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Legal News Roundup: March 10

Here’s a roundup of recent legal stories in the news.

Judge Orders LA Sheriff to Name Officers Who Shared Kobe Bryant Crash Photos

Courthouse News Service – The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department cannot block Kobe Bryant’s widow from getting the names of four deputies who are accused of sharing photos from the fatal helicopter crash where the NBA legend, his daughter and seven others died, said a federal judge.

Vanessa Bryant sued LA County after it was reported that sheriff’s officers who arrived at the crash site in January 2020 took photos of the wreckage with their cellphones. Deputies shared the photos with their colleagues and one even tried to impress a woman at a bar by showing her the graphic photos, according to the lawsuit.

The National Transportation Safety Board recently found that the helicopter pilot likely violated safety regulations when he flew into a hilly area under thick cloud cover and the aircraft slammed into a Santa Monica hillside.

Read the full story.


Senate set to confirm Merrick Garland as attorney general

CBS News – The Senate is expected to confirm Judge Merrick Garland as attorney general later today. The move comes five years after Garland was blocked from consideration as former President Barack Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court.

Garland’s nomination is expected to be approved with bipartisan support. The Senate Judiciary Committee last week advanced his nomination with a vote of 15 to 7, with four Republicans joining every Democrat in supporting Garland.

Garland—a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit—will take the reins of the Justice Department as federal prosecutors across the country pursue hundreds of cases against those involved in the Capitol riots on January 6.

Read the full story.


Three jurors seated in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial

NBC News – Jury selection in the murder trial of a former Minneapolis police officer—Derek Chauvin—charged in George Floyd’s death began Tuesday.

The first potential juror was excused after she said during questioning that she thought the way the officer had acted was “not fair.”

At least five jurors were excused Tuesday and three were seated. This includes two white men—one of whom is a chemist from Minneapolis—and a woman originally from northern Minnesota, who told attorney Eric Nelson that she was “super excited” to have received a jury summons.

Read the full story.


Tougher anti-hazing Collin’s Law to be reintroduced in Ohio Senate

The Columbus Dispatch – Supporters of anti-hazing legislation are renewing their efforts after another tragic death.

State Senator Stephanie Kunze will reintroduce Collin’s Law in the Ohio Senate. Collin’s Law will increase legal penalties for hazing, education for college students about hazing and transparency at the university level.

The new version of the law will be different than House Bill 310, a similar bill introduced in 2019. This legislation focuses solely on hazing, where the previous bill also included language about bullying at the K-12 level.

The push for new legislation comes days after Stone Foltz—a 20-year-old student at Bowling Green State University—died after an alleged hazing incident at the school’s chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity.

Read the full story.