The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at then-President George W. Bush at a news conference in December could be released from jail as early as next week, his attorney told CNN on Friday. Muntadhar al-Zaidi is serving one year in prison after his original three-year sentence was reduced by an appellate court in April. Dhiyaa al-Saadi, head of Iraq's Bar Association and al-Zaidi's chief defense attorney, said he had submitted a petition about two months ago to authorities requesting ...

The SEC internal-investigation report released on Wednesday points a clear finger of blame at the agency, stating that SEC investigators missed multiple opportunities to discover Bernard Madoff's criminal activities. But while the report hammers the SEC for repeated instances of incompetence, it stops well short of declaring the SEC liable. "The OIG [Office of Inspector General] investigation did not find evidence that any SEC personnel who worked on an SEC examination or investigation of Bernard L. Madoff ...

A Georgia man who spent a year in jail for nonpayment of child support -- despite the fact he has no children -- has been cleared of the debt, his attorney said Tuesday. Frank Hatley, 50, spent 13 months in jail for being a deadbeat dad before his release last month. In June 2008, a judge ordered him to jail for failing to reimburse the state for public assistance that was paid to support his "son" -- a child who ...

The husband of a woman who authorities say was impaired by marijuana and alcohol when she caused a head-on collision that killed eight people, including herself, has rejected claims of substance abuse by his wife. "I've never seen her drunk since the day I met her," Daniel Schuler, referring to his wife, Diane, said Thursday. "I'm not angry at her. I'd marry her again tomorrow." Accompanied by his attorney, Schuler held a news conference to counter claims by authorities, who ...

So accustomed is Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to being under police investigation that he is known to constantly switch phone numbers and to remove the battery from his cell phone during private meetings. After 13 years of on-and-off probes into his private and political affairs, Lieberman has had good reason to believe that Israel's police were bugging his calls. And it certainly came as no surprise to the leader of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party when the police ...

The highly controversial no-warrant surveillance program initiated after the September 11 terrorist attacks relied on a "factually flawed" legal analysis inappropriately provided by a single Justice Department official, according to a report to Congress on Friday. The report was compiled by the inspectors general of the nation's top intelligence agencies, the Pentagon and the Justice Department. The report, mandated by Congress, provides fresh context to information previously leaked in press accounts and buttressed by both congressional testimony and books written ...

President Obama on Tuesday left open the possibility of criminal prosecution for Bush administration officials who drew up the legal basis for interrogation techniques that many view as torture. Obama said it will be up to Attorney General Eric Holder to decide whether or not to prosecute the former officials. "With respect to those who formulated those legal decisions, I would say that is going to be more a decision for the attorney general within the parameter of various laws, ...

A U.S. immigration appeals board on Thursday denied a request to reopen the deportation case of Nazi war crimes suspect John Demjanjuk. However, a federal appeals court's stay on Demjanjuk's deportation remains in effect. The 89-year-old is facing charges in Germany for his alleged involvement in killings at Sobibor, a Nazi death camp in Poland, during World War II. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered its stay on Tuesday, less than two hours after federal immigration officials ...

Consumers who bought "Caylee Sunshine" dolls and Michael Vick dog toys were misled into believing that a portion of their purchases would go to charity, according to a lawsuit filed this week. The Florida Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit Thursday against Showbiz Promotions and its owner, Jaime Salcedo, seeking $10,000 in penalties for each violation under the state's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. But Salcedo denies the allegations, saying he has been trying to resolve the disputes and ...

A Texas woman claims in a lawsuit her 21-year-old son has suffered emotional trauma from being forced to participate in alleged "fight clubs" at a state school for mentally handicapped adults. Inez Hernandez, mother of Armando Hernandez Jr., filed the suit Wednesday against the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, according to a statement from the office of her attorney, Robert Hilliard. Police have alleged that workers at the Corpus Christi State School were staging a "fight ...