Ex-WorldCom CEO seeks new trial News
Ex-WorldCom CEO seeks new trial

[JURIST] Citing allegedly unfair rulings by a US District Court judge Barbara Jones, former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers [JURIST news archive], convicted in March [JURIST report] of orchestrating an $11 billion accounting fraud that led to the telecommunications giant's downfall, is seeking a new trial. Attorneys for Ebbers claim that the judge wrongfully refused to grant immunity to three potential witnesses who were otherwise reluctant to testify on Ebbers' behalf. They also claim that Ebbers should have been permitted to present a defense that WorldCom [MCIWorldCom website] accounting principles were in line with industry standards, and that the judge's instructions that jurors could find him guilty based on "conscious avoidance". With sentencing set for June, Ebbers, 63, could spend the rest of his life in prison if his requests are unsuccessful. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Montgomery started racially-integrated bus service after boycott

On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation. Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Stalin born

On December 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia. In 1922, he became leader of the USSR until his death in 1953. During his time as Soviet dictator, Stalin industrialized his country, which he then led to become one of the world's two superpowers after WWII. Through his infamous purges, show trials and nationwide famines, Stalin also became responsible for millions of deaths.