Evidence

Tax Probe Led to Spitzer Prostitution Allegations

Updated: The investigation that led to this week’s shocking revelations about New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, the respected former state attorney general who reportedly linked up with a high-priced prostitute, was all about taxes. The probe began when IRS agents were doing a routine investigation of suspicious transactions reported by…

Mar 11, 2008 10:50 AM CDT

Group Seeks Contempt Hearing on White House E-Mail Statements

An advocacy group claims the Bush administration apparently made false and misleading statements about e-mail backups in a lawsuit alleging violations of record-keeping laws. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the plaintiff in the suit, says there is a discrepancy between what the administration told a federal court and…

Mar 7, 2008 4:04 PM CST

Qualcomm Lawyers Get Sanctions Lifted, Privilege Pierced in Discovery Fiasco

A federal judge is allowing six Qualcomm lawyers sanctioned for discovery violations in patent litigation to testify about privileged client communications. U.S. District Judge Rudi Brewster of San Diego lifted the sanctions yesterday and returned the case to the federal magistrate who imposed them, the Recorder reports. Brewster said the…

Mar 7, 2008 12:12 PM CST

Discovery Debacle: How Not to Duplicate Qualcomm’s E-Mail Issues

After some $10 million in court-ordered penalties, attorney sanctions and a switch of both in-house and outside counsel, it is clear that Qualcomm Inc. didn’t handle its discovery obligations in a patent dispute with Broadcom Corp. in an optimal manner. But despite these severe sanctions over 46,000 e-mails that Qualcomm…

Mar 6, 2008 1:32 AM CST

Two Coughlin Stoia Lawyers Linked to Contingency-Paid Witness

Two securities class action lawyers who jumped to Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins have been linked to an expert witness who pleaded guilty last week to perjury. The plea settled allegations the witness was paid on a contingency basis by the lawyers’ prior firm, giving him an incentive to…

Mar 5, 2008 1:49 PM CST

Test to Spot Liars Takes Center Stage in Personal Injury Cases

Expert witnesses are citing a test designed to spot those who are faking their pain in hundreds of court cases, prompting debate about its reliability. The so-called Fake Bad Scale was added to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory last year, leading to its increasing use by expert witnesses in personal…

Mar 5, 2008 12:20 PM CST

$1.7M Settlement in Case That Exposed DA’s E-Mail

A $1.7 million settlement was approved today in a federal civil rights case that led to the exposure of a Texas prosecutor’s personal e-mail and his eventual resignation. The Harris County commission unanimously OK’d the settlement with Sean Carlos Ibarra, 37, and Erik Adam Ibarra, 28, as sheriff’s deputies were…

Mar 3, 2008 6:33 PM CST

DNA Poised to Show Its Civil Side

After changing criminal law, tests are ready for workers’ comp, toxic tort cases

Mar 1, 2008 8:55 PM CST

Documents Produced in Major Art Case Have Created ... More Art

When officials at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art decided to litigate against artist Christoph Büchel over an incomplete commissioned piece, they probably didn’t realize what they were getting into. Although the museum won its federal court battle to display to the public a massive maze representing American culture that…

Mar 1, 2008 12:01 AM CST

After Serving 20 Years, Man Faces Murder Charge in Same 1966 Case

After spending about 20 years in prison for shooting a Philadelphia police officer responding to a break-in call in 1966, William Barnes seemingly had paid his debt to society. But the 71-year-old was rearrested last year and charged with murder after the officer, Walter Barclay, died of a urinary tract…

Feb 28, 2008 4:32 PM CST

Judge Refuses Default Judgment in File-Sharing Suit, Cites Lack of Evidence

Legal observers say a judge’s refusal to grant a default judgment in a suit alleging illegal file-sharing is a setback for the music industry. U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton of Connecticut said in Feb. 13 ruling that a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by several recording companies appeared to lack…

Feb 27, 2008 7:43 PM CST

Germany’s High Court Protects Computer Privacy

Germany’s highest court has ruled that the government may not use spy software to access information on personal computers absent a warrant and exceptional reasons to do so. The ruling by Germany’s Constitutional Court holds that government surveillance of information stored or exchanged on personal computers violates a right to…

Feb 27, 2008 3:14 PM CST

New Crime-Fighting Tool: Enhanced Hair Analysis

Experts can now match an individual’s hair to the regional tap water he or she has been drinking. That offers a new evidentiary tool to prosecutors and law enforcement, because it can help determine where a person was at the time of a crime. Thure Cerling, a geologist at the…

Feb 26, 2008 4:36 PM CST

Supreme Court Finds No Per Se Rule Against ‘Me, Too’ Evidence

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that courts need to make case-by-case determinations when deciding whether to admit “me too” evidence of age discrimination. The opinion issued today said a federal appeals court should have asked the trial court to clarify why it barred an employee suing for job…

Feb 26, 2008 3:34 PM CST

Judge Appears Reluctant to Order Release of Law Firm Probe Notes

Former McAfee general counsel Kent Roberts’ quest for notes of a law firm’s corporate backdating probe appeared to run into a roadblock Monday in the form of Judge Marilyn Hall Patel. Roberts claims he needs the notes to defend himself in a civil suit for securities fraud by the Securities…

Feb 26, 2008 12:43 PM CST