Defense’s handwriting expert in Astor case says her signature on will amendment is authentic

October 5th, 2009 Court nixes case of fired deputy who ran vs. bossWASHINGTON — Faced with the prospect of an election challenge from one of his deputies, Sheriff Paul Parsley of Bullitt County, Ky., fired him for trying "to take my job away from me." The Supreme Court declined Monday to consider whether the dismissal violated the deputy's civil rights.

September 19th, 2009 Cursive writing may be fading skill, but so what?CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Charleston resident Kelli Davis was in for a surprise when her daughter brought home some routine paperwork at the start of school this fall.

September 19th, 2009 Cursive may be a fading skill, but so what?CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Charleston resident Kelli Davis was in for a surprise when her daughter brought home some routine paperwork at the start of school this fall.

September 16th, 2009 NY prosecutor: Astor's son is 'depraved'NEW YORK — Anthony Marshall plundered his mother Brooke Astor's estate because he was greedy and couldn't wait for her to die, a prosecutor charged Wednesday. Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann promised in his closing argument to show "how a son, an only son, would stoop so low as to steal from his own mother in the sunset years of her life in order to line his own pockets and the pockets of his wife." Astor's last will, created Jan.

August 18th, 2009 Expert: Ohio man may have a late Lincoln signatureSOUTH AMHERST, Ohio — An expert at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library says he thinks an Ohio man's flea-market find is one of the last Lincoln signatures. It's on an envelope that was with papers Bruce Steiner bought in 2006 in South Amherst, 30 miles southwest of Cleveland.

July 31st, 2009 Abortion measure passes, then fails, in HouseWASHINGTON — An anti-abortion amendment to a sweeping health overhaul bill was voted down in a House committee late Thursday — a dramatic reversal just hours after the measure initially was approved. The amendment said health care legislation moving through Congress may not impose requirements for coverage of abortion, except in limited cases.

July 6th, 2009 US and Russia set further talks on missile defenseMOSCOW — President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (dih-MEE'-tree med-VYEH'-dyev) are announcing a further review of possible ways to cooperate on missile defense. After talks in Moscow the two leaders issued a joint statement that indicated no breakthrough in one of the most divisive issues they face.

June 4th, 2009 Lawyer: Astor ironic in asking son about moneyNEW YORK — Brooke Astor's son claimed she asked him in 2003 whether he wanted all her $198 million fortune, but the aged philanthropist didn't mean it literally, her estate planning lawyer testified Thursday. "I took it as an ironic statement," lawyer Henry Christensen said.

June 3rd, 2009 Appeals court upholds Chicago ban on handgunsCHICAGO — A federal appeals court Tuesday upheld ordinances barring the ownership of handguns in most cases in Chicago and suburban Oak Park, finding a Supreme Court ruling in a District of Columbia case doesn't apply. The three-judge panel of the 7th U.S.

May 13th, 2009 Senate backs allowing guns in national parksWASHINGTON — The Senate has approved a measure that would allow people to carry loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges. Republican Sen.

May 9th, 2009 De la Renta says she accepted Astor's jewelryNEW YORK — A diamond-and-gold necklace and earrings once owned by Brooke Astor took center stage Thursday at a theft trial over the late socialite's estate. Annette de la Renta, wife of fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, testified Thursday about accepting two necklaces and a pair of earrings from Astor at a 2001 Christmas party.

April 30th, 2009 Writer Auchincloss describes Astor's mental stateNEW YORK — They had been friends for 60 years, but socialite and philanthropist Brooke Astor had no idea who Louis Auchincloss was when they met at a luncheon in 2001, the author-attorney testified Thursday. Auchincloss, a witness in the trial of Astor's son Anthony Marshall and lawyer Francis Morrissey, said it "was great shock" when he realized at a luncheon at Manhattan's Knickerbocker Club that Astor didn't recognize him.

April 28th, 2009 Defense: NYC socialite wanted son to inherit moneyNEW YORK — Philanthropist Brooke Astor changed her will and left most of her $198 million estate to her only child rather than charity because her dislike of his third wife gradually softened, a defense lawyer said Tuesday. Attorney Frederick Hafetz said Astor's wills from 1953 to 1993 gave almost everything to her son, Anthony Marshall, but later wills directed most of her money to charity "because of the relationship with Tony's wife, Charlene." The Marshalls married in 1992, two years after she divorced an Episcopal priest in Maine, where Astor had a summer home.

April 27th, 2009 Trial opens for NYC socialite's son, his lawyerNEW YORK — Greed and his preoccupation with amassing money for his third wife led the son of the late socialite Brooke Astor to loot his aging and ailing mother's $198 million estate, a prosecutor told jurors Monday. Anthony Marshall exploited his mother's diminished mind to steal cash and property worth millions of dollars, Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Loewy said.

March 20th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Lawyers, retired judges and former police officers here have formed a forum to launch a signature campaign against the candidature of actor-turned-politician Sanjay Dutt, who is a Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha candidate from Lucknow. 'With signatures of the residents of Lucknow, we will send a memorandum to the Chief Justice of India (CJI), requesting him to turn down Dutt's plea to contest the polls,' Rajiv Hemkeshav, convener of the newly constituted Forum Against Criminalisation of Politics told IANS Thursday.