Arkansas

Law Firm Warns: Don’t Deposit Bogus Cashier Checks Seemingly Drawn on Our Account

An Arkansas law firm is warning colleagues and consumers to think twice before depositing a cashier’s check that appears to be drawn on its account. Someone has been sending out bogus checks that appear to come from McCutchen & Sexton but don’t, the Ft. Smith trial firm says in a…

Mar 29, 2010 10:51 PM CDT

Too Embarrassed to Make Layoffs, Lawyer Stole $9.3M, Gets 7 Years

Too embarrassed to admit that he’d suffered financial reverses and make layoffs, a well-known Arkansas plaintiffs attorney instead admittedly stole $9.3 million from client trust funds he controlled to keep his law firm going. “I built several businesses. I went through a cash-flow crisis,” Steven Eugene Cauley told U.S. District…

Nov 23, 2009 9:52 PM CST

Officer Who Tasered Girl, 10, with Mom’s OK Is Suspended for Not Taping Incident

Called to an Arkansas home after the mother of a 10-year-old girl couldn’t get her to take a shower, an Ozark police officer wound up shocking her briefly with a electronic stun gun last week as she was “violently kicking and verbally combative.” Then Dustin Bradshaw handcuffed the now-unresisting child…

Nov 19, 2009 9:55 PM CST

Judge Bans TV Reporter for Texting Just Before High-Profile Murder Verdict

A jury in an Arkansas capital case today found defendant Curtis Lavelle Vance guilty in the 2008 rape-murder of a well-known television personality, anchorwoman Anne Pressly of KATV. But one reporter covering the high-profile trial apparently wasn’t there for the verdict, having been banned earlier in the day by Pulaski…

Nov 11, 2009 10:03 PM CST

Lawyer Charged in Meth Case Had Sought County Prosecutor’s Job

An Arkansas attorney arrested Friday at her law office and home in Berryville and charged with two counts of delivering methamphetamine had earlier sought election as Carroll County prosecutor. Cindy Baker, 36, who has had a colorful past as a trial lawyer, came within 53 votes of winning the 2006…

Nov 4, 2009 6:18 PM CST

Bank Battles Law Firm Over Ex-Lawyer’s Right to Millions in Contingent Fees

Can a former lawyer collect contingency fees for work he did while he was still a member of the bar? That is the central question in an Arkansas case that pits a bank that loaned ex-attorney Gene Cauley $13.9 million against his now-former law partners in a battle over millions…

Oct 19, 2009 11:07 PM CDT

Cops Shoot Fire Chief in Courtroom Scuffle After His Speed Trap Complaints

A fire chief who went to court to complain about a speed trap in Jericho, Ark., ended up with a bullet in his hip after he got in a scuffle with police at the hearing and one of them fired his gun. The fight broke out during Fire Chief Don…

Sep 4, 2009 11:39 AM CDT

Ark. Lawyer Expected to Plead Guilty in Alleged $9M Escrow Shortfall

Prominent Arkansas plaintiffs securities lawyer Gene Cauley is expected to plead guilty for failing to pay clients $9.3 million in settlement funds he was supposed to be holding as their escrow agent. Cauley will plead guilty to wire fraud and criminal contempt for failing to safely hold the money, the…

May 19, 2009 2:23 PM CDT

Juror Tweets in $12.6M Case Teach Lawyer a Lesson: Ask About Web Use

“Juror Johnathan” may have been a bit of a twit, as the N.Y. Daily News said in a headline, for posting tweets on Twitter.com while awarding a $12.6 million verdict in an Arkansas case. But his real-time brief posts to the Internet social networking site about his work as a…

Apr 8, 2009 11:20 PM CDT

Jailed Evangelist Wants Religious References Edited From Docs

A lawyer representing evangelist Tony Alamo has asked a federal court to remove religious references from a civil suit, arguing that the court has no business weighing in on theological issues. Alamo’s lawyer, John Hall of Little Rock, pointed to claims that Alamo engaged in practices to intimidate church members…

Dec 24, 2008 1:59 PM CST

Couple Sues McDonald’s After Nude iPhone Pics Hit Net

An Arkansas man who left his iPhone at a Fayetteville McDonald’s is suing the restaurant after nude photos of his wife were posted on the Internet. Phillip Sherman maintains that a store manager promised that the phone would be secured until he could retrieve it, according to Wired’s Gadget Lab…

Nov 25, 2008 11:20 PM CST

Asa Hutchinson to Leave Venable, Form Ark. Practice With Son

A former Republican congressman and Department of Homeland Security undersecretary who is now at Venable in Washington, D.C., says he is planning to give up his partnership there in order to form an Arkansas law firm with his son. Asa Hutchinson says he will open the firm with his son,…

Sep 3, 2008 8:39 PM CDT

Man Quit Job, Then Killed Arkansas Democratic Party Chair, Police Say

The 51-year-old man who police say killed the Arkansas Democratic Party Chair at party headquarters yesterday had just quit his job at a Target discount store hours earlier. Timothy Dale Johnson, who police say shot and killed Bill Gwatney, 49, before being killed himself in a police shootout, had an…

Aug 14, 2008 9:15 PM CDT

Ark. Democratic Party Chair is Murdered

The chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party reportedly died today, hours after he was shot at party headquarters. The nearby state Capitol was locked down for an hour after the shooting, until lawmakers received word that the alleged gunman was not at large, reports the Associated Press. At that point,…

Aug 13, 2008 9:34 PM CDT

Outspoken Arkansas Appeals Judge Loses Election

An appeals judge in Arkansas who fought for the right to criticize President Bush has lost his re-election bid. Wendell Griffen “lost decisively,” the Associated Press reports. Last year a state judicial discipline panel dropped charges against the outspoken Griffen for remarks made outside the courtroom. The ethics complaint had…

May 22, 2008 12:21 PM CDT