Utah

Celebrity Case re Bad Grass Day

Because of international publicity, the judge has exponentially expanded the jury pool. The defense team includes famed celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred. The issue: whether 70-year-old Betty Perry violated a municipal ordinance in Orem, Utah, by allowing her lawn to get too brown. The feisty septuagenarian is facing misdemeanor charges not…

Dec 11, 2007 10:06 PM CST

Bombing Conspirator’s Statements Used to Bolster Deposition Request

A Salt Lake City lawyer claims the government does not want to turn over documents about the death of his brother in prison after questioning about the Oklahoma City bombing because the material could implicate the FBI in the bomb plot. Lawyer Jesse Trentadue cites a new declaration by Oklahoma…

Dec 4, 2007 2:20 PM CST

Judge Axes Verdict Due to Racist Remarks

A federal judge in Utah has thrown out a guilty verdict in an assault case against an American Indian defendant because of jurors’ racist remarks during deliberations. Rather than focusing on the allegations against defendant Kerry Dean Benally, who was accused of assaulting a federal officer investigating a report that…

Dec 3, 2007 8:37 PM CST

Jeffs Prison Sentence: Five-to-Life x 2

The controversial leader of a fringe Mormon sect in Utah that advocates polygamy was sentenced today to two consecutive terms of five years to life, following his conviction earlier this year for accomplice rape. That means that Warren Jeffs, 51,will have to serve at least 10 years before he is…

Nov 20, 2007 10:32 PM CST

Phone Transcripts Released in Jeffs Case

Formerly sealed documents detailing jailhouse phone calls made by the leader of a controversial fringe sect of the Mormon church that advocates polygamy were released Tuesday by a Utah court. A lawyer for Warren Jeffs, 51, who has since been convicted of accomplice rape for pressuring a 14-year-old church member…

Nov 1, 2007 7:33 PM CDT

Guilty Verdict in Church Leader Trial

Updated: A Utah jury has reached a guilty verdict in the case of a controversial church leader accused of accomplice rape for using his religious influence to pressure a 14-year-old into a marriage she didn’t want. Despite the removal of one juror and the addition of an alternate earlier today,…

Sep 25, 2007 9:47 PM CDT

Jury Starts Over in Church Leader Case

After one day of deliberations, a jury in a high-profile Utah accomplice-rape trial against the leader of a fringe Mormon group reportedly was near a verdict on at least one of two counts. But then it was told to start deliberating again from scratch after the judge replaced one juror…

Sep 25, 2007 5:42 PM CDT

Church Leader, Polygamy on Trial in UT Rape Case

Opening arguments are expected to begin today in a Utah teen-rape case that is widely seen as putting on trial not only the defendant, Warren Jeffs, but the polygamist practices of the church community he leads. Jeffs, 51, heads the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a…

Sep 13, 2007 4:00 PM CDT

Ballard in CA, Competitor’s MP at Helm

Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll is opening an office in Los Angeles with the expectation that it will help the 500-lawyer Philadelphia-based law firm strengthen its flagship real estate and resort practice in the Southwest. In charge of the new office will be David C. Sampson, former managing partner of…

Sep 4, 2007 4:53 PM CDT

Polygamy Cases Fizzle; Religious Bias?

After two years, criminal cases brought in Arizona against eight men in the same polygamous sect for allegedly marrying underage girls are nearing an end. Three have been convicted—and sentenced to jail sentences ranging from one day to nine months. A fourth was acquitted, and charges were dropped against two…

Aug 17, 2007 9:33 PM CDT

Canada to Review Polygamy Ban?

In a case that could have an effect on United States law enforcement, a prominent Canadian criminal attorney serving as a special prosecutor has recommended that his country reconsider its ban on polygamy. Appointed in a British Columbia case involving a U.S.-based splinter Mormon group that has reportedly openly practiced…

Aug 1, 2007 11:47 PM CDT

Judges Get Huffy When Motives Questioned

An effective lawyer challenges court opinions without impugning the character or motives of the judges who wrote them. But should lawyers who don’t follow this rule be penalized? More often, courts are answering the question in the affirmative, according to Adam Liptak in a New York Times (sub. req.) column.…

May 7, 2007 1:53 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Conviction Stands Despite Prosecutor Error

A federal appeals court has affirmed the conviction of a Utah attorney who assured investors in a pyramid scheme that their investment was safe. Despite improper comments by a prosecutor at trial, there was no plain error warranting reversal of Wesley Sine’s conviction, according to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S.…

May 2, 2007 7:58 PM CDT

Violation or Salvation?

Prosecutors say it’s a sex crime. Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs says it’s counseling his flock.

Feb 21, 2007 9:32 AM CST

Live-Action Interaction

Virtual Visitation Diminishes Distances Between Divorced Parents and Their Kids

Nov 29, 2005 9:05 AM CST