Louisiana

2 lawyers convicted in scheme to get film-industry tax credits without paying required expenses

Two prominent lawyers were convicted Monday by a federal jury in New Orleans for their roles in a scheme by three business partners to obtain film-industry tax credits from the state of Louisiana without paying required expenses. Found guilty of conspiracy and mail fraud charges were attorneys Michael Arata, a…

Apr 28, 2015 11:00 AM CDT

2 attorneys on trial for allegedly defrauding state tax credit program

Two lawyers and a spouse of one of them, acting as business partners, “exploited every human being that they could” to defraud a Louisiana tax program intended to encourage expansion of the state’s film industry, a federal prosecutor told a New Orleans jury on Monday. Defendant Michael Arata, a New…

Apr 15, 2015 3:55 PM CDT

State troopers get booted, arrest the parking attendant and remove boot themselves, suit says

Two Louisiana state troopers who returned from an apparent meal break, found that their unmarked, unlawfully parked pickup truck had gotten the boot and demanded that a parking attendant remove it. Then, when he refused to do so without getting paid the required $90 fee, they arrested the attendant, took…

Apr 14, 2015 2:25 PM CDT

Man who punched sister’s accused killer in court is held in contempt and fined $100

Initially told by a Louisiana judge that he faced jail time for punching a shackled murder defendant in a Jefferson Parish courtroom last week, 34-year-old Adam Dozier caught a break on Wednesday. Represented by a public defender, he apologized to Judge Lee Faulkner and was found in contempt of court…

Apr 9, 2015 9:00 AM CDT

Appeals court: Driver who kicked drunken friend out of his car is liable for 3rd-party hit-and-run

Drunk and belligerent, Piero Larrea was kicked out of a friend’s car on the way home from a New Orleans bar on Oct. 29, 2011. Then he died in a hit-and-run accident after John Cefalu pulled away. Sued by Larrea’s dad, Cefalu was found liable for 28 percent of a…

Apr 1, 2015 9:00 AM CDT

Prosecutor: I was ‘arrogant, judgmental, narcissistic’ in capital prosecution of now-exonerated man

A former Louisiana prosecutor who helped send a now-exonerated inmate to death row in 1984 is condemning the capital punishment process and apologizing for his role in the conviction. In a letter to the editor of the Times of Shreveport, former prosecutor A.M. “Marty” Stroud III said there was no…

Mar 25, 2015 8:31 AM CDT

As a growing number of states enact ‘rehoming’ laws, Facebook reportedly disables adoption page

Responding to news of parents placing children they find difficult to deal with in the care of strangers they identify as potential caretakers via the Internet, a growing number of lawmakers are enacting legislation to curtail the controversial practice. Meanwhile, Facebook has disabled an “Adoption Through Disruption” page being used…

Mar 23, 2015 11:00 AM CDT

Federal judge sanctions 3 lawyers, says they can’t file oil spill claims against BP

A federal judge in New Orleans sanctioned three lawyers on Thursday, barring them from handling claims against BP concerning the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said at an earlier hearing that Lionel Sutton III, Jonathan Andry and Glen Lerner acted unethically when they coordinated to…

Feb 27, 2015 3:22 PM CST

Lawyer gets 1-day suspended sentence in taxicab incident; civil rights suit by driver is ongoing

A Louisiana lawyer and former radio show host was given a one-day suspended sentence and a day of inactive probation on Wednesday when she was sentenced in a misdemeanor case that began as a felony prosecution. Although glad to have been convicted of criminal mischief rather than the felony false…

Feb 26, 2015 10:30 AM CST

Judge kicks defense lawyer off attempted murder case for failing to participate

Updated: A New Orleans judge has kicked a criminal defense lawyer off an attempted murder case after he failed to show up in court on Monday and refused to participate in jury selection the next day. Judge Nancy Miller of Jefferson Parish removed lawyer DaShawn Hayes from the case on…

Jan 29, 2015 6:15 AM CST

Ex-con arrested in alleged murder plot against high-profile criminal defense lawyer

A recently released inmate has been arrested in an alleged plot to kill a lawyer who once represented former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. The suspect, Kenneth Lee, was arrested last week in the alleged plot to kill New Orleans criminal-defense lawyer Robert Jenkins, report WDSU, the New Orleans Advocate…

Dec 31, 2014 7:18 AM CST

Lawyer is beaten unconscious in New Orleans; neither his Rolex nor his cash was taken

A California lawyer visiting New Orleans for a legal meeting earlier this month was beaten unconscious by attackers who did not take his Rolex, cash or cellphone. Sacramento, California, personal-injury lawyer Bill Callaham says he had visited the French Quarter and was walking back to the Hyatt Regency Hotel at…

Dec 22, 2014 10:07 AM CST

Lawyers face public intimidation charges for reaction after police kick in their door

Husband and wife lawyers in Crowley, Louisiana, have been indicted on charges of public intimidation for their reaction to police who kicked down their door in response to a 911 call from a neighbor. Both lawyers—J. Clay LeJeune, 45, and Mitzi Mayeaux, 40—are well-known, the Advocate reports. Both were charged…

Dec 19, 2014 7:37 AM CST

Judge is suspended for 30 days over trip to lawyer’s hunting ranch after $1.2M case was settled

A Louisiana judge has been suspended without pay for 30 days for taking an expense-paid three-day trip, after a personal injury case was settled for $1.2 million, to a Texas hunting ranch owned by an attorney in the case District Judge J. Robin Free, who is known for his hunting…

Dec 10, 2014 10:45 AM CST

Judge wins re-election but is now too old to serve on bench

The longest-serving judge in Louisiana won election Tuesday to another term of office. But Orleans Parish Criminal Court Judge Frank Marullo is now too old to serve on the bench, under state law. Voters defeated a ballot measure that would have eliminated a state constitution requirement that judges retire by…

Nov 7, 2014 3:35 PM CST