Michigan

Detroit to Tell Workers to Tone Down Scented Products Under ADA Settlement

The scent of litigation success isn’t a sweet smell for at least one plaintiff who recently won a $100,000 settlement in a federal Americans with Disabilities Act discrimination case. As part of the pact in the federal lawsuit filed by planner Susan McBride, the city of Detroit has agreed to…

Mar 16, 2010 5:16 PM CDT

Lawyer Wins New Trial for Client Because Judge Didn’t Put Jury Under Oath

Sentenced to 15 to 40 years after being convicted of assault with intent to commit murder by stabbing an acquaintance in his apartment in what the prosecution described as a drunken frenzy, Timothy Lawrence Becktel has won a new trial. Because the judge in his case apparently forgot to put…

Mar 5, 2010 7:29 PM CST

Attorney Helped Run Gambling Business Out of Law Office, Feds Say, Making Up to $25K Weekly

A Michigan attorney accused of collaborating with four other men to run a betting scheme out of his law office and bars in Detroit and Dearborn pleaded guilty this week to operating an illegal gambling business that raked in as much as $25,000 weekly. John Stephen Shelly, 49, faces up…

Mar 4, 2010 6:02 PM CST

Judge Threatens to Jail Juror Delayed by Mom’s Surgery & Babysitting Issue

A Michigan judge had little sympathy with a potential juror who said she was late to court because she was delayed by her mother’s oral surgery and a baby-sitting issue. When Carmela Khury showed up in Oakland County Circuit Court late with her baby and 3-year-old child, Judge Leo Bowman…

Mar 3, 2010 6:18 PM CST

As Atom Bomb Book Raises Fact-Check Issue, ‘Hurt Locker’ Writer Is Accused of Too Much Truth-Telling

Accused of including fictitious information in his book about the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Japan during World War II, Charles Pellegrino is now seeing The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back withdrawn from publication—although it could still potentially be the subject of a movie. Meanwhile, the…

Mar 3, 2010 3:10 AM CST

Panel: Lawyer for Ex-Detroit Mayor Withheld Material Facts, Faces Discipline

The lawyer for disgraced ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is facing possible disbarment on professional misconduct charges relating to his handling of the text-messaging scandal that led to Kilpatrick’s ouster. A three-member panel of the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board found that lawyer Samuel McCargo violated five rules of professional misconduct. The…

Mar 2, 2010 2:29 PM CST

Former City Attorney Pleads to Felony in Courthouse Sex Case

A Michigan lawyer who formerly served as a deputy prosecutor for the city of Holland has pleaded guilty in a felony case, admitting in court this week that he made a plea deal with a 21-year-old female defendant in exchange for sex in a courthouse bathroom. Carl Gabrielse, 31, pleaded…

Feb 26, 2010 8:42 PM CST

Federal Hate-Crime Statute Imperils Free Speech of Religious Right, Lawsuit Contends

The Thomas More Law Center has filed a federal suit on behalf of several individuals, contending that a federal law against hate crimes violates their constitutional rights to express their religious views in opposition to homosexuality. Scribd provides a copy of the lawsuit (PDF), which was filed yesterday in the…

Feb 4, 2010 1:00 AM CST

Appeals Court: Ex-Prosecutor Can’t Be Sued Over His Work on Terror Case

A former federal prosecutor who was tried and acquitted of conspiring to hide evidence in a terrorism case cannot be sued civilly over his work on the case by one of the defendants, a federal appeals court has held. Reversing a Detroit federal judge’s ruling in favor of plaintiff Karim…

Feb 3, 2010 6:51 PM CST

That’s Not His Name in Our Name, Law Firm Says of Ex-Partner’s Suit

In an attempt to force a Detroit law firm to change its name, a former shareholder filed suit against Charfoos & Christensen last week. Now that he has moved to Charfoos Giovan & Birach, potential clients could be confused by the name duplication, he contends. But the suit by Lawrence…

Jan 26, 2010 6:18 PM CST

Ex-Partner Suit: Two Firms Using My Name Is One Too Many

Updated: It isn’t unusual for a law firm to leave a former partner’s name on its shingle after he has made a final exit from law practice into the grave. But Lawrence Charfoos is still alive and well, not to mention practicing at a competing new firm, Charfoos Giovan &…

Jan 25, 2010 7:02 PM CST

Judge Calls Ex-Detroit Mayor a Liar, Says He Must Pay $319K Within 90 Days

A Michigan judge called the former mayor of Detroit a liar today in a court hearing over Kwame Kilpatrick’s claim that he can’t afford to pay all of the $1 million in restitution called for in plea bargains in two criminal cases. The plea bargains resulted from a racy text-messages…

Jan 20, 2010 11:37 PM CST

Accused Miller Canfield Lawyer Says Only Drug Link Is Viagra Pill

A Miller Canfield lawyer accused of acting as general counsel to a motorcycle gang claims he is being prosecuted for advising a defendant to remain silent. Hatim “Tim” Attalla, who is of counsel at the law firm, was indicted in May on a drug conspiracy charge and accused of acting…

Jan 15, 2010 1:38 PM CST

Hat and Gloves Are Necessary Workplace Attire at Some Courthouses

The cold spell and aging courthouses are a bad combination. Temperatures dipped to 42 degrees last week at the District Attorney’s office in Okfuskee County, Okla., the Associated Press reports. Courthouse workers wore hats and gloves, and at least one judge closed his office on Thursday. The building, located 75…

Jan 14, 2010 6:59 PM CST

Nigerian Indicted in Alleged Xmas-Day Effort to Explode Airliner

A federal grand jury in Michigan today indicted a Nigerian man on charges that he tried to blow up a Detroit-bound commercial airline flight from Amsterdam on Christmas Day. Authorities say he carried an explosive onto the plane in his underwear but failed to successfully ignite it. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab,…

Jan 6, 2010 11:17 PM CST