Legal News

The AM Roundup ? Suu Kiy Trial Begins, More . . .

By Ashby Jones

The story of what happened to Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi still isn’t crystal clear to us. Last week, she was charged with violating the terms of her arrest order by allowing a 53 year old American to stay with her for two days after the American swam across a lake outside Yangon to reach where she’s being held.

Odd, to say the least. In any event, the trial for Suu Kyi over the charges started earlier today. Opposition activists say the junta is looking for a legal pretext to keep her in detention when her current house arrest order expires at the end of this month. Click here for the Bloomberg story; here for an earlier blog post on the situation.

In other news:

A WaMu Dismissal: On Friday, Seattle federal judge Marsha Pechman dismissed without prejudice a 388-page consolidated complaint on behalf of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board in the Washington Mutual securities class action case. The complaint, filed by Bernstein Litowtiz Berger & Grossmann, named various former WaMu officers and directors, underwriters, and the auditing firm Deloitte & Touche, alleging that they misled shareholders about the company’s financial results. In her ruling, the judge described the plaintiffs’ pleadings as “verbose” and “disorganized.” Judge Pechman wrote. “Plaintiffs’ counsel cannot expect the court to engage in the necessary analysis when counsel is not prepared to do so.” AmLaw Litigation Daily

A Reprieve for Kent? If Judge Samuel Kent, who pleaded guilty to obstruction charges last month and admitted to having non-consensual contact with two women, successfully completes an alcohol treatment program while incarcerated, he could be released from custody one year early, two criminal law experts say. Texas Lawyer

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on May 18, 2009 (boomark / email).