Petitions commissioner
Manfred says he has received a formal request from Rose that asks for Rose’s lifetime ban to be lifted. Manfred says he will consider the request ‘on its merits.’
I want to make sure I understand all of the details of the Dowd Report and Commissioner [Bart] Giamatti’s decision and the agreement that was ultimately reached. I want to hear what Pete has to say, and I’ll make a decision once I’ve done that.
Charged with DUI
Stevens is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after he is caught driving with .08 percent blood-alcohol content. He is also charged with driving under the influence of alcohol within ten years of a previous DUI.
Settlement
UNC settles with Willingham for $335,000. Willingham wanted her job back in her suit, but that was not part of the settlement. In her lawsuit against UNC, she claimed she was retaliated against and demoted for exposing nearly two decades of academic fraud, which caused her to resign amid the scandal. Willingham:
It gets me out far enough that I will be able to get a job.
UNC:
We believe the settlement is in the best interest of the university and allows us to move forward and fully focus on other important issues.
DUI arrest
After failing a field sobriety test, Pierce is arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. He is the third Ravens player to be arrested this offseason.
On RB Bernard Pierce: "We are aware of the situation and learning more about it. We take these matters seriously." | http://t.co/2nj03oeluW
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) March 18, 2015
Assault case closed
Brown’s probation officially ends as the court closes Rihanna assault case. Brown’s attorney, Geragos:
I couldn’t be more delighted. He is in a spot right now and a place right now that I couldn’t be prouder of him. It is a monumental feat for him.
$25 million bail set
Judge Ronald S. Coen sets the rapper’s bail at $25 million. Prosecutors had argued that the bail should be set at $25 million because of Knight’s past criminal record, citing police reports showing past links to robberies, assaults and battery. After hearing this, Knight collapses and is taken to the hospital.
Sentenced to nine years
After admitting to sexually assaulting one woman and trying to attack another in Arizona, Sharper is sentenced to nine years in federal prison. The sentence came down immediately after the guilty plea. Police say Sharper drugged three women and sexually assaulted two of them in an apartment in Tempe. A search of the apartment turned up a shot glass with a white residue from the sedative zolpidem, for which Sharper had had a prescription. Sharper is accused of drugging and assaulting women in four states altogether.
Jets file tampering charge
The Jets file a tampering charge against the Patriots after Kraft made the following comment about Revis:
I speak as a fan of the New England Patriots, we wanted to keep him.
Re-signs with WWE; ends MMA career
Lesnar announces on SportsCenter that he has re-signed with the WWE and that he has retired from the MMA.
I’m officially closing the door on MMA. It was a very hard decision at this stage of my career. The fighter inside me wants to compete. The father and husband — I’m an older caveman now. I make wiser caveman decisions. So, I’m here to say my legacy in the Octagon is over.
It was a hard decision to make. It took me a year. I’ve thought about this for a year. At the end of the day, it’s all about me wanting to have fun. The last two-and-a-half months I’ve been training to get back into the Octagon. I felt physically great, but something lacked mentally — and that’s not good.
Desertion charge
Bergdahl is charged with desertion and misbehavior. Eugene Fidell, Bergdahl’s attorney, a lecturer at Yale Law School, says the Army has scheduled an Article 32 hearing, similar to a preliminary hearing in civilian law, for April 22 in San Antonio, Texas, where Bergdahl is based. The hearing will determine if there is enough evidence to proceed with a general court martial.
Sides With Worker in Pregnancy Discrimination
The Supreme Court rules that pregnant workers can sue employers who deny them accommodations afforded to employees with disabilities, after a former UPS worker claims she was not accommodated when she was pregnant. The decision, by a 6-3 vote, adds to a series of recent moves expanding protections for pregnant women, including changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act and recent guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. UPS:
The new policy strengthens UPS’s commitments to supporting women in the workplace and to treating all workers fairly.
Arrested
ICE turns Sanchez over to San Francisco authorities for an outstanding drug warrant. The agency requests an immigration detainer, but San Francisco — a city that doesn’t honor such request, believing them to violate Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures — releases him. San Francisco law says that
a law enforcement official shall not detain an individual on the basis of a civil immigration detainer after that individual becomes eligible for release from custody.
The chief legal counsel to the San Francisco County Sheriff says Francisco was let go because there was no legal cause to detain the suspect. The department would have returned Lopez-Sanchez if there had been a court order or warrant, but:
When Mr. Lopez-Sanchez was booked into the jail, there was no active Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) warrant or judicial order of removal for him.
Charges are dropped the following day, but Sanchez is held until April 15 while the sheriff’s office determine if there are no other warrants for his arrest and he had completed his federal prison sentence.
Knox, Sollecito acquitted
Italy’s top appeals court acquits Knox and Sollecito of charges stemming from Kercher’s murder. Neither defendant appears in court. Knox:
You saved my life, and I am so grateful. I’m so grateful that I have my life back. Thank you. That’s all I can say. Right now I’m still absorbing what all of this means. Meredith was my friend, she deserved so much in this life.
Loses excessively hard croutons case
Everett Chattman is awarded $2,400, plus interest and court costs for injury when dining at a Pizza Hut in Harriman, Tennesse. Chattman accused the restaurant of “negligently serving excessively hard croutons” that damaged a specialized partial denture. The restaurant’s insurance company refused to settle so Chattman’s lawyer decided to sue.
Jury decides against Pao on three counts, sent back for fourth
After a 24 day trial, and two days of deliberations, the jury says it finds Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers innocent on all counts of sex discrimination against former employee Pao. However, when Judge Kahn asks each individual juror their decision, it is discovered that count 4 (was Pao terminated in response to her filing suit) has not been decided fully, having an 8-4 majority, instead of the 9-3 required, and the jury is told to go back. Kahn:
At this point ladies and gentlemen, I must ask you to resume your deliberations.
Pao loses fourth count
After a further two hours deliberation, the jury says that Kleiner Perkins did not fire Pao on the the basis of her filing the current lawsuit. Pao:
I want to thank my family and friends and everyone, male and female, who has reached out to tell me their stories. I have told my story and thousands of people have heard it. My story is their story. If I’ve helped to level the playing field for women and minorities in venture capital, then the battle was worth it. Now it’s time for me to get back to my career.
Kleiner Perkins:
Today’s verdict reaffirms that Ellen Pao’s claims have no legal merit. We are grateful to the jury for its careful examination of the facts. There is no question gender diversity in the workplace is an important issue. KPCB remains committed to supporting women in venture capital and technology both inside our firm and within our industry.
Files antitrust lawsuit
StubHub files an antitrust lawsuit against the Warriors and Ticketmaster, accusing them of conspiring to create an illegal resale market by telling season-ticket holders to only resell their tickets through them. The suit also claims that the Warriors told season-ticket holders that if they resold tickets through any entity other than Ticketmaster’s exchange or NBATickets.com, they will lose their ticket privileges, including playoff ticket privileges and ticket offers for next season. StubHub says their Warriors ticket listings are down eighty percent over the past year.
If the anti-competitive actions complained herein are not stopped, Ticketmaster is likely to seek to replicate them with other teams. As a result, millions of Americans will be held captive to a monopoly secondary ticketing exchange.
Removed evidence from home
Jenkins testifies that, at Hernandez’s request, she removed a box from their basement the day after the killings. Prosecutors believe the box may have contained evidence or even the murder weapon. Jenkins said she didn’t look inside the box, nor did she ask Hernandez about its contents. Jenkins drove around the area, looking for a place to dump the box. She said she doesn’t remember which trash bin she threw the box into, explaining that she was nervous at the time. Her testimony contradicted what she had told a grand jury.
Rejects appeal on free speech ruling
The Supreme Court refuses to hear an appeal filed by three students from Live Oak High School. The appeal was filed after a San Francisco court ruled that the school’s officials did not violate their students’ free speech rights at an event celebrating Cinco de Mayo, during which school officials commanded several students to take off the T-shirts they were wearing that bore the image of the U.S. flag.
Crowd noise fine, lose draft pick
As punishment for piping crowd noise into home games, the Falcons are fined $350,000 and forfeit a 2016, fifth-round draft pick. The Falcons will not appeal the punishment.
What took place was wrong and nowhere near the standards by which we run our business. Anytime there are actions that compromise the integrity of the NFL or threaten the culture of our franchise, as this issue did, they will be dealt with swiftly and strongly.