Appellate Practice

Oscar Pistorius was guilty of murder, rather than manslaughter, appeals court finds

A South African appeals court has overturned Oscar Pistorius’ manslaughter conviction and found that he is instead guilty of murder. The track star faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison as a result of the ruling Thursday, the New York Times and the Guardian report. Pistorius had been…

Dec 3, 2015 9:14 AM CST

Lawyers for convicted Boston bomber argue that SCOTUS decision taints death sentence

Lawyers for convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in a bid to obtain a new capital sentencing hearing. U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. heard the lawyers’ arguments on the sentencing issue on Tuesday, report the Boston Globe and Fox News. Defense…

Dec 2, 2015 10:58 AM CST

Guitarist for rock band Boston lacked basis for defamation suits, top state court says

After years of litigation, a top state court has definitively ended consolidated defamation cases by Boston guitarist Tom Scholz against the Boston Herald and the ex-wife of the rock band’s late frontman, Brad Delp. Scholz said news coverage in the Herald implied that he was to blame for Delp’s 2007…

Dec 1, 2015 12:35 PM CST

DNA clears man jailed 16 years; meanwhile, ‘Teardrop Rapist’ committed more crimes

Convicted of three California sexual assaults, Luis Lorenzo Vargas argued at his 1999 sentencing that the real perpetrator was still out there. “That individual that really did these crimes might really be raping someone out there,” he told a Los Angeles County judge, according to a court transcript. The judge…

Nov 23, 2015 2:50 PM CST

Disbarred lawyer admits collecting $247K in disability benefits while still in practice

A former New York bankruptcy lawyer who was disbarred and has served time for taking money from clients without doing promised work is in trouble again. Christopher Chadick, 63, pleaded guilty Monday in a Syracuse federal disability fraud case, Syracuse.com reports. He admitted that he obtained $247,000 in Social Security…

Nov 23, 2015 2:00 PM CST

Nightclub owners get probation in contempt case over stampede that killed 21

After a 12-year legal saga, an Illinois judge on Friday imposed probation sentences on two owners of a Chicago nightclub at which 21 people died in a 2003 stampede. Calvin Hollins Jr. and Dwain Kyles were acquitted of involuntary manslaughter. But they were found guilty of contempt for violating a…

Nov 20, 2015 3:35 PM CST

DC agrees to pay more than $16M to man who served 27 years for rape and murder he didn’t commit

After a federal jury on Wednesday found that two Washington D.C. police officers withheld evidence in a criminal prosecution of a man who served 27 years in prison for a rape and murder he didn’t commit, the city didn’t wait to hear what its damages award would be in the…

Nov 20, 2015 11:40 AM CST

As execution looms, appellate lawyers fight client’s effort to get new counsel and seek clemency

Scheduled to be executed on Wednesday for setting a house fire that killed three children almost 15 years ago, a 36-year-old death row inmate in Texas has effectively been abandoned by his court-appointed appellate counsel, some observers say. Raphael Deon Holiday sent letter after letter from prison seeking to find…

Nov 17, 2015 2:00 PM CST

Lawyer is sanctioned for ‘deploying boilerplate claims’ and ‘utterly frivolous’ arguments

An appeals court in Georgia has fined a lawyer $2,500—the maximum allowed under the rules—for “deploying boilerplate claims” and “misuse of notice pleading.” The Nov. 5 opinion (PDF) sanctioning Atlanta lawyer Grady Roberts III was signed by all 12 appeals judges, according to the Daily Report (sub. req.). The opinion…

Nov 17, 2015 5:45 AM CST

Ex-lawyer serving time in rare dog-maul murder case asks 9th Circuit to nix conviction

A former lawyer serving time after a rare second-degree murder conviction in a dog-mauling case is hoping a federal appeals court will overturn her conviction in the death of a San Francisco neighbor more than a decade ago. Arguments that the judge and prosecutor in Marjorie Knoller’s trial behaved inappropriately…

Nov 16, 2015 4:50 PM CST

Convicted rapist faces new case in courthouse attack on appellate attorney

A convicted rapist accused of breaking free from his restraints in a Cincinnati courthouse meeting room and repeatedly punching his appellate lawyer in the face earlier this month is now facing a new case over the alleged attack. Tony Pippin, 42, has been indicted by a Hamilton County grand jury…

Nov 13, 2015 3:59 PM CST

Appeals court didn’t have power to reinstate $10.1B award in cigarette case, top state court says

The Illinois Supreme Court has once again rejected a $10.1 billion verdict against Altria’s Philip Morris USA unit, but didn’t completely shut the door on plaintiffs. The supreme court ruled Wednesday that an Illinois appeals court did not have the authority to reinstate the award, report the Wall Street Journal…

Nov 6, 2015 5:45 AM CST

Divided Mississippi Supreme Court OKs same-sex divorce case

In a 5-4 ruling, the Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday said a same-sex couple who married in California before moving there must be allowed to pursue a divorce case. The majority relied on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right, the Associated…

Nov 5, 2015 5:00 PM CST

2nd lawyer avoids conviction in case related to developer’s bankruptcy

Initially convicted by a federal jury in a bankruptcy fraud case related to a client real estate developer’s financial collapse, an Arkansas attorney is now in the clear. After the trial, the district court reversed attorney Kenneth Vaughn Knight’s conviction on a false statement count and granted him a new…

Nov 4, 2015 11:35 AM CST

$75K fine for fatal train trestle accident during movie filming is upheld on review

A $74,600 fine imposed on the producers of the movie Midnight Rider over a fatal train accident that occurred during filming of the movie has been effectively upheld on appeal. The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission last week declined to hear an administrative appeal, which frees the producers to…

Nov 3, 2015 4:35 PM CST