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Celebrities on Trial

From O.J. Simpson to Johnny Depp, these celebrities found themselves in the courtroom spotlight as well.

Britney Spears’ public support may not mean much in court
Britney Spears’ public support may not mean much in court

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Britney Spears’ powerful plea to a judge to end the conservatorship that has controlled her life since 2008 brought sympathy and outrage from fans, famous supporters and even casual observers who say she deserves independence. Yet lawyers who deal in such matters say the speech itself may not have […] More

June 25, 2021

Britney Spears asks judge to free her from conservatorship
Britney Spears asks judge to free her from conservatorship

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Britney Spears asked a judge Wednesday to end court conservatorship that has controlled her life and money since 2008. The dramatic request at a Los Angeles hearing came with her first words in open court in the conservatorship during its 13-year existence. Spears called the […] More

June 23, 2021

R. Kelly nears OK for new legal team for upcoming trial
R. Kelly nears OK for new legal team for upcoming trial

By TOM HAYES NEW YORK (AP) — Jailed R&B singer R. Kelly will likely get to keep a new lawyer in his federal sex-trafficking case despite questions about the attorney’s texts and other communications with one of Kelly’s ex-girlfriends. Kelly, 54, is accused of leading an enterprise made up of his managers, bodyguards and other […] More

June 18, 2021

Judge OKs Weinstein’s extradition for California rape case
Judge OKs Weinstein’s extradition for California rape case

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press A New York judge on Tuesday approved disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s extradition to California, where he faces additional sexual assault charges, ending a legal fight prolonged by the COVID-19 pandemic, the defense’s concerns about Weinstein’s failing health and a squabble over paperwork. Judge Kenneth Case said there was […] More

June 16, 2021

Celebrity attorney F. Lee Bailey dead at 87
Celebrity attorney F. Lee Bailey dead at 87

By MARK PRATT Associated Press WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — F. Lee Bailey, the celebrity attorney who defended O.J. Simpson, Patricia Hearst and the alleged Boston Strangler, but whose legal career halted when he was disbarred in two states, has died, a former colleague said Thursday. He was 87. Bailey died at a hospital in the […] More

June 3, 2021

Ronaldo wants US court to dismiss Vegas rape hush-money case
Ronaldo wants US court to dismiss Vegas rape hush-money case

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — More than a decade after soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo paid $375,000 to hush a Nevada woman’s claim that he raped her in Las Vegas, new allegations about cyber hacking, document theft and attorney misconduct are being raised to block the woman’s bid for another payout. Ronaldo’s […] More

June 3, 2021

Epstein ex Ghislaine Maxwell loses bail bid for 5th time
Epstein ex Ghislaine Maxwell loses bail bid for 5th time

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — For a fifth time, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has lost a bid to be freed on bail while she awaits trial on charges she recruited teenage girls for the millionaire Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan issued a […] More

June 2, 2021

Attorney Dershowitz sues Netflix for $80M over Epstein show
Attorney Dershowitz sues Netflix for $80M over Epstein show

MIAMI (AP) — Attorney and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz is suing Netflix for $80 million over his portrayal in the streaming service’s “Filthy Rich” series about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Miami federal court, contends that Netflix intentionally misled Dershowitz, one of the lawyers once representing Epstein, regarding his appearance […] More

May 28, 2021

Bill Cosby refuses sex offender program, so is denied parole
Bill Cosby refuses sex offender program, so is denied parole

By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Actor Bill Cosby won’t be paroled this year after refusing to participate in sex offender programs during his nearly three years in state prison in Pennsylvania. The 83-year-old Cosby has long said he would resist the treatment programs and refuse to acknowledge wrongdoing even if it means […] More

May 28, 2021

Epstein guards to skirt jail time in deal with prosecutors
Epstein guards to skirt jail time in deal with prosecutors

By MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The two Bureau of Prisons workers tasked with guarding Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself in a New York jail have admitted they falsified records, but they will skirt any time behind bars under a deal with federal prosecutors, authorities said Friday. The prison workers, Tova […] More

May 25, 2021

Woman testifies she woke to find actor Masterson raping her
Woman testifies she woke to find actor Masterson raping her

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — In hours of often tearful testimony, a woman told a judge Tuesday that she was slipping in and out of consciousness on a night 18 years ago when she said she found actor Danny Masterson raping her. “When I came to, he was on top […] More

May 19, 2021

Judge seeks answers for Ghislaine Maxwell’s bruised eye in jail
Judge seeks answers for Ghislaine Maxwell’s bruised eye in jail

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge ordered the government Thursday to explain why guards repeatedly flashed light into Ghislaine Maxwell’s cell overnight, an action her lawyers say may have led to a bruise over one eye as she awaits trial in an alleged sex trafficking conspiracy with ex-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein. U.S. District Judge Alison J. […] More

April 30, 2021

Steelers CB Layne arrested on gun charge after traffic stop
Steelers CB Layne arrested on gun charge after traffic stop

WILLOUGHBY HILLS, Ohio (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Justin Layne was arrested Friday in Ohio after police said they found a loaded gun in his car during an early morning traffic stop. Layne, 23, was arrested on a fourth-degree felony charge of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, Willoughby Hills police said. […] More

April 23, 2021

Judge: R. Kelly to be moved to NYC for sex-trafficking trial
Judge: R. Kelly to be moved to NYC for sex-trafficking trial

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge gave the green light Thursday to move jailed R&B singer R. Kelly to New York City to go on trial this summer after several delays. Kelly has been held in Chicago, where he’s facing a potential second trial in the fall in a separate federal case related to a […] More

April 15, 2021

OJ Simpson, Las Vegas Strip hotel settle defamation case
OJ Simpson, Las Vegas Strip hotel settle defamation case

LAS VEGAS (AP) — O.J. Simpson and a Las Vegas hotel-casino have settled a lawsuit alleging that unnamed employees defamed Simpson by telling a celebrity news site he had been banned from the property in November 2017 for being drunk and disruptive. Simpson’s attorney, Malcolm LaVergne, declined Thursday to comment about the agreement reached with […] More

April 9, 2021

Harvey Weinstein appeals conviction, blames ‘cavalier’ judge
Harvey Weinstein appeals conviction, blames ‘cavalier’ judge

NEW YORK (AP) — More than a year after Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction, his lawyers are demanding a new trial, arguing in court papers Monday that the landmark #MeToo prosecution that put him behind bars was buoyed by improper rulings from a judge who was “cavalier” in protecting the disgraced movie mogul’s right to a fair […] More

April 6, 2021

Sex trafficking crimes brought against Epstein ex-girlfriend
Sex trafficking crimes brought against Epstein ex-girlfriend

NEW YORK (AP) — Sex trafficking charges were added Monday to the indictment against financier Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend as prosecutors alleged that she groomed a 14-year-old girl to recruit other young females in the early 2000s to provide “sexualized massages” to Epstein in return for cash. The charges contained in a superseding indictment returned by […] More

March 29, 2021