Louisiana

Deference to Trial Judge Debated in Jury Bias Case

A case concerning the exclusion of black jurors in a criminal case was back before the U.S. Supreme Court for oral arguments yesterday. Death-row inmate Allen Snyder is challenging the prosecutor’s use of challenges to excuse blacks from the jury panel and also his remarks, made during arguments in the…

Dec 5, 2007 2:05 PM CST

Bell Gets 18 Months in Jena 6 Plea Deal

One of the Jena 6 defendants has agreed to a plea deal in juvenile court that apparently will require him to serve little additional time, after spending much of 2007 in jail. A conspiracy charge has been dropped and Mychal Bell, 17, will plead guilty to a second-degree battery count,…

Dec 3, 2007 11:58 PM CST

Plea Deal for Jena 6 Teen?

A 17-year-old who has been imprisoned for much of this year in a controversial Louisiana case that has sparked massive civil rights protests may be close to a plea deal. Mychal Bell, who was originally charged with attempted murder in an alleged attack with five other black students about a…

Dec 3, 2007 4:15 PM CST

La. Judge Opens Entire Jena 6 Trial

Responding to a lawsuit filed by multiple media organizations, a Louisiana judge decided today to open to the public all trial proceedings in the case of Mychal Bell. The Jena 6 teen is to be tried beginning Dec. 6 in juvenile court for his role in an alleged group attack…

Nov 21, 2007 9:40 PM CST

Deal Would Give Plaintiffs About $3M in DA Race Bias Case

Dozens of employees who won a suit against New Orleans District Attorney Eddie Jordan for firing them because they were white would receive about $3 million under a deal financed by the city and the state of Louisiana. The troubled DA’s office was facing threats from lawyers for the fired…

Nov 21, 2007 2:30 PM CST

Ex-ABA Membership Chair Dies

A Shreveport, La., lawyer who served as ABA membership chairman has died. Robert G.Pugh, a former president of the Shreveport Bar Association, died at the age of 83, the Shreveport Times reports. ABA membership tripled during his tenure from 1977 to 1984, the newspaper reports. Pugh’s listing on Lawyers.com shows…

Nov 20, 2007 3:45 PM CST

FBI Hate Crimes Stats Soar; Noose Use Not Counted

Hate crimes rose significantly in 2006, up nearly 8 percent in that one year alone, according to the FBI. “Police across the nation reported 7,722 criminal incidents in 2006 targeting victims or property as a result of bias against a race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnic or national origin or physical…

Nov 20, 2007 12:01 AM CST

La. Criminal Defense Bar Draft Not a Hot Ticket for Lawyers

An attempt by a Louisiana judge to draft criminal defense lawyers to help out, on a pro bono basis, with a backlog of indigent cases was not an overwhelming success. Only 17 of the 33 lawyers notified last month that they should appear Friday in the courtroom of Orleans Parish…

Nov 19, 2007 7:52 PM CST

Judge Opens Jena 6 Juvenile Trial, Citizens March on DOJ

Responding to a legal action initiated by multiple media organizations, the Louisiana judge in an upcoming trial of one of the Jena 6 defendants says he will open Mychal Bell’s trial to the public. However, that did little to mollify angry citizens who marched today on the Justice Department in…

Nov 16, 2007 11:04 PM CST

$4.85B Vioxx Settlement to End Merck’s $600M Annual Legal Fees

Merck has agreed to settle 27,000 lawsuits over its pain medication Vioxx for $4.85 billion. The settlement is one of the largest ever in a civil suit, the New York Times reports. Merck had pledged never to settle, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.), but its legal defense fees…

Nov 9, 2007 11:34 AM CST

Embattled New Orleans DA Resigns

Embattled Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan has resigned after facing years of criticism for not aggressively pursuing violent criminals, persistent staff turnover and most recently a ruling that plaintiffs could seize assets to collect a $3.7 million civil rights verdict against him. Jordan will be replaced by First Assistant…

Oct 30, 2007 8:37 PM CDT

Noose Use Up Nationwide Since Jena March

Displaying a hangman’s noose has become an increasingly common practice throughout the country since a civil rights march in Jena, La., last month over a racially charged schoolyard attack that reportedly occurred after a noose was hung in a tree near the tiny town’s high school. Since then, nooses have…

Oct 30, 2007 7:10 PM CDT

Under Fire in Congress, DOJ Mulls Jena Case

At a Congressional hearing today, U.S. Department of Justice officials said they are considering a prosecution over the handling of the case of the so-called Jena Six—black youths who apparently were treated much more harshly than whites concerning similar alleged schoolyard crimes in a small town in Louisiana. However, they…

Oct 17, 2007 12:13 AM CDT

Admin Charged in Law Firm Embezzlement

A longtime administrator has been charged with allegedly embezzling more than $200,000 from a New Orleans law firm through a fraudulent bank deposit scheme. Lisa Mayerhafer, 41, who had worked for a decade at Gertler, Gertler, Vincent and Plotkin, is charged with bank fraud in a federal criminal case, reports…

Oct 16, 2007 12:29 AM CDT

2 La. Judges Indicted in Racketeering Case

Two Louisiana judges have been indicted for allegedly taking bribes to help get defendants out of jail by reducing bond, among other mechanisms. Both State District Judge Michael Walker, 57, and Caddo Parish Juvenile Court Judge Vernon Claville, 56, are accused in the federal racketeering case of accepting bribes from…

Oct 12, 2007 9:51 PM CDT