Judge rules in Kwame Kilpatrick’s favor this time around

Embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick remains free after facing the same judge on Tuesday who ordered him to jail last week on a bond violation. A Detroit news outlet had published a photo of Kilpatrick at his mother’s home at the same time that his sister visited the house, raising questions of whether his presence there violated court restrictions.  Get the latest details at BET.com/News.

Money for MLK Memorial pours in.

The money keeps on pouring in for the historic Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C. On Tuesday, organizers announced that donors, including $3 million from Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, had compelled them to raise the fundraising goal from $100 million to $120 million. Contributions for the memorial, which will be built on the National Mall, already has reached $99 million, according to Harry E. Johnson, Sr., president of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, the private group in charge of the effort. So why the new money goal? There are “a number of variables,” including changes in the structural plan, the addition of a bookstore and security costs as well as inflation for the rising cost estimate, Johnson says. After a stormy past few months over the design of the 28-foot statue of King, to be sculpted by Chinese artist Lei Yixin, the project appears on a positive track. Still, the project must win final approval for all aspects of the memorial site before construction can begin. The memorial is expected to take about 18-20 months to complete.

Muslim hate-crime victim leaves the hospital. The Muslim native of Uzbekistan, who was shot repeatedly while pumping gas at a Cleveland gas station, left the hospital Monday, nearly eight weeks after the tragic episode was captured on videotape. Police have been investigating the incident as a hate crime. As he left the MetroHealth Medical Center, 49-year-old Fazliddin Yakubov offered “a million, million thanks” for all the support he has received, The Plain Dealer newspaper reported Tuesday. He had been shot three times in the abdomen while his son was pumping gas. The video led to the arrest of 18-year-old William Neal of Cleveland, who’s charged with felonious assault and attempted murder. He’s being held in a Cuyahoga County jail on $250,000 bond.

Actor ordered to pay costs of his own prosecution on tax charges.
Prosecutors who felt that actor Wesley Snipes has gotten too many breaks since his conviction on tax charges probably don’t mind a judge’s latest decision. Snipes was ordered Wednesday to repay $217,000 in costs for his prosecution since he was convicted of failing to file tax returns. Snipes was sentenced to prison, but is free while he appeals the verdict. Prosecutors recently objected when Snipes received permission to travel to Europe to star in a film.

No voter-info distribution at Jersey polls, court rules. A New Jersey rights group lost its battle Wednesday to pass out information to voters at polling stations. Advocates for the right to distribute the voters’-rights cards called the ruling by a New Jersey appeals court, which upheld a directive by Attorney General Anne Milgram last year, a blow to voters. The American Civil Liberties Union had sought to give voters a card – within 100 feet of voting booths – that explains voting rights and provides a number to call if there are problems with registration or voting. In addition, the three-judge court also upheld an earlier ruling that groups wishing to conduct exit polling must register with local election boards at least two weeks before an election. The ACLU says it will take its case to the state Supreme Court.

Instead, he ruled that the District has one of the most “inclusive” systems in America
A judge has ruled that the jury system in Washington, D.C., long considered “Chocolate City,” does not tend to block Blacks from duty in favor of Whites. The ruling by Superior Court Judge James E. Boasberg was a blow to the D.C. Public Defender Service, which has argued vehemently that the nation’s capital systematically excludes Black jurors. But Boasberg said Blacks might even be overrepresented in the pool of potential jurors. Armed with court orders, the Public Defender Service brought in scores of experts to scour through two years worth of papers and procedures, and to analyze jury pools and other data. What the attorneys found was that in D.C., which is 60 percent Black, 36 percent of Superior Court jurors were Black. But, instead of agreeing with the lawyers based on the statistical evidence, the judge found the data “wholly misleading.” Boasberg wrote in his ruling, “The data uncovered in this litigation conclusively prove that Black jurors are not unconstitutionally underrepresented in Superior Court [lists] – in fact, they are overrepresented in summonses issued – and there is also no systematic exclusion of Black jurors.” What he did find convincing was another study conducted for the U.S. attorney’s office showing that Blacks made up 56 percent of the city’s “adult” population and about 53 percent of the jurors over that two-year period. The public defenders’ concerns have fallen on sympathetic ears in recent years. Take the criminal case last year of a Black defendant who drew a jury pool of 70 candidates that included 61 Whites, eight Blacks and an Asian. The presiding judge, Neal E. Kravitz, agreeing with defense attorneys, demanded a new panel.