Evidence

Panel: Judge Who Quit Must Be Removed; Cites Due-Process Issues, Sexual Talk About Turtle T-Shirt

A family court judge in New York abruptly quit last month after facing criticism for the way he treated multiple defendants on his call. But Gilbert Abramson should still be removed from the bench, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct has determined (PDF), because of his disregard for their due-process…

Nov 8, 2010 10:31 PM CST

White Transit Officer Gets Minimum 2 Years in Killing of Unarmed Black Man at Station

Both the family of a slain black victim and the family of a white transit officer were reportedly unhappy with the two-year sentence imposed today on Johannes Mehserle for killing the unarmed, apparently unresisting man as he was lying on the floor in a San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit…

Nov 6, 2010 12:13 AM CDT

2nd Circuit Tosses Elderly Woman’s Hot Tea Lawsuit

An elderly woman who was burned when she spilled her Starbucks tea as she tried to open the lid won’t be able to pursue her $3 million lawsuit due to a federal appeals court ruling. Rachel Moltner had contended the tea was in a double cup that changed the center…

Nov 5, 2010 2:40 PM CDT

Judge Tells Fieger He’s Going to Jail If He Says ‘Polygraph’ to Murder Trial Jury One More Time

Admonishing controversial defense attorney Geoffrey Fieger in a murder trial this morning, a Michigan judge told him she’ll declare a mistrial and send him to jail if he says the word “polygraph” in front of the jury one more time. Fieger contends that his use of the offending word on…

Nov 4, 2010 11:03 PM CDT

Domestic Abuse Defendant Relies on ‘Slave’ Contract and Victim’s Testimony: ‘I Like to Be Tied Up’

In an unusual domestic abuse trial now under way in Oklahoma, the defendant is relying on testimony by the victim. Richard Bryon “Wraith” Wise, 43, should not be found guilty of felony kidnapping and felony and misdemeanor domestic abuse counts, the defense contends, because the Utah woman allegedly handcuffed, choked…

Nov 4, 2010 8:12 PM CDT

Jail Officials Read Legal Mail & May Record Lawyers, Says Defense in Guard Murder Case

Lawyers defending Curtis Allgier in a Utah capital murder case clearly don’t have any easy job. A self-described white supremacist with a shaved head, the 31-year-old is heavily tattooed over his entire face, skull and neck. He gave an interview to KSL Broadcasting in 2007 in which he reportedly admitted…

Nov 3, 2010 9:53 PM CDT

Judge Sues Lawyer for Defamation, Says Ethics Complaint E-Mailed to Over 100, Then Wins Re-election

An already-contentious relationship between a Texas judge and a number of his colleagues on the bench likely has not improved since yesterday’s general election. According to unofficial election results for Dallas County (see page 9), incumbent Judge Carlos Cortez of the 44th Judicial District has edged out his Republican challenger,…

Nov 3, 2010 8:24 PM CDT

Gov’t Can Search E-Mail Without Notifying Account-Holder, Federal Judge Rules

When the feds search an individual’s e-mail under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, they don’t have to notify the account-holder, a federal judge has ruled. In an order (PDF) unsealed yesterday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth of Washington, D.C., says the statute is satisfied so long as the government provides…

Nov 3, 2010 12:02 AM CDT

Fresh Courses

E-discovery classes for lawyers, paralegals

Nov 1, 2010 8:45 AM CDT

New Ethics Case re Lawyer’s Testimony About $8.4M Detroit Pact & Ex-Mayor’s Racy Texts

New ethics trouble is brewing for a Michigan lawyer who helped two police officers win a controversial $8.4 million settlement from the city of Detroit in a whistle-blower case after they agreed to help keep the lid on racy text messages between the then-mayor and a top aide. As an…

Oct 29, 2010 9:04 PM CDT

Jury Forewoman’s ‘Boring, Boring, Boring’ FB Post Could Help Force New Trial in Rape Case

Updated: As of yesterday, two assistant public defenders in Florida reportedly were simply seeking to subpoena a jury forewoman’s Facebook records following published comments questioning her impartiality by another member of the panel that convicted their client in a rape case. That panel member said in a post-trial Facebook post…

Oct 29, 2010 7:24 PM CDT

Prosecutors Blast Ex-DA in ‘Nightmare’ Case of Innocent Man Jailed 18 Years

Freed yesterday after spending 18 years in prison for a capital crime he did not commit, Anthony Graves was initially convicted because of a “nightmare” of prosecutorial misconduct that included withholding evidence and threatening witnesses, Texas prosecutors said in a press conference today. DA Bill Parham of Washington and Burleson…

Oct 28, 2010 9:07 PM CDT

‘Totally Fooled’ by Now-Convicted Rothstein, Law Partner Tries to Explain What He Did for $450K Pay

“Totally fooled” by his then-law partner, Scott Rothstein, who is now serving a 50-year sentence for running a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme, a Florida lawyer tried to explain in a deposition today what he did to earn $450,000 a year from Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler—plus another $475,000 in payments for a…

Oct 28, 2010 7:59 PM CDT

After Taking 8-Day Vacation for ‘Jury Duty,’ Woman Is Jailed When She Returns to Work

Rebecca Thybulle apparently might have gotten away with allegedly faking a jury duty summons in order to take an eight-day vacation from work while claiming to be hearing a vehicular homicide case. But court documents say the 32-year-old New York human resources manager left an incomplete version of the doctored…

Oct 28, 2010 7:06 PM CDT

New Weapon for Divorce Lawyers? Android App Facilitates Secret Forwarding of Texts

Updated: Amid reports that evidence-gathering has never been easier than in the Internet age comes word of a new Android application, the Secret SMS Replicator. It could be installed on any Android cellphone to permit secret forwarding of text messages to any other cellphone, the Bits blog of the New…

Oct 27, 2010 11:12 PM CDT