Law Times

June 3, 2013

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Page 16 June 3, 2013 Law Times • u The u Bizarre Briefs InsIde story By Viola James LETTER TO BERLUSCONI PROSECUTOR HAD BULLETS MILAN, Italy — It's long been risky to prosecute the mob in Italy but it now seems the danger also applies to those leading the case against the country's most famous politician. The prosecutor in former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's sex trial has received a series of anonymous threatening letters, including one with two bullets, according to Milan's chief prosecutor. The letters against Ilda Boccassini have become more frequent since she requested a six-year jail sentence and a lifetime ban on holding public office for Berlusconi, Edmondo Bruti Liberati said. "In the last few weeks, there has been a crescendo of anonymous letters containing serious threats against Boccassini, including one yesterday containing two bullets," Bruti Liberati said in a statement. On May 13, Boccassini requested the jail sentence and public office ban for Berlusconi, who's facing allegations of paying for sex with a nightclub dancer when she was a minor and abusing his office to have her released from police custody. In a six-hour-long closing argument, Boccassini said the so-called bunga bunga parties at a villa of the 76-year old billionaire media tycoon involved a "system of organized prostitution." Berlusconi has denied the charges. The verdict is expected on June 24. PIGS TO EAT LEGALIZED POT RESIDUE? SEATTLE — Washington state may be about to legalize the recreational marijuana market, but is it OK to feed the plant residue to animals? According to Reuters, the budding ranks of new cannabis growers face a quandary over what to do with the excess stems, roots, and leaves from their plants as the state gears up for a first-of-its kind legal market for recreational marijuana. Susannah Gross, who owns a farm north of Seattle, is part of a group experimenting with a solution that seems to make the most of marijuana's appetite-enhancing properties: turning weed waste into pig food. According to Reuters, four pigs whose feed included potent plant leavings during the last four months of their lives ended up significantly heavier than the half-dozen other pigs from the same litter when they all went to slaughter in March. "They were eating more, as you can imagine," said Gross. Giving farm animals the munchies is the latest outcome of a ballot measure passed by Washington voters in November making their state one of the first to legalize the recreational use of pot. The federal government still classifies cannabis as an illegal narcotic, and the Obama administration hasn't yet said what actions, if any, it will take in answer to the newly passed recreational weed statutes. Matt McAlman, the medical marijuana grower who provided the pot leavings for Gross' pigs, says he hopes the idea expands with the likely impending expansion of Washington state's marijuana industry. "We can have pot chickens, pot pigs, grass-fed beef," he said. Draft regulations issued last week to govern the burgeoning recreational-use industry seem to leave open that possibility. The rules dictate that marijuana plant waste must be "rendered unusable prior to leaving a licensed producer or processor's facility," adding that mixing it with food waste would be acceptable. William von Schneidau, who has a shop at the famous Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle, butchered Gross' pigs. In March, von Schneidau held a "Pot Pig Gig" at the market, serving up the marijuana-fed pork as part of a five-course meal. "Some say the meat seems to taste more savory," he said. The results beg the question of whether pot-fed pork contains any measurable traces of THC, the mind-altering chemical ingredient in cannabis. The European Food Safety Authority reported in 2011 that "no studies concerning tolerance or effects of graded levels of THC in food-producing animals have been found in literature." LT "Whew! For a sec there I thought you were from the condominium management company." NEW AWARD HONOURS GOWLINGS PARTNER The Ontario Centres of Excellence will establish an award in honour of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP partner David McFadden. McFadden once served as chairman of the centres and has made significant contributions to Ontario's energy sector. The award, the David McFadden Energy Entrepreneur Challenge, will invite university and college students to come up with ways to address the energy challenges facing the province. David McFadden "I'm humbled that the OCE has named this award after me," said McFadden. "In its purest form, energy is an enabler that allows societies to achieve great things. By encouraging young entrepreneurs to tackle an energy problem and develop commercially viable, environmentally responsible solutions, we hope to improve both society and the economy on a global scale." McFadden played a significant role in the creation of the innovation think-tank and was involved in several provincial energyrelated efforts. He currently serves as a board member of the Energy Council of Canada. At Gowlings, McFadden served as the firm's energy group leader for more than 10 years. "Under David's leadership, the Gowlings energy group built a strong reputation for applying a sophisticated understanding of the industry's challenges to the development of forward-thinking solutions for our clients," said Scott Jolliffe, Gowlings' chairman and chief executive officer. "We're delighted to see his achievements and innovative spirit represented through this annual award." The recipients of the new award will receive $25,000 and help to advance their proposal. CONTEMPT FINDING IN NOTABLE LIBEL CASE A Superior Court judge has found shareholder rights activist Robert Verdun in contempt of court for flouting a court injunction barring him from making comments about businessman Robert Astley. In June 2011, a judge ordered Verdun not to speak in any way about Astley after finding him guilty of defamation. Astley received a landmark $400,000 in aggravated damages. Verdun, a former newspaper publisher, "seems to have something of an obsession with Mr. Astley," wrote Superior Court Justice Robert Goldstein in the contempt ruling. Following Astley's appointment to the board of directors at the Bank of Montreal in 2004, Verdun began criticizing him as a "stain on this board" without any "integrity or ethics." Verdun was a policyholder of Mutual Life of Canada when Astley, then president and chief executive officer of the company, undertook a process of demutualization, Goldstein noted. Verdun opposed the demutualization and "made several personal attacks against Astley." After the 2011 court order, Verdun contacted Kitchener Centre MP Stephen Woodworth to raise concerns about Astley, according to the May 7 contempt decision. "Mr. Verdun admits that he contacted Mr. Woodworth. He says it is an act of conscience," wrote Goldstein. "Mr. Verdun is wrong," the judge continued. "His contact with Mr. Woodworth was not an act of conscience. It was a violation of Madam [Justice Sandra] Chapnik's order and for the reasons that follow I find him guilty of contempt of court." Verdun "undoubtedly" plans to continue his defamation of Astley's character, Goldstein said, adding there was no excuse or justification for his breach of a court order. LT 2013-2014 ATLANTIC LEGAL TELEPHONE DIRECTORY CONNECT TO ATLANTIC CANADA'S LEGAL NETWORK Order your copy today! | www.carswell.com | 1.800.387.5164 Untitled-1 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 13-05-28 11:29 AM

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