11th Circuit Court

Padilla Case Wrapping Up

Defense lawyers for Jose Padilla don’t plan to call any witnesses. That means a Miami jury could soon begin deliberations in the trial of Padilla and two co-defendants, accused of aiding terrorist groups and conspiring to murder and maim people abroad. Six witnesses called by co-defendants since July 23 failed…

Aug 1, 2007 2:25 PM CDT

Army Reservist Won’t Face 5th War Tour

A 26-year-old U.S. Army Reserve sergeant facing his fifth war-zone deployment has been given a reprieve after he filed suit in federal court in Florida. Erik Botta contended that the military’s denial of his request for an exemption constituted “unlawful custody,” and that it should be required to consider his…

Jul 31, 2007 7:37 PM CDT

FL Fed’l Suit Over Brazilian Plane Crash

A federal lawsuit filed in Florida is reportedly the first litigation over a July 17 airline crash in Sao Paulo that killed 199 people in the worst aviation disaster in Brazil’s history. The suit was filed on behalf of Ricardo Tazoe, a 35-year-old Peruvian who worked for a Miami bank…

Jul 31, 2007 6:59 PM CDT

US Attorney to Judge: No Scruggs Case

A federal prosecutor in Alabama has declined a federal judge’s suggestion that she should prosecute Richard Scruggs, a prominent Mississippi plaintiffs lawyer, for contempt of court. U.S. Attorney Alice Martin said yesterday in a letter to U.S. District Judge William M. Acker Jr. that “following a serious and thorough review…

Jul 26, 2007 5:43 PM CDT

Code Words Disputed at Padilla Trial

A defense expert at Jose Padilla’s terrorism trial testified yesterday that government translators were wrong about purported terrorist code words. The government contended “tourism” meant jihad, “eggplants” referred to rocket-propelled grenades, and “football” meant violence. Translator Kamal Yunis disagreed, the Associated Press reports. He said “tourism” could refer to a…

Jul 24, 2007 3:08 PM CDT

Tort Trial Here for Deaths in Colombia

War-torn Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world in which to be a labor union member: Well over 2,000 trade unionists have been killed there since 1991, according to Amnesty International. The killings are apparently at least in part attributable to a four-decades-old war between leftist guerrillas, the…

Jul 13, 2007 6:59 PM CDT

Cockfighting Soon Illegal in 50 States

Cockfighting will soon be illegal in all 50 states. A bill banning the sport in Louisiana, the only state where it is currently legal, was signed yesterday by the state governor and takes effect next summer. It is already illegal to gamble on cockfights in Louisiana under a law that…

Jul 13, 2007 5:56 PM CDT

Suits Claim Grout-Sealer Injuries

Home Depot is defending 31 product liability suits that contend an aerosol grout sealer caused serious lung damage. Also named in the suits are five companies that manufactured and distributed the ingredient, Flexipel, used in its Stand ’N Seal spray, according to the Fulton County Daily Report. More than 160…

Jul 12, 2007 1:08 PM CDT

Animal Fight Promoters Challenge Law

Broadcasters of cockfights and dog fights are challenging a federal law that bars depictions of animal cruelty for commercial gain. In a case pending before a federal appeals court in Philadelphia, Robert Stevens claims the law is so vague it could be applied to hunting and fishing broadcasts. The full…

Jul 11, 2007 5:05 PM CDT

No Pay for Donning Clothes

Companies defending lawsuits by union workers seeking pay for the time it takes to change into protective work clothes may be rethinking their legal strategies. That’s the conclusion of a lawyer for a poultry company that recently won a motion to dismiss such a lawsuit before the 11th U.S. Circuit…

Jul 5, 2007 8:32 PM CDT

Last Resorts of Court

One date that’s on almost every federal judge’s calendar this summer is the meeting of his or her circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, at which trial and appellate judges review the work of the court and socialize at some of the nicest resorts and hotels in the nation.…

Jul 1, 2007 7:04 PM CDT

LexisNexis Sues Ex-Executive

LexisNexis is relying on a forensics examination of a former executive’s computer in a lawsuit alleging he violated a noncompete agreement. The information services company says it learned through filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Paul Colangelo, formerly vice president of sales for its Information Analytics Group, went…

Jun 28, 2007 1:56 PM CDT

Padilla Jurors See Bin Laden Interview

Jurors in the terrorism trial of Jose Padilla saw a 10-year-old video of an interview in which Osama bin Laden condemned the United States. In the edited, seven-minute tape, the al-Qaida leader praised recent terrorist bombings that killed U.S. soldiers and warned that American civilians could also be targeted. U.S.…

Jun 27, 2007 4:36 PM CDT

11th Circuit OKs Search of Football Fans

“Voluntary” pat-down searches of fans entering football stadiums do not violate the 4th Amendment prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizes, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decided today. Ruling in a case brought by a Tampa Bay Buccaneers season-ticket holder Gordon Johnston, a civics teacher, the appeals court said…

Jun 26, 2007 7:24 PM CDT

Lawyer Makes Amends for ‘French Fries’ Remark

The lawyer who told a bankruptcy judge she was “a few french fries short of a Happy Meal” has been ordered to take an online professionalism course. Chicago lawyer William P. Smith voluntarily stepped down as head of the bankruptcy practice at McDermott Will & Emery after making the remark,…

Jun 21, 2007 1:07 PM CDT