Evidence

Secret SEC Data Mining to Fuel New Insider-Trading Cases; Lawyers Targeted

After a two-year investigation using unusually aggressive evidence-gathering techniques, the feds are getting ready to crack down on a broad array of insider-trading networks. In addition to the securities fraud case and civil insider-trading charges announced last week against billionaire Galleon Group hedge-fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, authorities are targeting hedge…

Oct 19, 2009 6:44 PM CDT

The Feds Were Listening: Wiretaps Led to Arrest of Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager

Government wiretaps captured the conversations of billionaire hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, arrested along with five other hedge fund operators and money managers last week in an alleged $20 million insider trading scheme. Court-authorized wiretaps have never been used to target significant insider trading on Wall Street, the San Jose…

Oct 19, 2009 2:02 PM CDT

Manhattan Prosecutors Have Indicted 117 DNA Samples

Prosecutors in New York City have indicted 117 DNA samples, an effort that began with the aim of avoiding time limits in prosecutions for rape. Prosecutors came up with the idea almost 10 years ago when they had a DNA profile but no suspect in the 1993 rape of a…

Oct 19, 2009 11:35 AM CDT

Did Man Confess Before Much-Debated Execution? Former Wife May Think So

In a new twist on a controversial case involving what some believe was the execution of an innocent man for setting the 1991 fire that killed his children, it is now being reported that Cameron Todd Willingham may have made comments amounting to a confession shortly before his own death.…

Oct 16, 2009 7:39 PM CDT

Ind. High Court Allows MySpace Entry as Evidence in Murder Trial

Saying that statements made on social networking sites are admissible as evidence of a defendant’s character, the Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of a Northern Indiana man who beat his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter to death in 2007. Ian Clark, a confessed drunken “stoner,” had appealed his conviction,…

Oct 16, 2009 4:59 PM CDT

3rd Circuit Nixes Lawyer’s $14M Age Suit Despite ‘Younger & Cheaper’ Note

Even though his employment file at Moser Patterson & Sheridan contained a note “older & better paid/younger & cheaper,” attorney John Kelly’s age discrimination suit against the New Jersey law firm was properly dismissed on summary judgment, a federal appeals court has ruled. Kelly was 52 when he was fired…

Oct 15, 2009 9:10 PM CDT

Lawyer Fined $500 for Suing Police Dog, City Defendant to Seek Costs

After earlier fining a Michigan lawyer $500 for naming a police dog as a defendant in a lawsuit over a bite, a state-court judge has now dismissed the claim citing sovereign immunity and a lack of evidence. Attorney Lawrence Radden admittedly named Liberty, a German Shepherd, as a defendant in…

Oct 14, 2009 8:13 PM CDT

2 Madoff Victims Sue SEC Claiming ‘Serial, Gross Negligence’

Contending that their losses from Bernard Madoff’s record-breaking Ponzi scheme would have been far less if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had “simply done its job,” two of Madoff’s swindled victims have sued the federal agency for $2.4 million in damages. Lawyers from Herrick Feinstein, who are representing the…

Oct 14, 2009 7:55 PM CDT

Identical Twin Doctors in Related Pedophilia Cases Get Separate Trials

In a criminal case that sounds like a law school exam hypothetical, two identical twin pediatricians in Ohio are both accused of having sex with underage males, including some patients, and are expected to go to trial at roughly the same time. But the 53-year-old physicians will be tried separately,…

Oct 9, 2009 9:29 PM CDT

‘Toxic Titles’ Make Mortgage Foreclosures a Lot More Complex

Already dealing with a deluge of mortgage foreclosures, courts in Massachusetts now have a new problem. And, although litigation over the issue is farther along there than in a number of other states, it’s a growing concern that is also affecting other properties throughout the country. So-called toxic titles created…

Oct 9, 2009 8:27 PM CDT

Justices Skeptical of Defense Arguments in Miranda Delay Case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday pondered what kind of rule should apply when a suspect who invokes his Miranda right to a lawyer is questioned again two years and seven months later. The justices “seemed skeptical of defense lawyers’ arguments” that police should not have been allowed to question…

Oct 6, 2009 12:25 PM CDT

Then-Lawyer Let Jr. Gotti Look at Rivals’ Client Files, Witness Testifies

While representing John “Junior” Gotti during the 1990s, a New York lawyer let the allegedly retired mobster see the files of other clients who were from a rival crime family, a government witness testified this week. But the lawyer says that isn’t true: Not only did he never share any…

Oct 2, 2009 8:07 PM CDT

David Letterman’s Lawyer Wore Wire to Get Evidence re Alleged Extortion Attempt

When a 48 Hours producer allegedly tried to extort $2 million from David Letterman last month by threatening to go public about the late-night television show host’s now-admitted sexual relationships with women employees, Letterman called his lawyer. And the unidentified attorney came through, first setting up a meeting with Robert…

Oct 2, 2009 6:43 PM CDT

True Lies

Cutting-edge technology has renewed the search for a better lie detector. Some show promise, but they have yet to be tested in court.

Oct 2, 2009 4:20 AM CDT

Broadcom CFO’s Talks With Law Firm re Backdating Probe Weren’t Privileged

A former chief financial officer of Broadcom Corp. says he expected his 2006 conversations with Irell & Manella about stock options grants to be confidential, because the law firm was representing his employer as outside counsel in an internal probe. And a federal district court judge found that Irell &…

Sep 30, 2009 10:32 PM CDT