Lawyer charged with obstruction, accused of tipping off target of federal drug probe

A California criminal defense lawyer has been federally indicted in an obstruction case, accused of tipping off a target of the Operation Garlic Press drug investigation in 2011 by providing information to a third party who was an officer in the Hells Angels motorcycle gang. Michael Edward Hingle pleaded not…

Jan 21, 2014 9:45 PM CST

Suspended lawyer is accused of stealing $1M from client settlements

A suspended Nevada lawyer was criminally charged Tuesday with stealing more than $1 million from client settlements, primarily in personal injury cases. Barry Levinson faces four felony theft counts under an amended state-court complaint filed Tuesday. It says the money was taken between 2007 and 2012, the Las Vegas Review-Journal…

Jan 15, 2014 9:10 PM CST

9th Circuit OKs civil rights case over death of 2 dogs shot during execution of search warrant

A divided federal appeals court panel has reversed a summary judgment in favor of police in a civil rights case over two pet dogs shot to death during the execution of a search warrant at the plaintiff’s home in a Las Vegas suburb. Reviewing the facts alleged by Louisa Thurston…

Jan 13, 2014 11:45 PM CST

1st Amendment at issue in ban on gay-conversion therapy for minors

Jan 1, 2014 9:40 AM CST

Judge orders removal of giant cross on federal mountaintop

A federal judge has ordered the removal of a 29-foot cross on government-owned land in California. U.S. District Judge Larry Burns of San Diego, in a ruling (PDF) Thursday, said the cross violated the First Amendment ban on a government endorsement of religion, according to multiple reports. Burns said the…

Dec 16, 2013 6:00 PM CST

Lawyer convicted in failed contract-hit attempt on wife sues defense counsel for malpractice

An Idaho lawyer serving a 50-year federal sentence after being convicted two years ago in what prosecutors described as a failed contract hit attempt on his wife and mother-in-law is now suing his defense lawyers. Edgar Steele, 68, insists, along with his wife, that he is innocent. He has blamed…

Dec 13, 2013 5:00 PM CST

Newlywed agrees to mid-trial murder plea in slaying of her husband

A Montana woman accused of pushing her husband off a cliff at Glacier National Park a week after they married has agreed to a mid-trial plea. Jordan Linn Graham, whose age is given as 21 or 22, agreed Thursday to plead guilty to second-degree murder. In return, federal prosecutors in…

Dec 12, 2013 9:35 PM CST

‘Epidemic of Brady violations’ decried in Kozinski opinion

The chief judge of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is taking a stand against failure to disclose exculpatory evidence in a case involving a ricin suspect and a lab analyst who was later fired for alleged incompetence. Chief Judge Alex Kozinski highlighted the issue in a…

Dec 11, 2013 12:34 PM CST

Family’s battle over Nazi-seized painting kept alive by 9th Circuit ruling

A Jewish family prevailed before the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Court of Appeals in its long-running quest to regain possession of a $20 million work of art seized by the Nazis during World War II. According to the Associated Press on Monday, a unanimous three-judge panel for the 9th Circuit…

Dec 10, 2013 9:45 PM CST

9th Circuit considers law that bans homeless people from living in their cars

A federal appeals court on Thursday appeared to side with homeless advocates in a challenge to a Los Angeles law that bars people from living in their vehicles on public streets and parking lots. City lawyer Blithe Bock faced tough questioning in oral arguments before the San Francisco-based 9th U.S.…

Dec 6, 2013 5:06 PM CST

Federal judge finds 2 cities’ public defender programs deficient; will he OK a federal monitor?

Two cities in Washington state’s Skagit County systematically violated the rights of indigent individuals through their inadequate public defender programs and were “willfully blind” to problems caused by cost-cutting, a federal judge has ruled. In a Wednesday opinion (PDF) resulting from a June bench trial of a groundbreaking class action,…

Dec 4, 2013 8:50 PM CST

9th Circuit to provide live Internet coverage of en banc oral arguments

In what is believed to be the first such effort by a federal appeals court, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will launch live streaming Internet coverage of its en banc oral arguments in San Francisco on Monday. “The 9th Circuit has a long history of using advances in…

Dec 4, 2013 1:15 PM CST

‘Link rot’ is degrading legal research and case cites

Dec 1, 2013 9:40 AM CST

Do retailers offer phantom discounts? Suits target pricing

Are those Black Friday discounts for real? The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) says retailers often set starting retail prices so high that the discounted price will give them the profit margins they want. The strategy isn’t deceptive, according to Federal Trade Commission guidelines, if the higher price “was offered…

Nov 26, 2013 3:31 PM CST

Ex-attorney faces federal criminal case over claimed $1M in client thefts

A longtime Oregon personal injury practitioner who gave up his law license last year in the face of complaints from over 40 clients that he had misappropriated their money is now the defendant in a federal criminal case. Bryan Gruetter is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, accused of…

Nov 19, 2013 4:10 PM CST