[JURIST] A Texas state jury on Friday found Merck [corporate website] liable for the death of a 71-year-old man who died from a heart attack within a month of taking Merck's painkiller Vioxx [Merck Vioxx Information Center website; JURIST news archive], in the sixth Vioxx case to reach a verdict. The jury ordered Merck to pay $32 million in damages to the family of Leonel Garza - $7 million in non-economic compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages - but the damages award will likely be reduced to correspond with state limits. The Texas trial commenced [JURIST report] at the end of January. Merck plans to appeal on the grounds that there is no proven link between heart problems and the use of Vioxx for less than 18 months. Merck pulled the drug from the market in September 2004 after a study showed that it could double the risk of heart attack or stroke if taken for more than 18 months. Merck's attorneys doubt that Garza took the drug for more than a week before his heart attack. Plaintiff's attorneys in Garza's case and other cases contend that Merck was aware of the dangers of Vioxx by 2000, but continued to sell it because of its profitability.

Merck has now won three Vioxx cases and lost three Vioxx cases, with over 11,000 lawsuits pending. Earlier this month, a New Jersey state court jury awarded $9 million [JURIST report] in punitive damages and $4.5 million in compensatory damages to the family of a 77-year-old heart attack victim. Another Texas jury found Merck liable last year for the death of a 59 year-old marathon runner who had taken the drug for eight months, awarding $253 million [JURIST report]; that award was reduced to $26 million under Texas punitive damages caps. AP has more.

[JURIST] A US Central Intelligence Agency [official website] employee has been fired for leaking classified information and having unauthorized discussions with the media, CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said Friday. Though Gimigliano declined to elaborate, a law enforcement officer has said that the leak led to last November's report in the Washington Post detailing allegations that the CIA has operated secret prisons in Europe [JURIST report] for alleged al Qaeda detainees. The officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that a criminal investigation is also underway, but that has not yet been confirmed by the US Justice Department.

When the report of secret prisons came out in the press, members of Congress quickly called for an investigation into the source of the leak [JURIST report], and the Justice Department said that it would consider opening a criminal investigation [JURIST report] at the behest of the CIA. AP has more.

[JURIST] A US federal judge Friday entered not guilty pleas for former Assistant US Attorney Richard Convertino [Wikipedia profile] and US State Department Regional Secretary Officer Harry Raymond Smith III after they stood mute to charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making false declarations in connection with a botched 2003 Detroit trial of four men accused of terrorist activities. The men were later freed on $25,00 bail after being ordered to surrender their passports. The Detroit Free Press has more.

The arraignment followed press reports of a new FBI [official website] report that appears to have cast doubt on the recent indictments [PDF text; JURIST report] of the two men. The report is said to have found compelling similarities between satellite photos of a hospital in Jordan, which were withheld by the prosecution during the trial, and hand-drawn sketches found in the terror suspects' apartment, which were used as evidence in the terror trial. The US Department of Justice [official website] had alleged that the photographs disproved that the sketches were evidence of a terrorist plot and should have been turned over to the defendants; however, if the photos show a correlation with the sketches, the prosecution was under no obligation to turn them over.

In the 2003 terror trial, two of the defendants were convicted, only to have their sentences overturned [JURIST report] by the judge due to the allegations that the prosecution did not turn over the satellite photos alleged to be exculpatory by the DOJ to the defense. AP has more.

[JURIST] Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue [official website] has signed into law two new bills that may incite court battles over separation of church and state. On Thursday Perdue authorized government-sanctioned elective classes on the Bible in public schools and signed a bill allowing courthouses to display the Ten Commandments. Education analysts believe Georgia is the first state to authorize Bible classes. According to the Bible bill [text], the state Education Department must mold the curriculum to offer the classes in an “objective and nondevotional manner with no attempt made to indoctrinate students.” The law, first proposed by Georgia Senate majority leader Tommie Williams [official website], creates two elective classes: the History and Literature of the Old Testament Era and the History and Literature of the New Testament Era, and requires the the Bible itself be the core text for the course, although supplemental materials will be allowed. The New York Times has more.

The new Ten Commandments law [text] passed in response to recent controversies in Georgia over the posting of the Ten Commandments in a county courthouse and a federal judge’s order to remove the display. The Supreme Court last year ruled [PDF opinion; JURIST report] that displays of the Ten Commandments [JURIST news archive] are constitutional if they reflect legal traditions, not religious traditions. AP has more. The Hartwell Sun has local coverage.

[JURIST] Nepal opposition activists rallied late on Friday in Kathmandu to reject a pledge [JURIST report; proclamation text] made earlier in the day by King Gyanendra [official profile; BBC profile] to immediately restore democracy to the country, under the king's direct rule since February last year. The country's political parties, which Gyanendra had invited to propose candidates [BBC report] for prime minister, turned down the overture saying that the king had failed to declare plans for a new state constitution which would make the monarch a mere figurehead, a concession demanded by most opposition members. Activists also declared the statement insufficient for failing to set a date for the new PM’s election. Some opposition protesters reacted violently to the speech despite an extension until midnight of the 11-hour curfew imposed on Kathmandu, vandalizing a police checkpoint and setting a government office on fire.

More protests are expected in Nepal on Saturday morning. Pro-democracy protests [JURIST news archive] against Gyanendra's seizure of power have wracked the country for 16 days with police firing on protesters [JURIST report] with increasing frequency. AP has more.

[JURIST] Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling [Houston Chronicle profile], whose testimony in his own defense came to a close on Thursday, maintained his innocence on fraud and conspiracy charges [PDF indictment; DOJ trial materials] and defended his actions in the wake of Enron's financial collapse in 2001. Skilling spent the first four days of testimony responding to inquiries from his own attorney, before being questioned by lead prosecutor Sean Berkowitz. The prosecution's questioning focused on the conflict between Skilling's testimony and the testimony of several former Enron executives who earlier testified against him [JURIST report] in exchange for lesser sentences; Skilling contends that they are not guilty and testified only to escape prosecution [JURIST report]. During Berkowitz' questioning, Skilling admitted that investments he made in a company with Enron contracts and owned by a former Enron employee and ex-girlfriend may have violated Enron ethics policies.

Also on Thursday, Skilling's lawyers questioned several character witnesses who testified in defense of Skilling and company founder Kenneth Lay [Houston Chronicle profile; defense website], who is being tried with Skilling. On Monday, the defense will present one more character witness before Lay takes the stand in his own defense. AP has more.

ALSO ON JURIST  Topic: Enron | Op-ed: Ebbers to Scrushy to Skilling and Lay | Op-ed: Enron and 'Managing' the Numbers

[JURIST] The appointment of Jamal Abu Samhadana [MIPT profile], fugitive leader of the militant Popular Resistance Committees [BBC backgrounder], as director general of the Palestinian Authority's Interior Ministry and head of a new Palestinian security force raised concerns Friday that the entire Palestinian cabinet could face assassination by Israel. Samhadana and his group have recently launched homemade rockets at Israel and are suspected of bombing a US convoy in the Gaza Strip [BBC report]. Following Hamas' victory in parliamentary elections [JURIST report] early this year Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz [official profile] stated that Israel would consider using targeted assassinations [BBC backgrounder] against Hamas if the group resumed attacks on Israel. Israeli lawmaker Danny Yatom has indicated that, in addition to Hamas ministers and the police chief, Samhadana himself remains a target.

While the US and Israel denounced Samhadana's appointment Thursday, the UK and international human rights organizations have condemned Israel's use of targeted assassinations [JURIST report] as contrary to international law. AP has more.

[JURIST] John Negroponte [official profile], director of US national intelligence, has said that the US has no immediate plans to put detained suspected senior al Qaeda members on trial. In a speech [prepared remarks] Thursday commemorating the first anniversary of the creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence [official website; JURIST report], Negroponte stressed the importance of intelligence provided by the detainees, saying that "At some point, it may prove desirable that they be brought to prosecution, to face justice. But that is something that I think will have to be decided in the future."

If the US does decide to try the detainees it could be under the system of military commissions [JURIST news archive] currently being challenged by Osama bin Laden's personal driver in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld [Duke Law backgrounder; merit briefs]. The US Supreme Court [official website] heard arguments in the case last month and most of the eight justices participating appeared skeptical [JURIST report] of the government's arguments in support of the tribunals. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Department of Homeland Security [official website] and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) [official website] announced a comprehensive plan to combat illegal immigration [press release] on Thursday which involves cracking down on companies that harbor illegal workers. The strategy is part of the Secure Border Initiative [fact sheet] to "revers[e] growing tolerance for the employment of illegal aliens and for illegal immigration in general," according to ICE Assistant Secretary Julie Myers [official profile].

As part of the plan, US government officials arrested over 1,100 employees of IFCO Systems [corporate website], a Dutch company that manufactures crates and pallets, at 40 locations throughout the United States for immigration violations. Immigrant rights groups contend that ICE is responding to immigrant support rallies [JURIST report] that have occurred across the US in recent weeks as the country debates immigration reform [JURIST news archive] measures. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Friday's environmental law news, the California Air Resources Board [official website] has approved a plan [text and backgrounder] that calls for new emissions regulations and business incentives to reduce air pollution from shipping companies, railroads and trucking companies. The plan is specifically aimed at achieving federal standards for ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels under the Clean Air Act [text]. AP has more.

In other environmental law news...

• Two former Bristol Township, Pennsylvania [government website] wastewater treatment plant employees pleaded guilty Thursday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania [official website] to felony violations [information, PDF] of the Clean Water Act [PDF text] for dumping untreated sewage into the Delaware River. Plant superintendent Steven McClain and operator Ronald C. Meinzer discharged thousands of gallons of sewage into the river at least twice between August and September 2004, disconnected alarms that would have signaled a lack of chlorine in the discharge, and falsified water testing samples. Sentencing is scheduled for July 20, 2006, and the men could face up to five years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. The Philadelphia Inquirer has more.
  
  
• The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection [official website] announced a consent order and agreement Thursday with Molycorp [corporate website] for violating the state Clean Streams Law [text]. Molycorp produced metallurgical products, including molybdenum, at their Washington County site until 2001. Radioactive elements were disposed at the site and have contaminated local groundwater. Molycorp has been cleaning up the site for a number of years and under the agreement cleanup will continue and the company will pay $475,000, which will go into the state's Clean Water Fund. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has more.
  
  
• Residents of DuPage County, Illinois seek class certification in a lawsuit filed Thursday for groundwater contamination. The suit was brought against the DuPage County Forest Preserve District [official website] and BFI Waste Systems (now Allied Waste Systems) [corporate website], which operated a 534 acre landfill on Forest Preserve property from 1975 to 1999. County-owned landfills were closed by 2000 after a court order disallowing landfills on public lands. 80 households that draw well water have unsafe levels of vinyl chloride [EPA backgrounder], a carcinogen, that is allegedly seeping from the landfill. The county has been providing bottled water, but the residents seek compensation to hook into a public water system. The Chicago Tribune has more.

[JURIST] The European Council [official website] counter-terrorism coordinator has reported that the existence of secret CIA prisons in Europe cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Addressing a European Parliament [official website] committee on Thursday, Gijs de Vries [BBC profile] also denied that allegations of coordination between the US and EU member states regarding extraordinary rendition [JURIST news archive] were supported by proof. De Vries' comments to the committee investigating the CIA allegations [official website] were met with criticism from members of parliament, who cited 50 hours of testimony that it heard from alleged victims of rendition and human rights organizations.

Italian MEP Claudio Fava called de Vries' testimony "completely useless," while Dutch MEP Kathalijne Buitenweg noted "stunning" circumstantial evidence regarding the existence of the prisons. The former British ambassador to Uzbekistan also testified that he had witnessed rendition programs carried out in that country but could not confirm that they were linked with Europe. In January, a Council of Europe report [PDF text, JURIST report] alleged that the prisons did exist with the acquiescence of European governments, but it conceded that there was no concrete proof to support the allegations. EUObserver.com has local coverage. The New York Times has more.

[JURIST] The US State Department [official website] has said the US intends to release 100 prisoners from Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] as soon as it identifies countries that will accept them. Speaking at the US embassy in Paris on Thursday, State Department official Sandra Hodgkinson said that the prisoners will be sent to their countries of origin provided that the US receives assurances that they will be monitored and will not suffer torture. According to Hodgkinson, 15 of the 250 prisoners already released have already returned to combat. Earlier this week, the Pentagon released a list of Guantanamo detainees [JURIST document] who had completed the Combatant Status Review Tribunal process.

The US government has refused to release 16 Uighur Muslims to China [JURIST report] for fear that they will be tortured because of their faith. Last week, the US asked Germany to accept the Uighurs [JURIST report], but Chancellor Angela Merkel [BBC profile] is wary that the move would alienate China. IOL has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that Nepal's King Gyanendra [official profile; BBC profile] has said that executive power "shall be returned to the people from this day forward." Gyanendra's statement follows a last attempt to put an end to pro-democracy protests [JURIST news archive] against Gyanendra's rule by imposing an 11-hour curfew in the city of Kathmandu. The shoot-on-sight curfew had little effect however, as more than 100,000 protesters gathered on the outskirts of the city in the 16th day of protests.

Last week, Gyanendra promised to hold general elections [JURIST report] by April 2007 and to open a dialogue with opposition parties, but his speech had little effect as he has made similar pledges in the past. Nepalese police have fired on protesters [JURIST report] with increasing frequency in the past few days, prompting a group of UN human rights experts to condemn the use of excessive and deadly force [JURIST report] to try and quell the demonstrations. AP has more.

9:38 AM ET - In his televised address to the country, Gyanendra invited opposition parties to propose their candidates for prime minister, but did not set a date for elections. BBC News has more.

10:42 AM ET - Gyanendra said that he would transfer executive power to the people under Article 35 of the Nepal constitution [full text], which states:

(1) The executive power of the Kingdom of Nepal shall, pursuant to this Constitution and other laws, be vested in His Majesty and the Council of Ministers.

(2) Except as otherwise expressly provided as to be exercised exclusively by His Majesty or at His discretion or on the recommendation of any institution or official, the powers of His Majesty under this Constitution shall be exercised upon the recommendation and advice and with the consent of the Council of Ministers. Such recommendation, advice and consent shall be submitted through the Prime Minister.

(3) The responsibility of issuing general directives, controlling and regulating the administration of the Kingdom of Nepal shall, subject to this Constitution and other laws, lie in the Council of Ministers.

(4) Except in so far as any action is to be taken in the name of His Majesty pursuant to this Constitution and other laws, all other executive actions shall be expressed to be taken in the name of His Majesty's Government.

(5) Any decision, order or implementation warrant to be issued in the name of His Majesty pursuant to this Constitution and other laws shall be authenticated in such manner as may be set forth in rules made by His Majesty at His discretion. All other decisions, orders and implementation warrants to be issued in the name of the Council of Ministers pursuant to clause (4) above shall be authenticated in such manner as may be set forth in rules approved by His Majesty.

(6) No question shall be raised in any court as to whether or not any recommendation or advice has been given to His Majesty pursuant to this Constitution by the Council of Ministers or any other institution or official, nor shall any question be raised in any court about what recommendation or advice has been given.

[JURIST] US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile] said Thursday that the failure of Internet service providers to retain user records has impeded US Justice Department investigations into child pornography and said that the department is looking into setting "reasonable" data retention standards. In a speech [text] at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Gonzales said:

The investigation and prosecution of child predators depends critically on the availability of evidence that is often in the hands of Internet service providers. This evidence will be available for us to use only if the providers retain the records for a reasonable amount of time. Unfortunately, the failure of some Internet service providers to keep records has hampered our ability to conduct investigations in this area.

As a result, I have asked the appropriate experts at the Department to examine this issue and provide me with proposed recommendations. And I am going to reach out personally to the CEOs of the leading service providers and to other industry leaders to solicit their input and assistance.

Record retention by Internet service providers consistent with the legitimate privacy rights of Americans, is an issue that must be addressed.