Afternoon Briefs: Book says Kennedy suggested Kavanaugh to Trump; no retrial for med-mal defendant who helped juror
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy retired in July 2018.
Kennedy suggested Trump appoint Kavanaugh to replace him, book alleges
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy told President Donald Trump in April 2017 that he should consider his former clerk Brett Kavanaugh for the next opening on the U.S. Supreme Court, according to an upcoming book by Washington Post deputy editorial-page editor Ruth Marcus. Kennedy delivered the message in a secret meeting after Neil Gorsuch was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice, according to the book, Supreme Ambition: Brett Kavanaugh and the Conservative Takeover. Then, when Kennedy told Trump of his plan to retire in June 2018, Kennedy suggested Kavanaugh as his replacement, the book says. There is conflicting information as to whether Kennedy also suggested another former clerk, Raymond Kethledge. (The Washington Post)
Med-mal defendant who helped ill juror doesn’t have to go through retrial
A trial court was not required to grant a mistrial after a medical malpractice defendant and his lawyer came to the aid of a juror who became ill during closing arguments, the Illinois Court of Appeals has ruled. The defendant was a doctor and his lawyer was a nurse. The juror went to the jury room after becoming ill, followed by two other jurors. The lawyer and doctor went to the jury room after someone yelled that the juror was not breathing. The juror awoke, however, and declined further treatment after paramedics arrived, and was replaced by an alternate juror. The jury ruled for the doctor the next day. (Law360, Nov. 19 opinion)
Activist found not guilty of harboring immigrants
Federal jurors in Tucson, Arizona, acquitted activist Scott Warren on Wednesday on felony charges of harboring immigrants who had crossed the border illegally. Prosecutors said Warren hid two Central American men; defense lawyers say he merely offered humanitarian aid. “The government failed in its attempt to criminalize basic human kindness,” Warren said after the verdict. Jurors had deadlocked in Warren’s first trial. (The Washington Post, Tucson.com)
