Defense team in Khodorkovsky case delivers summation News
Defense team in Khodorkovsky case delivers summation

[JURIST] The defense team [defense website in English] for Mikhail Khodorkovsky [JURIST News Archive] delivered its summation Tuesday, arguing that the state had failed to prove that the former CEO of oil giant Yukos [official site] had committed any crime. "This is a complete vacuum and in this vacuum we must defend ourselves," said defense counsel Genrikh Padva. Prosecutors closed their case last week, and demanded the maximum 10 year sentence for fraud and tax evasion. The nine month case has been criticized as being mere Kremlin retaliation for Khodorkovsky's funding of political opponents in the 2003 parliamentary elections. The final verdict is expected in May. Padva said Friday that Khodorkovsky could be pardoned under a traditional May 9 presidential amnesty to coincide with the celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. AP has more. MosNews has local coverage of the trial.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Justice Department brings anit-trust action against AT&T

On November 20, 1974, the Department of Justice filed its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. United States v. AT&T was ultimately settled out of court with an agreement that the corporation would break up its monopoly on phone service throughout the country.

Nuremberg war crimes trials began

On November 20, 1945, the war crimes trials of Nazi World War II leaders began in the German city of Nuremberg. Review the Nuremberg Tribunal's Charter and the verdicts and sentences handed down on major war figures.

Winston Churchill born

On November 20, 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was born in Woodstock, England. He would go on to lead the United Kingdom as Prime Minister through World War II. Toward the end of the war, Churchill worked with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to craft the treaties and accords that have defined the world since WWII. A 2002 poll by the BBC declared Churchill the Greatest Briton of all time.

New Jersey ratifies Bill of Rights

New Jersey ratified the Bill of Rights, a set of 10 fundamental amendments to the US Constitution, on November 20, 1789, becoming the first state to do so. The state also ratified an amendment on federal representation which ultimately failed. Additionally, New Jersey rejected an amendment on congressional salaries, which would eventually become the 27th Amendment more than 200 years later. Read the articles ratified by New Jersey.