Appellate Practice

Missouri High Court Erases $100 Camera-Generated Ticket, Faults City for Lacking Judicial Review

A onetime Kansas City police officer who took his challenge of a $100 traffic ticket all the way to the Missouri Supreme Court has prevailed. Retired Missouri Highway Patrol Officer Adolph Belt Jr. challenged the ticket issued in Springfield, and the ruling effectively shutters the program and will lead to…

Mar 3, 2010 12:53 PM CST

Does Mini-Defense in Capital Case After Perjury Threat Merit New Trial?

Concerned that their client intended to perjure himself in a Nevada capital murder case, defense lawyers for Siaosi Vanisi sought to withdraw. Then, when the judge refused permission to do so, they put on an abbreviated version of a standard murder defense: They eliminated opening and closing arguments and the…

Mar 2, 2010 9:15 PM CST

Mom’s Privacy Suit Over Old Hustler Pix of Murdered Daughter Gets Green Light

By refusing to hear an appeal this week by the company that publishes Hustler magazine, the U.S. Supreme Court has given a green light to a privacy lawsuit filed by the mother of former professional wrestler Chris Benoit’s murdered wife. The magazine published decades-old nude photographs of Nancy Benoit after…

Mar 2, 2010 7:51 PM CST

Give 44-Year-Old Case an ‘Immediate’ Trial, Appeals Court Tells Lawyers

Apparently persuaded by a lawyer’s argument that the opposing party missed a filing deadline by 22 years, a state appeals court in New York has reinstated a 44-year-old civil case and directed the parties to proceed to an “immediate” trial. The suit was brought by a long-dissolved company, Lance International,…

Mar 2, 2010 1:11 AM CST

US Appeals Court Reinstates Suit Claiming Injury from Exploding, Hot Sandwich

A federal appeals court has reinstated a $2 million lawsuit that claims a Florida carnival operator was injured by a McDonald’s chicken sandwich that was so hot it exploded with hot grease. Plaintiff Frank Sutton claims the grease from the sandwich purchased at a Virginia truck stop burned his lips…

Mar 1, 2010 1:18 PM CST

Vox Populi: The Lewis Line

Mike Sacks is guest-blogging at ABAJournal.com during his unique U.S. Supreme Court project, First One @ One First, which is to be first in line for politically salient arguments at the high court this term. In November 1968, Jet magazine ran an item called “Black Chicago Firemen Organize Own League.”…

Feb 26, 2010 11:41 PM CST

Appeals Court Reverses Death Sentence, Doesn’t Mention Judge-Prosecutor Affair

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has reversed the death sentence for a convicted double murderer who was nearly executed in 2008 before the state ran of out time to perform the lethal injection. But in determining that Charles Dean Hood should be resentenced, the court makes no mention of…

Feb 24, 2010 6:16 PM CST

Today at SCOTUS: Mohammed Atta & His Harmonica Quartet

Mike Sacks is guest-blogging at ABAJournal.com during his unique U.S. Supreme Court project, First One @ One First, which is to be first in line for politically salient arguments at the high court this term. Mike is a third-year law student at Georgetown University interested in legal journalism and the…

Feb 24, 2010 2:59 AM CST

Judge Orders Ga. to Pay for Inmates’ Appellate Lawyers, OKs Class Action

A Georgia judge has ordered the state to provide appellate lawyers within 30 days for all indigent prison inmates who need them. Fulton Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter also granted class action status to a lawsuit filed last year by inmates, some of whom have been waiting years for representation…

Feb 23, 2010 11:26 PM CST

‘Unconstitutional’ Merger of NY Courts Puts 1000s of Misdemeanor Convictions in Doubt

It doesn’t appear likely to be the final answer. But an opinion by a divided appellate panel casts doubt on thousands of misdemeanor convictions in a busy borough of New York City. A dissent in the state Appellate Division opinion, which held that a controversial 2004 merger of state criminal…

Feb 23, 2010 10:46 PM CST

In Lewis, the Court Stops, Drops and Rolls Over Chicago

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of guest posts from Mike Sacks, a law student and blogger at First One @ One First. His goal is to be first in line for politically salient arguments at the high court this term and to report what he sees.…

Feb 23, 2010 3:12 AM CST

Justice Thomas Says Critics Shouldn’t Assign ‘Ulterior Motives’ to Judges

Justice Clarence Thomas is criticizing the critics. In a speech earlier this month to students at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law, Thomas said critics shouldn’t be assigning “ulterior motives” to judges when they disagree with their decisions, according to Cornell law professor Michael Dorf, writing in an…

Feb 22, 2010 7:22 PM CST

Ethics Prosecution Blasts Report, Seeks Sanction of Top Texas Judge

Saying that a special master who evaluated the evidence in an ethics case against the top criminal judge in Texas missed the point, prosecutors in the ethics case are seeking sanctions for what they describe as her willful and incompetent disregard of established court procedure in a death penalty matter.…

Feb 19, 2010 10:18 PM CST

7th Cir Stays Infomercial Pitchman’s Jail Term for Crashing Judge’s Computer

A federal appeals court has stayed an infomercial pitchman’s 30-day jail term for urging fans to send e-mails that crashed a judge’s computer. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave no reason for the stay, and will hear arguments on Kevin Trudeau’s case on Tuesday, reports the Chicago Tribune.…

Feb 18, 2010 11:54 PM CST

Convicted in Trial Over Claimed Siphoning of $60M from Astor Estate, Lawyer Is Disbarred

Convicted in a high-profile criminal estate-fraud case last year, New York lawyer Francis Morrissey Jr. was disbarred today. Rejecting his lawyer’s request to wait to see what happens with Morrissey’s appeal of his conviction for forgery and scheming to defraud heiress Brooke Astor of some $60 million allegedly siphoned from…

Feb 18, 2010 8:44 PM CST