Evidence

Change afoot in American civil justice system

My husband is a cattle and sheep rancher, and during the 36 years of our marriage, I have learned a few things—for example, in the spring, livestock can overgraze on sweet new grass to the point of killing themselves. It is called foundering. Due process in the American civil justice…

Jul 22, 2014 1:30 PM CDT

‘Love my dress’ Facebook selfie puts police on trail of shoplifting suspect

It didn’t take long for police in a small Illinois town to identify a suspect in a recent shoplifting case. After an eye-catching leopard-print dress with hot pink and lime green accents was stolen 10 days ago from Morties Boutique in West Frankfort, the store put up a Facebook post…

Jul 21, 2014 10:25 PM CDT

Winston & Strawn finds e-discovery a lucrative market niche; 400 lawyers vied for 10 recent openings

A practice group at Winston & Strawn that focuses on electronic discovery is carving out a lucrative market niche. While many major law firms look to outside contractors to help sort through the mass of email and other electronic documents that must be reviewed in corporate litigation, Winston is not…

Jul 21, 2014 9:50 PM CDT

Lawyers for Aaron Hernandez say attorney-client court chat was broadcast on Web

Lawyers for football star Aaron Hernandez are asking a Massachusetts judge overseeing his first-degree murder case to “take prompt action” to prevent Internet broadcasts of court chats between the former New England Patriots tight end and his legal counsel. Contending that one such conversation was already broadcast on the Web…

Jul 21, 2014 5:55 PM CDT

Cellphone call helped make stock manipulation case against corporate lawyer, FBI says

A corporate lawyer in Nevada is among seven defendants federally indicted Thursday in Brooklyn, New York, in a claimed “pump-and-dump” scheme involving microcap stock. Attorney Kyleen Cane is accused of playing a role in an alleged plan to artificially inflate the share price in the stock of a company known…

Jul 18, 2014 3:32 PM CDT

Judge nixes $50 contempt fine for saggy pants worn by attendee at court hearing

An earlier argument by a chief Pennsylvania public defender that an 18-year-old’s saggy pants revealed gym shorts rather than underwear apparently didn’t carry the day during a contempt appeal Thursday. But Adam Dennis nonetheless won a dismissal of the state district court case, as well as $50 fine, represented for…

Jul 17, 2014 10:00 PM CDT

Ex-prosecutor seeks pardon for woman convicted after crash now linked to GM ignition-switch issues

A former Texas prosecutor has asked the state to pardon a woman he helped convict in a fatal crash that is now linked to a massive recall by General Motors over ignition-switch issues. Candice Anderson’s fiance died and she was severely injured when her 2004 Saturn Ion suddenly went off…

Jul 17, 2014 5:45 PM CDT

Judge will review undercover video in UPL case against Legal Docs by Me

A New York judge will review undercover video in a case alleging Legal Docs by Me engaged in the unauthorized practice of law. Judge James McClusky of Watertown said on Tuesday that he will review video recorded by investigators for the New York Attorney General’s office, report Time Warner Cable…

Jul 16, 2014 2:15 PM CDT

Videotaped confessions may be too persuasive, law prof warns

Routinely videotaping confessions will likely make interrogations fairer and less coercive, but there is a downside, according to a law professor. Videotaped confessions may be so vivid and persuasive that jurors overlook problems, according to University of California at Los Angeles law professor Jennifer Mnookin. In an op-ed for the…

Jul 16, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

Ex-prosecutor accused of soliciting lawyer’s murder, jailed in lieu of $5M bond

A 59-year-old former prosecutor is being held in Grand Traverse County jail in lieu of $5 million bond, charged with soliciting the murder of a fellow Michigan attorney. Clarence Gomery is accused of offering a handyman $20,000 to kill attorney Christopher Cooke, who represented Gomery’s former business partner in a…

Jul 14, 2014 10:35 PM CDT

Man who fell off cliff while drunk can sue those who took him there to watch sunrise, court rules

A California man who fell off a cliff while drunk can sue two acquaintances who brought him there, a state appeals court has ruled. Reversing a pretrial dismissal of all claims against the two defendants by a Shasta County judge, a Third Appellate District panel ruled last week that Jason…

Jul 14, 2014 7:37 PM CDT

Man whose family posted $450K cash bond in homicide case wants public defender

A Montana man accused of shooting a woman to death while he was drunk and she was speaking to a 911 dispatcher from his home in Billings has been released on $450,000 cash bond posted by his family, Now Richard Douglas Reinert, 28, is arguing that he should be granted…

Jul 11, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

Police raid law office, wire client in ‘bizarre’ probe of claimed lawyer effort to aid client escape

Police in Las Vegas raided a criminal defense attorney’s law office on June 26 and seized his cellphone and client files and billing records for at least one defendant because that defendant claimed the attorney has been trying to help him leave the country. What the Las Vegas Review-Journal describes…

Jul 10, 2014 4:45 PM CDT

Police refuse to execute warrant for photos of youth’s erection in sexting case

Updated: Criminally charged over allegations he texted an explicit video to his 15-year-old girlfriend, a 17-year-old Virginia youth is now fighting the prosecution’s effort to take photos of his erect penis for evidentiary purposes, under a warrant approved by a juvenile court judge, his lawyer says. The unidentified defendant’s trial…

Jul 10, 2014 4:31 PM CDT

DA’s office says judge faked toilet-tank cover attack; jurist now faces multi-count indictment

A village judge in New York state faked a claimed attack last year in which he said he was struck in the head with a toilet-tank cover outside the courthouse he had just exited following an arraignment, authorities contend. Acting Waterloo village judge Roger Barto is now facing a multi-count…

Jul 9, 2014 3:25 PM CDT