Evidence

Lawyer goes on trial for allegedly coaching witnesses to lie; scripted Q-and-A cited

In a trial that begins this week, prosecutors may rely on email, and scripted questions and answers in an effort to prove that a Chicago criminal defense lawyer coached witnesses to lie. The Chicago Tribune has a story on some of the prosecution evidence against the accused lawyer, Beau Brindley,…

Aug 17, 2015 10:17 AM CDT

Defendant charged with decking lawyer in court now faces 2 felony trials in same month

When Lance Franklin reportedly decked his defense lawyer in front of the jury and other witnesses during a Kansas rape trial last year, the judge refused to declare a mistrial because that would reward Franklin for his bad behavior. But a subsequent juror medical issue resulted in a mistrial for…

Aug 14, 2015 3:50 PM CDT

Lawyer’s double-murder trial delayed over use of subpoena rather than warrant for cellphone search

A Missouri lawyer accused of wielding a power of attorney as a lethal weapon in the murder of her father has sidestepped a second trial over his slaying. Jury selection had been scheduled to begin Monday in the double-murder trial of Susan Elizabeth Van Note, who is also accused in…

Aug 14, 2015 2:35 PM CDT

Litigious ex-con denied bond over claimed sex-ad post giving FBI agent’s phone number

After being in prison and on probation for the past decade, convicted con man Frederick Banks had a taste of freedom this summer. But it didn’t last long. Known for his prolific federal court litigation, determined by a magistrate to include more than 300 meritless suits between 2004 and 2013,…

Aug 13, 2015 3:50 PM CDT

Police lack policies for use of facial recognition on suspects, NY Times says

In an era in which fingerprint technology has become a slow and sometimes inaccurate method of identifying suspects, police are moving to facial recognition software. But they are doing so without clear rules, in a manner in which some targets find intrusive and intimidating, reports the New York Times (reg.…

Aug 13, 2015 11:00 AM CDT

Man faces contempt case after allegedly ‘liking’ woman’s Facebook posts

A Pennsylvania man is facing a contempt of court case after allegedly “liking” 22 photos and videos on a woman’s Facebook page. That’s because a court order prohibited Justin Bellanco, 26, from contacting April Holland, the Times Leader reports. In a protection-from-abuse application in the Luzerne County case she said…

Aug 12, 2015 4:15 PM CDT

On verge of damages award for Shakira song, judge reverses course due to new evidence

A federal judge had been about to award damages in a high-profile copyright case over Shakira’s 2010 hit “Loca,” to a company that owns a Dominican songwriter’s work. But on Monday, citing “a basic issue of fraud in the trial,” U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein instead ruled that the copyright…

Aug 12, 2015 11:55 AM CDT

Judge nixes request for makeup artist to cover defendant’s facial tattoos at trial

Corrected: A Florida man charged in a double-murder case won’t be provided with a makeup artist to cover up his facial tattoos at trial. Although judges have allowed such services in other cases, Circuit Judge Richard Burton said he saw no reason for the state to pay to conceal tattoos…

Aug 11, 2015 1:50 PM CDT

Acquitted man sues ‘Cold Justice’ producers and sheriff over claimed malicious murder prosecution

Acquitted earlier this year in the 1981 murder of his ex-wife, an Ohio man has filed a federal civil rights suit over a true-crime television show. In portraying the case in August 2014, TNT’s Cold Justice put him in a false light, Steven Noffsinger contends. The suit says that the…

Aug 11, 2015 12:35 PM CDT

Appeals court blasts lawyer who ‘played the Nazi card’ and flouted in limine orders

A California appeals court makes no secret of its disapproval of a lawyer’s tactics in an opinion reversing a verdict for the state in a suit by an injured motorcycle rider. The lawyer for the California Department of Transportation, Karen Bilotti, engaged in “truly egregious, indisputable instances of misconduct” as…

Aug 10, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Man seeking state police job takes polygraph test, gets 20 years in prison

A pre-employment polygraph examination for a state police job did not go well for Cedric Lovejoy. He not only wound up without the Missouri State Highway Patrol position he was seeking but, as of Thursday, was sentenced to a 20-year term in federal prison, the Kansas City Star reports. During…

Aug 7, 2015 9:00 AM CDT

Suspect’s right to counsel doesn’t require cop to step out of room, top state court says

A Washington state court rule guarantees the right of individuals to be represented by a lawyer. But it doesn’t require that every consultation between attorney and client be in a private setting, the state’s supreme court held Thursday. At issue was the January 2012 arrest of Roman Fedorov, the court…

Aug 6, 2015 3:20 PM CDT

Motion seeks sanctions against two BigLaw firms after ‘smoking gun’ email is discovered

A semiconductor company says it has recovered a “smoking gun” email, written in Japanese, that proves it had a nondisclosure agreement with Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics USA, though Mitsubishi officials denied it during a trade secrets trial. A motion by Grail Semiconductor Inc. says Mitsubishi’s lawyers at Sidley Austin and…

Aug 6, 2015 10:49 AM CDT

Dewey inflated invoices to make revenue look higher, former billing director testifies

Dewey & LeBoeuf inflated bills sent to clients the law firm didn’t expect to ante up, in order to increase the amount of booked receivables, a former director of the billing department says. Testifying Monday in a criminal trial against three former leaders of the bankrupt firm, cooperating witness Lourdes…

Aug 5, 2015 10:45 AM CDT

Cops caught on pot raid video argue they deserved privacy after disabling all but one camera

Police officers in Santa Ana, California, are seeking to quash use of a video taken during their raid of a medical marijuana dispensary taken by a hidden camera they failed to disable. Lawyers for the officers argue they had a reasonable expectation of privacy after disabling other cameras during their…

Aug 5, 2015 10:34 AM CDT