Appellate Practice

Innocent ‘Rapist’ Exonerated After 27 Years, Too Late to Pursue New Suspects ID’d By DNA

For the second time in a week, Texas prosecutors are calling for the release of a convicted rapist exonerated by DNA evidence after serving a lengthy prison term. After serving 27 years, Michael Anthony Green has put in more time than any other exonerated inmate convicted of rape, reports the…

Jul 28, 2010 9:54 PM CDT

Homeowners Ass’n Loses Parking Case, Must Pay Owner’s $187K Legal Bill

A battle over whether a Florida homeowner could park his pickup in his own driveway racked up over $187,000 in legal bills for the unswerving owner by the time the Eagles Homeowners Association appealed a Hillsborough Circuit Court ruling in his favor. And now the association has not only lost…

Jul 28, 2010 5:18 PM CDT

Jeffs Wins Appeal of Rape Convictions Based on His Role as Minister at 14-Year-Old’s Wedding

Agreeing with defense lawyers that a claimed marital rape involving two teenagers hadn’t been properly focused upon in jury instructions, the Utah Supreme Court has overturned unusual felony accomplice rape convictions of a religious leader based on his role in promoting an underage marriage between an unwilling 14-year-old and her…

Jul 27, 2010 7:14 PM CDT

9th Circuit Rules for Bratz Doll Maker MGA, Says It’s Entitled to ‘Sweat Equity’

A federal appeals court has vacated an injunction barring MGA Entertainment from selling Bratz dolls or using the name in a hard-fought infringement and contractual rights case brought by Mattel Inc., the company known for its Barbie dolls. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the remedy…

Jul 23, 2010 11:48 AM CDT

Women Justices Are Most Often First to Pose Questions

The Supreme Court’s two female justices are most often the first to ask questions during oral arguments. Research (PDF) by O’Melveny & Myers found that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked the first question 20 times during oral arguments last term, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor was first 16 times, the National…

Jul 23, 2010 11:30 AM CDT

Conrad Black Released on Bond After Some $40M in Legal Bills; How Much More Can He Afford to Pay?

Freed today from a federal prison in Florida, onetime media mogul Conrad Black is seemingly potentially on track for a possible reversal of his fraud and obstruction of justice convictions. But a major roadblock remains: His legal fees. An estimated $40 million in defense costs for Black have been covered…

Jul 21, 2010 11:29 PM CDT

Prosecutor Can Be Personally Sued Over Search of Journalist’s Home, 10th Circuit Rules

Qualified immunity does not apply to protect a former deputy district attorney from being personally sued for approving a search warrant of a student journalist’s home due to a professor’s unhappiness over a parody in a University of Northern Colorado community newspaper, a federal appeals court has ruled. Although the…

Jul 21, 2010 7:02 PM CDT

Appeals Court Revives Fashion Model’s $10M Malpractice Suit Against Boies Schiller

A fashion model who says she was duped into providing evidence to Boies Schiller & Flexner by its promise to represent her individually in a case against modeling agencies can proceed with her malpractice suit against the litigation boutique, a New York appeals court has ruled. The Appellate Division, First…

Jul 21, 2010 6:11 PM CDT

3rd Circuit Tells Prosecutors to Cut Brief After ‘Moby-Dick’ Objection

A federal appeals court has ordered prosecutors challenging the fraud sentence for a Pennsylvania politician to slash their brief by about 20 percent. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the shorter brief, despite prosecutors’ objections that they needed the extra pages “to thoroughly describe the numerous sentencing errors…

Jul 21, 2010 11:48 AM CDT

11th Circuit Upholds 3-Year Term for Actor Wesley Snipes on 3 Misdemeanor Tax Counts

Saying that a federal district judge in Florida had discretion to sentence Wesley Snipes the maximum term, a federal appeals court has upheld the actor’s three consecutive one-year sentences on three misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to file a tax return. Snipes reportedly owes the Internal Revenue Service some $17…

Jul 19, 2010 6:13 PM CDT

A ‘Disappointed & Shocked’ Top Judge Is Reprimanded for Refusing Execution-Eve Appeal

The top criminal appeals court judge in Texas was reprimanded today for refusing to accept a late appeal hours before an inmate was executed and hence failing in her duty to maintain open access to the courts. The Commission on Judicial Conduct found that Presiding Judge Sharon Keller of the…

Jul 17, 2010 3:14 AM CDT

Ruling From Bench, Calif. Appeals Judge Throws Out $2.3M Dole Verdict and Case

Ruling from the bench in a Los Angeles case, an appellate judge today voided a $2.3 million jury verdict and threw out a pesticide-exposure case against Dole Food Co., due to “deliberate and egregious misconduct” by Nicaraguan lawyers who recruited Central American banana workers as plaintiffs. Due to the misconduct,…

Jul 16, 2010 12:16 AM CDT

‘Dream Team’ Lawyer Robert Shapiro Takes Lindsay Lohan’s Case

Updated: Lindsay Lohan has found another lawyer in the nick of time—she’s scheduled to turn herself in Tuesday—to appeal her 90-day sentence for probation violation. TMZ reports that Lohan has hired Robert Shapiro, best known for being a part of O.J. Simpson’s criminal defense “dream team.” TMZ notes that Shapiro’s…

Jul 15, 2010 3:37 PM CDT

Naked Biker Was Wearing a Helmet, But Agrees to Say Otherwise and Pay a $50 Fine

Bike-riding in the nude has been found to be a form of constitutionally protected speech in Portland, Ore. But across the river in Vancouver, Wash., the courts apparently take a more minimalist view of the First Amendment. After a Clark County District Court jury deadlocked earlier this year on whether…

Jul 14, 2010 6:38 PM CDT

9th Circuit Suspends Top PI Lawyer for Fraudulent Briefs

A federal appeals court has suspended prominent California plaintiffs lawyer Walter Lack for filing fraudulent appeals briefs in litigation against Dole Food Co. Lack received a six-month suspension from practice before the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and was ordered to pay $250,000 in sanctions the Recorder…

Jul 14, 2010 1:09 PM CDT