Evidence

California judge tosses $417M talcum powder verdict

Updated: A judge in California has overturned a $417 million verdict and granted a new trial in a suit claiming talcum powder causes ovarian cancer. Judge Maren Nelson of Los Angeles Superior Court said damages were excessive and causation proof was insufficient, report the Associated Press, the New York Times,…

Oct 23, 2017 5:23 PM CDT

Federal judge releases DNA software source code that was used by New York City’s crime lab

A federal judge unsealed the source code for a software program that was used to compare DNA samples in New York City’s crime lab. In July 2016, Judge Valerie Caproni of the Southern District of New York determined in U.S. v. Johnson that the source code of the Forensic Statistical…

Oct 20, 2017 4:30 PM CDT

Massachusetts crime lab withheld exculpatory evidence in DUI cases, report finds

The leader of a Massachusetts crime lab that certifies the reliability of drunken-driving breath tests has been fired after a report found the office routinely withheld exculpatory evidence from defense lawyers since 2011. Melissa O’Meara, who was technical leader of the Office of Alcohol Testing, was fired on Monday, report…

Oct 17, 2017 11:21 AM CDT

Facial recognition technology helps nab criminals—and raises privacy concerns

The growing deployment of facial recognition technology is raising alarms among civil libertarians, who worry that the capability to identify people based solely on their appearance will erode privacy. And just how accurate is it?

Oct 1, 2017 3:20 AM CDT

What Alfred Hitchcock can teach lawyers about villains and villainy

Litigation attorneys are storytellers who shape evidence into courtroom stories fitting genre conventions embedded in jurors’ imaginations. And we have much to learn from masterful popular storytellers, such as Hitchcock, who also do this work so artfully and so well.

Oct 1, 2017 2:50 AM CDT

Top Illinois court affirms ex-police sergeant Drew Peterson’s murder conviction in hearsay challenge

The Illinois Supreme Court has upheld use of hearsay–including statements by a missing fourth wife–that helped convict former Chicago-area police sergeant Drew Peterson for the murder of his third wife. The decision upheld Peterson’s 2012 murder conviction in the 2004 death of third wife Kathleen Savio, who was found dead…

Sep 21, 2017 11:10 AM CDT

Journalist reportedly sparks uproar after overhearing Trump lawyers discuss conflict in Russia probe

A New York Times reporter overheard a lawyer for President Donald Trump discuss differences among the legal team in the special counsel’s Russia investigation during a lunchtime conversation last week. The reporter overheard Ty Cobb, who is special counsel to Trump in the Russia probe, discuss differences among lawyers in…

Sep 18, 2017 8:35 AM CDT

Delaware loses long-held No. 1 ranking for business-friendly legal climate to South Dakota

A periodic survey of corporations by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s legal-reform arm found that Delaware has lost its No. 1 ranking for being business-friendly in legal matters, dropping to No. 11, the Associated Press reports. Delaware had been No. 1 in the previous 10 surveys, and fell out of…

Sep 12, 2017 1:45 PM CDT

Alma Asay: Couch surfer stays on track for CEO success

Alma Asay

Sep 6, 2017 8:30 AM CDT

Posner rejects pattern jury instruction while sitting as trial judge and gets reversed

Judge Richard Posner of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has made clear his disdain for legal jargon and pattern jury instructions that are “largely unintelligible to jurors.” But his objection to the legal jargon in a pattern instruction, while sitting by designation as a trial judge in…

Aug 28, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Realign laws on evidence-gathering on the internet, Google GC says

For as long as we’ve had legal systems, prosecutors and police have needed to gather evidence. And for each new advance in communications, law enforcement has adapted.

Aug 24, 2017 8:00 AM CDT

Missouri governor halts execution amid DNA exoneration claim

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has halted the execution of Marcellus Williams after lawyers for the death row inmate said DNA found on the murder weapon was not his. About four hours before Tuesday evening’s scheduled execution, the governor said he was appointing a board of inquiry to investigate, report the…

Aug 22, 2017 2:40 PM CDT

Emailed photo that arrived as talc trial began among new evidence credited in $417M cancer verdict

An emailed photo and negative evidence about witnesses supporting Johnson & Johnson’s safety claims may have influenced jurors who awarded $417 million to a woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer after using the company’s talcum powder for decades, according to one of her lawyers. Eva Echeverria, 63, said she began using…

Aug 22, 2017 1:08 PM CDT

Blackwater guard’s murder conviction tossed; mandatory sentences for three others unconstitutional

A federal appeals court has ordered a new trial for a Blackwater security guard convicted of murder in the slaying of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in 2007. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned the conviction of Nicholas Slatten, finding the trial court had abused its discretion…

Aug 4, 2017 12:45 PM CDT

Lawyer’s e-discovery error led to release of confidential info on thousands of Wells Fargo clients

A lawyer representing Wells Fargo in a lawsuit subpoena request has explained how she inadvertently turned over confidential information about thousands of bank clients. Lawyer Angela Turiano of Bressler, Amery & Ross had overseen the e-discovery conducted by a vendor and turned over the documents to a lawyer for a…

Jul 27, 2017 9:20 AM CDT