Pennsylvania

Investigators Seize Pa. Lawmaker and Ex-Prosecutor’s Computers in Evidence-Tampering Probe

Three Pennsylvania state senate computer hard drives were seized in Harrisburg today concerning a probe of what a judge called doctored evidence when he declared a mistrial earlier this year for a lawmaker accused in a political corruption case. Defense exhibits in the trial of Sen. Jane Orie, R-Allegheny, who…

Oct 21, 2011 8:14 PM CDT

NAACP Sues Philadelphia for Refusing Airport Ad on High US Incarceration Rate

A lawsuit claims Philadelphia violated the First Amendment when it turned down an ad at its airport that highlights the country’s high incarceration rate. The NAACP is the plaintiff in the suit filed Wednesday in federal court, according to a press release, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bloomberg News and the Philadelphia…

Oct 21, 2011 12:24 PM CDT

Pennsylvania Judge Banned from Bench for Absenteeism, Rude Remarks

A Pennsylvania judge who missed 116 days of work over a two-year period has been banned from the bench. Judge Maryesther Merlo of Allentown plans to appeal to the state supreme court, report the Allentown Morning Call and the Associated Press. The Court of Judicial Discipline permanently removed Merlo from…

Oct 19, 2011 12:38 PM CDT

Pa. Judge Is Accused of Seeking Sexual Favors for Favorable Rulings in Two Cases; Probe Continues

A 70-year-old Pennsylvania judge is accused of seeking sexual favors from two women in landlord-tenant cases in exchange for favorable treatment. Judge Ross Cioppa has been charged in Allegheny County with two counts each of bribery, indecent assault and official oppression, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. Cioppa’s conduct in 20 other…

Oct 13, 2011 1:59 PM CDT

Natural Gas Reserve in Western Pa. Prompts Law Firms to Open Offices in the Region

Eager for lucrative energy work, global law firms and boutiques alike are flocking to Western Pennsylvania’s enormous Marcellus Shale natural gas reserve. Previously unattainable, new large-scale drilling technology has made it possible to tap these reserves in central and western Pennsylvania that beckon firms with a significant presence in the…

Oct 11, 2011 10:09 PM CDT

Another Texas County Mulls Possible MERS Suit; Up to $100M Could Be In Issue in Harris County

With as much as $100 million in unpaid filing fees at issue, another Texas county is pondering possible litigation against those responsible for an electronic system that circumvented the traditional method of recording paperwork when lenders purchase mortgages from each other. On the agenda for a Tuesday meeting of the…

Oct 7, 2011 8:16 PM CDT

Consumer Advocate Wins Suit Against Walmart Store for Failing to Correct Two Penny Overcharge

A consumer advocate in Pennsylvania has been awarded $180 in damages and court costs in a suit targeting a Walmart in Delmont for a 2 cent overcharge. Mary Bach of Murrysville says she and her husband have sued the Walmart five times for charging more than the posted price, the…

Oct 3, 2011 3:43 PM CDT

Top Pa. Court Orders Hearings on Adequacy of Attorney’s Fees in Phila. Death-Penalty Cases

Exercising its extraordinary jurisdictional powers, as it was urged to do in a petition by a nonprofit Atlantic Center for Capital Representation, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court yesterday appointed a judge to hold hearings on the adequacy of the legal fees paid to court-appointed attorneys in Philadelphia capital murder cases. The…

Sep 29, 2011 10:01 AM CDT

Pennsylvania Appeals Court Rules Text Messages Were Inadmissible Hearsay

A Pennsylvania appeals court has overturned a woman’s drug conviction because text messages on her phone were admitted as evidence at trial. The Pennsylvania Superior Court said there was no showing that the defendant wrote the 13 drug-related text messages and they were inadmissible hearsay, the Legal Intelligencer (reg. req.)…

Sep 28, 2011 12:33 PM CDT

Pennsylvania Judge Gets 17.5 Year Sentence in Kids-for-Cash Scandal

A former Pennsylvania judge has been sentenced to 17½ years in prison after his guilty plea in the Luzerne County kids-for-cash case. Former President Judge Michael Conahan, 59, was sentenced Friday, report the Legal Intelligencer and the Associated Press. He also was ordered to pay $874,000 in restitution, the Legal…

Sep 26, 2011 2:06 PM CDT

Defendant Lawyer Calls His Own Attorney Unprepared in Criminal Court Spat and Says He Prays for Him

A Pennsylvania lawyer charged with stealing nearly $200,000 from an elderly widow is looking for a new attorney after a criminal courtroom spat yesterday in which he publicly called his own attorney unprepared and not up to the job of defending him. The contentious hearing in front of Allegheny Common…

Sep 15, 2011 9:35 PM CDT

Lawyer Fears the Beast in Successful Challenge to Obama Health Care Law

The Pennsylvania lawyer who successfully challenged the Obama health care law cited the Book of Revelation in his suit against the federal government. Lawyer Paul Rossi represents Barbara and Gregory Bachman, Lancaster Online reports. The York County couple say they want to finance a new car, but they are reluctant…

Sep 14, 2011 2:27 PM CDT

Court Reporter Sues Criminal Lawyer for Defamation Over Altered-Transcript Claim

A Pennsylvania lawyer has so far been unsuccessful in his efforts to obtain an audiotape and other original materials that he contends would help prove his claim that transcripts of his client’s Washington County murder trial were altered. So attorney Noah Geary is now pursuing an appeal of adverse superior…

Sep 13, 2011 5:32 PM CDT

Lawyer Convicted, Sentenced to Death in Slaying of 6 Says His Schizophrenia Was Undiagnosed

An unemployed immigration attorney living with his parents in the Pittsburgh suburbs apparently snapped in April 2000, shooting six people he reportedly targeted because of their racial, ethnic or religious backgrounds and his white supremacist views. Five were killed at the time, and a sixth died years later of injuries…

Sep 12, 2011 7:17 PM CDT

Dechert Hires Bank Counsel to Run New Outsourcing Practice; It’s Vivian Maese’s 1st Law Firm Job

A New York lawyer who has until now worked in high-level managerial roles at well-known financial institutions has accepted her first law firm job: as head of a new practice group at Dechert. Vivian Maese will oversee the firm’s new global outsourcing and offshoring practice group. It is intended to…

Sep 12, 2011 5:13 PM CDT