Evidence

Tobacco Makers Sift Through Thousands of Documents in $1B Hospital Suit

A 10-year-old lawsuit filed by Missouri hospitals against cigarette makers seeking $1 billion for the cost of treating tobacco-related illnesses has been stalled in discovery. The tobacco companies are sifting through tens of thousands of records for indigent patients provided by more than 30 hospitals under a court order, the…

Sep 15, 2008 5:54 PM CDT

Feds Searched Wash. Lawyer’s Office in Witness-Tampering Probe

Underlining the risk to lawyers who are suspected of crossing the line from client representation to assisting in alleged criminal conduct, a Washington state newspaper reports that the office and home of an attorney representing a millionaire defendant in a child porn case have been searched. Although the unnamed “third…

Sep 11, 2008 10:41 PM CDT

OK, Discovery’s a Problem, But What Can Be Done About It?

An interim report (reg. req.) on a recent survey of trial lawyers about the American civil justice system has confirmed what many feared: Out-of-control discovery, among other issues, is making it difficult or impossible to pursue many cases that traditionally would have been brought, as parties settle or even decide…

Sep 11, 2008 6:30 PM CDT

Prominent NY Lawyer Accused of Seeking to ‘Neutralize’ Witnesses

A prominent New York criminal defense lawyer has been charged with obstruction of justice and witness tampering based on allegations he sought to bribe and “neutralize” witnesses in a case against an accused drug kingpin. Lawyer Robert Simels is accused of telling a man who turned out to be a…

Sep 11, 2008 12:41 PM CDT

2 Colorado Judges Censured for Prosecutorial Work Years Ago

Two former Colorado prosecutors who didn’t turn over potentially exculpatory information to the defense in a first-degree murder case have been censured for their role in sending a man who says he is innocent to prison for almost a decade. That man, Timothy Masters, was released earlier this year, after…

Sep 10, 2008 7:42 PM CDT

Congress Approves Rule Protecting Privileged Documents

Congress has passed and sent to the president a new federal evidence rule that protects privileged materials inadvertently disclosed during discovery. Federal Rule of Evidence 502 says attorney-client and work-product privilege is not waived when a protected document is inadvertently disclosed, as long as the privilege holder took reasonable steps…

Sep 10, 2008 5:32 PM CDT

Hood Execution Halted; Defense Alleged Judge-Prosecutor Affair

There’s no word about what was said at depositions yesterday and today of a former prosecutor and a retired judge accused of having had an affair more than a decade ago during a convicted murderer’s trial. However, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has called a halt to tomorrow’s scheduled…

Sep 9, 2008 10:09 PM CDT

Litigation Too Costly, E-Discovery a ‘Morass,’ Trial Lawyers Say

Updated: The civil justice system in the United States is so bogged down in a “morass” of e-discovery that it is often too expensive for litigants to take their cases to trial, according to a survey of trial lawyers. Now the next step is to fix this increasingly dysfunctional system,…

Sep 9, 2008 3:00 PM CDT

Opponent ‘Bought’ Privileged Docs, Used Them to Seek More

A struggling mortgage lender in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case may have opened up a major new battlefield in the legal malpractice arena. Eager to put an end to a fraud suit brought by a software developer, New Century Mortgage agreed, as part of a settlement in federal bankruptcy court…

Sep 5, 2008 6:46 PM CDT

Palin E-Mails Criticize Failure to Fire Trooper

Two e-mails from Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin criticize the failure to fire a state trooper who was formerly married to her sister. Palin is being represented by a private lawyer in an investigation into whether she fired Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan for keeping the trooper as a…

Sep 4, 2008 10:51 AM CDT

L.A. City Council Offers $500K Bounty for Unknown Serial Killer

Seeking to put a stop to a serial killer that authorities say has been operating in the Los Angeles area for some 23 years, the L.A. City Council today approved a $500,000 reward fund. It will pay up to $200,000 to any individual who provides information leading to the conviction…

Sep 3, 2008 9:46 PM CDT

N.J. Appeals Court Upholds Police Search of Computer Authorized by Employer

A New Jersey appeals court has upheld a government search of an employee’s computer that was conducted with the approval of his employer. The Aug. 29 ruling found that an employee has no legitimate expectation of privacy in personal files stored on a company computer that was used to commit…

Sep 3, 2008 6:12 PM CDT

Judge Finds Oracle CEO Withheld E-Mail in Investor Suit

A federal judge in San Francisco has found that Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison deliberately destroyed or withheld e-mail and failed to preserve tape recordings in an investor lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said jurors will be told they could infer the documents and tapes would have shown Ellison…

Sep 3, 2008 1:33 PM CDT

Sudden Deaths in Police Custody May Be Biological, Study Says

A study by Spanish researchers of sudden deaths of young men who died soon after being arrested says a biological fear factor may be at least part of the answer to the unsolved mystery. Just like wild animals, which can die suddenly when captured, humans taken into custody are stressed.…

Sep 2, 2008 6:18 PM CDT

LAPD Hunts 23-Year Serial Killer

Starting in 1985, the same suspect has reportedly been killing women in the Los Angeles area. As of early last year, when the last body was found, the total number of known victims is now 11. All were black, and all except one were women. But until DNA tests linked…

Aug 29, 2008 5:16 PM CDT