Appellate Practice

Paralegal, Postal Inspector Face Perjury Charges re Alleged Secret Romance During Lawyer’s Trial

A postal inspector and a paralegal who allegedly had a secret romance while working on opposing sides during a lawyer’s mortgage fraud trial have been charged with perjury and obstruction of justice in federal court in Massachusetts. Joseph M. McGonagle III, 37, and Melanie M. Abbruzzese, 31, are accused of…

May 12, 2011 9:19 PM CDT

Ticketed for Turning Up the Volume on Justin Timberlake, Lawyer Wins Constitutional Fight

Issued a $73.50 ticket for turning up the volume on Justin Timberlake while driving his 2003 Infiniti, a corporate lawyer in Florida fought the case on constitutional grounds and won. Yesterday, a state appeals court struck down the Florida law under which Richard Catalano was ticketed, finding that it was…

May 12, 2011 5:41 PM CDT

DA’s Unusual Suit Seeks to Nix Inmate’s Prison Term Commutation by Ex-Gov Schwarzenegger

In what the San Diego County district attorney is calling a first-of-a-kind lawsuit, her office is seeking to overturn a last-minute prison sentence commutation by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as he was about to leave office. While conceding that the governor has the power to commute a sentence, the lawsuit filed…

May 11, 2011 11:56 PM CDT

Top Pa. Court Takes Tougher Stance re Recusals, Tells 2 Judges to Step Down in Sua Sponte Order

In recent opinions, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court indicates that it has learned some lessons from the criminal cases against senior judges in Luzerne County and is likely to be tougher, in the future, on jurists who show indications of bias, writes Hank Grezlak in the Legal Intelligencer. In one recent…

May 11, 2011 9:48 PM CDT

Should Judge Let Defense Atty Testify re Ex-Client’s Alleged Slay Admissions? Gov’t Says No Hearsay

A self-confessed Detroit hitman serving time for eight murders reportedly has claimed responsibility as well for four more slayings that another man has been convicted of committing. But, perhaps fearing that he could face further punishment, Vincent Smothers has declined to testify about the slayings. Instead, he has made the…

May 9, 2011 8:32 PM CDT

Judge Nixes Perjury Case Against Investigator Blamed for Wrongful Conviction; Defendant Got $10M

A Colorado judge has nixed seven perjury counts against a Fort Collins police investigator blamed for the wrongful 1999 murder conviction of Timothy Masters, finding that the state had brought the case too late. Agreeing with a defense argument that the statute of limitations had run on the charges against…

May 9, 2011 7:47 PM CDT

Health Care Law Gets First Appellate Hearing on Tuesday

A federal appeals court based in Richmond, Va., will hear arguments on the constitutionality of the federal health care law on Tuesday. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the first appellate court to consider the law, USA Today reports. At issue is the constitutionality of a provision that…

May 9, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Dissenting in Water Rights Case, Justice Scalia Renames the People of Wyoming

Justice Antonin Scalia was the lone dissenter when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for Wyoming on Monday in a dispute over water rights. Scalia continued his contrary ways when he referred to Wyoming residents as “Wyomans,” the Odd Clauses Watch blog reports. Scalia inserted an asterisk next to the word…

May 4, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Secret Jury-Select Plan Appealed in Casey Anthony Murder Case; Similar Issue Wins Reversal in Wash.

As some media organizations today appealed a Florida judge’s rules for offsite jury selection in an upcoming high-profile murder trial, an appeals court in a different state yesterday reversed an unrelated murder conviction because the trial judge briefly closed the courtroom during jury selection. The appeal concerning secret jury selection…

May 3, 2011 11:16 PM CDT

Top Mass. Court Puts Law Firm Back on Med-Mal Client’s Case, But Says Firm Can Select Attorney

When an individual lawyer at Thomas M. Kiley & Associates cited both a plan to withdraw temporarily from the practice of law and irreconcilable differences with a medical-malpractice client, the state court judge overseeing the case allowed her to withdraw. But he ordered the law firm to continue with the…

May 3, 2011 5:13 PM CDT

Justice Ginsburg Is Term’s Most Frequent Dissenter

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has dissented six times so far this term, making her the most frequent dissenter. Justice Antonin Scalia, on the other hand, is the term’s most frequent lone dissenter, writing two dissents that were not joined by any other justices, SCOTUSblog reports. Writing one lone dissent each…

May 3, 2011 3:33 PM CDT

North Carolina’s Death Row Inmates Let Statistics Back Up Bias Claims

In North Carolina, statistics don’t just tell a story; they can let a death row inmate challenge his conviction. A 2009 state statute allows death row inmates to claim that racial bias unduly influenced the outcome of their trials. The Racial Justice Act specifically allows defendants to use statistics to support their claims. There are more than 150 death row inmates seeking relief under the law.

May 1, 2011 8:00 AM CDT

More Pro Football Chaos as 8th Circuit Sides With NFL, Reinstates Lockout During Draft

Siding with the National Football League, a federal appeals court today in effect ordered a lockout back into place by granting a temporary stay of a lower court’s order in favor of players. The 2-1 decision of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals can be expected to create further…

Apr 30, 2011 12:28 AM CDT

Appeals Court OKs $20M Legal Malpractice Case; ‘How Could They Have Gotten It So Wrong?’ Says Atty

A class action plaintiff who filed a legal malpractice suit contending that a California law firm improperly took some $20 million from a $134 million settlement is back in the ball game. The trial court erred in granting summary judgment to Girardi Keese, held the California Court of Appeal, Second…

Apr 30, 2011 12:11 AM CDT

Fla. AG Has No Power to Probe Law Firm Under Unfair Trade Practices Law, Appeals Court Rules

Finding that the Florida attorney general isn’t authorized to regulate a law firm under the state’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, a state appeals court has nixed an effort to seek information about a so-called foreclosure mill, Shapiro & Fishman. In its ruling today, however, the 4th District Court…

Apr 27, 2011 11:23 PM CDT