By Grant McCool
NEW YORK, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Retired U.S. Supreme Court
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will make a guest appearance next
week on the federal appeals court in New York to hear arguments
on cases ranging from corporate fraud to insurance and organized
crime.
O'Connor previously sat on a panel in the 2nd U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals in lower Manhattan six years ago.
The court's website lists O'Connor on two panels at 2 p.m.
on Oct. 25 and 26 with Chief Justice Dennis Jacobs and Circuit
Judge John Walker.
The panel is scheduled to hear four cases each day. The
issues on appeal include convictions of two former executives of
pharmacy chain Duane Reade for fraud, as well as insurance and
employment disputes.
Also on the docket is a case involving a close lieutenant of
John Gotti, the late Gambino crime family boss. Now imprisoned
Frank LoCascio is seeking access to tape recordings and
transcript evidence he was denied at trial. LoCascio was
convicted of murder and racketeering in 1992.
O'Connor will not be on a Thursday panel hearing arguments
in the May 2011 insider trading conviction of imprisoned hedge
fund founder Raj Rajaratnam. He is challenging the way federal
investigators obtained judges' permission to secretly record his
phone conversations.
Panel information is typically made public one week before
oral arguments in cases posted on the calendar.
It is relatively common for retired justices to hear oral
arguments in federal appeals courts.
O'Connor became the first woman on the high court in 1981.
Since her January 2006 retirement, she has heard cases in every
appeals court except the Federal Circuit and the District of
Columbia Circuit, according to court records.
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