessman.

His lawyer, Kathleen Bliss, filed notice late Thursday that she would be asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to review the sentence handed down by Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro two weeks ago.

Ramos’ previous lawyer, Gabriel Grasso, disclosed at the sentencing that the unidentified married businessman had offered Ramos money to keep his identity secret for the rest of his life, just days before Ramos pleaded guilty in November.

But Grasso, who said he kept his distance from the settlement talks, told Navarro that his client believed the offer was made to pressure Ramos into taking a guilty plea. Grasso had sought probation for Ramos.

Bliss, a former longtime federal prosecutor, called the civil negotiations at the sentencing a “reverse extortion” and asked Navarro for more time to present evidence that there was“undue outside influence” over the plea agreement.

But the judge denied the request.

Federal prosecutors have gone to great lengths to protect the identity of the prominent businessman, including obtaining a protective order that keeps his name, initials and company’s name out of court documents.

An FBI complaint identifies the victim only as a married local resident who has two minor children and who is “part-owner of a well-known business” with access to a company jet.

Over a two-year period, the businessman tipped a stripper, who was Ramos’ girlfriend, about $200,000 to dance and have sex with him in a private room at an adult nightclub, the criminal complaint said.

The dancer, who has not been identified, secretly used her cellphone to videotape herself having sex with the businessman in a hotel room during an October 2014 tryst outside the country, according to the complaint.

Ramos acknowledged in his plea agreement that he later tried to extort $200,000 from the businessman with threats that included posting embarrassing sex photos from the tapes on social media.

Both Bliss and Grasso declined comment this week.

Bliss will have about three months to file a brief with the appeals court outlining her arguments for overturning her client’s prison sentence.

Ramos, who is free on his own recognizance, has until Sept. 28 to surrender to federal prison authorities.

Sourced From – http://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/extortionist-appeal-prison-sentence-las-vegas-sex-tapes-case

Blog, Criminal, Legal News, Supreme Court

Jury will come from Charleston area in Dylann Roof’s federal trial

BY SAM TYSON AND STACY JACOBSON MONDAY, JULY 18TH 2016

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — In what one attorney called a victory for jurors during a trial that is expected to last months – through the holiday season – and possibly into next year, a U.S. District Court judge agreed with Dylann Roof’s defense team to pick a jury from the greater Charleston area.

That means some 1,500 people will be called on jury duty in Roof’s federal hate crimes trial in November, and they will all come from an area of the state south of Georgetown.

“It’s a win for the jurors,” said attorney Andy Savage, who is serving as a counselor to the survivors and victims’ families during Roof’s state and federal trials.

“Everybody is going to have heard about this case,” Savage said. “The issue is if… they can set that aside in this case and look at facts and circumstances presented in the courtroom.”

Tyrone Sanders, the father of one of the victims and husband of one of the survivors of the Emanuel AME attack, said he’s satisfied with the decision.

“Since it happened here, I think people here would feel more inclined to make sure this guy gets what he deserves,” Sanders said.

The defense also agreed not to file for a change of venue later this year.

Judge Richard Gergel also settled several ongoing issues in the case, including how much access the government can have to Roof’s mental health history and the details of his mental evaluation.

Roof’s chief counsel David Bruck, who defended Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the Boston bomber trial, asked to have the case-specific jury questionnaire handled by attorneys, but Gergel said in the South Carolina federal district it’s court-directed. That means Gergel will put together a list of specific questions that attorneys will use to disqualify potential jurors in November before arguments begin.

Still hanging out there waiting for a decision is whether the defense will be allowed to have someone in the room during Roof’s mental evaluation conducted by the government’s expert.

The defense wants to be present, but the U.S. government is pushing for something less, like an audio or video recording of the interaction.

Gergel said he wanted to hear more from the attorneys on the matter and told them to file more specific arguments within the next five days.

Read Full Article – http://abcnews4.com/news/emanuel-ame-shooting/jury-will-come-from-charleston-area-in-dylann-roofs-federal-trial

Blog, Business Law, Civil Rights, Legal News, Supreme Court

Lawsuit: White Prof Axed After Insisting Black Student Do Her Homework Properly

Former City University of New York adjunct professor John Trujillo claims in a new lawsuit the school abruptly fired him after running afoul of a black student he insisted do her homework precisely as instructed.

Trujillo, who taught political science at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, part of the CUNY system, told the New York Post that despite multiple prior positive evaluations they just “threw me away like a piece of trash,” he tells the New York Post.

In his federal race discrimination claim ,Trujillo says that he was treated “differently from and less favorably than” non-white employees. In 2014, Trujillo upbraided a black student in class who turned in an assignment on a 3 X 5 index card instead of the required 4 X 6.  The budding young scholar responded by calling him a “dick.”

After another confrontation Trujillo had her booted from the classroom by security. He says another black student then left in solidarity and vowed, “I’m going to write a letter, I’m going to take you down.”

And she did, complaining the professor was a racist who said all blacks are on welfare. Trujillo was suddenly given an “unsatisfactory” evaluation.

In the course of what sounds like a sham investigation, administrators refused to interview a black student who offered to defend him against the bias charges and explain that his detractors were outright lying.

He was fired from the $25,000 part-time job in February 2015.  Trujillo’s lawyer, Marshall Bellovin, told the Post he “didn’t get a fair and impartial investigation and accounting of the facts.  It was open and shut apparently from the start.”

But his legal battle is still uphill, according to one veteran civil rights lawyer with no liberal ideological axe to grind.  Even though Trujillo was obviously railroaded he needs to offer specific evidence that similarly situated non-whites were treated differently and more leniently. In addition, he needs to prove that CUNY fired him solely for being white, as opposed to just the typical unwillingness of college administrators to offend loud and whiny students, especially when they make wild accusations of bigotry.

In fact, one administrator who investigated Trujillo said she found the charges of anti-black bias bogus.

But whatever the legal outcome Trujillo’s saga is good reminder that in Barack Obama’s America some allegations of racism are so serious innocence is no defense.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/07/11/lawsuit-white-prof-axed-after-insisting-black-student-do-her-homework-properly/#ixzz4EBPtK2SC

Blog, Criminal, International, Legal News, Organized Crime

Helen Mirren: My mafia connection – Mafia Documentary On Page

The British actress explains why she decided to narrate the documentary A Very Sicilian Justice.

By Helen Mirren

Dame Helen Mirren is an award-winning British actress.

I am passionate about Italy – in particular the people and places of South Italy – and I have a much-loved home there.

Italy has a dark history of mafia violence and political corruption. But it also has many incredibly brave and brilliant public servants – police, magistrates and politicians – who risk their lives and careers day in, day out to fight this enemy within. The threats they receive also put their family life under terrible strain.

These largely unsung heroes need to be recognised and supported.

At the heart of the documentary A Very Sicilian Justice is the astonishing and shocking story of one man – a public servant – who lives in fear and whose freedom is severely restricted simply because he is doing his job.

I also have a personal connection to the events described in the documentary. A close friend – the architect we employed to build our house in Italy, Brizio Montinaro – lost his brother in 1992 in the explosion of mafia violence described in the film.

Antonio Montinaro was a police bodyguard who died alongside the famous anti-mafia prosecutor, Judge Giovanni Falcone, in a bomb attack as he escorted the judge along the Palermo motorway. Falcone’s wife and two other bodyguards were also killed.

Today, almost 25 years later, Judge Antonino Di Matteo is investigating the criminal and political context behind these and other killings and, incredibly, finds himself under tremendous threat for doing so.

The murder plot and threats against Judge Di Matteo show that these events from the past are still very much alive today.

As Di Matteo says in the film, unless Italy faces up to and uncovers the truth behind this tragic period in its recent history, the events of this terrible “season of terror” will continue to poison and polarise Italy’s body politic for ever.

In Italy, the ongoing trials and investigations into this period are little reported. Internationally, this story is virtually unknown.

I hope that A Very Sicilian Justice, by bringing these important events to a worldwide audience, will give added support and recognition to Judge Di Matteo and his colleagues.

Many think Italian organised crime and corruption are confined somehow within Italy’s borders, but this is a dangerous misunderstanding of what “mafia” is.

The proceeds of crime are not only invested abroad and hidden in international tax havens. According to Italian investigators, mafias worldwide have changed their modus operandi. They are increasingly sophisticated, work together and operate more quietly than before through political corruption and by infiltrating the business and financial worlds.

Despite the recent referendum result in the UK and the potential knock-on effect of a severely divided Europe, I passionately believe countries, now more than ever, need to be vigilant, cooperate and unite if we are to win the battle against organised crime and political corruption.

Full article – http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/07/helen-mirren-mafia-connection-160706080712820.html