Evidence

Trial lawyers share their favorite tech tools in their litigation toolboxes

San Francisco lawyer Christopher B. Dolan’s favorite litigation tool is Trial Touch, an iPad app for trial presentation that he says allows him to prep, organize and try a case while collaborating with his office staff on all documentation. Roanoke, Va., lawyer Robert Dean’s favorite trial tool is TrialPad, a…

Apr 4, 2013 10:03 PM CDT

71 percent of young people surveyed would favor an individual over an insurance company at trial

SURVEY SAYS 50.7 months—or almost 11 percent of a 40-year career—is how long the average physician spends with an unresolved, open malpractice claim. Source: Health Affairs, January 2013. 71% of survey respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 say they would be more likely to favor an individual over…

Apr 1, 2013 8:50 AM CDT

Court weighs whether a prosecutor can use a defendant’s refusal to answer a question

In early 1993, Houston police officers arrived at the home of Genovevo Salinas to question him about the shotgun murders of two brothers outside a party a few weeks earlier. Salinas accompanied the police to the station house, where he consented to answer questions for nearly an hour in a…

Apr 1, 2013 8:29 AM CDT

Predictive coding is on the rise in courts

Last April, Law by the Numbers first appeared in the ABA Journal with a study of the effectiveness of technology-assisted review in e-discovery cases. For our first anniversary, we return to the subject with a study showing TAR and predictive coding are getting increased attention in America’s court system. Kroll…

Apr 1, 2013 7:20 AM CDT

Traffic court sting results in arrest of 2 unlicensed drivers, impound of vehicles

A police sting on Wednesday at a California traffic court session resulted in the arrest of two drivers and the impound of their vehicles. San Pablo police officers attended the Richmond Superior Court call and then followed those whose licenses had been suspended out of the hearing to see how…

Mar 29, 2013 6:57 PM CDT

As trial looms for ex-DA accused in RICO enterprise case, feds make new accusations

Federally indicted on corruption charges while he was still the sitting district attorney in Cameron County, Texas, a now-former prosecutor faces new allegations in a case in which he is accused of running his office as a racketeering enterprise. The case is allegedly part of a wider cash-for-court-favors and graft…

Mar 27, 2013 5:15 PM CDT

LAPD to get tapes of defense lawyer talks with convicted ‘Charles Manson family’ killer

After months of litigation and two court rulings, it looks like the Los Angeles Police Department may be on the verge of getting hold of long-ago taped conversations between a now-deceased Texas defense lawyer and a member of the notorious Charles Manson “family” convicted in multiple 1969 murders that terrorized…

Mar 26, 2013 8:34 PM CDT

Millionaire deluges state attorney with public records requests after daughter’s DUI conviction

Corrected: At one time, Martin E. “Marty” O’Boyle was a political ally of Florida state attorney Dave Aronberg, helping him position himself to get elected. But after Aronberg refused to take a position concerning the 2011 misdemeanor driving-under-the-influence conviction of O’Boyle’s daughter, Sara, the two parted ways. They still have…

Mar 26, 2013 8:10 PM CDT

Man angry over stripper’s $750 debt made death threats to judge and prosecutor, feds say

A scheme that federal prosecutors say Amin Abbas Eltayeb launched to try to collect on the $750 loan he had made to an exotic dancer allegedly resulted in threats against a Florida judge, prosecutor and sheriff’s deputy. Warned by the woman’s boyfriend to leave her alone after she had repaid…

Mar 26, 2013 4:26 PM CDT

Sheriff says ballistics link gun in Texas traffic shootout with slaying of Colo. prisons chief

Ballistics evidence shows that the same gun used in a Texas shootout that began with a routine traffic stop was also used in the earlier slaying of the Colorado prisons superintendent at his home, authorities announced Monday afternoon. The El Paso County, Colo., sheriff’s office said shell casings in both…

Mar 25, 2013 9:24 PM CDT

Ex-prosecutor guilty of law firm racketeering shouldn’t have tried his own case, juror says

A former state and federal prosecutor convicted this week of operating his law firm as a racketeering enterprise and participating in drug-dealing, prostitution and even a conspiracy to murder witnesses, might have done better to let a defense lawyer handle his trial, a juror says. As he himself questioned witnesses…

Mar 20, 2013 7:40 PM CDT

Traffic cops check Facebook page for driver’s girlfriend, determine he’s a fugitive

Two Oregon state troopers were dubious Sunday when the man they had pulled over in a traffic stop in the suburban Portland area showed them a driver’s license that seemed to feature someone else’s photo. So they used the laptop computer in their patrol car to check the Facebook page…

Mar 19, 2013 5:10 PM CDT

Presenting faked evidence in client’s trial gets longtime defense lawyer 63 months

A longtime Washington, D.C., criminal defense lawyer portrayed by a prosecutor as a serial violator of legal ethics rules was sentenced Tuesday to 63 months in federal prison for presenting staged photographs and perjured testimony as evidence at a client’s drug trial. A defense lawyer for Charles Daum had sought…

Mar 14, 2013 3:30 PM CDT

Lawyer held in contempt, fined $100, for missing court hearing on day AG admitted their relationship

An Arkansas lawyer who missed a scheduled court hearing on the day the state’s attorney general publicly admitted that the two had had an “inappropriate” extramarital relationship has been held in contempt and fined $100. Attorney Andrea Davis of Hot Springs was upset about the December announcement by Arkansas Attorney…

Mar 13, 2013 9:11 PM CDT

Federal judge sides with whooping cranes in water rights case

A federal judge has ordered Texas officials to put the needs of an endangered flock of whooping cranes first when determining whether to grant water-use permits to new users. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times provides a link to Monday’s 124-page opinion (PDF) by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack. She…

Mar 13, 2013 8:00 PM CDT