The AM Roundup: Gupta Won?t Testify, Google Settlements, More

By Joe Palazzolo

ICC staff detained in Libya: The?Australian prime minister demanded that Libya release Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor. The?36-year-old mother of one was arrested on Thursday while representing Seif al-Islam, the son of the late former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Accused of spying, she is one of four International Criminal Court staff being held in Libya. Herald Sun

JK: After telling the court Friday that it was ?highly likely? that his client, ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc. director Rajat Gupta, would testify in Mr. Gupta?s insider-trading trial, defense lawyer Gary Naftalis switched gears on Sunday.?According to the WSJ,

In a one-paragraph letter sent to U.S. District Judge?Jed Rakoff on Sunday, Mr. Naftalis wrote: ?We have the spent the last day reviewing what we believe we need to present in the defense case.?

?After substantial reflection and consideration, we have determined that Mr. Gupta will not be a witness on his own behalf in the defense case,? he wrote. ?We wanted to alert the court and the government of this decision as soon as it had been made.?

Mr. Naftalis and a spokeswoman of the U.S. Attorney?s office in Manhattan declined to comment Sunday.

90210: The California prosecutors are investigating whether homeowners and businesses in some of the nation?s richest neighborhoods ? like Beverly Hills and Brentwood ??were given tax breaks in exchange for campaign contributions to the Los Angeles County assessor. A former county appraiser was arrested last month?on felony charges for allegedly improperly lowering dozens of property values by a combined $172 million. WSJ

E-books: Google ?ended legal disputes with a French publishing trade group and a French authors? association over the U.S. company?s scanning of books. The search giant declined to disclose the financial terms of the two settlements.?Bloomberg

Whiskers: An Orthodox Jew said he was kicked out of the police academy, just days before becoming a New York City police officer, for refusing to trim his?beard. Fishel Litzman is Hasidic and believes that cutting his beard is forbidden by?God.?NYPD policy allows beards for religious reasons, but only 1 millimeter worth of?growth.?NY Daily News

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