Celebrities

Mel Gibson: I’m the Victim of an Extortion Plot re Ex’s Abuse Allegations

Accused of abusing his ex-girlfriend, both physically and verbally, actor Mel Gibson is hitting back hard. Although he has refused to discuss Oksana Grigorieva’s abuse allegations—some of which are backed by audio recordings—with Los Angeles Sheriff’s investigators, citing his Fifth Amendment rights, he has talked with the department about another…

Jul 27, 2010 9:29 PM CDT

Divorce Lawyer to Testify Against Ex-Client in High-Profile Rick Pitino Extortion Trial

A little over a year ago, matrimonial attorney Dana Kolter wrote a letter for his client Karen Sypher. In it, he asked for $10 million from University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino, threatening to make public, in Karen Sypher’s divorce case from Pitino’s equipment manager, Tim Sypher, an allegation…

Jul 26, 2010 11:27 PM CDT

Naked Cowboy Sues Female Competitor, Says She Stole His Shtick

A New York man who has made a business out of playing a guitar in Times Square while seemingly wearing very little except a cowboy hat and his shoes has filed a federal lawsuit against a female competitor. Best known as the Naked Cowboy, Robert John Burck contends that comedian…

Jul 21, 2010 7:46 PM CDT

Lindsay Lohan Reports for Jail, Her Longtime Lawyer at Her Side

Updated: Lindsay Lohan appeared in court this morning to begin serving a jail term for violating her probation, accompanied by her longtime lawyer Shawn Chapman Holley. Lohan was cuffed and taken into custody, but there is no video of the event. Judge Marsha Revel of Beverly Hills banned video and…

Jul 20, 2010 6:20 PM CDT

11th Circuit Upholds 3-Year Term for Actor Wesley Snipes on 3 Misdemeanor Tax Counts

Saying that a federal district judge in Florida had discretion to sentence Wesley Snipes the maximum term, a federal appeals court has upheld the actor’s three consecutive one-year sentences on three misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to file a tax return. Snipes reportedly owes the Internal Revenue Service some $17…

Jul 19, 2010 6:13 PM CDT

Admissibility of Mel Gibson Tapes Unclear, Experts Say

Career-damaging audiotapes of Mel Gibson using racial slurs and telling his girlfriend she deserved to be hit were apparently recorded without his permission, making it unclear whether they could be used if domestic violence charges were filed against him. The Los Angeles Times blog L.A. Now interviewed legal experts about…

Jul 16, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

ESPN Sportscaster Erin Andrews Sues Hotel Chains Over Stalker’s Secret In-Room Taping

In a lawsuit likely to resonate with other women who travel alone on business, a well-known sportscaster for ESPN sued several hotel chains today in Illinois state court over video footage widely circulated on the Internet in which she is seen in a state of undress while in her room.…

Jul 15, 2010 11:12 PM CDT

‘Goldfinger’ Raid Conducted on Law Firm in Possible Tax Case Against James Bond Star Sean Connery

Authorities have conducted a raid, under the code name Goldfinger, on a Spanish law firm as part of an ongoing tax probe of Sean Connery and his wife. The famous James Bond star is being investigated in two apparently unrelated real estate matters, reports Agence France-Presse. The Goldfinger raid addresses…

Jul 15, 2010 8:14 PM CDT

‘Dream Team’ Lawyer Robert Shapiro Takes Lindsay Lohan’s Case

Updated: Lindsay Lohan has found another lawyer in the nick of time—she’s scheduled to turn herself in Tuesday—to appeal her 90-day sentence for probation violation. TMZ reports that Lohan has hired Robert Shapiro, best known for being a part of O.J. Simpson’s criminal defense “dream team.” TMZ notes that Shapiro’s…

Jul 15, 2010 3:37 PM CDT

Meet ‘Judge Judy’ Sheindlin, Accidental Celebrity Paid $45M to Work 52 Days a Year

When Judith Sheindlin agreed in 1993 to allow a reporter for the Los Angeles Times to sit quietly in the back of the New York courtroom in which she worked as a $120,000-a-year judge on family law matters, she thought he planned to report on a case. Instead, he profiled…

Jul 14, 2010 8:33 PM CDT

Steinbrenner’s 2010 Death May Have Saved His Heirs About $600M

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner may have saved his heirs as much as $600 million in estate taxes by dying in 2010. The estate tax expired in 2009, and a new one doesn’t take effect until 2011, when heirs will be taxed at a top rate of 55 percent, according to…

Jul 14, 2010 3:09 PM CDT

Gloria Allred: No How, No Way Would I Represent Mel Gibson

Under fire after his ex-girlfriend publicly released audio recordings in which Mel Gibson is accused of threatening her and uttering a number of racial slurs, the famous actor was also targeted by celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred today. Participating in a Q-and-A session in the Washington Post about the fallout for…

Jul 14, 2010 12:53 AM CDT

Law Prof Finds Fame After Lindsay Lohan Tweets His Article

Washington and Lee University law professor Erik Luna is aware of Lindsay Lohan’s work in just one film: The Parent Trap, a favorite of his 9-year-old daughter. It appears Lohan is familiar with Luna’s work based on just one article, a critique of the federal sentencing guidelines, according to the…

Jul 13, 2010 11:39 AM CDT

Pit Bull Beats Rap; Choppers Don’t Match Bite Marks on Pop Singer

Add another case to the annals of criminal charges pursued in a potential death-penalty matter over a bad eyewitness identification. Apparently persuaded by a veterinarian’s testimony that the bit marks on pop singer Vanessa Carlton’s leg didn’t match a local pit bull’s choppers, a Pennsylvania district court judge held that…

Jul 12, 2010 7:56 PM CDT

Swiss Government Rejects US Request for Polanski Extradition

The Swiss government has rejected a U.S. request for the extradition of director Roman Polanski, a fugitive from charges relating to his having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl. Polanski, 76, had been under house arrest in Switzerland, but now “the freedom-restricting measures have been revoked,” according to a…

Jul 12, 2010 12:38 PM CDT