9th Circuit Court

Disbelieved and accused of making a false rape report, now-vindicated victim sues

Despite physical evidence that supported her story that a stranger had bound, gagged, raped and photographed her in 2008 in the transitional housing apartment in which she was living, an 18-year-old Washington state woman was disbelieved. Pressured by police into recanting, she was criminally charged for making a false rape…

Jun 11, 2013 8:00 PM CDT

Kobe Bryant’s parents apologize, get OK to auction some boyhood sports items

Litigation between basketball star Kobe Bryant and an auction house that reportedly gave his parents a $450,000 upfront payment to auction sports memorabilia from his youth has been settled. His parents, Joe and Pamela Bryant, have apologized and will be allowed to sell a small fraction of the items that…

Jun 11, 2013 4:28 PM CDT

Trial begins in federal class action over public defender caseloads in municipal court

Two cities in Washington say they never systematically violated the right to counsel of criminal defendants and do an even better job now, under new standards adopted by the state’s top court. But the American Civil Liberties Union contends otherwise, in a class action that went to trial Monday in…

Jun 5, 2013 10:30 PM CDT

Was judge senile in death penalty case? 9th Circuit dissenter sees ‘painfully obvious’ incompetence

A federal appeals court has discounted allegations that a judge who sentenced a triple murderer to death was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease at the time. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the death sentence for Ronald Deere, convicted of murdering three family members of his ex-girlfriend…

Jun 5, 2013 11:25 AM CDT

Was Apple betrayed by a lawyer at its own firm?

While working for Morgan Lewis & Bockius, an environmental litigation partner reportedly participated for years, with his wife, in the affairs of a tech company that has since become a significant issue for the law firm and a major client. Now unusual questions are being raised: Was now-former partner John…

Jun 4, 2013 7:05 PM CDT

9th Circuit OKs discharge of $53K in student-loan debt for law grad working as a probation officer

After a 10-year legal battle, a 1997 graduate of an Oregon law school has not only won a federal appeals court ruling that eliminates more than half of his student loan debt, but has established favorable precedent for other recent grads struggling with major debt and minimal job prospects. Finding…

May 28, 2013 3:01 PM CDT

Man charged with sending letter tainted with deadly poison to federal judge

A Washington state man has been indicted and arrested, accused of sending a ricin-tainted letter to a federal judge in Spokane. Matthew Ryan Buquet, 37, was in federal court in Spokane on Wednesday, charged with mailing threatening communications. Authorities say the deadly poison in the letter mailed to senior U.S.…

May 23, 2013 1:25 PM CDT

Candy issue at Michael Jackson trial is resolved

Candy is dandy, but only if it isn’t apparent to the jurors who brought it to court. After peppermints were handed out to jurors this week at the Los Angeles trial of a civil case over alleged liability of a concert promoter for Michael Jackson’s death, a lawyer for the…

May 22, 2013 5:25 PM CDT

As sanction for destroying evidence, federal judge finds US negligent in wrongful death case

As a sanction for destruction of evidence by the National Park Service in a wrongful death case, a federal judge in Sacramento, Calif., ruled Tuesday that the United States was negligent. The case concerns the July 2009 death of Tommy Botell, 9, after a retaining wall that he and his…

May 15, 2013 8:08 PM CDT

‘Nude but not lewd’ airport protester beat indecency rap but is still fighting $1K TSA fine

A tech worker who took it all off at the Portland, Ore., airport last year as a protest of security measures, was acquitted at trial later in 2012 by a Multnomah County judge of the indecent exposure charge that resulted. But the celebration after John E. Brennan’s criminal court victory…

May 10, 2013 10:15 PM CDT

Kobe Bryant battles mom for ownership of sports memorabilia from his youth in 2 federal courts

Not one but two federal courts have been asked to weigh in on the issue of whether Kobe Bryant’s mom had a right to clear out his boyhood bedroom and sell at auction the sports memorabilia she found there. Initially, the Philadelphia-area auction house to which Pamela Bryant consigned the…

May 10, 2013 5:50 PM CDT

Soda-order spat, claim of unflushed toilet leads to police involvement and lawsuit against airline

An airline passenger who says his refusal to order a soda on a computer touch screen led to his being detained and questioned by authorities after the plane landed has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit over the April 2012 incident. Salvatore Bevivino says he was falsely accused of swearing…

Apr 30, 2013 6:29 PM CDT

Postcard-only jail mail policy is unconstitutional, federal judge rules

A federal judge in Oregon has found that a suburban Portland jail’s policy of allowing inmates to receive only postcards is unconstitutional, because it violates the First Amendment rights of both those who send and those who receive mail. While the ruling applies only to the Columbia County Jail, it…

Apr 26, 2013 8:02 PM CDT

Appeals court OKs fine for lawyer who asserted SLAPP shield against tort case over demand letter

A California law that offers lawyers a shield against tort claims concerning their litigation activities has been limited by a California appeals court and might even be eliminated entirely by a federal appeals court. The state’s so-called anti-SLAPP statute is intended to offer an early exit for small parties targeted…

Apr 24, 2013 9:23 PM CDT

City ordered to pay $50K in attorney fees in case over police shooting of family’s pet dog

A small city in Washington state has been ordered by a federal judge to pay $50,000 in attorney’s fees to the prevailing plaintiffs in a federal civil rights suit over the fatal police shooting of their pet dog. Charles and Deirdre Wright had earlier settled with the city of Des…

Apr 24, 2013 3:38 PM CDT