Verdicts & Settlements

Once on death row for murder committed when he was 1,000 miles away, Texas man is free after plea

Construction laborer Manuel Velez was on the job in Tennessee, some 1,000 miles from his home in Brownsville, Texas, when his girlfriend’s 1-year-old son sustained fatal head injuries, according to medical evidence provided by an expert witness for the prosecution. But Velez was nonetheless convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced…

Oct 8, 2014 2:10 PM CDT

Marriott to pay $600K for blocking guests’ personal Wi-Fi access at Opryland hotel

Marriott International has agreed to pay the government $600,000 to resolve allegations that it blocked access to guests’ personal Wi-Fi networks at its Gaylord Opryland Hotel. The Federal Communications Commission says the hotel used a monitoring system to block Internet access via guests’ Wi-Fi hotspots while charging $250 to $1,000…

Oct 6, 2014 10:48 AM CDT

NY Post settles defamation suit over ‘Bag Men’ headline in its Boston Marathon coverage

The New York Post has settled a defamation lawsuit brought by two young men featured on the newspaper’s cover, three days after the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15, 2013, with the headline: “Bag Men,” the New York Daily News reports. Salaheddin Barhoum, 16, and Yassine Zaimi, 24, had been…

Oct 2, 2014 2:59 PM CDT

Report links stand-your-ground laws to higher homicide rates

Stand-your-ground laws hinder law enforcement, are applied inconsistently and disproportionately affect minorities. Those were the main findings from the ABA National Task Force on Stand Your Ground Laws. In a preliminary report (PDF) officially unveiled at the ABA Annual Meeting, the task force found that states with some form of…

Oct 1, 2014 1:30 AM CDT

Despite mandatory restitution law, courts rarely award trafficking victims lost wages, study finds

Federal law requires individuals found guilty of human trafficking to pay victims lost wages, but courts only award monetary compensation in 36 percent of all cases, a report released Tuesday found. And out of all trafficking cases, ones that involve sex work are the least likely to receive monetary awards,…

Sep 30, 2014 3:05 PM CDT

Wrongly labeled a porn star by DJs, former 1L is awarded $1M in suit against radio station

A former law student at the University of Kansas has been awarded $1 million in a suit against a radio station asserting its DJs wrongly labeled her as a porn star. Federal jurors on Friday ordered radio station owner Entercom Kansas City to pay the plaintiff, Ashley Patton, $250,000 in…

Sep 30, 2014 7:17 AM CDT

Federal judge axes Fox Rothschild in hacking case because firm represented a claimed victim company

A well-known Philadelphia-based law firm is conflicted out of representing the son of a Russian parliament member in a criminal hacking case, a federal judge in Seattle ruled Friday. That’s because the firm, Fox Rothschild, also has represented one of the many corporate victims from which the scheme—that prosecutors say…

Sep 26, 2014 3:20 PM CDT

Lawyer guilty in client money-laundering case; his own words at trial helped convict him, juror says

After more than a week of trial and over a day of deliberation, a Connecticut lawyer was found guilty Thursday by a federal jury in a client money-laundering case. As the verdict was announced, Ralph Crozier, 62, slumped his shoulders, shook his head slightly and put his hands down on…

Sep 26, 2014 11:25 AM CDT

US will pay Navajo Nation $554M to settle suit claiming mismanagement of resources

The United States has agreed to pay the Navajo Nation $554 million in a record settlement with an American tribe in litigation over mismanagement of tribal resources. The payment settles a 2006 lawsuit claiming that the U.S. government failed to maximize profits when it leased Navajo land for purposes such…

Sep 26, 2014 10:00 AM CDT

Woman punched by highway patrol officer in videotaped incident will get $1.5M settlement

A 51-year-old woman who was punched repeatedly by a uniformed California Highway Patrol officer alongside a freeway earlier this year has agreed to accept a $1.5 million settlement. The officer will resign. The July 1 incident was captured on video by a passing motorist, and CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow, who…

Sep 25, 2014 11:25 AM CDT

Judge rules against billionaire in beach-rights case, says he can’t close access road without permit

A billionaire who co-founded Sun Microsystems can’t simply close off longstanding public access to the California beach on a coastal property he purchased in 2008 for $32.5 million. Taking a broad view of what constitutes development under the state’s Coastal Act, Judge Barbara Mallach held Wednesday that Vinod Khosla cannot…

Sep 25, 2014 9:55 AM CDT

11th Circuit cites Bible, labels lawyer’s action a ‘textbook example of bad faith’

A Georgia lawyer’s plan to split a personal-injury settlement into two checks in an alleged attempt to avoid reimbursing a client’s employer for medical costs has turned out to be costly. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the personal injury client, Brenda Elem, must reimburse her employer,…

Sep 25, 2014 8:07 AM CDT

Federal jury says Patti LaBelle’s entourage not responsible for injury to West Point cadet

Despite a security video that plaintiffs counsel says showed Patti LaBelle’s son, hairdresser and 400-pound bodyguard going after a West Point cadet waiting for a ride home outside a Houston airport terminal, a federal court jury on Tuesday rendered a verdict for the soul singer and her entourage. LaBelle herself…

Sep 24, 2014 3:55 PM CDT

Did ‘freaky fast’ advertising claim spur Jimmy John’s accident settlement?

Advertisements about “freaky fast” delivery of Jimmy John’s sandwiches clearly didn’t help and may have hurt the restaurant chain during a trial of a Las Vegas lawsuit over a collision with a delivery driver. Motorcyclist Ty Cirillo sued a Las Vegas franchise and the Illinois-based corporation after he crashed into…

Sep 23, 2014 3:00 PM CDT

Does government owe moose-vehicle crash victims? Lawyer vows appeal after losing class action

More than 100 years ago, Canadian officials introduced moose on the island of Newfoundland, intending to provide a source of food. However, the moose population got out of control and is now the cause of hundreds of vehicle accidents annually as the nearly 1,000-pound, top-heavy animals suddenly sprint across roadways…

Sep 23, 2014 1:55 PM CDT