9th Circuit Court

3 Lawyers Guilty in ‘Assembly-Line Fraud Factory’ Calif. Asylum Scam

Although they were acquitted on some counts, three California lawyers were convicted yesterday after a three-month federal trial in Sacramento, Calif., in what prosecutors describe as an audacious asylum scam. Partners and brothers Jagprit Singh Sekhon, 39, and Jagdip Singh Sekhon, 42, with the help of two interpreters and a…

Jun 26, 2009 5:39 PM CDT

9th Circuit Allows Suit Against Prosecutor Who OK’d DNA Sample Without Warrant

In a decision that resurrects a convicted sex offender’s lawsuit against a Las Vegas detective and local prosecutor, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has said the man can personally sue the individuals for forcibly extracting his DNA without a warrant. Kenneth Friedman had reportedly told the…

Jun 25, 2009 1:09 PM CDT

9th Circuit Pops Seattle’s Efforts to Regulate Balloon Artist

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Seattle’s efforts to regulate balloon artist “Magic Mike” Berger and other street performers violates the First Amendment. In a 7-4 split, the appeals court found that the city’s rules requiring performers to obtain permits to operate at the…

Jun 25, 2009 11:58 AM CDT

Microsoft Sues 3 in Landmark ‘Click Fraud’ Web Ad Enforcement Case

In a lawsuit that reportedly may be the first of its kind, Microsoft has sued three individuals in the same family alleging that they fraudulently boosted the rankings of their auto insurance and World of Warcraft-related websites on the computer goliath’s search engine. At the time of the claimed Internet…

Jun 16, 2009 10:30 PM CDT

Defense Lawyer Named in Federal Gang Racketeering Indictment in Calif.

A criminal defense lawyer accused of money laundering is among a group of about 40 claimed members and associates of a clique of a Los Angeles street gang charged with various offenses in a federal racketeering indictment unsealed today. The crimes described in the indictment against the Columbia Lil Cycos…

Jun 16, 2009 8:00 PM CDT

Undeterred By UPL Sentences, 2 Men Allegedly Go Back into ‘Practice’

Updated: Convicted in 2005 of perjury and fraud for misrepresenting himself as a licensed California attorney, Harold Goldstein was released from federal prison about a month ago. But a Craiglist ad almost immediately put him in hot water again. In it, Goldstein allegedly solicited the services of law students, reports…

Jun 15, 2009 6:26 PM CDT

New DOJ Evidence Debacle: AG Says Gov’t Disclosure Dubious in 2 More Alaska Cases

In the latest prosecutorial embarrassment for the U.S. Department of Justice, the DOJ has admitted it may have fouled up concerning the required pre-trial provision of exculpatory evidence in the cases of two Alaska lawmakers. In a filing yesterday in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco,…

Jun 6, 2009 12:07 AM CDT

2 Lawyers Charged in $400M Tax Shelter Prosecution of Former Quellos CEO

A federal indictment unsealed today that charges the former chief executive of a major Seattle-based investment fund with conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion also names two attorneys as defendants. All are accused concerning an alleged scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service out of $400 million in capital gains tax…

Jun 5, 2009 2:44 AM CDT

Onetime Opponents Olson and Boies Join to Challenge Gay-Marriage Ban

Former solicitor general Ted Olson, who represented George W. Bush in the controversial Bush v. Gore lawsuit, has joined forces with his legal opponent in the case, David Boies, in a suit seeking to overturn California’s gay-marriage ban. The duo filed a motion Wednesday for a preliminary injunction barring California’s…

May 28, 2009 11:29 AM CDT

Inmate Sues Over Alleged Guiness Book Plan to Name Him Most Litigious

Jonathan Lee Riches admittedly has participated in a lot of litigation. But the federal prison inmate says the Guiness Book of World Records has it wrong concerning some of the information that the renowned world-record compiler allegedly plans to print about his filing of some 4,000 lawsuits worldwide. So Riches,…

May 27, 2009 7:01 PM CDT

Fed’l Judge Threatens US Sanctions in Case Over Claimed Warrantless Attorney Wiretaps

In the latest potential prosecutorial embarrassment for the U.S. Department of Justice, a federal judge in California is threatening to sanction the government in a case brought over claimed warrantless wiretapping during the Bush administration of legal counsel for a now-defunct Oregon charity. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker of…

May 26, 2009 10:24 PM CDT

US Won’t Appeal Ruling Reinstating ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Challenge

The Obama administration has opted not to appeal a ruling by a San Francisco-based appeals court reinstating a challenge to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gay service members. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the government would have to show its policy…

May 19, 2009 12:23 PM CDT

MySpace Hoax Sentence Delayed; Will Judge Void Verdict in Cyberbully Case?

A scheduled sentencing today has been postponed for a 50-year-old Missouri mom convicted of violating a federal statute in an unusual cyberbullying case. Lori Drew will now be sentenced July 2 on three misdemeanor counts of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by obtaining unauthorized access to a social…

May 18, 2009 11:13 PM CDT

Farrah Fawcett ‘Sting’ Put Spotlight on National Enquirer

It wasn’t just dozens of high-profile medical files that a rogue worker at UCLA Medical Center peeped into between 2003 and 2007. It was nearly 1,000, reports the Los Angeles Times in a lengthy article today that focuses on one of the victims of the illegal invasion of privacy, actress…

May 12, 2009 12:19 AM CDT

9th Circuit Backs Cameras in Trial Courts

Cameras could be rolling into the federal trial courts under a proposal by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco. The 9th Circuit has asked the U.S. Judicial Conference to consider a plan to allow cameras to record and broadcast federal nonjury trials at the discretion…

May 11, 2009 11:23 AM CDT