Process Server Linked to Second Murder Case

LAS VEGAS -- A process server who was arrested in the murder and attempted murder of a Las Vegas couple is now facing more charges.

Police say Gregory Hover will be charged with the kidnapping and murder of 21-year-old Prisma Contreras. Her burned body was found in her Jeep in a desert area near U.S. 95 and the Nelson Landing Road south of Boulder City on Jan. 15th. Contreras had been reported missing the day before. She was a waitress at Hooters Hotel and Casino.

Richard Freeman, who police say is an accomplice, is also facing charges.

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Washington Man Threatens Process Server with Shotgun

FERNDALE,Wash. -- A Whatcom County man faces charges for allegedly firing three shotgun blasts at a process server.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Meade says the process server presented legal papers to the 65 year old Steven Kayser at his home in the 7100 block of Everett Road near Ferndale Thursday afternoon.

Kayser became upset and told the server he had five seconds to leave the property or he would be shot.

The server retreated as Kayser retrieved a 12 gauge shotgun from his shop and fired a round into the air.

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Bristol Palin Subpoenas Playgirl, but Not Pistachio Co.

Bristol Palin doesn't believe for a second that her Playgirl-posing ex, Levi Johnston, is unable to fork over the amount of child support she's seeking from him, and she's taking legal action to get answers, TMZ is reporting.

Palin, the daughter of former Republican vice presidential candidate and half-term governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, has subpoenaed many, but not all, the places that Johnston drew paychecks over the past year to determine whether he can afford the $1,688 monthly payments laid out in court. The pair have a year-old son, Tripp. Bristol claims his take for 2009 was more than $105,000; however, Levi claims he earned far less than that and that prior to 2009 he'd never made more than $10,000/year.

Palin's legal team released a paycheck stub from 2008 that shows Johnston was paid $18,594 from one employer in 2008.

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Committee Subpoena Could Loom for Toyota CEO

A subpoena from Congress could be next for Toyota's top executive after he declined a committee appearance Wednesday.

The office of the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), said that Issa and committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) would take further steps to get testimony from Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda on his company's recent safety recalls.

"Obviously, Mr. Toyoda is not as eager too give Congress and the American people answers as we first thought," Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella said in a statement. "It's telling that the only way he'll come before the Oversight committee is by formal invitation."

Toyoda said Wednesday that he planned to travel to the U.S. next week, but said that Toyota North America President Yoshimi Inaba would be the best-suited person to testify before the Oversight committee.

Toyoda has sought to wage a PR offensive after millions of his company's vehicles were recalled for a faulty accelerator problems. Over 100,000 of the company's fuel-efficient Prius line were also recalled for braking problems.

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Alabama Oxendine contributors reject Georgia subpoenas

Ten Alabama political action committees, found last year to have funneled insurance company money to Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine’s campaign for governor, have rejected subpoenas from the Georgia State Ethics Commission.

Michael Waters, a Birmingham attorney for Alamerica Bank, where the PACs are located, wrote the commission last week that the commission did not have jurisdiction over the bank.

“The bank questions whether subpoenas issued by an agency in a state other than Alabama is a proper, lawful subpoena issued on the Bank,” he wrote.

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Senate Subpoeaned In Connection With Queens Charity

The US attorney's office has served the Senate Democrats with a subpoena seeking information about the member items directed by Senate President Malcolm Smith to a controversial Queens charity he helped found, sources confirm.

The subpoena, which landed yesterday, asks for details about the more than $100,000 Smith has tried to send since 2001 to New Direction Local Development Corp., a nonprofit he and Rep. Greg Meeks founded ostensibly to provide assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina - a goal that went largely unmet.

Senate Democratic spokesman Austin Shafran said he could neither confirm nor deny the subpoena, but Republican sources said the Democrats have reached across the aisle for assistance in tracking down information about Smith's member items.

Since the GOP was in the majority at the time Smith sought taxpayer cash for New Direction, it was also in charge of doling out the money. Another Smith connection to New Direction: His counsel, Mortimer Lawrence, is the group's chairman.

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Serving Papers is Big Business in this MO County

By law, there are two things the sheriff's department is required to do: Run the jail and serve legal papers. And the business of serving papers is a booming one for the Cole County Sheriff's Department.

"We keep going up, and we're never going back down," said Lt. Wayne Kem, who heads up the civil division, which has seen the number of garnishments served go up 85 percent since 2005.

As of 2008, Cole County was third in the state in terms of the number of papers served, mainly due to the fact that it's the seat of state government.

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Police: Legal Runner Returned to Home, Shot Husband and Wife

A man who worked for a legal runner firm serving civil papers is facing murder, kidnapping and robbery charges after a husband and wife he served papers on were attacked last month in their Las Vegas home.

Gregory L. Hover, 38, was arrested Saturday in connection with the shootings of Roberta and Julio Romero. Julio Romero was shot dead in his home in southwestern Las Vegas in the early morning hours of Jan. 25. His wife, Roberta, was shot in the face, but survived.

A criminal complaint was filed today charging Hover with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping, each count with a deadly weapon; two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon; two counts of burglary, with one burglary count enhanced with use of a deadly weapon; attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon; and one count of coercion with use of a deadly weapon.

According to an arrest report, Hover first made contact with the Romeros when he came to their home, near the intersection of Jones Boulevard and Russell Road, on Jan. 24 in search of a person named Santiago Pozzi. Pozzi, a friend of the Romeros, owed $10,000, Hover said, telling the couple he had legal papers he needed to serve on Pozzi, the report indicated.

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Ex-H.S. Coach has Records Subpoenaed in Sex Probe

The Boston District Attorney’s office has subpoenaed the employment records of former Christ the King boys basketball coach Bob Oliva, who has been accused of molesting a family friend during a trip to Massachusetts more than 30 years ago, sources told The Post.

Oliva resigned from the Middle Village, Queens high school last year amid the sex abuse allegations, levied by longtime friend Jimmy Carlino, who is scheduled to testify in front of a grand jury on Feb. 10, The Post has learned.

In April 2008, Carlino accused Oliva of sexually abusing him more than 30 years ago and reportedly demanded $750,000 and Oliva’s resignation in a letter from a Florida law firm to make the case go away.

Oliva refused and Christ the King officials at the time vehemently defended Oliva, calling the accusations a shakedown. Oliva took a medical leave of absence, citing heart problems brought on by stress, before retiring in January 2009 after 27 years as head coach. He accumulated a record of 549-131 and won four CHSAA Class AA intersectional titles.

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Serial Suer Drops All Lawsuits

Erik Estavillo has a long record of litigation against a number of large gaming corporations and celebrities for reasons some might call "frivolous". In July, he sued Sony for banning his PlayStation Network account, which he relied on for socialization due to suffering from agoraphobia, a fear of crowds. In November, he sued Microsoft after his Xbox 360 suffered the infamous "red ring of death," as well as Nintendo for a recent update that disabled a homebrew Wii Channel that he used to unlock characters in Mario Kart Wii.

The suits failed to take into account niggling details such as the fact that Estavillo was banned for behavior, the "red ring of death" is fixable at no cost to the consumer, and there were a number of updates available to re-enable his homebrew channel, but Estavillo has never shown much interest in the details of his case. Furthermore, many of his cases were outright dismissed, though until now that hadn't stopped him from trying.

In his decision to drop the cases, he cited the stress of the long wait for his cases to resolve, which in turn led to his doctor advising he walk away. Estavillo also cited panic disorder and Crohn's disease as health issues keeping him from following the lawsuits to completion. Also, a number of changes were made that apparently appeased Estavillo.

The fact that he couldn't afford the process server fees to serve people like Bill Gates and Winona Rider probably helped the decision along as well. Estavillo has since dropped off the map: All his sites and blogs have been obliterated from the internet. Whether we've truly heard the last of this man remains to be seen.

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Deputies at Odds on Pay for Serving Papers

Luzerne County Controller Walter Griffith said sheriff’s deputies have indicated that they might continue using their personal vehicles to serve civil and mortgage foreclosure documents, but they would seek reimbursement based on mileage traveled rather than extra pay.

Griffith said he won’t release payment for this mileage unless it is approved by county commissioners because he believes the county’s travel policy requires commissioner approval of all travel over $1,500.

He said he advised deputies to use sheriff’s vehicles to serve documents unless they obtain commissioner approval. Commissioners won’t meet again until Feb. 12.

Sheriff’s office representatives have argued that the department does not have enough available vehicles.

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Barnes and Noble Receives Subpoena from New York State Attorney General in Online Retailer Investigation

Bookseller Barnes & Noble acknowledged that it has received a subpoena from the New York State Attorney General for information concerning an investigation into online retailers who link customers to discount clubs that charge hidden fees.

Barnes & Noble said that it wants to reassure customers that it is not one of the retailers who turns over personal or credit or debit card information to discount clubs.

"We welcome the Attorney General's review because it will show that Barnes & Noble does not, nor has it ever, shared customer debit or credit card information with discount clubs," said William Lynch, President, of Barnes & Noble.com. "Customers should be reassured that their personal information, including credit and debit card information is not and never has been shared with discount clubs."

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Facebook Resists Subpoena in Shooting that Involved St. Louis Officer

A former St. Louis police officer who faces a felony trial for a shooting in Pontoon Beach wants to see the Facebook records of several investigating officers and other potential witnesses against him.

Facebook Inc. is resisting a subpoena for those records.

Albert Watkins, attorney for the ex-officer, Bryan Pour, said he believes there are "Facebook friendships" between several officers involved in the investigation and people who were present at Mac N Mick's Sports Bar & Grill on Nov. 9, 2008, when the shooting occurred.

Watkins said those relationships and other evidence "give rise to concerns" about the impartiality of the investigation.

"We believe law enforcement had pre-existing and subsequent relationships with material witnesses," Watkins said. He said it is important to explore those connections.

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Late Night Serve Scares Wife

MONTGOMERY — Republican gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne on Tuesday said opponents who are in a lawsuit over two-year college system policies established while he was the system chancellor are trying to intimidate him.

Byrne said a process server attempted Monday to serve him a subpoena to give a deposition in the lawsuit after dark at his home while he wasn’t there.

In a statement from his campaign, Byrne said his wife answered the door Monday night and was greeted by a man who allegedly wouldn’t identify himself, facts that a lawyer for legislators who sued disputed. “Needless to say my wife was unnerved by this strange, unexpected and mysterious middle-of-the-night caller,” Byrne said.

Byrne campaign spokes-woman Marty Sullivan said the attempt to serve the subpoena occurred between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Monday.

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Judge Tells Government to Serve Lawsuit on Agents

A judge on Monday ordered the government to serve a lawsuit on two unidentified federal agents who allegedly participated overseas in the mistreatment of a Muslim man from New Jersey who was held in Africa for four months between 2006-2007.

Lawyers for Amir Mohamed Meshal, a U.S. citizen who now lives in Tinton Falls, N.J., say he was questioned more than 30 times as a suspected terrorist and threatened with torture and death while imprisoned in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.

In a lawsuit filed on his behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union, Meshal says he knew two of his interrogators only as "Tim" and "Dennis." Meshal's lawyers say they are confident the two were FBI agents.

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Bomb Squad Sent to Sandhill Road Property

A routine delivery of eviction papers became more exciting for Sangamon County process servers Friday afternoon when an explosive device was found on the property.

The incident happened about noon at a home in the 2300 block of Sandhill Road. Sangamon County process servers went to the home to serve eviction paperwork. They arrived to find numerous vehicles on the property, so they summoned an Illinois Secretary of State officer there to investigate whether the vehicles were legal.

Police discovered what apparently was a blasting cap shoved into a flare. Sandhill Road was closed down, and members of the Secretary of State bomb squad was sent to the property to investigate further.

The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office said the blasting cap was considered a “valid explosive device.” The bomb squad retrieved it, and charges are pending, they said.

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FHA Subpoenas 15 Mortgage Companies

The Federal Housing Administration initiated on Tuesday a probe of 15 mortgage companies that have disproportionately high default rates on loans insured by the government agency.

Officials served subpoenas on the companies on Tuesday. The agency is looking at mortgage companies that have had above-average rates of loans that default shortly after origination, which is often a sign of fraud or sloppy underwriting.

The FHA, which doesn’t make loans but instead insures lenders against losses, has boosted its market share rapidly in the aftermath of the housing bust, and it now accounts for around one-quarter of the U.S. mortgage market. The agency is under pressure to stem losses from rising defaults and its capital reserves are expected to be heavily depleted as a result of those defaulted loans.

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Deceased Victim Subpoenaed To Testify Against Alleged Killer

Imagine losing a loved one to a violent assault. Then imagine getting a subpoena addressed to that dead loved one ordering them to testify against the alleged killer.

It happened in Englewood.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Della Soliz told 7NEWS. “It’s like rubbing salt into the wound.”

Soliz found her battered son, Timothy Sanchez, sitting on her front porch last March. He’d been drinking at a neighbor’s house across the street on the 3500 block of South Bannock.

According to the arrest affidavit, the suspect, Leonard Ross, told his neighbors that he “kicked Tim’s ass,” because Tim was disrespecting his wife and stepdaughter.

Those neighbors said Ross told them that Tim said, “Which one of your women am I taking with me?”

The victim’s sister, Amanda Garcia, said, “Ross should have walked across the street and told us that Tim was getting out of hand.”

“The thing that really gets me,” Soliz said, “is that when the ambulance was here for my son, Leonard Ross and his family were standing outside across the street. We were trying to figure out what happened. They didn’t say a thing.”

It’s not just the subpoena that family members are upset about. They’re also distressed about a plea bargain that may limit the amount of time Ross spends behind bars.

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Process Server Admits Fraud

A Long Island-based process server who was accused of leaving thousands of New Yorkers unaware that they had been sued for unpaid debts, subjecting many of them to surprise judgments, liens and wage garnishments, has pleaded guilty to fraud.

William Singler, owner of American Legal Process, entered the plea Friday in Nassau County Supreme Court, admitting to one count of a class E felony. He is to be sentenced March 24 and still faces a civil suit in which New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is seeking damages and penalties.

In a statement announcing the guilty plea Friday, Cuomo said that ALP employees had not served properly, or at all, thousands of notices attorneys and creditors had paid them to serve.

When the uninformed defendants did not respond to the undelivered notices, an estimated 100,000 default judgments were entered in courts across the state. Some 4,800 of those judgments were filed in Erie County, and 2,700 in Niagara County.

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NYRA Complying With Comptroller's Subpoena

The New York Racing Association, which says it may need more taxpayer money to ensure the
Belmont Stakes goes off as planned, said Wednesday it will open its books to the scrutiny of state auditors.

The nonprofit corporation, which oversees racing at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga, said last month that New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli lacked authority to audit it. But on Wednesday, it said it would comply with DiNapoli's subpoenas for its financial records.

Following legislation enacted in 2008, the New York Racing Association was reorganized as a not-for-profit corporation and awarded a new 25-year franchise to operate the state's thoroughbred racetracks.

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House Panel Subpoenas N.Y. Fed's AIG Documents

WASHINGTON—A U.S. House panel issued a subpoena for Federal Reserve Bank of New York documents related to American International Group Inc., as the political pressure surrounding one of the more controversial events of the financial crisis continued to grow.

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D., N.Y.), who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said he was issuing a subpoena for documents that would "shed light on how and why taxpayer dollars were used for a backdoor bailout." At issue is the government-orchestrated decision to make whole AIG's counterparties on some $62 billion in bets on soured mortgage securities.

"We will work with the committee to provide relevant information as appropriate," said a spokeswoman for the New York Fed.

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Busker Subpoenas Larry O'Brien for His Defence

Look up, look way up.

A street musician inspired to take up the tin whistle after watching the classic children’s show The Friendly Giant is facing charges after allegedly cutting the wires of a Muzak radio speaker that was drowning out his live music in a Rideau Street underpass.

But busker Raymond Loomer is planning an interesting defence: he has successfully subpoenaed Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien, hoping the colourful politician’s testimony will help vindicate him.

Loomer, 47, has been playing the tin whistle for 15 years in the underpass, which is in the shadow of 700 Sussex Dr., where Larry O’Brien lives.

O’Brien, who walks the streets of Ottawa, has passed by the “The Whistler”, and once, according to the busker, said his music reminded him of The Friendly Giant, the show that featured a giant, a rooster named Rusty, who lived in a sack, and a giraffe named Jerome.

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Senate Subpoenaed for Records on Espada

ALBANY — Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo subpoenaed the New York Senate on Wednesday for a broad range of e-mail messages and other records concerning Senator Pedro Espada Jr., the Bronx Democrat who led a monthlong coup that brought state government to a standstill this summer, Mr. Espada said.

Mr. Cuomo has been investigating Mr. Espada for months in cooperation with the Bronx district attorney, Robert T. Johnson, over matters including political activity by employees of health clinics he founded and whether he resides in his Bronx Senate district.

The latest subpoena focuses on the health clinics, which are part of the Soundview HealthCare Network, and Mr. Espada’s efforts, since winning office two years ago, to obtain Senate earmarks and other state grants.

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Feds subpoena Superdome Commission for documents

An attorney for the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District Board -- also known as the Superdome Commission -- confirms federal authorities served the board with a subpoena for documents.

Larry Roedel, Superdome Commission attorney, said the subpoena does not mention any person by name.

Former Jefferson Parish President Tim Coulon was chairman of the LSED from 2004-2008. He has since resigned from the board.

Coulon is also implicated in the insurance scandal involving former Jefferson Parish Chief Administrative Officer Tim Whitmer.

Documents reveal Coulon and Whitmer may have been secretly sharing commissions on a lucrative insurance contract at West Jefferson Hospital.

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TSA withdraws subpoenas of travel bloggers

Just days after serving subpoenas to two travel bloggers, the Transportation Security Administration withdrew the subpoenas late Thursday, saying its investigation into how the bloggers received a sensitive security directive "is nearing a successful conclusion."

With little explanation, the TSA withdrew subpoenas of bloggers Steve Frischling and Christopher Elliott seeking information on how they obtained a December 25 security directive. The directive, which had been sent to every airline and airport in the United States, ordered precautions after the failed terrorist attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253.

The TSA acknowledged in a previous statement that it was investigating the leak and publication of the document, saying, "Security directives are not for public disclosure."

Frischling, founder of the Travel Strategist blog, said TSA agents came to his Connecticut home Tuesday evening to question him about his source, leaving for a brief time to go to Wal-Mart to buy a hard drive in a failed effort to copy his hard drive that night.

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