Tagged: courts

A New Orleans man who pleaded guilty to robbing a bank at gunpoint has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman on Wednesday sentenced 30-year-old Khadafi Chico Degruy to 85 months in prison and ordered him to pay more than $9,500 in restitution to First Bank & Trust.

Degruy pleaded guilty in May to robbing one of the bank's branches, in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans.

Former Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard has asked a federal judge to move his corruption trial out of New Orleans, saying extensive media coverage could prejudice jurors.

The Times-Picayune reports that prosecutors have not responded to the request filed the motion Aug. 31. Trial is scheduled Oct. 1 before U.S. District Judge Hayden Head Jr.

Broussard was parish president from 2004 to 2010. A 27-count indictment charges him and former parish attorney Tom Wilkinson with conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and theft. Both have pleaded innocent.

Several New Orleans tour guides have asked a federal judge to bar the city from enforcing licensing regulations requiring them to pass a history exam, drug test and criminal background check.

U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan didn't immediately rule Thursday after hearing arguments in a lawsuit filed on behalf of four guides who claim the rules violate their free speech rights.

A city attorney asked Morgan to dismiss the suit, arguing the regulations are designed to protect the public.

The Justice Department is urging a federal judge to ignore BP's assertion that the Gulf Coast's natural resources are making a "robust recovery" from its massive 2010 oil spill.

In a strongly worded court filing Friday, government lawyers also renewed their vow to prove BP engaged in gross negligence or willful misconduct leading up to the deadly rig explosion that killed 11 workers and spawned the nation's worst offshore oil spill. BP could be liable for billions of dollars in fines if U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier sides with the government.

As the city of New Orleans finds itself in the midst of new initiatives aimed at reforming corruption and improving morale in the New Orleans Police Department, top civil rights lawyers and judges from throughout the region will gather at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law to demonstrate the best practices and information on filing civil rights class actions in federal court.