Appellate Practice

Top Pa. Court Vacates 6,000+ Juvenile Rulings By Ex-Luzerne County Judge

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court today issued an order vacating all juvenile rulings between 2003 and 2008 by former Luzerne County President Judge Mark Ciavarella. The order, which bars retrial of all but a tiny fraction of the rulings, is expected to affect up to 6,500 cases, reports the On Deadline…

Oct 29, 2009 11:32 PM CDT

Defense Lawyer Says Executed Client Was Guilty in Texas Arson

Weighing in on the side of his client’s former wife and in-laws, a criminal defense lawyer who represented a man executed in a controversial Texas death-penalty case now says that defendant Cameron Todd Willingham set a 1991 fire that killed his children. “There was no question whatsoever that he was…

Oct 28, 2009 8:39 PM CDT

DA Plans to Appeal Ex-Judge’s Acquittal in Prisoner-Paddling Case

Saying that three jurors had “expressed some concerns” about the acquittal this week of a former Alabama judge in a prisoner-paddling case, Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson Jr. told a local newspaper that he plans to appeal the not-guilty verdict. However, defense attorney Robert “Cowboy Bob” Clark told the…

Oct 28, 2009 4:30 PM CDT

Jurors Dispute Ex-Judge’s Acquittal in Prisoner-Paddling Case

At least three jurors in a sex-abuse trial in which a former Alabama judge was acquitted on all counts yesterday are disputing the not-guilty verdict in the Mobile County case. This wasn’t their verdict, they told Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson, and hence the jury’s decision wasn’t unanimous, reports…

Oct 27, 2009 7:04 PM CDT

Marriage of Ted Olson’s 87-Year-Old Mom Is Grist in Gay Marriage Case

In oral arguments two weeks ago, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker asked what harms may befall California if gays are allowed to marry there. Charles Cooper, the lawyer for backers of Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriages, had an unusual answer, the New York Times reports. “Your honor, my answer is:…

Oct 26, 2009 3:43 PM CDT

Undisclosed Risk Nixes Pepper Hamilton’s $10M Excess Insurance in Malpractice Case

Two excess insurers for Pepper Hamilton don’t have a duty to indemnify the law firm and a partner in a malpractice case. That’s because they didn’t disclose a known risk of litigation to the carriers before the $10 million contract of umbrella coverage was issued, says New York’s top court.…

Oct 21, 2009 8:00 PM CDT

40 Years Later, ‘Chicago 7’ Trial Still an Iconic Event

A perfect storm of political unrest, generational conflict and a biased judge set the stage for a 1969 trial that is still memorable 40 years later for its drama and iconic import, participants in an American Bar Association panel told a standing-room-only audience Tuesday. Although the months-long Chicago Seven conspiracy…

Oct 21, 2009 10:00 AM CDT

2nd Cir. Bans Lawyer for ‘Indifference’ to Client Rights & Professional Obligations

A New York immigration lawyer has been barred from appearing again before the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals due to missed deadlines that resulted in the dismissal of at least 12 cases and and substandard briefs. “We want to make it clear that the deficiencies of…

Oct 20, 2009 7:59 PM CDT

Roberts, Scalia Argue Undisturbed DWI Decision Grants ‘One Free Swerve’

Two dissenting justices argue the U.S. Supreme Court should have heard a case on the power of police to pull over drunken-driving suspects based only on anonymous tips. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. issued “a strong dissent” to the cert denial, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, SCOTUSblog reports. At…

Oct 20, 2009 3:35 PM CDT

Justice Kennedy Says Court Should Hear About 20 More Cases a Year

Updated: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy told law students last week that the U.S. Supreme Court is not working up to capacity. Kennedy said the court heard about 150 cases a year when he was appointed in 1988. Now, he said, the court hears about 80 cases, a lighter caseload that…

Oct 20, 2009 2:40 PM CDT

Prosecutor Subpoenas Student Grades in Innocence Project Effort to Free Convict

Responding to a claim that Anthony McKinney has spent 31 years in an Illinois prison for a murder he didn’t commit, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office has asked for more information from the Northwestern University journalism students who collected exonerating evidence on his behalf. And the relevant information prosecutors…

Oct 19, 2009 8:06 PM CDT

Did Man Confess Before Much-Debated Execution? Former Wife May Think So

In a new twist on a controversial case involving what some believe was the execution of an innocent man for setting the 1991 fire that killed his children, it is now being reported that Cameron Todd Willingham may have made comments amounting to a confession shortly before his own death.…

Oct 16, 2009 7:39 PM CDT

Ind. High Court Allows MySpace Entry as Evidence in Murder Trial

Saying that statements made on social networking sites are admissible as evidence of a defendant’s character, the Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of a Northern Indiana man who beat his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter to death in 2007. Ian Clark, a confessed drunken “stoner,” had appealed his conviction,…

Oct 16, 2009 4:59 PM CDT

Lawyer Protests 120-Day Contempt Term for Language Used in Court Filing

Sentenced to a 120-day jail term for harshly criticizing a judge, other court officials and a prosecutor in a legal filing, attorney Carl Smith, 62, is asking the Missouri Supreme Court to overturn the sentence. Although his lawyer, Bruce Galloway, says Smith’s claim in his filing of “personal interest, bias…

Oct 16, 2009 4:49 PM CDT

3rd Circuit Nixes Lawyer’s $14M Age Suit Despite ‘Younger & Cheaper’ Note

Even though his employment file at Moser Patterson & Sheridan contained a note “older & better paid/younger & cheaper,” attorney John Kelly’s age discrimination suit against the New Jersey law firm was properly dismissed on summary judgment, a federal appeals court has ruled. Kelly was 52 when he was fired…

Oct 15, 2009 9:10 PM CDT