Marshall, 33, was found dead at his home by police responding to a call. Marshall had been stabbed more than 30 times.

A breakthrough in the case came in September 2006 when the FBI Laboratory's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) matched Jackson to DNA recovered on the linoleum floor of Marshall's residence. Jackson was in prison on an unrelated charge.

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday suspended a judicial inquiry into misconduct charges against the country's top judge that triggered weeks of nationwide protests.

The court ordered the suspension as it took up a petition from Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry challenging his sacking, a decision likely to embarrass President Pervez Musharraf's government.

Musharraf suspended Chaudhry on March 9 on allegations of misconduct and abuse of authority, sparking a wave of massive protests by opposition parties and lawyers who branded it an attack on the independence of the judiciary.

The misconduct allegations were being investigated by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), a panel of five senior judges, but Chaudhry argued that it was not competent to try him.

"The SJC proceedings have been stayed," Tariq Mehmud, a lawyer for Chaudhry, told AFP after the hearing.

Mehmud said the Supreme Court had demanded that Chaudhry's case should be heard by a full court comprising all of its judges.

"The SJC would not hear the case until Supreme Court decides the petition of chief justice," Chaudhry's main lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan said.

"The court's order shows that the proceedings so far of the Supreme Judicial Council were unconstitutional," Ahsan added.

The SJC was scheduled to resume its proceedings on Wednesday.

Government lawyers said the decision showed the judiciary was independent.

"I am not unhappy over the order," Malik Mohammad Qayyum, a senior lawyer representing the government, told reporters.

"We are saying from the beginning that judges are independent and let them decide the case," Qayyum said.

Asked if the government would appeal against the suspension order, he said there could not be an appeal against an interim order and added that when a full court assembled, it could decide the matter.

The decision comes in the wake of a judicial crisis that poses one of the most serious threats to the eight-year rule of Musharraf, an army general who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999.

Opposition parties and lawyers have staged anti-Musharraf rallies on each of Chaudhry's eight appearances before the council in the past two months.

In a 132-point petition the chief justice also challenged the composition of the council, the decision to send him on forced leave, and the misconduct charges, lawyer Ahsan said.

A massive rally was held in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday where Chaudhry was cheered by tens of thousands of supporters.

Opponents accuse Musharraf of sacking Chaudhry illegally in an attempt to weaken the judiciary to make it easier for him to remain in charge of the army after 2007, when he should give up the position.

Musharraf is also expected to seek re-election by the outgoing parliament for another five years ahead of national polls due to be held late this year or in early 2008 -- a move that could spark other legal challenges.

MOSCOW -- A court Monday found the principal of a village school guilty of using bootleg Microsoft software and ordered him to pay a fine of about $195 in a case that was cast by Russian media as a battle between a humble educator and an international corporation.

The trial of Alexander Ponosov, who was charged with violating intellectual property rights by using classroom computers with pirated versions of the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office software installed, has attracted wide attention.

Russian officials frequently allege that foreign governments, including the U.S., are meddling in Russia's internal affairs, and Russian media reports have portrayed the case as that of a Western corporation bringing its power to bear on one man _ in this case, a principal who also teaches history and earns $360 a month.

Microsoft, however, has said repeatedly it has nothing to do with the charges, which were brought by Russian prosecutors in the Ural Mountains region where Ponosov's school is located.

The case "was initiated by Russian authorities under Russian law," the company said in an e-mailed statement after the verdict. "Microsoft neither initiated nor has any plans to bring any action against Mr. Ponosov."

Prosecutor Natalya Kurdoyakova said in televised remarks that Ponosov knew he was violating the law "and illegally used these programs in computer classes."

Ponosov has maintained his innocence, saying that the computers at the school came with the software already installed.

"I had no idea it wasn't licensed," Ponosov told The Associated Press by telephone. He said that he planned to file an appeal.

"Prosecutors made a lot of mistakes starting from the moment they checked the computers," he said.

Ponosov was found guilty of causing $10,000 in damage to the company, RIA-Novosti quoted judge Valentina Tiunova as saying.

In February, the court in the Vereshchaginsky district of the Perm region threw out the case, saying Ponosov's actions were "insignificant" and presented no danger to society. Both Ponosov and prosecutors vowed to appeal in hopes of forcing a clear decision, with Ponosov saying he wanted a full acquittal.

In March, the regional court ordered Ponosov to stand trial a second time.

Despite government pledges to crack down on Russia's rampant piracy, the country remains the No. 2 producer of bootlegged software, movies and music after China.

In April, the Bush administration put Russia, China and 10 other nations on a "priority watch list," which will subject them to extra scrutiny and could eventually lead to economic sanctions if the administration decides to bring trade cases before the World Trade Organization.

The designation was made in an annual report the administration is required to provide to Congress each year that highlights the problems U.S. companies are facing around the world with copyright piracy. The report said that the United States will be closely watching to see how Russia fulfills the commitments it made to upgrading copyright protection as part of a U.S.-Russia accord reached last year which was seen as a key milestone in Russian efforts to join the WTO.

Assistant Grayson County District Attorney Mike Mitchell said Secret Service officials found a number of pictures of what appeared to be a young child in sexual activity with adults.

Brooks’ guilty plea means he will have to register as a sex offender for life. The nature of the crime means Brooks will have to serve half of whatever sentence he might get before being eligible for parole. 

Among the deals announced, McDermott represented Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated in March with respect to its equity commitment in connection with the proposed $45 billion leveraged buy out acquisition of TXU Corp., the Texas energy company.  The transaction represents the largest leveraged buyout in history, and put McDermott among the top 10 legal advisors for global utility deals and private equity deals for the first quarter as well.
These rankings reflect the continued momentum of McDermott's M&A practice which for all 2006 was among the top 20 most active practices in the U.S. according to both Bloomberg and Mergermarket.

McDermott Will & Emery's Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Group is a globally integrated team of corporate lawyers providing high-end M&A services to a broad range of clients around the world.  We represent clients in both friendly and contested public company acquisitions, proxy contests, stock and asset acquisitions and divestitures and joint ventures. We have extensive experience in complex cross-border transactions and work closely with members of our tax, antitrust and other key practice groups.

A federal court in Chicago, Ill., has permanently barred Bertha Steverson of Chicago from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The court found that Steverson, the owner of Bertha’s Tax Service, prepared tax returns for customers that contained deductions for fictitious expenses. The court found that Steverson has prepared an estimated 1,224 returns since 2004 that have caused an estimated loss to the U.S. Treasury of more than $3 million.

The court’s order requires Steverson to give the Justice Department a list of her customers’ names, addresses, e-mail addresses and Social Security numbers. More information and a copy of the complaint are available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv07118.htm.

Since 2001 the Justice Department has obtained more than 235 injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of fraudulent returns. More information about these cases is available on the Justice Department Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2007.htm. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/index.html.

In issuing a veto threat, the White House said it opposed a bill that treats crime victims differently from others, saying, "The administration believes that all violent crimes are unacceptable, regardless of the victims, and should be punished firmly." The White House, which called the legislation unnecessary, said the bill also raised constitutional concerns.

While the bill has broad bi-partisan support, it still may not have enough votes to override a veto from the executive branch. However, the legislation has earned the endorsement of a variety of groups, including most LGBT civil rights groups, and more than 210 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations, such as the National Sheriffs' Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.