The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has lifted a restraining order preventing the execution of Connecticut serial killer Michael Ross , but said that the execution should be delayed until Ross' father can appeal to the Supreme Court. Ross received the death penalty after confessing to murdering eight women and is trying [...]

Leading Friday's corporations and securities law news, Merck & Co. announced the SEC has started a formal probe into the company's handling of Vioxx . Merck had pulled the painkiller from the market on September 30 because of its link to heart attacks and strokes. The Department of Justice and some Congressional committees are also [...]

A British soldier told a UK court martial Friday he failed to report the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Sgt. Thomas Simon's testimony comes as part of the court martial of three British soldiers accused of abusing and assaulting Iraqi detainees at a camp outside Basra in May 2003. Simon testified that he had seen [...]

A Russian judge Friday extended the detention of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky until May 14. Khodorkovsky was arrested in October 2003 on charges of fraud and tax evasion. The prosecutor in the case argued that Khodorkovsky's continued detention is necessary because he could flee Russia or put pressure on witnesses if he is released. [...]

Ukraine prosecutors announced Friday that the criminal investigation into President Viktor Yushchenko's nominee for prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her family will be closed. The investigations began in May 2004 following allegations that Tymoshenko attempted to bribe a judge to end court proceedings against a former associate. Prosecutors have also dropped fraud, embezzlement and tax [...]

Four former leaders of Chile's secret police during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet were arrested in Chile Friday. Marcelo Moren Brito, Miguel Krassnoff, Fernando Laureani and Gerardo Godoy were taken into custody to serve 5-12 year sentences in connection to the 2004 abduction and death of Miguel Angel Sandoval . AFP has more.

Peter Henning, Wayne State University Law School: "Discussed in the Wed. Jan.26th post is the prosecution opening in the case of Tyco executives Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz. Yesterday, the defense responded and it sounds like mens rea, and whether the defendants had the appropriate intent, will be prominent in this case. This is not [...]

Four federal employee union groups have filed suit in federal district court to block the implementation of controversial new personnel regulations at the Department of Homeland Security that may eventually be extended government-wide. The groups contend the new system limits collective bargaining, employee disciplinary appeal rights, and all but eliminates the due process rights that [...]

In a ruling with significant constitutional implications, the UK High Court Friday upheld a law banning the use of hunting with dogs in England and Wales. Challenging the law, the Countryside Alliance had argued that the 1949 Parliament Act , which amended a 1911 version of the statute and permitted the hunting law to be [...]

Vladimir Lazarevic, a Serbian army general accused of war crimes in Kosovo in 1999 , surrendered to Serbian authorities on Friday. Lazarevic, the former commander of the army's "Pristina Corps" stands accused of planning, instigating, ordering, and committing a range of crimes against Kosovo Albanians during the "ethnic cleansing" of the province and the subsequent [...]