Evidence

Texas lawyer allegedly killed and cremated son, saying he mistook him for intruder

A Houston lawyer is accused of waiting about 17 hours to call police after allegedly killing his son and burning his body on a woodpile at his weekend home in Sabine County, Texas.

Dec 9, 2024 9:52 AM CST

To win our case, organization and delegation were key

In our experience, we see lawyers who keep the entire case to themselves in the mistaken belief that they can navigate issues, and they may get in over their heads. It’s critical to make sure to have the right lawyer for the job. Falcon Healthcare Inc. v. Interim Healthcare Inc. presented complex franchise, health care and business dissolution issues. We had litigators on the trial team for each of these areas, and it made all the difference.

Dec 1, 2024 1:20 AM CST

Can a lost phone be searched without consent? 9th Circuit will consider

In December 2017, Dontae Hunt dropped his iPhone when he was shot five times by a gunman in an Oregon parking lot. The phone was later found by local police and stored in evidence for 25 months until federal Drug Enforcement Administration officers obtained a warrant, cracked the password and used data found on the iPhone to convict Hunt in 2022 of drug trafficking charges. “The real question is: Does someone expect that because they lost their phone that anyone who finds it—including the police—should be able to look through all their photo albums, their emails, their messages or the entire history of where they’ve been if they have location tracking on?”

Dec 1, 2024 1:00 AM CST

In both criminal and civil litigation, emojis can be hard to interpret

Sometimes an eggplant is just an eggplant, but in the emoji world, it’s usually not. But is sending someone an eggplant emoji or a winky face proof of sexual harassment? When does a gun emoji mean someone is threatening another person with death? Does a thumbs-up emoji mean acceptance of a contract?

Dec 1, 2024 12:50 AM CST

Legislature can’t use subpoena to delay execution in shaken-baby case, Texas Supreme Court rules

Texas lawmakers can’t force courts to delay an execution by issuing a legislative subpoena for a death row inmate’s testimony after the scheduled execution date, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled.

Nov 19, 2024 1:41 PM CST

Trial gets underway for alleged hit man accused of shooting attorney for litigant friend

A Hilton Head, South Carolina, man is on trial this week for attempted murder in an April 2023 shooting of a Greenville, South Carolina, attorney.

Nov 13, 2024 3:10 PM CST

Evidence of judge’s ‘poisonous antisemitism’ entitles Jewish death row inmate to new trial, top Texas court says

The top criminal court in Texas has ordered a new trial for a death row inmate because of evidence that the judge was actually biased against the defendant because he is Jewish.

Nov 8, 2024 9:46 AM CST

Kirkland partner can’t present argument or evidence because he ‘crossed the lines’ of court orders, judge says

A Missouri judge has sanctioned a Kirkland & Ellis partner after finding the lawyer “acted in bad faith on several occasions” and tried to inflame the jury during a civil trial targeting the makers of baby formula.

Oct 31, 2024 8:45 AM CDT

DA requests resentencing for Menendez brothers, opening path to release

The Los Angeles district attorney’s office announced on Thursday that it will request the resentencing of Erik and Lyle Menendez, a pair of brothers sentenced in 1996 to life in prison for killing their parents, after new evidence emerged backing the brothers’ defense that they were physically and sexually abused by their father.

Oct 25, 2024 8:20 AM CDT

Appendix of source materials unsealed in Trump Jan. 6 prosecution

U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on Friday unsealed a heavily redacted—and unrevelatory—version of the appendix of source materials underpinning special counsel Jack Smith’s case against Donald Trump for election interference.

Oct 18, 2024 11:25 AM CDT

Execution of Texas man in ‘shaken baby’ case temporarily halted by judge

A district judge in Texas has granted a temporary restraining order, blocking the Thursday execution of Robert Leslie Roberson III after a bipartisan coalition of state House members unanimously voted to subpoena him. Roberson’s scheduled execution would mark the first time a death sentence has been imposed for a case related to shaken baby syndrome, a once widely accepted diagnosis that bolstered criminal prosecutions but has come under increasing scrutiny with evolving science.

Oct 18, 2024 8:30 AM CDT

When queried by judge, chatbot had less faith in its output than expert witness who used it

When confronted with evidence that an expert witness used a chatbot to cross-check lost-value calculations, a judge in Saratoga County, New York, decided to query the source.

Oct 16, 2024 2:24 PM CDT

Lawyers ordered to provide door-to-door apology after their early-morning ‘scream test’

Lawyers who wakened South Philadelphia residents with a looped recording of a screaming woman to prove a point in a lawsuit must go door to door to issue in-person apologies, a federal judge has ruled.

Oct 14, 2024 11:27 AM CDT

Judge approves releasing source documents that detail more Trump-Jan. 6 evidence

A federal judge on Thursday approved the public release of redacted source documents that helped inform special counsel Jack Smith’s explosive 165-page legal brief arguing that Donald Trump can still face prosecution for trying to subvert the results of the 2020 election, but gave the former president seven days to take steps to block the disclosure.

Oct 11, 2024 9:31 AM CDT

SCOTUS seems closely divided on new trial for Oklahoma death row inmate

The Supreme Court appeared closely divided Wednesday over whether to order a new trial for Oklahoma death-row inmate Richard Glossip, whose case has attracted support from across the political spectrum after independent investigations revealed prosecutorial misconduct.

Oct 9, 2024 3:50 PM CDT