Georgia

Lawyer Accused of Smuggling Contraband Into Jail to Influence Witness Against His Own Son

A lawyer admitted in Georgia and South Carolina is facing the loss of law practice privileges in both states after pleading guilty to 11 misdemeanors in a case concerning contraband smuggled into the Richmond County Jail. Sidney “Chuck” Jones, 59, who practiced in Aiken, S.C., was accused by authorities of…

Mar 22, 2012 6:37 PM CDT

Jurors Award Lawyer and Husband Nearly 10 Times the Requested Amount in Internet Defamation Case

Georgia jurors in an Internet defamation case last month ignored a request to award $48,000 each to a lawyer and her husband. Instead, they awarded a total of $900,000 in damages. The plaintiffs, lawyer Jana Tabor and construction company owner John Tabor, had alleged they were defamed through media and…

Mar 13, 2012 1:51 PM CDT

Judge Retires After He Is Accused of Brandishing Gun for ‘Poor Rhetorical Point’

A Georgia judge accused of pulling out his gun during courtroom testimony last week has retired from his post. Judge David Barrett, chief judge of the Enotah Judicial Circuit, told the Dahlonega Nugget he is leaving because he did not want to put his family through the ordeal of an…

Mar 1, 2012 4:33 PM CST

DA Says Judge Being Probed for Pulling Out Gun, Telling Woman She Might as Well Shoot Her Lawyer

A Georgia judge is reportedly facing an ethics investigation after the district attorney reported a bizarre courtroom incident last week involving a gun and an unusual offer to an alleged domestic assault victim. Judge David Barrett, chief judge of the Enotah Judicial Circuit, was making “a poor rhetorical point” during…

Feb 27, 2012 1:04 PM CST

Lawyers Defending Former Glock General Counsel Question Company’s Involvement in His Prosecution

Jury selection began yesterday in the Georgia trial of a former general counsel and CEO in the U.S. headquarters of Glock Inc. He is facing theft and racketeering charges after police said he stole millions of dollars and a custom pistol from the renowned Austria-based firearms manufacturer. Paul Jannuzzo, 55,…

Feb 22, 2012 8:30 PM CST

Judge Tosses Guilty Pleas of Two Ga. Judges, Cites Honest Services Ruling in Enron Case

Two Georgia judges who pleaded guilty in a criminal misconduct case have benefited from a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling limiting the reach of the honest services law. A federal judge in Georgia on Wednesday set aside the pleas of Brooks Blitch and Berrien Sutton, former judges in the Alapaha…

Feb 17, 2012 1:43 PM CST

Sanctions Sought for Law Firm Accused of Using Inadvertently Produced Info to Solicit New Clients

Counsel for some of the defendants in complex nationwide litigation concerning claimed defects in ASR hip implants marketed by a unit of Johnson & Johnson are asking a Georgia judge to sanction an Atlanta law firm. Childers Schlueter & Smith was already representing plaintiffs in some of the approximately 4,500…

Feb 13, 2012 9:30 PM CST

Georgia Supreme Court Strikes Assisted-Suicide Law on Free Speech Grounds

The Georgia Supreme Court today struck down a state law that restricted advertising assisted suicides, on the basis that the regulation violates free speech rights. Suicide is not expressly forbidden in Georgia, the Associated Press reports. The law in question, adopted in 1994, makes it a felony to advertise assisted…

Feb 6, 2012 9:38 PM CST

HIV-Positive Man Gets Hearing on Failed Bid to Join Atlanta Police Force

The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that a man with HIV is entitled to a hearing on whether he can legally be denied a job as an Atlanta police officer because of his medical condition. A federal court had previously dismissed his suit seeking a hearing.…

Feb 2, 2012 5:09 PM CST

Attorney for Defendant’s Wife Won’t Be Forced to Testify in Ga. Murder Trial

When a high-profile murder trial begins next month in Georgia, there’s one sought-after witness who won’t be called—a matrimonial lawyer representing the defendant’s estranged wife. Although the defense contended attorney Esther Panitch may have had independent information about the crime and defendant Hemy Neuman’s mental state at the time it…

Jan 31, 2012 11:12 PM CST

Will Hustler Magazine Pay $19.6M, $250K or Zip for Running Nude Photos of Slain Woman Without OK?

After a professional wrestler made headlines by killing his wife, his son and himself in 2007, a magazine known for its hard-core pornography published, without permission, nude photos from decades earlier that it obtained of Chris Benoit’s wife, Nancy. A federal jury in Georgia last year awarded $19.6 million in…

Jan 26, 2012 8:53 PM CST

Lawyer Blames Client’s Paxil Use for Bank Robbery

The lawyer for a man accused of robbing a Bank of America branch is blaming the crime on his client’s use of the antidepressant Paxil. Defense lawyer Peter Johnson told a Georgia judge on Monday that he would call expert witnesses at trial to show the drug interfered with his…

Jan 24, 2012 2:26 PM CST

‘Hoe Haters’ Gang Members and Victim’s Relatives Brawl Outside Georgia Courtroom

Sheriff’s deputies in DeKalb County, Ga., arrested seven people on Thursday after gang members and relatives of a murder victim brawled outside the courtroom. Members of a gang known as the “Hoe Haters” scuffled with relatives of high school student Marcus Holloway, who was killed in a drive-by shooting. There…

Jan 13, 2012 1:29 PM CST

Ga. Judge Who Retired After ‘This American Life’ Ignited Ethics Firestorm Now Faces Criminal Probe

A longtime Georgia jurist ended a legal ethics case by agreeing last month to step down from the bench, effective Jan. 2. But now-retired former Chief Judge Amanda Williams of the five-county Brunswick Circuit is being criminally investigated by a special prosecutor, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. She was accused of…

Jan 10, 2012 9:54 PM CST

Can Divorce Lawyer for Defendant’s Wife Be Subpoenaed in Murder Case? Defense Counsel Says Yes

Can a lawyer representing a murder defendant’s wife be required to testify in the husband’s criminal trial? That is the question a Georgia judge must answer after hearing arguments concerning a motion to quash a witness subpoena for attorney Esther Panitch. Although information Panitch got from her client for the…

Jan 10, 2012 6:48 PM CST