Idaho

Family sues car dealership, says they were held at gunpoint on mistaken theft claim over BMW loaner

An Idaho family of four has filed suit against an automobile dealership, contending that all were traumatized when they were stopped by sheriff’s officers near Coeur d’Alene and held at gunpoint, along with their dog, because of a mistaken theft report about a loaner BMW. Casey and Sheree Bryntesen sued…

Oct 24, 2013 7:20 PM CDT

Lawyer saves teen client who appeared ready to leap from courthouse roof

An Idaho lawyer says he was acting on instinct when he chased his teen client and grabbed the youth as he appeared ready to leap from the ledge of the courthouse roof in Ada County. Nampa, Idaho, lawyer Ryan Henson tells the Idaho Statesman that he didn’t think of the…

Apr 4, 2013 12:23 PM CDT

Judge Orders Prosecutor and Defendant Into Mediation In Death Penalty Case

A judge overseeing a first-degree murder case in eastern Idaho has ordered the prosecutor and defendant Michael Sparks into mediation, to see if they can resolve the death-penalty case before trial. Sparks’ attorney, Bannock County Public Defender Randy Schulthies, said he was surprised by the Monday order by Sixth District…

Dec 11, 2012 10:08 PM CST

Supreme Court Won’t Consider Ban on Insanity Defense; Dissenters Explain Idaho Law with Wolf Hypo

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the case of an accused murderer who claims he has a constitutional right to an insanity defense. Justice Stephen G. Breyer dissented to the cert denial in an opinion (PDF) joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor. The cert petition…

Nov 26, 2012 5:17 PM CST

Lawyer Takes Misdemeanor Plea During Trial for Alleged Attack on Woman in Law Office Conference Room

Faced with the possibility of a maximum 20-year prison sentence if he had been found guilty of felony battery for allegedly forcing himself on a woman in his law office conference room last year, an Idaho attorney has taken a mid-trial plea to misdemeanor battery. John Prior, 50, will now…

Sep 18, 2012 4:02 PM CDT

Meet David Nevin, ‘Velvet Shiv’ Defense Attorney for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

The military trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, isn’t expected to begin until next year. However, his hard-fighting defense lawyer, David Nevin, begins a six-day session of legal arguments on Thursday in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that could result in the exclusion…

Aug 22, 2012 4:15 PM CDT

Idaho County to Hire Lawyer to Assist Pro Se Litigants

A county in southwestern Idaho has approved a preliminary budget that includes the hiring of a full-time lawyer to aid those filing pro se civil cases. Canyon County commissioners approved the position, taking $60,000 from the Idaho Supreme Court, to hire the lawyer to help better assist an increasing number…

Aug 13, 2012 12:23 PM CDT

First Class Is on Verge of Beginning Studies at Concordia U Law School

At least 71 students and perhaps as many as 75 are about to begin their studies at the new Concordia University School of Law in Boise, Idaho, which is opening its doors to its first class this month. Each will have a judge or lawyer assigned as a mentor, reports…

Aug 3, 2012 11:44 AM CDT

Unhappy with State AG’s ‘Completely Unsupported’ Opinion, Idaho House Speaker Goes Lawyer-Shopping

Dissatisfied with a legal opinion from the Idaho attorney general, the speaker of the state’s house of representatives sought—and got—a more favorable ruling from a private practitioner. Like the AG, the speaker, Lawrence Denney, is a Republican. However, that didn’t prevent the state’s Republican party from issuing a press release…

Jan 24, 2012 7:00 PM CST

Landowners’ Wetlands Dispute Becomes Conservative Cause and Supreme Court Case

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider an Idaho property rights case that has generated landowner sympathy among conservatives, libertarians and developers. The issue before the court next week is whether landowners Chantell and Mike Sackett may go to court to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency’s conclusion that their property is…

Jan 4, 2012 12:00 PM CST

High School Had Right to Search 18-Year-Old’s Car for Smokes; Drug, Weapon Charges Result

At 18 years of age, Joseph A. Voss Jr. was old enough to smoke without violating the law. But because he was potentially violating high school rules if found to be doing so on campus, officials were within their rights to search the senior student’s car in the parking lot…

Nov 28, 2011 11:45 PM CST

Lawyer Guilty in Failed Contract Hit on Wife Gets 50 Years; They Both Say Feds Framed Him

Federal prosecutors were seeking a 50-year sentence today for a lawyer in northern Idaho who was convicted of trying to arrange a contract hit on his wife, and they got it. Both Edgar J. Steele, 65, and his wife, Cyndi, who survived the failed attempt when an undetonated pipe bomb…

Nov 9, 2011 6:05 PM CST

Disbarred After $1.48M Alleged BigLaw Billing Fraud, Ex-Attorney Faces Uphill Reinstatement Battle

Gary and Maureen Fairchild made headlines in the 1990s when the high-profile BigLaw couple were accused of bilking their respective law partners of more than $2 million through collusive law firm billing fraud at the same time that the two Chicago lawyers were legally taking home hundreds of thousands of…

Oct 21, 2011 10:31 PM CDT

Federal Judge Blocks Enforcement of Idaho Law Criminalizing Certain Abortions

A federal judge has temporarily barred Idaho from enforcing a decades-old state law prohibiting women from terminating their own pregnancy. The law, enacted in 1972, criminalizes abortions not specifically authorized by law, such as those performed by a licensed physician. Jennie Linn McCormack, 33, was charged earlier this year with…

Sep 29, 2011 9:41 PM CDT

Spotlight On the Three States That Maintain All-Male High Courts

When Iowa voters in the last election removed three supreme court judges who supported the state’s historic same-sex marriage ruling, they made history. But it’s perhaps not the kind of history political activists might suspect. The vacancies resulted in the appointment of three male jurists to Iowa’s high court, making…

Jun 1, 2011 7:30 AM CDT