Captain Freed, Three Pirates Killed in U.S. Navy Rescue off Somalia

Richard Phillips, captain of the U.S. flagged Maersk Alabama who had been kidnapped by Somali pirates and held for ransom in a lifeboat off the coast of Somalia, has been freed unharmed during an operation by the U.S. Navy, including Navy SEALS.

The three pirates who were on the lifeboat were killed in a brief firefight; a fourth pirate was on the USS Bainbridge for negotiations with the captain of that ship, and was taken into custody.

Captain Phillips has been transported, in good condition, to the USS Bainbridge, and then to the USS Boxer for a medical evaluation.

Earlier negotiations for Phillips release, conducted through the captain of the Bainbridge under the guidance of FBI hostage negotiators, had evidently broken down, evidently due U.S. insistence that the pirates involved in the kidnapping of Captain Phillips be arrested and subjected to the criminal justice process.

Further coverage:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/12/somalia.pirates/index.html

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/04/12/world/AP-Piracy.html?hp

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7996087.stm

U.S. Supreme Court Lets Stand Punitive Damage Award 97 Times Compensatory Award

U.S. Supreme Court dismisses appeal of $79.5 million punitives award in tobacco case; compensatory award was $800,000, later reduced to $521,000.

From the ABA Journal:

The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal of a $79.5 million punitive award in a tobacco case, saying it had erred in granting certiorari.

The appeal by tobacco maker Phillip Morris was “dismissed as improvidently granted” in a one-sentence order, according to SCOTUSblog and the Associated Press. The dismissal leaves undisturbed an Oregon Supreme Court decision upholding the award.

The case had been “something of a judicial minuet between the Supreme Court and the Oregon Supreme Court,” according to SCOTUSblog. The Supreme Court has twice overturned the punitive verdict, and the Oregon Supreme Court has twice reinstated it.

In its most recent decision, the Oregon high court avoided a constitutional issue that had troubled the Supreme Court—whether jurors were unconstitutionally punishing Phillip Morris for damages done to people who weren’t parties to the lawsuit. Instead the Oregon court upheld the verdict based on an independent state ground--that jury instructions proposed by the company had misstated state law.
***

So we have an exception to the previous "suggestion" by the high court that punitive damages are "generally" to be no more than nine times the compensatory damages in the case. The award will stand despite the Court's 5-to-4 ruling in the same case back in 2007 that the defendant could be punished only for harm to the plaintiff, not other smokers who were also arguably harmed by the conduct of defendant.

Further factual background on the case, Philip Morris USA v. Williams, 07-1216, in the New York Times.

(Image courtesy U.S. Supreme Court.)

G.M., Chrysler Restructuring Plans "Inadequate"; G.M. Chair Out; Chrysler "Not Viable" as Stand-Alone Company

CEO / Chairman Wagoner out at GM, which will get 60-days financing as they work to further cut costs. Chrysler given 30 days to come to arrangement with Fiat - found not viable as stand-alone company.

The Detroit Free Press reports:

The do-or-die ultimatums delivered today to two of Detroit’s pillar companies come with promises of additional aid, including up to $6 billion for a Chrysler-Fiat partnership. But senior administration officials also say even successful plans could require a so-called quick rinse in bankruptcy, and warn that without Fiat, Chrysler will get no aid in or out of court.

Obama told Michigan lawmakers Sunday night that both companies had failed to meet the terms of their loans and weren’t viable today.

Details of the Obama administration plans, evaluations of GM and Chrysler (pdf;)

Findings on G.M.'s viability (pdf;)

Findings on Chrysler's viability (pdf;)

New Warranty Government Commitment Program (pdf.)

(Without a government guarantee of new car warranties of G.M. and Chrysler, few would risk purchase of their vehicles due to risk of the warranties becoming worthless after bankruptcy.)

Further detailed coverage at the Detroit Free Press.

Prague’s Franz Kafka International Named World’s Most Alienating Airport

Former CNN anchor Bobbi Battista reports for ONN that Franz Kafka International Airport is the world's most alienating airport.

Mistrial by iPhone - NY Times Article on Juror Research During Trial

Mistrial by iPhone: Juries’ Web Research Upends Trials

By JOHN SCHWARTZ

Last week, a juror in a big federal drug trial in Florida admitted to the judge that he had been doing research on the case on the Internet, directly violating the judge’s instructions and centuries of legal rules. But when the judge questioned the rest of the jury, he got an even bigger shock.

Eight other jurors had been doing the same thing. The federal judge, William J. Zloch, had no choice but to declare a mistrial, wasting eight weeks of work by federal prosecutors and defense lawyers.

“We were stunned,” said the defense lawyer, Peter Raben, who was told by the jury that he was on the verge of winning the case. “It’s the first time modern technology struck us in that fashion, and it hit us right over the head.”

It might be called a Google mistrial. The use of BlackBerrys and iPhones by jurors gathering and sending out information about cases is wreaking havoc on trials around the country, upending deliberations and infuriating judges. ***

Continued at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/us/18juries.html?hp

Trial lawyers and courts will need to come up with new ways to drive home the inappropriateness of jurors doing (internet or any) research into the issues, the parties or their attorneys during a trial. Perhaps there's a need for courts to set a few "examples" through use of contempt of court citations.

Video of Oral Argument Before California Supreme Court on Proposition 8

Oral argument in the Prop 8 case starts at about 15:00 of the video, after a profile of the Court and Justices.

Live Streaming Video - Proposition 8 Arguments Before California Supreme Court

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

If above doesn't work, here's a link - to MSNBC live video stream coverage.


The following link may also work, though it appeared to be overloaded for much of the morning:

Live coverage of oral arguments before the California Supreme Court, from 9 a.m. to noon, PST.