5th Circuit Court

5th Circuit Upholds Criminal Penalties Under Texas Open Meeting Law

In a decision hailed as a victory by open government advocates, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld Texas’ open meetings law and the use of criminal penalties for public officials if they conduct government business in secret. A group of government officials from 15 Texas cities challenged…

Sep 26, 2012 3:46 PM CDT

Former Texas Judge Agrees to Pay $250K Restitution in School Health Care Fraud Case

Sentenced last month to 63 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a fraud involving the Ysleta Independent School District while he working for a health care provider, a former Texas judge has now agreed to pay $250,000 restitution. Luther Jones, 66, who once sat on the bench in…

Sep 13, 2012 2:51 PM CDT

Man Convicted in Mexico-US Pot Smuggling Scheme That Ensnared Innocent Drivers Gets 20 Years

A Texas man allegedly involved in a cross-border marijuana-smuggling scheme that resulted in Mexican criminal charges against several upstanding drivers whose vehicles were used without their knowledge to smuggle the pot has been sentenced to a 20-year prison term. Jesus Chavez, 38, also must pay $140,000 in restitution to his…

Sep 12, 2012 6:02 PM CDT

Texas Lawyer Accused in $2.3M Theft From Disabled Veterans Takes Plea re 2 of 21 Counts

A Texas lawyer accused of stealing some $2.3 million from 49 disabled veterans whose finances he handled, has taken a plea as a trial was about to begin in federal district court in Houston on Tuesday. Joe B. Phillips, 73, pleaded guilty to two of the 21 charges he faced…

Sep 5, 2012 10:20 PM CDT

For 2nd Time, Convicted Triple Slayer Gets US Supreme Court Reprieve One Hour Before Execution

For the second time in two years, a convicted Texas triple murderer has been given a last-minute reprieve by the U.S. Supreme Court on the day he was scheduled to be executed. Both times, the stay of execution was granted within an hour of when John Balentine, 43, was to…

Aug 23, 2012 4:32 PM CDT

Appeals Court Refuses to Vacate Guilty Plea in Judicial Corruption Case

A federal appeals court has refused to vacate the 2008 guilty plea of David Zachary Scruggs, son of disgraced former plaintiffs lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, who was implicated in a judicial corruption scheme that sent his father to prison. The younger Scruggs, a law partner at his father’s former firm,…

Aug 17, 2012 6:05 PM CDT

5th Circuit Upholds Conviction of Lawyer, Two Judges in Miss. Corruption Case

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the sentences of two Mississippi judges and a former lawyer who prosecutors said backed loans for the judges in exchange for favorable rulings. In an opinion released Wednesday (PDF), the New Orleans-based court affirmed sentences for one-time plaintiff’s lawyer Paul Minor…

Aug 16, 2012 12:16 PM CDT

Denied Religious Exemption, Defendant in Fort Hood Shootings Must Shave Beard Before Court-Martial

An impasse between the Army psychiatrist facing capital charges in a fatal 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, and the military judge who will preside over his court-martial has so far resulted in Maj. Nidal Hasan’s watching pretrial proceedings from closed-circuit television in a trailer outside the courtroom there.…

Jul 26, 2012 4:21 PM CDT

Fired for Being Too Fat, Worker Gets $55K Settlement With EEOC’s Help

A Virginia-based military vehicle manufacturer isn’t admitting any wrongdoing, but has agreed to pay a $55,000 settlement to a morbidly obese materials handler fired from his $21-an-hour job at a Sealy, Texas, plant for being too fat. Ronald Kratz II, who weighed as much as 680 pounds when he worked…

Jul 25, 2012 4:44 PM CDT

Federal Judge Won’t Dismiss RICO Conspiracy Case Against South Texas DA, But Delays Trial Until 2013

A federal judge in Brownsville has refused to dismiss a racketeering conspiracy case against a sitting district attorney and a lawyer accused of involvement in a judicial bribery scheme. However, the judge did agreed to postpone until April 2013 the trial of Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos and attorney…

Jul 18, 2012 6:50 PM CDT

Lawyers’ Defense of Judge in Criminal Trial Leads to Contempt Case, Ethics Complaint

A South Texas judge acquitted on all counts in a criminal bribery trial last year apparently is not complaining about her representation by defense lawyers Theresa Caballero and Stuart Leeds during what news accounts portray as an extraordinarily hard-fought and contentious trial. However, both the judge who presided over the…

Jul 17, 2012 5:11 PM CDT

Feds Say DA Got $80K, Judge Got $10K As They Conspired to Obtain Part of Murderer’s $500K Bail Bond

More details are emerging in an ongoing judicial corruption case in federal court in South Texas that federal authorities say involved, in addition to other alleged misconduct by multiple defendants, a conspiracy between a district attorney, a judge and a friendly lawyer representing the children of a murder victim. The…

Jul 2, 2012 10:45 PM CDT

5th Circuit OKs $30K Sanction for Law Firm’s Accidental Distribution of Opposing Side’s Secret Info

A federal appeals court has upheld a sanction of nearly $30,000 against a plaintiff’s firm in a products liability case for accidentally distributing material it was required to keep secret under a protective order. The $29,667.71 covers fees and costs to the defendant, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., as it…

Jun 21, 2012 9:52 PM CDT

Federal Jury Convicts South Texas Lawyer in Racketeering Case re Judicial Bribes

The government scored a resounding victory in the first case to go to trial concerning a South Texas judge who admittedly took bribes from lawyers. Ray R. Marchan was found guilty Monday by a federal jury in Brownsville on all seven counts in a racketeering and extortion case concerning former…

Jun 19, 2012 3:45 PM CDT

Federal Jury Sides with Kevin Costner in Stephen Baldwin’s $17M Suit Over Oil Spill Cleanup Machines

Kevin Costner. s_bukley / Shutterstock.com Stephen Baldwin. s_bukley / Shutterstock.com A federal jury in New Orleans sided with Kevin Costner in a lawsuit brought by fellow actor Stephen Baldwin over his investment in an oil spill cleanup machine venture that earned millions for the Field of Dreams, Bodyguard and Dances…

Jun 15, 2012 5:37 PM CDT