Thursday, June 27, 2013

Ex-Duane Reade execs lose bid to reverse fraud convictions

By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two former executives at Duane Reade Inc on Wednesday lost a bid to have a U.S. appeals court reverse their 2010 securities fraud convictions for inflating earnings at the New York drugstore chain.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York affirmed the convictions and the sentences of Anthony Cuti, Duane Reade's former chief executive, and William Tennant, former chief financial officer.

In June, 2010, a federal jury in Manhattan found Cuti and Tennant guilty of engaging in a scheme to inflate Duane Reade's earnings from 2000 to 2004.

Prosecutors said the scheme resulted in misleading information being provided to shareholders and private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, which bought Duane Reade in 2004.

Oak Hill sold Duane Reade in 2010 to Walgreen Co for $614 million.

Cuti was found guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud and making false statements to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, among other things. He was sentenced in August 2011 to three years in prison and fined $5 million.

Tennant, who was convicted of securities fraud, was sentenced to time served and fined $10,000.

On appeal, Cuti argued that U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts should not have allowed two witnesses he claimed were not experts to offer expert testimony.

The lead partner from auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers and John Henry, Tennant's successor as Duane Reade CFO, answered hypothetical questions about how they would have accounted for various fraudulent real estate sales.

U.S. Circuit Judge John Walker, writing for a three-judge panel, said the questions were permissible because they were limited to established facts.

"These limitations left little room for the witnesses to engage in speculation," Walker wrote.

The appeals court also rejected Tennant's contention that prosecutors did not present enough evidence to show he knew a fraud was taking place. It issued a separate order dispensing with other arguments by the defendants.

Brian Brook, a lawyer for Cuti, said he was "surprised and disappointed" by the decision, he still believes Cuti "was denied a fair trial" and will be considering options.

John Kenney, a lawyer for Tennant, said he was disappointed in the ruling and would consider a further appeal.

Cuti, who is currently in a half-way house, is separately appealing an order by Batts in May requiring him to pay $7.62 million in restitution to Duane Reade and Oak Hill.

The case is U.S. v. Cuti, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 11-3756.

(In 13th paragraph, corrects spelling of last name for lawyer to Brian Brook)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-duane-reade-execs-lose-bid-reverse-fraud-214749867.html

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Timeline: Timeline of gay marriage in the United States

(Reuters) - The Supreme Court was expected to rule on Wednesday on two high-profile gay marriage cases: one on a marriage ban in California and another on a federal law that restricts the definition of marriage to a man and a woman. The justices heard arguments in the cases in March.

Following is a timeline of important events in the history of gay marriage in the United States.

1969

- The modern gay liberation movement unofficially kicks off with the Stonewall Riots, demonstrations by gays in response to a police raid in New York City.

1972

- The U.S. Supreme Court lets stand a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling that the law does not allow for same-sex marriage, and that the issue is different from interracial marriage.

1973

- Maryland becomes the first state to pass a statute banning gay marriage.

1977

- Harvey Milk becomes the first openly gay elected official in San Francisco, winning a seat on the Board of Supervisors. He later appeals to gays to come out and run for office, saying "for invisible, we remain in limbo." Milk was shot and killed in 1978.

1986

- The U.S. Supreme Court says "we are quite unwilling" to find a fundamental right to sodomy, even in the privacy of one's home, in Bowers v. Hardwick ruling.

1996

- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy writes an opinion striking down a Colorado ban on protections for gays, saying the ban "seems inexplicable by anything but animus."

- President Bill Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act, defining marriage as between a man and a woman for federal purposes.

1997

- Comedian Ellen DeGeneres reveals she is gay. Shortly afterward, her TV situation comedy character says "I'm gay" - inadvertently speaking into an airport public address system.

1998

- Debut of television show "Will and Grace" about a gay man and his best friend, a straight woman.

2000

- Vermont becomes the first U.S. state to allow civil unions for same-sex couples.

- Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney, who has a lesbian daughter, indicates he supports gay marriage, saying "freedom means freedom for everybody" and "people should be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to enter into." He said states should regulate the matter, not the federal government. Cheney serves as vice president for eight years.

2003

- The U.S. Supreme Court, in another decision written by Kennedy, strikes down Texas anti-sodomy law in Lawrence v. Texas case and reverses the 1986 Bowers ruling. Kennedy writes that this does not mean the government must recognize gay relationships. "Do not believe it," Justice Antonin Scalia dissents, saying the logic of the opinion points to allowing same-sex marriage.

- The Massachusetts Supreme Court rules in favor of same-sex marriage, and gay weddings begin in 2004.

2004

- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom directs the county to allow same-sex marriages, arguing the state's voter-approved ban on gay marriage, Proposition 22, is unconstitutional. The state Supreme Court stops the weddings on grounds unrelated to the constitutionality of marriage.

2005

- U.S. northern neighbor Canada allows gay marriage.

2008

- California gay marriages become legal when the California Supreme Court strikes down the Proposition 22 ban. That November, voters add a ban to the state constitution - Proposition 8 - ending a summer of gay marriage.

2009

- Iowa state Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage.

- Federal court challenge to Proposition 8 filed, days before California Supreme Court lets Proposition 8 stand as a valid change to the state constitution. Eventually, federal district and appeals courts agree to strike down the ban, which heads to the U.S. Supreme Court.

2010

- The U.S. Congress passes legislation to end a policy put in place in 1993 called "don't ask don't tell" that had barred gays from serving openly in the U.S. military. President Barack Obama signs the measure. The policy officially ends in 2011.

2012

- Obama becomes the first U.S. president to endorse gay marriage, acknowledging that his views on the matter had evolved.

- North Carolina approves a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in May. In November, Maine, Maryland and Washington become the first states where voters approve same-sex marriage, and Minnesota rejects a new ban.

2013

- The U.S. Supreme Court in March hears oral arguments on the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

- The Boy Scouts of America organization votes in May to lift a century-old ban on openly gay scouts in a victory for gay rights activists. A prohibition on openly gay adult leaders remains in place.

- Minnesota, Rhode Island and Delaware in May become the latest U.S. states to allow same-sex couples to marry, bringing to 12 the number of states permitting it. The other states allowing same sex marriage are: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington state, as well as the District of Columbia.

(Reporting by Peter Henderson and Will Dunham; Editing by Howard Goller and Will Dunham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/timeline-timeline-gay-marriage-united-states-050557831.html

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Texts, video cited in charges against Hernandez

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, left, stands with his attorney Michael Fee, right, during arraignment in Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mike George, Pool)

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, left, stands with his attorney Michael Fee, right, during arraignment in Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mike George, Pool)

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, left, stands with his attorney Michael Fee, right, during arraignment in Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mike George, Pool)

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, left, stands with his attorney Michael Fee, right, during arraignment in Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mike George, Pool)

FILE - This Dec. 25, 2012 file photo taken by a sister and provided by the Boston Bandits football team shows Odin Lloyd, 27, whose body was found Monday, June 17, 2013 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arraigned Wednesday, June 26, 2013, on a charge of murdering Lloyd. (AP Photo/Lloyd family via the Boston Bandits, File)

Family of Odin Lloyd react during the arraignment of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez in Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mike George, Pool)

(AP) ? In the final minutes of his life, Odin Lloyd sent a series of texts to his sister.

"Did you see who I was with?" said the first, at 3:07 a.m. June 17. "Who?" she finally replied.

"NFL," he texted back, then added: "Just so you know."

It was 3:23 a.m. Moments later, Lloyd would be dead in what a prosecutor called an execution-style shooting orchestrated by New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez because his friend talked to the wrong people at a nightclub. Hernandez was charged Wednesday with murder.

Hernandez was cut from the NFL team less than two hours after he was arrested and led from his North Attleborough home in handcuffs, and nine days after Lloyd's body was discovered by a jogger in a remote area of an industrial park not far from Hernandez's home. The 2011 Pro Bowl selection had signed a five-year contract last summer with the Patriots worth $40 million.

His attorney, Michael Fee, called the case circumstantial during a Wednesday afternoon court hearing packed with reporters, curiosity seekers and police officers. Fee said there was a "rather hysterical atmosphere" surrounding the case and urged the judge to disregard his client's celebrity status as he asked for Hernandez, 23, to be released on bail.

The judge, though, ordered Hernandez held without bail on the murder charge and five weapons counts. If convicted, Hernandez could get life in prison without parole.

Hernandez stood impassively with his hands cuffed in front of him as Bristol County Assistant District Attorney Bill McCauley laid out a detailed timeline of the events, cobbled together from sources including witnesses, surveillance video, text messages and data from cellphone towers.

Lloyd, 27, a semi-pro football player with the Boston Bandits, had known Hernandez for about a year and was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee, the mother of Hernandez's 8-month-old baby, McCauley said.

On June 14, Lloyd went with Hernandez to a Boston club, Rumor. McCauley said Hernandez was upset Lloyd had talked to people there with whom Hernandez had trouble. He did not elaborate.

Two days later, McCauley said, on June 16, Hernandez texted two unidentified friends. He asked them to hurry to Massachusetts from Connecticut. At 9:05 p.m., a few minutes after the first message to his friends, Hernandez texted Lloyd to tell him he wanted to get together, McCauley said.

Later, surveillance footage from Hernandez's home showed his friends arrive and go inside. Hernandez, holding a gun, then told someone in the house he was upset and couldn't trust anyone anymore, the prosecutor said.

At 1:12 a.m., the three left in Hernandez's rented silver Nissan Altima, McCauley said. Cell towers tracked their movements to a gas station off the highway. There, he said, Hernandez bought blue Bubblicious gum.

At 2:32 a.m., they arrived outside Lloyd's home in Boston and texted him that they were there. McCauley said Lloyd's sister saw him get into Hernandez's car.

From there, surveillance cameras captured images of what the prosecutor said was Hernandez driving the silver Altima through Boston. As they drove back toward North Attleborough, Hernandez told Lloyd he was upset about what happened at the club and didn't trust him, McCauley said. That was when Lloyd began sending texts to his sister.

Surveillance video showed the car entering the industrial park and at 3:23 a.m. driving down a gravel road near where Lloyd's body was found. Four minutes later, McCauley said, the car emerged. During that period, employees working an overnight shift nearby heard several gunshots, McCauley said.

McCauley said Lloyd was shot multiple times, including twice from above as he was lying on the ground. He said five .45 caliber casings were found at the scene.

Authorities did not say who fired the shots or identify the two others with Hernandez.

At 3:29 a.m., surveillance at Hernandez's house showed him arriving, McCauley said.

"The defendant was walking through the house with a gun in his hand. That's captured on video," he said.

His friend is also seen holding a gun, and neither weapon has been found, McCauley said.

Then, the surveillance system stopped recording, and footage was missing from the six to eight hours after the slaying, he said.

The afternoon of June 17, the prosecutor said, Hernandez returned the rental car, offering the attendant a piece of blue Bubblicious gum when he dropped it off. While cleaning the car, the attendant found a piece of blue Bubblicious gum and a shell casing, which he threw away. Police later searched the trash bin and found the gum and the casing. The prosecutor said it was tested and matched the casings found where Lloyd was killed.

As McCauley outlined the killing, Lloyd's family members cried and held each other. Two were so overcome that they had to leave the courtroom.

The Patriots said in a statement after Hernandez's arrest but before the murder charge was announced that cutting Hernandez was "the right thing to do."

"Words cannot express the disappointment we feel knowing that one of our players was arrested as a result of this investigation," it said.

Hernandez, originally from Bristol, Conn., was drafted by the Patriots in 2010 out of the University of Florida, where he was an All-American.

During the draft, one team said it wouldn't take him under any circumstances, and he was passed over by one club after another before New England picked him in the fourth round. Afterward, Hernandez said he had failed a drug test in college ? reportedly for marijuana ? and was up front with teams about it.

A Florida man filed a lawsuit last week claiming Hernandez shot him in the face after they argued at a strip club in February.

Hernandez became a father on Nov. 6 and said he intended to change his ways: "Now, another one is looking up to me. I can't just be young and reckless Aaron no more. I'm going to try to do the right things."

___

Associated Press writers Bridget Murphy in Boston and Howard Ulman in North Attleborough contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-27-Hernandez-Police/id-77a1132e687d417ab840a4fc2be1d099

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Whitey Bulger Lawyers Challenge Informant File


(Adds quote from family member, details on disgraced FBI agent)
By Scott Malone
BOSTON, June 25 (Reuters) - Reputed mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger's lawyers questioned the accuracy of a key piece of evidence in his murder and racketeering trial on Tuesday, seeking to cast doubt on the 700-page informant file that a now-disgraced FBI agent had kept on him.
The attorneys pointed out several times that the agent, John Connolly, is in prison after being convicted on racketeering and murder charges in 2009, and that a federal investigation found that Connolly had falsified some of his reports.
The reports were part of a file that the FBI developed through the 1970s and '80s when Bulger is accused of murdering or ordering the murder of 19 people.
Prosecution witnesses this week told jurors about meetings during which Bulger had provided tips on gangland rivals to his Federal Bureau of Investigation handlers, including Connolly.
But Bulger, 83, has heatedly denied serving as an informant.
The defendant, whose story had inspired Martin Scorsese's 2006 Academy Award-winning film "The Departed," has pleaded not guilty to all charges and faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted.
On Tuesday, Bulger's attorneys cross-examined FBI Special Agent James Marra, who headed the Justice Department probe that lead to Connolly's conviction on murder and racketeering charges.
"Can you confirm firsthand that (Bulger) gave any of that information?" Henry Brennan, of the Boston law firm Carney & Bassil, asked Marra.
"Firsthand? No," the agent replied.
Brennan later asked if the federal government went out of its way to protect informants, getting Marra to admit that "it was clear to me that John Connolly was protecting them."
Marra acknowledged that agents such as Connolly received financial incentives from the FBI to develop high-level informants such as Bulger.
"I don't know if it was an enormous incentive, but the agents were encouraged to cultivate informants," Marra said.
Bulger's attorneys have argued that Connolly made up at least some of the information in Bulger's file to justify his frequent meetings with the gangster.
Connolly's former boss, John Morris, is due to take the stand as soon as Wednesday.
Jurors also heard on Tuesday how Connolly had set up alerts in U.S. Justice Department computer systems that ensured he was tipped off whenever another law enforcement agent ran a background check on Bulger.

'RATTING PEOPLE OUT'
The families of some of Bulger's victims said they were not buying the argument that he had not worked with the FBI.
"He was obviously an informant, he's been ratting people out left and right, even his own colleagues," said Tom Donahue, son of Michael Donahue, one of the people Bulger is accused of killing. "That wasn't even a question of mine."
Cooperating with the FBI was enough of a breach of mob ethics that prosecutors contend it was the motivation behind several of Bulger's murders, but this was not uncommon - as the testimony of some of Bulger's former associates in the past two weeks showed.
Prosecutors say Connolly, who shared Bulger's Irish background, turned a blind eye to Bulger's crimes in exchange for information on the Italian Mafia, which was the top priority of the Justice Department at the time.
Prosecutors also scoff at the idea that Bulger was not an informant, noting that he met with several other FBI agents and supervisors in addition to Connolly.
In an exchange before jurors were brought into the courtroom on Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly accused Bulger's defense of wanting to "play the game of 'Let's pretend. Let's pretend he wasn't an informant.'"
Bulger's story has fascinated Boston for decades. He was one of two brothers to rise from gritty South Boston to positions of power. James was a feared gangster, while his brother William was the powerful speaker of the state Senate.
"Whitey" Bulger fled the city after a 1994 tip from Connolly that arrest was imminent. He spent 16 years evading arrest, many of them on the FBI's "Most Wanted" list, before authorities caught up with him in a seaside apartment in Santa Monica, California, a little more than two years ago.
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Paul Thomasch, Douglas Royalty and Richard Chang)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/whitey-bulger-informant-file_n_3497142.html

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Advertising Search Results Google - Business Insider

A look at a typical Google search engine results page with advertising on the top and the right side.

Paul Szoldra/Screenshot

A typical Google search engine results page with advertising on the top and right side.

?

SAN FRANCISCO, June 25 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators warned leading Internet firms including Google Inc. to better identify paid ads in search results, particularly as new technology such as mobile services and voice-based online services become more common.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday it had sent letters to 24 Internet search companies, including giants Google, Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc, updating its guidance on advertising practices.

The FTC's update to its 2002 guidance on search advertising practices comes as consumers are increasingly accessing the Internet on small-screened smartphones and using specialized apps and social media services to find information online.

"In recent years, paid search results have become less distinguishable as advertising, and the FTC is urging the search industry to make sure the distinction is clear," the agency said.

The FTC, which sent the letters on Monday, has the power to fine companies that violate its rules against deceptive advertising.

The agency said background shading for search ads that appear alongside natural search results was not always sufficiently visible, particularly on mobile devices.

Text labels intended to flag search ads were not always easy to spot, as some search engines had reduced the font size of the text or placed a single label at the corner of a group of ads.

In the case of voice-based search for instance, the agency said that a search engine should make an "audio disclosure that is of an adequate volume and cadence for ordinary listeners to hear and comprehend it."

The letters, which were also sent to several popular "vertical" search engines that specialize in online shopping, travel and local business, did not specifically accuse any search engines of wrongdoing.

Google, the world's No.1 search engine, accounted for 73.8 percent of the $17.3 billion spent on search advertising in the United States last year, according to research firm eMarketer. Last year Google altered its specialized shopping search engine, making it based solely on paid search listings.

Google said in a statement that clear labeling and disclosure of paid search were important and "we've always strived to do that as our products have evolved."

Yahoo, which had 6.6 percent share of the U.S. online search ad market in 2012 according to eMarketer, said it was reviewing the letter and stressed its commitment to a transparent search experience.

Microsoft, the No.3. online search advertising company in the United States, declined to comment.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/advertising-search-results-google-2013-6

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Sony Xperia Z Ultra: hands-on with a 6.4-inch Android phone (update: video)

Sony Xperia Z Ultra handson with a 64inch Android phone

Sony's been explaining the design story behind its new Xperia range at a UK briefing, how it's trying to balance both the dematerialization of tech (touchscreens, gesture interfaces) and a design that's both desirable and beautiful -- and Sony's certainly got the latter down on its new smartphone. The Xperia Z Ultra follows the lines of the rest of the Z-series. With the same "OmniBalance" plane surface of screen, this time reaching 6.4 inches but still running at 1080p resolution, it feels bigger than the original Xperia Z. You're looking at a screen width almost identical to a passport and that 6.5mm profile helps fit it into pockets -- we managed to cram it into our trouser pockets. There's also Qualcomm's notable Snapdragon 800 powering the device on a relatively large 3,000mAh battery, while Sony's simplified the design dropping a few of those much-maligned protective flaps, at least on the headphone socket. There's more impressions and a hands-on video after the break!

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Microsoft follows Google's lead, files request to reveal more data about FISA orders

Microsoft follows Google's lead, files to reveal more data about FISA requests

The Wall Street Journal reports that in a move similar to Google's request last week, Microsoft has submitted a motion to the secret FISA court to authorize the release of "aggregate data" about the requests it has received. Microsoft published the information it has so far been authorized to reveal a couple of weeks ago, lumping in national security related requests with stats for other criminal warrants and subpoenas. Google and Twitter have been among the loudest requesting the ability to separate national security-related requests like those at the center of the PRISM controversy, however it's been reported that several companies are negotiating for the ability to be more specific.

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Source: Microsoft Motion (PDF), Wall Street Journal

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