Notes For Tuesday, January 28, 2003
PROBLEM, WHAT PROBLEM? "Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday he sees no reason to conduct the kind of exhaustive review that led the former Illinois governor to clear his state's Death Row, even though Florida leads the nation in the number of Death Row inmates whose sentences have been overturned because of questions about guilt and innocence." Miami Herald.
BUSH CLEARED OF EX PARTE COMMUNICATIONS CHARGE. "Gov. Jeb Bush has been cleared of wrongdoing by a federal panel that examined his advocacy on behalf of Florida-based Bacardi USA Inc. in a trademark dispute. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, which handles appeals for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, dismissed charges Jan. 21 brought by a joint Cuban-French venture that argued Bush's involvement amounted to an improper one-sided, or ex parte, communication with the patent office's director."
"Charles Sims, a New York-based lawyer for Havana Club Holdings, the French-Cuban venture controlling the Havana Club trademark, criticized the board's findings. 'If the (agency) had called for a review as we requested, we know more instances of improper ex parte communications would have been uncovered,' Sims told The Washington Post." Tallahassee Democrat.
8:03 AM
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