Appellate Practice

Conviction Upheld Despite Judge’s Exit Due to Secretary’s Canasta Game

A federal appeals court has upheld a defendant’s conviction for possession of child pornography despite the judge’s 6-minute absence during the defense lawyer’s closing argument. The judge left the bench because it was “his secretary’s afternoon to play canasta and he had to get a couple of letters out,” according…

Feb 18, 2010 2:34 PM CST

Infomercial Pitchman Gets 30 Days for Crashing Federal Judge’s Computer

Updated: During a criminal contempt hearing in Chicago last week, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said he was inclined to sentence infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau to a jail term for unleashing a flood of fan e-mail that crashed the jurist’s computer. And today, calling the deluge of some 300 e-mails…

Feb 17, 2010 9:34 PM CST

Top Texas Court Sued Over Case Delay: We Want a Decision, Says Lawyer

After waiting more than four years for a ruling in an interlocutory appeal before the Texas Supreme Court, the plaintiffs in a class action case have made a federal case out of the delay. They have sued the court’s nine justices individually in in the U.S. District Court for the…

Feb 17, 2010 7:44 PM CST

Is There Meaning in the Supreme Court’s Rate of Summary Reversals?

Court watchers are noting a higher rate of summary reversals by the U.S. Supreme Court and wondering about the motive. The U.S. Supreme Court has already issued nine summary reversals this term, the same number issued for all of the previous term, according to a count by SCOTUSblog. The number…

Feb 17, 2010 11:29 AM CST

Top NY Court Reinstates Felony Charges Against PI Firm Over Retainer Filings

In the latest twist in an unusual criminal case against a law firm, New York’s top court has reinstated felony charges brought against Silverman & Taylor over alleged factual misstatements in filed retainer agreements. Initially convicted in 2005, following a two-week bench trial, of filing a false instrument, Silverman &…

Feb 16, 2010 9:54 PM CST

As Jury Deliberates, Federal Judge Dismisses All Charges in Stanford Document-Shredding Case

In the latest blow to U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors pursuing high-profile charges, a federal judge today dismissed the obstruction and conspiracy case against two men accused of ordering the destruction of documents related to R. Allen Stanford’s alleged $7 billion Ponzi scheme. Citing a lack of intent as he…

Feb 12, 2010 10:32 PM CST

No Warrant Needed to Track User’s Cell Phone Location, DOJ Tells 3rd Cir. Panel

By obtaining information about which cell tower routed calls from a cell phone user, authorities have been able to link suspects to crime scenes. But, in oral arguments today before a federal appellate panel in Philadelphia, the government contended that no warrant is required to get such information about a…

Feb 12, 2010 9:56 PM CST

Blind Student’s Bar Exam Battle Isn’t Over: Test Firm Seeks Emergency 9th Cir. Software Ban

A federal judge’s ruling last month that Stephanie Enyart must be allowed to use screen-reader software when taking the Multistate Bar Examination might not be the final answer for the blind law graduate. In a filing yesterday, the National Conference of Bar Examiners seeks an emergency ruling from the San…

Feb 10, 2010 10:31 PM CST

W. Va. Justices Testify Against Adding Midlevel Appellate Court

Members of the West Virginia Supreme Court appeared Tuesday at a state House Finance Committee hearing to object to the creation of a midlevel appellate court. The judges asked lawmakers to give them time to come up with new court rules that could satisfy those who have been complaining about…

Feb 10, 2010 7:06 PM CST

Hypotheticals From Bygone Days Date S.C. Justices to Pre-YouTube Era

With the average age of U.S. Supreme Court justices coming in at about 70, court watchers aren’t much likely to hear contemporary references when justices reach back for hypotheticals to help them frame questions for appellate advocates. Indeed, oral arguments this term have, “offered a series of reminders of how…

Feb 10, 2010 6:01 PM CST

Divided 9th Circuit Upholds Frisco Strip Searches of All New Inmates

In a 6-5 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that San Francisco’s process for strip-searching thousands of new jail inmates over a 21-month period is constitutional. The decision, which applies to jails in California and eight Western states, spares the city from monetary damages and allows…

Feb 10, 2010 12:49 PM CST

Ex-Edwards Aide Turns Over Claimed Sex Tape, as Lawyers Argue On in Privacy Case

After legal wrangling over whether Andrew Young would be accompanied by a security officer, the onetime aide to ex-presidential candidate John Edwards has retrieved his original copy of a purported sex tape of Edwards and his former mistress from a bank safe deposit box and turned it over to a…

Feb 10, 2010 12:41 AM CST

Court Upholds $355K Verdict for Pastor Maligned By Church Leaders

In a novel church employment case, an Oregon appeals court has ruled that a church can’t use the First Amendment as a defense in a defamation case if church officials used the pulpit to accuse its former pastor of being a thief. The ruling reinstates a $355,000 jury verdict awarded…

Feb 9, 2010 1:26 PM CST

9th Cir. Revives Title IX Suit By UC Davis Women Wrestlers

Three women wrestlers at the University of California at Davis scored a major victory today at the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed a federal district court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendants in a Title IX discrimination suit. The women had sought permission to…

Feb 9, 2010 12:34 AM CST

Superb Skills as Jailhouse Lawyer Put Ex-Inmate in Position to Help Top Attorneys

Shon Hopwood was caught and convicted for robbing five banks but later proved to be an amazingly good jailhouse lawyer after hitting the books in the prison library. A 2002 petition for certiorari that he prepared for a fellow inmate, John Fellers, working on a prison typewriter, “was probably one…

Feb 8, 2010 5:59 PM CST