Supreme Court Sides with Inmate Whose Lawyer Slept Mon Jun 3,10:34 AM ET By James Vicini
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) on Monday rejected an appeal by Texas, which wanted to execute a death row inmate even though his lawyer slept repeatedly during his 1984 murder trial in Houston.
The justices let stand a U.S. appeals court ruling that Calvin Burdine deserved a new trial because his lawyer dozed off frequently enough and for long enough stretches to deprive him of his constitutional right to effective legal assistance.
The high court's action came without any comment or dissent, clearing the way for Burdine, 48, to get a new trial unless prosecutors decide to drop the case.
Texas wanted to carry out the execution. Even though the court-appointed lawyer was "repeatedly unconscious" during the trial, Texas argued it did not affect the outcome, which ended with Burdine being found guilty and sentenced to die for fatally stabbing his gay lover.
According to later testimony from jurors and court officials, the now-dead lawyer, Joe Cannon, slept as many as 10 times, for as long as 10 minutes, during the six-day trial.
Defense lawyers said Cannon slept during a critical part of the case when the prosecutor questioned witnesses and presented evidence.
Texas argued that the performance of a sleeping lawyer should be judged like those of drunk, drugged or mentally ill attorneys. In those cases, a defendant must prove the lawyer's behavior would have affected the outcome.
"The decision in Burdine illogically segregates attorney sleeping from other... impairments that have indistinguishable effects on an attorney's ability to function during trial," Texas Solicitor General Julie Parsley said in the Supreme Court appeal.
NO PRESUMED HARM FROM SLEEPING LAWYER
She said harm should not be presumed just because the lawyer "intermittently dozed and actually fell asleep."
Parsley said the appeals court was wrong to equate sleeping with temporary absences from trial, which automatically result in reversal of a conviction. Other appeals courts analyze whether such absences amount to a "harmless error," she said.
Parsley predicted the appeals court decision "will invite countless ineffective assistance (of counsel) claims based on any type of intermittent 'unconsciousness' by counsel during trial."
The New Orleans-based appeals court ruled that a sleeping lawyer can exercise no judgement whatsoever, while drunk, drugged or mentally ill lawyers can at least exercise impaired judgement.
Robert McGlasson, who represents Burdine, called the claims by Texas of conflicting appeals court rulings on the issue baseless.
"The decision below is a case-specific, fact-based ruling on a point of such exceeding rarity that the federal courts have seen its like exactly three times since the mid-1980s," he told the justices in urging them to reject the state's appeal.
Burdine was sentenced to die for stabbing to death W.T. "Dub" Wise in 1983 at the trailer home the two shared in Houston. Burdine said he was angry because Wise had asked him to prostitute himself to earn more money.
A federal judge granted Burdine a new trial, based on Cannon's sleeping, but he also said Cannon referred to his client with gay slurs.
A three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled that a sleeping lawyer could provide effective counsel by not dozing during important parts of the trial. But the full appeals court, by a 9-5 vote, ruled for Burdine, deciding his trial was fundamentally unfair.
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Natural gas pipeline and energy trading company El Paso Corp. said on Monday a senior vice president died on Sunday in an apparent suicide, plunging its stock price more than 20 percent.
Whether the death of Charles Dana Rice, who was treasurer at El Paso, was linked to the company's recent financial worries was not known, but a source close to the company said he had had serious health problems.
Police said the body of Rice, 47, was found at his home in Houston at about 1 p.m. on Sunday. The cause of death was an "apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound," said Joe Laud, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department.
In a statement, the company said it was "deeply saddened" by Rice's death.
"Dana was a tireless worker, a valued contributor and will be missed both as a business associate and as a friend. Our hearts and prayers are with his wife and their family," El Paso Chief Executive William Wise said.
Rice's death follows the Jan. 25 suicide of former Enron Corp. Vice Chairman J. Clifford Baxter, who shot himself in the head while parked in his black Mercedes.
The demise of Enron over accounting irregularities and off-balance-sheet transactions to hide debt has made investors skittish about any news that might smack of impropriety.
El Paso's stock fell more than 23 percent in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites), before paring losses to be down 13.5 percent to $22.20 in the early afternoon.
Further details about Rice were not immediately available, the company said.
"We're trying to protect the privacy of his family. They need our prayers and support right now," El Paso spokeswoman Norma Dunn said.
El Paso said last week earnings for this year and next would be below expectations, and that it would slash energy trading activities in half by cutting 300 jobs.
The energy trading industry has been swept up in a scandal about so-called "wash trades" in which companies made natural gas trades to pump up trading volumes. El Paso said last week it had not taken part in the sham trades.
Rice joined El Paso in 1977, became director of the company's planning department in 1992, director of the accounting department in 1996 and vice president and treasurer in 1998. He was appointed senior vice president in 1999.
Baxter, in a suicide note released to the press in April, made no reference to the problems at Enron, which filed bankruptcy in December amid revelations that it had cooked the books to hide debt and inflate profits.
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @10:54AM from the step-in-the-right-direction dept. MoD writes "From CNet: District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper on Friday overturned a late April ruling that required the maker of ReplayTV set-top box technology to write and install software to monitor what its customers were watching."
( Read More... | 28 comments )
Interviews: Ask Moshe Bar about [your choice here] Posted by Roblimo on Monday June 03, @10:00AM from the rennaisance-men-of-the-computer-age dept. Moshe Bar is (pick one) 1. A Linux kernel developer; 2. A motorcycle enthusiast; 3. The primary openMosix maintainer; 4. A respected Linux device driver writer; 5. Author of several books and many articles about Linux; 6. Newly married. 7. A Talmudic scholar; 8. All of the above. The correct answer is 8, and since in addition to (or perhaps because of) all this Moshe is a popular guy, this interview is here by reader request. (Yes, we take interview requests; send them to robin@roblimo.com.) Ask Moshe whatever you wish, one question per post. We'll send him 10 of the highest moderated questions and post his answers as soon as he gets them back to us.
( Read More... | 131 comments | Interviews )
Germany, IBM Sign Major Linux Deal Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @08:57AM from the und-jetz dept. Skip Franklin writes: "IBM and the German government are getting together to implement Linux as the government's computing platform of choice. The deal is being touted as a big blow to Microsoft, although personally I prefer the glass-half-full perspective of a big win for Open Source. The BBC has the story."
( Read More... | 233 comments )
Napster files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @08:02AM from the no-surprise-there dept. Joey Patterson writes "CNN Money reports that Napster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy." Thank god the industry shut them down... now that piracy has been stopped they can all sleep much better.
( Read More... | 291 comments )
Your Online Marketplace for Classified Jet Parts Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @07:16AM from the flux-capacitor-shipped-separately dept. jonerik writes: "Reuters is reporting that the U.S. Air Force is less than pleased about the recent posting of a number of sensitive jet communications components on eBay, including parts for the SR-71 spy plane, the F-16 fighter, the KC-10 tanker, and the giant C-5 transport. According to the article, the parts had sat in a warehouse for 12 years after being lost in shipping when the dealer, Norb Novocin, bought the lot for $244 in an unclaimed property sale. Novocin ended up selling four of the items to bidders in a recent auction, including an X-Band Weather Radar Modulator for $500 and a high-frequency radio circuit card for $32. The Air Force is looking into the incident and Novocin is cooperating."
( Read More... | 135 comments )
Opera 6.03 - The Wild Child of Browsers? Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @06:38AM from the home-of-the-singing-fat-lady dept. IEEE1394 writes: "Ever wondered what other Internet browsers are available outside of Internet Explorer? Opera 6.03 from Opera Software boasts itself on being 'the fastest browser on earth.' Does it really live up to its claim of being unique and being fast? Is it the wild child of the browser family and can it ever surpass Internet Explorer as the browser of choice? Let's find out." Funny, IE isn't my browser of choice...
( Read More... | 450 comments )
Data Quality Act Posted by michael on Monday June 03, @05:45AM from the not-quantity dept. The New York Times has a heads-up about a little-noticed add-on to a massive appropriations bill, signed into law by Clinton but taking effect in October. The amendment allows anyone to challenge data published by the Federal government and have it changed or deleted. The main proponents of the law are pro-business groups seeking to tie up environmental and similar regulations by challenging the government's data.
( Read More... | 145 comments )
Apple: 17" and 19" inch iMacs Coming in 3Q Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @02:39AM from the now-thats-what-I'm-talking-about dept. ikioi writes "It looks like Apple will have 17" and 19" flat panel iMacs later this year." It's funny- the publicity photos of the 15 inch macs really make it look a lot nicer then it is. I finally saw one up close a few weeks ago- the arm and screen is super smooth, but the base looks like a cheap toy. That said, larger screens for the iMac definitely push it into a new territory... not sure if it would convince me to buy one, but it sure would add magic shell to the ice cream.
( Read More... | 166 comments | Apple )
SEC Settles Microsoft Accounting Investigation Posted by michael on Sunday June 02, @11:28PM from the cooking-the-books dept. guttentag writes "The Securities and Exchange Commission has wrapped up its two-year investigation into Microsoft's accounting practices. The investigation focused on "cookie jar" accounting practices in which a company reports that it earned less money than it actually did, secretly storing the unreported money to artificially boost earnings in the future. The SEC called off its investigation in exchange for Microsoft's promise that it will not break the rules in the future, though the company is not admitting that it broke rules in the past. Microsoft publicly states that it has $40 Billion on hand." Gates realized a long time ago that regardless of actual performance, if you "beat estimates" people will buy your stock. So, he's arranging it so that no matter what the actual performance is, Microsoft always "beats estimates". If your analyst estimate is low 61 out of 63 times, either A) you need a new analyst or B) someone is feeding the analyst bad numbers. In this case, probably both.
( Read More... | 225 comments )
Sun Discovers Dumb Terminals Posted by michael on Sunday June 02, @08:46PM from the o-in-old-economy dept. Yahoo has a story about how Sun is practicing a sort of floating workforce - many employees have no permanent desks, they just come in and log on to a dumb terminal, err, thin client. Besides being a sneaky way to encourage employees to arrive ever earlier at work, it probably is cheaper to run the business off a few large Sun servers - at least for Sun.
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @10:54AM from the step-in-the-right-direction dept. MoD writes "From CNet: District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper on Friday overturned a late April ruling that required the maker of ReplayTV set-top box technology to write and install software to monitor what its customers were watching."
( Read More... | 28 comments )
Interviews: Ask Moshe Bar about [your choice here] Posted by Roblimo on Monday June 03, @10:00AM from the rennaisance-men-of-the-computer-age dept. Moshe Bar is (pick one) 1. A Linux kernel developer; 2. A motorcycle enthusiast; 3. The primary openMosix maintainer; 4. A respected Linux device driver writer; 5. Author of several books and many articles about Linux; 6. Newly married. 7. A Talmudic scholar; 8. All of the above. The correct answer is 8, and since in addition to (or perhaps because of) all this Moshe is a popular guy, this interview is here by reader request. (Yes, we take interview requests; send them to robin@roblimo.com.) Ask Moshe whatever you wish, one question per post. We'll send him 10 of the highest moderated questions and post his answers as soon as he gets them back to us.
( Read More... | 131 comments | Interviews )
Germany, IBM Sign Major Linux Deal Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @08:57AM from the und-jetz dept. Skip Franklin writes: "IBM and the German government are getting together to implement Linux as the government's computing platform of choice. The deal is being touted as a big blow to Microsoft, although personally I prefer the glass-half-full perspective of a big win for Open Source. The BBC has the story."
( Read More... | 233 comments )
Napster files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @08:02AM from the no-surprise-there dept. Joey Patterson writes "CNN Money reports that Napster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy." Thank god the industry shut them down... now that piracy has been stopped they can all sleep much better.
( Read More... | 291 comments )
Your Online Marketplace for Classified Jet Parts Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @07:16AM from the flux-capacitor-shipped-separately dept. jonerik writes: "Reuters is reporting that the U.S. Air Force is less than pleased about the recent posting of a number of sensitive jet communications components on eBay, including parts for the SR-71 spy plane, the F-16 fighter, the KC-10 tanker, and the giant C-5 transport. According to the article, the parts had sat in a warehouse for 12 years after being lost in shipping when the dealer, Norb Novocin, bought the lot for $244 in an unclaimed property sale. Novocin ended up selling four of the items to bidders in a recent auction, including an X-Band Weather Radar Modulator for $500 and a high-frequency radio circuit card for $32. The Air Force is looking into the incident and Novocin is cooperating."
( Read More... | 135 comments )
Opera 6.03 - The Wild Child of Browsers? Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @06:38AM from the home-of-the-singing-fat-lady dept. IEEE1394 writes: "Ever wondered what other Internet browsers are available outside of Internet Explorer? Opera 6.03 from Opera Software boasts itself on being 'the fastest browser on earth.' Does it really live up to its claim of being unique and being fast? Is it the wild child of the browser family and can it ever surpass Internet Explorer as the browser of choice? Let's find out." Funny, IE isn't my browser of choice...
( Read More... | 450 comments )
Data Quality Act Posted by michael on Monday June 03, @05:45AM from the not-quantity dept. The New York Times has a heads-up about a little-noticed add-on to a massive appropriations bill, signed into law by Clinton but taking effect in October. The amendment allows anyone to challenge data published by the Federal government and have it changed or deleted. The main proponents of the law are pro-business groups seeking to tie up environmental and similar regulations by challenging the government's data.
( Read More... | 145 comments )
Apple: 17" and 19" inch iMacs Coming in 3Q Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @02:39AM from the now-thats-what-I'm-talking-about dept. ikioi writes "It looks like Apple will have 17" and 19" flat panel iMacs later this year." It's funny- the publicity photos of the 15 inch macs really make it look a lot nicer then it is. I finally saw one up close a few weeks ago- the arm and screen is super smooth, but the base looks like a cheap toy. That said, larger screens for the iMac definitely push it into a new territory... not sure if it would convince me to buy one, but it sure would add magic shell to the ice cream.
( Read More... | 166 comments | Apple )
SEC Settles Microsoft Accounting Investigation Posted by michael on Sunday June 02, @11:28PM from the cooking-the-books dept. guttentag writes "The Securities and Exchange Commission has wrapped up its two-year investigation into Microsoft's accounting practices. The investigation focused on "cookie jar" accounting practices in which a company reports that it earned less money than it actually did, secretly storing the unreported money to artificially boost earnings in the future. The SEC called off its investigation in exchange for Microsoft's promise that it will not break the rules in the future, though the company is not admitting that it broke rules in the past. Microsoft publicly states that it has $40 Billion on hand." Gates realized a long time ago that regardless of actual performance, if you "beat estimates" people will buy your stock. So, he's arranging it so that no matter what the actual performance is, Microsoft always "beats estimates". If your analyst estimate is low 61 out of 63 times, either A) you need a new analyst or B) someone is feeding the analyst bad numbers. In this case, probably both.
( Read More... | 225 comments )
Sun Discovers Dumb Terminals Posted by michael on Sunday June 02, @08:46PM from the o-in-old-economy dept. Yahoo has a story about how Sun is practicing a sort of floating workforce - many employees have no permanent desks, they just come in and log on to a dumb terminal, err, thin client. Besides being a sneaky way to encourage employees to arrive ever earlier at work, it probably is cheaper to run the business off a few large Sun servers - at least for Sun.
Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @08:57AM from the und-jetz dept. Skip Franklin writes: "IBM and the German government are getting together to implement Linux as the government's computing platform of choice. The deal is being touted as a big blow to Microsoft, although personally I prefer the glass-half-full perspective of a big win for Open Source. The BBC has the story."
( Read More... | 71 comments )
Napster files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @08:02AM from the no-surprise-there dept. Joey Patterson writes "CNN Money reports that Napster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy." Thank god the industry shut them down... now that piracy has been stopped they can all sleep much better.
( Read More... | 167 comments )
Your Online Marketplace for Classified Jet Parts Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @07:16AM from the flux-capacitor-shipped-separately dept. jonerik writes: "Reuters is reporting that the U.S. Air Force is less than pleased about the recent posting of a number of sensitive jet communications components on eBay, including parts for the SR-71 spy plane, the F-16 fighter, the KC-10 tanker, and the giant C-5 transport. According to the article, the parts had sat in a warehouse for 12 years after being lost in shipping when the dealer, Norb Novocin, bought the lot for $244 in an unclaimed property sale. Novocin ended up selling four of the items to bidders in a recent auction, including an X-Band Weather Radar Modulator for $500 and a high-frequency radio circuit card for $32. The Air Force is looking into the incident and Novocin is cooperating."
( Read More... | 94 comments )
Opera 6.03 - The Wild Child of Browsers? Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @06:38AM from the home-of-the-singing-fat-lady dept. IEEE1394 writes: "Ever wondered what other Internet browsers are available outside of Internet Explorer? Opera 6.03 from Opera Software boasts itself on being 'the fastest browser on earth.' Does it really live up to its claim of being unique and being fast? Is it the wild child of the browser family and can it ever surpass Internet Explorer as the browser of choice? Let's find out." Funny, IE isn't my browser of choice...
( Read More... | 313 comments )
Data Quality Act Posted by michael on Monday June 03, @05:45AM from the not-quantity dept. The New York Times has a heads-up about a little-noticed add-on to a massive appropriations bill, signed into law by Clinton but taking effect in October. The amendment allows anyone to challenge data published by the Federal government and have it changed or deleted. The main proponents of the law are pro-business groups seeking to tie up environmental and similar regulations by challenging the government's data.
( Read More... | 118 comments )
Apple: 17" and 19" inch iMacs Coming in 3Q Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @02:39AM from the now-thats-what-I'm-talking-about dept. ikioi writes "It looks like Apple will have 17" and 19" flat panel iMacs later this year." It's funny- the publicity photos of the 15 inch macs really make it look a lot nicer then it is. I finally saw one up close a few weeks ago- the arm and screen is super smooth, but the base looks like a cheap toy. That said, larger screens for the iMac definitely push it into a new territory... not sure if it would convince me to buy one, but it sure would add magic shell to the ice cream.
( Read More... | 140 comments | Apple )
SEC Settles Microsoft Accounting Investigation Posted by michael on Sunday June 02, @11:28PM from the cooking-the-books dept. guttentag writes "The Securities and Exchange Commission has wrapped up its two-year investigation into Microsoft's accounting practices. The investigation focused on "cookie jar" accounting practices in which a company reports that it earned less money than it actually did, secretly storing the unreported money to artificially boost earnings in the future. The SEC called off its investigation in exchange for Microsoft's promise that it will not break the rules in the future, though the company is not admitting that it broke rules in the past. Microsoft publicly states that it has $40 Billion on hand." Gates realized a long time ago that regardless of actual performance, if you "beat estimates" people will buy your stock. So, he's arranging it so that no matter what the actual performance is, Microsoft always "beats estimates". If your analyst estimate is low 61 out of 63 times, either A) you need a new analyst or B) someone is feeding the analyst bad numbers. In this case, probably both.
( Read More... | 204 comments )
Sun Discovers Dumb Terminals Posted by michael on Sunday June 02, @08:46PM from the o-in-old-economy dept. Yahoo has a story about how Sun is practicing a sort of floating workforce - many employees have no permanent desks, they just come in and log on to a dumb terminal, err, thin client. Besides being a sneaky way to encourage employees to arrive ever earlier at work, it probably is cheaper to run the business off a few large Sun servers - at least for Sun.
( Read More... | 481 comments )
Where UnitedLinux Got It Wrong Posted by michael on Sunday June 02, @06:57PM from the ransom-love-might-have-something-to-do-with-it dept. An Anonymous Coward writes "A story on NewsForge [ed. note: part of the keiretsu] suggests that the lack of binaries for UnitedLinux shows disrespect to the community which created most of the software. The author suggests a better way for handling the business problems that a lack of binaries is supposed to solve. Some particularly clueless reader comments say that UnitedLinux has no responsibility to cooperate with the community. The thought that UnitedLinux won't even offer a development distribution to the community does not sit well with me."
( Read More... | 287 comments )
Wireless Congestion Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday June 02, @05:24PM from the well-there's-no-surprise-there dept. AllMightyPaul writes "An article on CNN describes the congestion experienced by many users of wireless networks as more and more people begin to use them at home and at work. The unregulated frequencies between 902 and 928, where most Wi-Fi devices operate, sees a lot of traffic, apparently."
We really, really, appreciate your on-topic postings today. We really do. However, I think I speak on behalf of all members of the CLIT, when I say that you are more than welcome, and encouraged, to join our little group.
Not only will your thoughtful contributions to the general flow of the conversations become an asset to the CLIT as a whole, but you will also be helping yourself and others by being able to post more often. Once you have made a few thoughtful contributions that the moderators just don't understand, you will be IP banned, as is about to happen to you now. However, once that ban is lifted, you never have to deal with it again. Like I said, it helps you, because you won't be banned. More importantly, it helps the Slashdot community, because we will all benefit from reading your interesting, thoughtful, and on-topic comments on a regular basis.
Slashdot Mirror
ACs r teh sux
phuck
u have da mad skill3Z
... impairments that have indistinguishable effects on an attorney's ability to function during trial," Texas Solicitor General Julie Parsley said in the Supreme Court appeal.
Supreme Court Sides with Inmate Whose Lawyer Slept
Mon Jun 3,10:34 AM ET
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) on Monday rejected an appeal by Texas, which wanted to execute a death row inmate even though his lawyer slept repeatedly during his 1984 murder trial in Houston.
The justices let stand a U.S. appeals court ruling that Calvin Burdine deserved a new trial because his lawyer dozed off frequently enough and for long enough stretches to deprive him of his constitutional right to effective legal assistance.
The high court's action came without any comment or dissent, clearing the way for Burdine, 48, to get a new trial unless prosecutors decide to drop the case.
Texas wanted to carry out the execution. Even though the court-appointed lawyer was "repeatedly unconscious" during the trial, Texas argued it did not affect the outcome, which ended with Burdine being found guilty and sentenced to die for fatally stabbing his gay lover.
According to later testimony from jurors and court officials, the now-dead lawyer, Joe Cannon, slept as many as 10 times, for as long as 10 minutes, during the six-day trial.
Defense lawyers said Cannon slept during a critical part of the case when the prosecutor questioned witnesses and presented evidence.
Texas argued that the performance of a sleeping lawyer should be judged like those of drunk, drugged or mentally ill attorneys. In those cases, a defendant must prove the lawyer's behavior would have affected the outcome.
"The decision in Burdine illogically segregates attorney sleeping from other
NO PRESUMED HARM FROM SLEEPING LAWYER
She said harm should not be presumed just because the lawyer "intermittently dozed and actually fell asleep."
Parsley said the appeals court was wrong to equate sleeping with temporary absences from trial, which automatically result in reversal of a conviction. Other appeals courts analyze whether such absences amount to a "harmless error," she said.
Parsley predicted the appeals court decision "will invite countless ineffective assistance (of counsel) claims based on any type of intermittent 'unconsciousness' by counsel during trial."
The New Orleans-based appeals court ruled that a sleeping lawyer can exercise no judgement whatsoever, while drunk, drugged or mentally ill lawyers can at least exercise impaired judgement.
Robert McGlasson, who represents Burdine, called the claims by Texas of conflicting appeals court rulings on the issue baseless.
"The decision below is a case-specific, fact-based ruling on a point of such exceeding rarity that the federal courts have seen its like exactly three times since the mid-1980s," he told the justices in urging them to reject the state's appeal.
Burdine was sentenced to die for stabbing to death W.T. "Dub" Wise in 1983 at the trailer home the two shared in Houston. Burdine said he was angry because Wise had asked him to prostitute himself to earn more money.
A federal judge granted Burdine a new trial, based on Cannon's sleeping, but he also said Cannon referred to his client with gay slurs.
A three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled that a sleeping lawyer could provide effective counsel by not dozing during important parts of the trial. But the full appeals court, by a 9-5 vote, ruled for Burdine, deciding his trial was fundamentally unfair.
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Natural gas pipeline and energy trading company El Paso Corp. said on Monday a senior vice president died on Sunday in an apparent suicide, plunging its stock price more than 20 percent.
Whether the death of Charles Dana Rice, who was treasurer at El Paso, was linked to the company's recent financial worries was not known, but a source close to the company said he had had serious health problems.
Police said the body of Rice, 47, was found at his home in Houston at about 1 p.m. on Sunday. The cause of death was an "apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound," said Joe Laud, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department.
In a statement, the company said it was "deeply saddened" by Rice's death.
"Dana was a tireless worker, a valued contributor and will be missed both as a business associate and as a friend. Our hearts and prayers are with his wife and their family," El Paso Chief Executive William Wise said.
Rice's death follows the Jan. 25 suicide of former Enron Corp. Vice Chairman J. Clifford Baxter, who shot himself in the head while parked in his black Mercedes.
The demise of Enron over accounting irregularities and off-balance-sheet transactions to hide debt has made investors skittish about any news that might smack of impropriety.
El Paso's stock fell more than 23 percent in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites), before paring losses to be down 13.5 percent to $22.20 in the early afternoon.
Further details about Rice were not immediately available, the company said.
"We're trying to protect the privacy of his family. They need our prayers and support right now," El Paso spokeswoman Norma Dunn said.
El Paso said last week earnings for this year and next would be below expectations, and that it would slash energy trading activities in half by cutting 300 jobs.
The energy trading industry has been swept up in a scandal about so-called "wash trades" in which companies made natural gas trades to pump up trading volumes. El Paso said last week it had not taken part in the sham trades.
Rice joined El Paso in 1977, became director of the company's planning department in 1992, director of the accounting department in 1996 and vice president and treasurer in 1998. He was appointed senior vice president in 1999.
Baxter, in a suicide note released to the press in April, made no reference to the problems at Enron, which filed bankruptcy in December amid revelations that it had cooked the books to hide debt and inflate profits.
hellZ yeah
The CLIT now 0wns this entire discussion!
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @10:54AM
...
from the step-in-the-right-direction dept.
MoD writes "From CNet: District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper on Friday overturned a late April ruling that required the maker of ReplayTV set-top box technology to write and install software to monitor what its customers were watching."
( Read More... | 28 comments )
Interviews: Ask Moshe Bar about [your choice here]
Posted by Roblimo on Monday June 03, @10:00AM
from the rennaisance-men-of-the-computer-age dept.
Moshe Bar is (pick one) 1. A Linux kernel developer; 2. A motorcycle enthusiast; 3. The primary openMosix maintainer; 4. A respected Linux device driver writer; 5. Author of several books and many articles about Linux; 6. Newly married. 7. A Talmudic scholar; 8. All of the above. The correct answer is 8, and since in addition to (or perhaps because of) all this Moshe is a popular guy, this interview is here by reader request. (Yes, we take interview requests; send them to robin@roblimo.com.) Ask Moshe whatever you wish, one question per post. We'll send him 10 of the highest moderated questions and post his answers as soon as he gets them back to us.
( Read More... | 131 comments | Interviews )
Germany, IBM Sign Major Linux Deal
Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @08:57AM
from the und-jetz dept.
Skip Franklin writes: "IBM and the German government are getting together to implement Linux as the government's computing platform of choice. The deal is being touted as a big blow to Microsoft, although personally I prefer the glass-half-full perspective of a big win for Open Source. The BBC has the story."
( Read More... | 233 comments )
Napster files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @08:02AM
from the no-surprise-there dept.
Joey Patterson writes "CNN Money reports that Napster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy." Thank god the industry shut them down... now that piracy has been stopped they can all sleep much better.
( Read More... | 291 comments )
Your Online Marketplace for Classified Jet Parts
Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @07:16AM
from the flux-capacitor-shipped-separately dept.
jonerik writes: "Reuters is reporting that the U.S. Air Force is less than pleased about the recent posting of a number of sensitive jet communications components on eBay, including parts for the SR-71 spy plane, the F-16 fighter, the KC-10 tanker, and the giant C-5 transport. According to the article, the parts had sat in a warehouse for 12 years after being lost in shipping when the dealer, Norb Novocin, bought the lot for $244 in an unclaimed property sale. Novocin ended up selling four of the items to bidders in a recent auction, including an X-Band Weather Radar Modulator for $500 and a high-frequency radio circuit card for $32. The Air Force is looking into the incident and Novocin is cooperating."
( Read More... | 135 comments )
Opera 6.03 - The Wild Child of Browsers?
Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @06:38AM
from the home-of-the-singing-fat-lady dept.
IEEE1394 writes: "Ever wondered what other Internet browsers are available outside of Internet Explorer? Opera 6.03 from Opera Software boasts itself on being 'the fastest browser on earth.' Does it really live up to its claim of being unique and being fast? Is it the wild child of the browser family and can it ever surpass Internet Explorer as the browser of choice? Let's find out." Funny, IE isn't my browser of choice
( Read More... | 450 comments )
Data Quality Act
Posted by michael on Monday June 03, @05:45AM
from the not-quantity dept.
The New York Times has a heads-up about a little-noticed add-on to a massive appropriations bill, signed into law by Clinton but taking effect in October. The amendment allows anyone to challenge data published by the Federal government and have it changed or deleted. The main proponents of the law are pro-business groups seeking to tie up environmental and similar regulations by challenging the government's data.
( Read More... | 145 comments )
Apple: 17" and 19" inch iMacs Coming in 3Q
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @02:39AM
from the now-thats-what-I'm-talking-about dept.
ikioi writes "It looks like Apple will have 17" and 19" flat panel iMacs later this year." It's funny- the publicity photos of the 15 inch macs really make it look a lot nicer then it is. I finally saw one up close a few weeks ago- the arm and screen is super smooth, but the base looks like a cheap toy. That said, larger screens for the iMac definitely push it into a new territory... not sure if it would convince me to buy one, but it sure would add magic shell to the ice cream.
( Read More... | 166 comments | Apple )
SEC Settles Microsoft Accounting Investigation
Posted by michael on Sunday June 02, @11:28PM
from the cooking-the-books dept.
guttentag writes "The Securities and Exchange Commission has wrapped up its two-year investigation into Microsoft's accounting practices. The investigation focused on "cookie jar" accounting practices in which a company reports that it earned less money than it actually did, secretly storing the unreported money to artificially boost earnings in the future. The SEC called off its investigation in exchange for Microsoft's promise that it will not break the rules in the future, though the company is not admitting that it broke rules in the past. Microsoft publicly states that it has $40 Billion on hand." Gates realized a long time ago that regardless of actual performance, if you "beat estimates" people will buy your stock. So, he's arranging it so that no matter what the actual performance is, Microsoft always "beats estimates". If your analyst estimate is low 61 out of 63 times, either A) you need a new analyst or B) someone is feeding the analyst bad numbers. In this case, probably both.
( Read More... | 225 comments )
Sun Discovers Dumb Terminals
Posted by michael on Sunday June 02, @08:46PM
from the o-in-old-economy dept.
Yahoo has a story about how Sun is practicing a sort of floating workforce - many employees have no permanent desks, they just come in and log on to a dumb terminal, err, thin client. Besides being a sneaky way to encourage employees to arrive ever earlier at work, it probably is cheaper to run the business off a few large Sun servers - at least for Sun.
( Read More... | 516 comments )
CLIT is getting all of them today.
/. today:
...
woohoo!
...incase you haven't seen
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @10:54AM
from the step-in-the-right-direction dept.
MoD writes "From CNet: District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper on Friday overturned a late April ruling that required the maker of ReplayTV set-top box technology to write and install software to monitor what its customers were watching."
( Read More... | 28 comments )
Interviews: Ask Moshe Bar about [your choice here]
Posted by Roblimo on Monday June 03, @10:00AM
from the rennaisance-men-of-the-computer-age dept.
Moshe Bar is (pick one) 1. A Linux kernel developer; 2. A motorcycle enthusiast; 3. The primary openMosix maintainer; 4. A respected Linux device driver writer; 5. Author of several books and many articles about Linux; 6. Newly married. 7. A Talmudic scholar; 8. All of the above. The correct answer is 8, and since in addition to (or perhaps because of) all this Moshe is a popular guy, this interview is here by reader request. (Yes, we take interview requests; send them to robin@roblimo.com.) Ask Moshe whatever you wish, one question per post. We'll send him 10 of the highest moderated questions and post his answers as soon as he gets them back to us.
( Read More... | 131 comments | Interviews )
Germany, IBM Sign Major Linux Deal
Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @08:57AM
from the und-jetz dept.
Skip Franklin writes: "IBM and the German government are getting together to implement Linux as the government's computing platform of choice. The deal is being touted as a big blow to Microsoft, although personally I prefer the glass-half-full perspective of a big win for Open Source. The BBC has the story."
( Read More... | 233 comments )
Napster files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @08:02AM
from the no-surprise-there dept.
Joey Patterson writes "CNN Money reports that Napster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy." Thank god the industry shut them down... now that piracy has been stopped they can all sleep much better.
( Read More... | 291 comments )
Your Online Marketplace for Classified Jet Parts
Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @07:16AM
from the flux-capacitor-shipped-separately dept.
jonerik writes: "Reuters is reporting that the U.S. Air Force is less than pleased about the recent posting of a number of sensitive jet communications components on eBay, including parts for the SR-71 spy plane, the F-16 fighter, the KC-10 tanker, and the giant C-5 transport. According to the article, the parts had sat in a warehouse for 12 years after being lost in shipping when the dealer, Norb Novocin, bought the lot for $244 in an unclaimed property sale. Novocin ended up selling four of the items to bidders in a recent auction, including an X-Band Weather Radar Modulator for $500 and a high-frequency radio circuit card for $32. The Air Force is looking into the incident and Novocin is cooperating."
( Read More... | 135 comments )
Opera 6.03 - The Wild Child of Browsers?
Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @06:38AM
from the home-of-the-singing-fat-lady dept.
IEEE1394 writes: "Ever wondered what other Internet browsers are available outside of Internet Explorer? Opera 6.03 from Opera Software boasts itself on being 'the fastest browser on earth.' Does it really live up to its claim of being unique and being fast? Is it the wild child of the browser family and can it ever surpass Internet Explorer as the browser of choice? Let's find out." Funny, IE isn't my browser of choice
( Read More... | 450 comments )
Data Quality Act
Posted by michael on Monday June 03, @05:45AM
from the not-quantity dept.
The New York Times has a heads-up about a little-noticed add-on to a massive appropriations bill, signed into law by Clinton but taking effect in October. The amendment allows anyone to challenge data published by the Federal government and have it changed or deleted. The main proponents of the law are pro-business groups seeking to tie up environmental and similar regulations by challenging the government's data.
( Read More... | 145 comments )
Apple: 17" and 19" inch iMacs Coming in 3Q
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @02:39AM
from the now-thats-what-I'm-talking-about dept.
ikioi writes "It looks like Apple will have 17" and 19" flat panel iMacs later this year." It's funny- the publicity photos of the 15 inch macs really make it look a lot nicer then it is. I finally saw one up close a few weeks ago- the arm and screen is super smooth, but the base looks like a cheap toy. That said, larger screens for the iMac definitely push it into a new territory... not sure if it would convince me to buy one, but it sure would add magic shell to the ice cream.
( Read More... | 166 comments | Apple )
SEC Settles Microsoft Accounting Investigation
Posted by michael on Sunday June 02, @11:28PM
from the cooking-the-books dept.
guttentag writes "The Securities and Exchange Commission has wrapped up its two-year investigation into Microsoft's accounting practices. The investigation focused on "cookie jar" accounting practices in which a company reports that it earned less money than it actually did, secretly storing the unreported money to artificially boost earnings in the future. The SEC called off its investigation in exchange for Microsoft's promise that it will not break the rules in the future, though the company is not admitting that it broke rules in the past. Microsoft publicly states that it has $40 Billion on hand." Gates realized a long time ago that regardless of actual performance, if you "beat estimates" people will buy your stock. So, he's arranging it so that no matter what the actual performance is, Microsoft always "beats estimates". If your analyst estimate is low 61 out of 63 times, either A) you need a new analyst or B) someone is feeding the analyst bad numbers. In this case, probably both.
( Read More... | 225 comments )
Sun Discovers Dumb Terminals
Posted by michael on Sunday June 02, @08:46PM
from the o-in-old-economy dept.
Yahoo has a story about how Sun is practicing a sort of floating workforce - many employees have no permanent desks, they just come in and log on to a dumb terminal, err, thin client. Besides being a sneaky way to encourage employees to arrive ever earlier at work, it probably is cheaper to run the business off a few large Sun servers - at least for Sun.
( Read More... | 516 comments )
goats
Let's hear it for all da logged in trolls! CLIT! Woohoo!
Ok... Say it with me...
G to da mutha phukken oatse
C to da mutha phukken izzzzzzex
HellZ yeah, you know how it is bizznitch
[slashdot.org][slashdot.org]dumbass[slashdot . rg]
Love Always,
News for Turds
Love Always,
News For Turds
Ok... Say it with me...
G to da mutha phukken oatse
C to da mutha phukken izzzzzzex
HellZ yeah, you know how it is bizznitch
[slashdot.org][slashdot.org]dumbass[slashdot . rg]
I'm sure my post will get modded up. I hate to be a Karma whore, but I just wanted to voice my feelings.
P.S. -- Katz really sux balls.
Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @08:57AM
...
from the und-jetz dept.
Skip Franklin writes: "IBM and the German government are getting together to implement Linux as the government's computing platform of choice. The deal is being touted as a big blow to Microsoft, although personally I prefer the glass-half-full perspective of a big win for Open Source. The BBC has the story."
( Read More... | 71 comments )
Napster files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @08:02AM
from the no-surprise-there dept.
Joey Patterson writes "CNN Money reports that Napster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy." Thank god the industry shut them down... now that piracy has been stopped they can all sleep much better.
( Read More... | 167 comments )
Your Online Marketplace for Classified Jet Parts
Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @07:16AM
from the flux-capacitor-shipped-separately dept.
jonerik writes: "Reuters is reporting that the U.S. Air Force is less than pleased about the recent posting of a number of sensitive jet communications components on eBay, including parts for the SR-71 spy plane, the F-16 fighter, the KC-10 tanker, and the giant C-5 transport. According to the article, the parts had sat in a warehouse for 12 years after being lost in shipping when the dealer, Norb Novocin, bought the lot for $244 in an unclaimed property sale. Novocin ended up selling four of the items to bidders in a recent auction, including an X-Band Weather Radar Modulator for $500 and a high-frequency radio circuit card for $32. The Air Force is looking into the incident and Novocin is cooperating."
( Read More... | 94 comments )
Opera 6.03 - The Wild Child of Browsers?
Posted by timothy on Monday June 03, @06:38AM
from the home-of-the-singing-fat-lady dept.
IEEE1394 writes: "Ever wondered what other Internet browsers are available outside of Internet Explorer? Opera 6.03 from Opera Software boasts itself on being 'the fastest browser on earth.' Does it really live up to its claim of being unique and being fast? Is it the wild child of the browser family and can it ever surpass Internet Explorer as the browser of choice? Let's find out." Funny, IE isn't my browser of choice
( Read More... | 313 comments )
Data Quality Act
Posted by michael on Monday June 03, @05:45AM
from the not-quantity dept.
The New York Times has a heads-up about a little-noticed add-on to a massive appropriations bill, signed into law by Clinton but taking effect in October. The amendment allows anyone to challenge data published by the Federal government and have it changed or deleted. The main proponents of the law are pro-business groups seeking to tie up environmental and similar regulations by challenging the government's data.
( Read More... | 118 comments )
Apple: 17" and 19" inch iMacs Coming in 3Q
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 03, @02:39AM
from the now-thats-what-I'm-talking-about dept.
ikioi writes "It looks like Apple will have 17" and 19" flat panel iMacs later this year." It's funny- the publicity photos of the 15 inch macs really make it look a lot nicer then it is. I finally saw one up close a few weeks ago- the arm and screen is super smooth, but the base looks like a cheap toy. That said, larger screens for the iMac definitely push it into a new territory... not sure if it would convince me to buy one, but it sure would add magic shell to the ice cream.
( Read More... | 140 comments | Apple )
SEC Settles Microsoft Accounting Investigation
Posted by michael on Sunday June 02, @11:28PM
from the cooking-the-books dept.
guttentag writes "The Securities and Exchange Commission has wrapped up its two-year investigation into Microsoft's accounting practices. The investigation focused on "cookie jar" accounting practices in which a company reports that it earned less money than it actually did, secretly storing the unreported money to artificially boost earnings in the future. The SEC called off its investigation in exchange for Microsoft's promise that it will not break the rules in the future, though the company is not admitting that it broke rules in the past. Microsoft publicly states that it has $40 Billion on hand." Gates realized a long time ago that regardless of actual performance, if you "beat estimates" people will buy your stock. So, he's arranging it so that no matter what the actual performance is, Microsoft always "beats estimates". If your analyst estimate is low 61 out of 63 times, either A) you need a new analyst or B) someone is feeding the analyst bad numbers. In this case, probably both.
( Read More... | 204 comments )
Sun Discovers Dumb Terminals
Posted by michael on Sunday June 02, @08:46PM
from the o-in-old-economy dept.
Yahoo has a story about how Sun is practicing a sort of floating workforce - many employees have no permanent desks, they just come in and log on to a dumb terminal, err, thin client. Besides being a sneaky way to encourage employees to arrive ever earlier at work, it probably is cheaper to run the business off a few large Sun servers - at least for Sun.
( Read More... | 481 comments )
Where UnitedLinux Got It Wrong
Posted by michael on Sunday June 02, @06:57PM
from the ransom-love-might-have-something-to-do-with-it dept.
An Anonymous Coward writes "A story on NewsForge [ed. note: part of the keiretsu] suggests that the lack of binaries for UnitedLinux shows disrespect to the community which created most of the software. The author suggests a better way for handling the business problems that a lack of binaries is supposed to solve. Some particularly clueless reader comments say that UnitedLinux has no responsibility to cooperate with the community. The thought that UnitedLinux won't even offer a development distribution to the community does not sit well with me."
( Read More... | 287 comments )
Wireless Congestion
Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday June 02, @05:24PM
from the well-there's-no-surprise-there dept.
AllMightyPaul writes "An article on CNN describes the congestion experienced by many users of wireless networks as more and more people begin to use them at home and at work. The unregulated frequencies between 902 and 928, where most Wi-Fi devices operate, sees a lot of traffic, apparently."
( Read More... | 126 comments )
Not only will your thoughtful contributions to the general flow of the conversations become an asset to the CLIT as a whole, but you will also be helping yourself and others by being able to post more often. Once you have made a few thoughtful contributions that the moderators just don't understand, you will be IP banned, as is about to happen to you now. However, once that ban is lifted, you never have to deal with it again. Like I said, it helps you, because you won't be banned. More importantly, it helps the Slashdot community, because we will all benefit from reading your interesting, thoughtful, and on-topic comments on a regular basis.
Join us. You will not regret it.
P.S. -- Katz really sux balls.
Love Always,
News For Turds
Love Always,
News For Turds
Let's hear it for all da logged in trolls! CLIT! Woohoo!
Ok... Say it with me...
G to da mutha phukken oatse
C to da mutha phukken izzzzzzex
HellZ yeah, you know how it is bizznitch
[slashdot.org][slashdot.org]dumbass[slashdot . rg]
Love Always,
News for Turds
Love Always,
News For Turds
Not Novocin's fault. From the article:
"Novocin informed the depot, who said they did not want the parts and suggested he sell them on eBay."
Typical government incompetency. It was only after Newsweek contacted them that they began to realize there was a problem.
Ok... Say it with me...
G to da mutha phukken oatse
C to da mutha phukken izzzzzzex
HellZ yeah, you know how it is bizznitch
[slashdot.org][slashdot.org]dumbass[slashdot . rg]
usuck