Downtown Lawyer

Recent Posts from Downtown Lawyer

• Eighth Circuit holds that Arkansas state courts correctly followed the totality-of-the-circumstances test in concluding a minor had knowingly and intelligently waived his Miranda rights.

  Bell v. Norris, No. 07-3432. In December 1992, Albert Bell, a sixteen-year-old, and his accomplice, Terry Sims, robbed a grocery story. Bell served as a decoy to distract a store employee who Sims subsequently shot…

• Small victory for The Game in defamation case against him.

  Rapper Jayceon “The Game” Taylor was at a mall in Greensboro, North Carolina, when security guards told one of his entourage to stop filming without permission. He refused. The security guards called police. The Game…

• Arkansas Supreme Court holds that service of process of a complaint is not invalid merely because it is unsigned.

  Jones v. Turner, No. 08-1438. In this collection action, Guy Jones filed a complaint in the Faulkner County Circuit Court against J. Eric Turner and Carco of Arkansas, Inc. (“Carco”), on March 31, 2008. Turner…

• Third Circuit determines that antitrust protections of Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act created a private right of action even if lender did not increase premiums.

  According to its borrowers’ class action complaint, Countrywide Financial Corp. (“Countrywide”) forces buyers who put less than 20% down on their homes to buy private mortgage insurance (“PMI”) through one of six providers chosen by…

• Arkansas Court of Appeals outlines requirements for unjust enrichment claim when the parties already have a contract.

  QHG of Springdale, Inc. v. Archer, No. CA07-1115. Dr. Ernest Archer, an OB/GYN, and his employer, QHG of Springdale (“QHG”), entered into a two-year employment contract in 2000.  In 2002, they entered into a second,…

• Ninth Circuit upholds dismissal of civil rights lawsuit by man convicted of kidnap and rape because he produced no evidence of misconduct by police.

  After serving fourteen years in prison for a 1988 kidnapping and rape he did not commit time against a six-year-old girl, Leonard McSherry’s name was cleared by forensic evidence and the confession of the actual…

• Fifth Circuit allows property owners to sue over pollution that elevated sea levels and worsened effects of Hurricane Katrina.

  Following the Second Circuit decision in Connecticut v. AEP–which reinstated federal public nuisance claims of eight states, New York City, and three land trusts against six power companies over carbon dioxide emissions—the Fifth Circuit rejected…

• Fifth Circuit upholds ban of Confederate flag in school dress code.

  Burleson High School (“BHS”) adopted a dress code barring students from displaying the Confederate flag in response to more than 50 race-related incidents since 2002. Because of a fight that broke out between BHS students…

• Eighth Circuit delivers “mixed bag” decision regarding qualified immunity of officers involved in death of Russellville man.

  Krout v. Goemmer, No. 08-2781. Facts At approximately 1:20 a.m., Sarah Lowrey walked into a Russellville gas station and asked the clerk to call the police because the man she was with, Bobby Joe Rylee,…

• Arkansas Supreme Court holds that enactment of corporate philosophy emphasizing profits over medical care is insufficient for personal liability.

  Bayird v. Floyd, No. 08-1099. John Bayird, as administrator for the estate of his deceased mother, Mamie Elliott, filed a complaint against William Floyd and several Beverly entities related to Elliott’s care and treatment while…