An Illinois woman involved in a lawsuit over the alleged wrongful death of an 89-year-old Alzheimer’s patient has pleaded guilty to criminal neglect, according to the Chicago Tribune. Sarah Wentworth died of hypothermia earlier this year after wandering out of the Arbor of Itasca nursing home in freezing temperatures. Heidi Leon, the nursing assistant on duty at the time, failed to respond when Wentworth triggered an alarm, prosecutors said. A wrongful death lawsuit is currently pending against the facility

An attorney representing a 49-year-old woman and her 8-year-old daughter filed a lawsuit Wednesday over an auto accident involving Sonnenschein partner Paul Glad. According to the lawsuit, Glad was under the influence of OxyContin at the time of the accident that resulted in the mother losing one leg above the knee. Glad allegedly rammed into a group of parents and children selling Girl Scout cookies outside a store in Burlingame, Calif.

A judge has ordered a North Carolina man to pay more than $15 million in damages in a wrongful death lawsuit involving his slain wife. The award to the family of Michelle Young includes $3.89 million in actual damages and $11.67 million in punitive damages. Ms. Youngâ??s husband, Jason Young, is currently the focus of a criminal investigation into his wifeâ??s death.

In response to a suit by three Houston police officers for defamation, community activist Quanell X has now sued those officers alleging his civil rights have been violated. The cases both arise from the November arrest of Marvin Driver Jr., father of Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver. The Houston Police Department found that the officers behaved appropriately, while Quanell X contends the officers beat Mr. Driver during the arrest

During the course of an arrest on a mental health warrant, Harris County Precinct 1 constableâ??s deputies handcuffed Joel Dan Casey, Tasered him, stunned him 18 times with a stun gun, hogtied him, and one deputy dropped his knee on Caseyâ??s neck. He subsequently died and his death was ruled a homicide. Jurors found that the deputies used excessive force in the death, and ordered Harris County to pay $3 million to his mother and his estate. The county plans to appeal.

A Texas company bilked older investors for about $30 million using a fraudulent life insurance securities scheme, state officials said Thursday. The state alleges that executives at National Life Settlements of Houston used the money to finance their personal lifestyles rather than purchasing life insurance policies on the behalf of clients. A Texas State Securities Board official said they are continuing criminal and civil investigations into the matter.

The parents of more than 70 youths jailed by two Pennsylvania judges filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing the judges of denying the juveniles their right to a fair and impartial trial. In the lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, plaintiffs claim that the two judges placed the youthful offenders in juvenile detention centers in return for financial gain. The two judges pleaded guilty earlier this month to charges of taking $2.6 million in kick-backs from private juvenile detention centers.

A federal jury Wednesday awarded almost $1.3 million in civil damages to a Glendale,California man who was falsely accused of murder and spent eight months in a Los Angeles County jail before being cleared of the charges.

Attorneys for the man sued the Glendale Police Department in U.S. District Court for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution, saying that detectives who arrested him in connection with a 2005 home invasion slaying ignored exculpatory evidence, including his alibi.

The decision by the jury means Ovasapyan will receive $1.1 million in compensatory damages. They also found Det. Arthur Frank and Lt. Ian Grimes liable for $150,000 in punitive damages.

For more than 20 years, W.R. Grace & Co. operated a vermiculite mine in Libby, Mont., producing bags of puffy white granules that were marketed all over the U.S., perfect for insulating attics and aerating gardens and potting soil.

The trouble was, the vermiculite contained small quantities of asbestos, a cancer-causing fiber that could, even in tiny quantities, fatally lodge itself in the lungs.

The material posed a risk not only to mine workers, but also to those who touched the workers’ clothing or used the high school running track and community ice-skating rink, both built with asbestos-laden mine tailings donated by the company.

That was the Maryland-based chemical company’s “secret,” federal prosecutors alleged Monday as W.R. Grace and five of its former executives went on trial here in a case that environmental law experts describe as the most significant criminal prosecution the U.S. has ever filed against an alleged corporate polluter.

Raw vermiculite from Libby was processed at sites around the country, including several California locations — Newark, Santa Ana, Glendale and Thermal among them. Many of the sites were subsequently found to be contaminated and have become part of the massive wave of lawsuits that forced W.R. Grace into bankruptcy reorganization in 2001. The company last year announced plans to settle the claims.

An estimated 1,200 Libby residents died or developed asbestos-related diseases from the asbestos fibers that permeated nearly every corner of the small town.

The Pentagon has concluded that the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay meets the standards for humane treatment of detainees established in the Geneva Convention accords.

In a report for President Obama on conditions at Guantanamo, the Pentagon recommended some changes — mainly providing some of the most troublesome inmates with more group recreation and opportunities for prayer.

Some of the most dangerous inmates at Guantanamo have been prohibited from meeting with other prisoners for prayer or socialization; they are kept in their cells for as long as 23 hours a day. That includes self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and other self-styled Al Qaeda leaders charged with overseeing the 9/11 attacks, who would be likely to be affected by the proposed reforms.

Obama has criticized the detention center, and human rights advocates have condemned it as violating the Geneva Convention, a series of international rules established to protect the rights of those detained by other countries, including in times of war.

The administration official said the report’s primary conclusions supported the Department of Defense’s long-standing contention that Guantanamo was in compliance with the global convention, including Article 3, which requires the humane treatment of prisoners taken in unconventional armed conflicts, such as the war on terrorism.