9th Circuit Court

Suspect in Slaying of Chief Ariz. Fed’l Judge, Shooting of Congresswoman Found Incompetent for Trial

Jared Lee Loughner, the suspect in the slaying of Arizona’s chief federal district judge and the wounding of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords during a spree shooting earlier this year, has been found incompetent. Under the ruling today by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns, the 21-year-old Loughner will now spend up to…

May 25, 2011 7:37 PM CDT

9th Circuit Cites ‘12 Angry Men,’ Says Holdout Juror Should Not Have Been Dismissed

A federal appeals court based in San Francisco has cited the classic film 12 Angry Men to illustrate why a holdout juror in a murder trial should not have been dismissed for bias. The May 23 opinion (PDF) by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the murder conviction…

May 25, 2011 1:18 PM CDT

Lead Defense Lawyer Disqualified in Trial of Alleged Mexican Drug Kingpin

Saying that allowing an alleged Mexican drug kingpin to be represented by the lead lawyer of his choice could create significant distraction and delay during trial, a federal judge in San Diego today disqualified Jan Ronis from continuing to defend Benjamin Arellano Felix. Although U.S. District Judge Larry Burns held…

May 23, 2011 9:03 PM CDT

Republicans Block Obama Pick for 9th Circuit

The Senate on Thursday voted against bringing the judicial nomination of Goodwin Liu to a floor vote, the Associated Press reports. Liu, a University of California at Berkeley law professor, was nominated by President Barack Obama to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Democrats needed 60 votes…

May 19, 2011 7:21 PM CDT

Obama Nominates Morgan Christen to 9th Circuit

Corrected: President Obama yesterday nominated Morgan Christen, an Alaska Supreme Court justice, to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Christen, 49, previously practiced with K&L Gates, the Los Angeles Times reports. She was appointed to the Alaska Supreme Court in 2009, by then-Gov. Sarah Palin. Previously, the…

May 19, 2011 4:54 PM CDT

Senate Vote Scheduled Tomorrow for Liu Appointment to 9th Circuit, Filibuster Feared

The Senate vote regarding judicial nominee Goodwin Liu, who has drawn significant criticism from Republican leaders, is scheduled for tomorrow, and politicians on both sides of the aisle are wondering if there will be a filibuster, the Los Angeles Times reports. President Barack Obama has twice appointed the University of…

May 18, 2011 8:53 PM CDT

Winklevoss Twins Say They’ll Appeal Facebook Case to SCOTUS

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, twin brothers who say that Facebook was their idea, plan to appeal their case against the social media giant to the U.S. Supreme Court, The Digital Home blog of CNET.com reports. Yesterday, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the brothers’ request for…

May 17, 2011 3:23 PM CDT

9th Circuit Nixes Winklevoss Twins’ En Banc Appeal

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, twin brothers who say that Facebook was their idea, will not get an en banc rehearing on a recent opinion ordering them to accept a settlement deal with founder Mark Zuckerberg, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today. Tyler Winklevoss declined comment…

May 16, 2011 10:01 PM CDT

Ex-MLB Star Lenny Dykstra Indicted, Accused of Stripping His Own $18.5M Home After Chapter 11 Filing

A former Major League Baseball star has been indicted in a bankruptcy fraud case. Lenny Dykstra is accused of stealing from the bankruptcy estate by taking and selling, or destroying, property including sconces, a chandelier and gold fixtures from his $18.5 million mansion in Thousand Oaks, Calif., after his Chapter…

May 9, 2011 5:57 PM CDT

9th Circuit Grants Habeas Relief to Teen Mass Murderer for Second Time

A federal appeals court has reaffirmed its earlier decision to grant habeas corpus relief to a 17-year-old mass murderer whose petition it had been told to reconsider by the U.S. Supreme Court. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 7-3 en banc ruling, (PDF), held Wednesday…

May 6, 2011 7:33 PM CDT

Fed’l Jury Convicts Lawyer of Hiring Hitman to Kill His Wife with Pipe Bomb

Although his wife stood by him and insisted that attorney Edgar Steele was the victim of a government plot to silence him, the Idaho lawyer today was convicted by a federal jury concerning his alleged contract with a family handyman to kill his spouse with a pipe bomb. Steele, who…

May 5, 2011 7:29 PM CDT

First Lawsuit Filed Over Sony PlayStation Data Breach Affecting Up to 75 Million Customers

After news yesterday that hackers may have obtained personal information, including credit card numbers, of up to 75 million Sony PlayStation Network customers comes news today of the first litigation over the incident. The Rothken Law Firm has filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of California on behalf…

Apr 27, 2011 8:09 PM CDT

Prop 8 Supporters Cite Judge’s Same-Sex Relationship in Motion to Set Aside His Ruling

Sponsors of California’s Proposition 8 referendum banning gay marriages contend the federal judge who struck down the law should have recused himself because of a 10-year same-sex relationship. In a motion to set aside the verdict, sponsors of the initiative say former Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker of San…

Apr 26, 2011 11:29 AM CDT

King & Spalding Drops DOMA Defense; Clement Resigns in Protest, Takes Matter to Bancroft

Apparently bowing to political pressure, King & Spalding has dropped its representation of the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives in defense of a controversial federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriages. In response, partner Paul Clement, a former U.S. Solicitor General, has resigned from the firm in protest, saying that…

Apr 25, 2011 5:15 PM CDT

Mattel Loses Latest Bratz Doll Trial, Owes MGA $88M, Possibly Trebled

A verdict has been reached by a federal jury in a copyright infringement case filed by Barbie manufacturer Mattel Inc. over MGA Entertainment’s popular Bratz dolls. In a major reversal of fortune for Mattel, which won a $100 million award in an earlier trial of the same case and had…

Apr 21, 2011 6:38 PM CDT