Trials & Litigation

Disorderly Conduct is Hot Legal Topic

Legal experts are discussing the elements of a disorderly conduct conviction with the zeal one might expect of appellate attorneys conferring over a death penalty case, as the scandal over Sen. Larry Craig’s recent restroom sting arrest exacerbates. The Republican lawmaker from Idaho probably could have beaten the rap, according…

Aug 30, 2007 10:42 PM CDT

Texas Gov Commutes Death Sentence

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has never commuted a death sentence before. But he did so today for Kenneth Foster, 30, who was scheduled to be executed tonight for serving as the getaway car driver in a 1996 fatal robbery. Following another highly unusual development in the case—the Texas Board of…

Aug 30, 2007 8:56 PM CDT

Top Experts Trump Lawyers: $2,000/Hour

A very select group of lawyers reportedly now bills at hourly rates that can exceed $1,000. But they are topped by an even more select group of experts, whose fees can hit $2,000 per hour. Intellectual property knowledge can earn such stratospheric fees for experts—who typically, at four-figure rates, are…

Aug 30, 2007 8:05 PM CDT

Was Judge’s Opinion Unethical?

Should a judge face an ethics complaint based simply on what he writes in a court opinion? No way, says Bruce Rogow, a law professor at Florida’s Nova Southeastern University. But attorney Wally Pope says the answer to that question depends on what the opinion says. The two lawyers are…

Aug 30, 2007 7:01 PM CDT

UCLA: Public School Segregation Worse

Despite decades of efforts to end “separate but equal” public education for children of different races, the nation’s school system is getting more segregated rather than less. And a decision in June by the U.S. Supreme Court forbidding most voluntary efforts to desegregate is likely to accelerate that trend, reports…

Aug 30, 2007 4:14 PM CDT

Who’s the Lawyer? Suit to Decide

A malpractice suit against a well-regarded Washington, D.C., litigator raises an unusual issue: Which lawyer represented a man shot by a police officer nine times? A $5 million malpractice suit claims Michele Roberts failed to serve the police officer and missed deadlines in the case, leading to its dismissal, Legal…

Aug 30, 2007 11:30 AM CDT

Judge Axes Confession, Pretrial, Under New IL Law

In a ruling hailed by defense advocates as proof that an unusual new law is working, an Illinois judge has made a pretrial ruling that a woman’s videotaped murder confession can’t be used against her because police ignored her requests for a lawyer. Judge John Scotillo, who sits in Cook…

Aug 30, 2007 12:47 AM CDT

Stop Sign Issue Halts Divorce Case

There were some unexpected legal developments today in a long-running divorce battle in South Florida. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Paul Siegel apparently blew a stop sign and drove into a local intersection, colliding with a vehicle driven by former Miami Mayor Joe Carollo. Carollo had been scheduled to appear before the…

Aug 30, 2007 12:18 AM CDT

Canadian Cleared in 1959 Murder

Concluding a case that has fascinated Canadians for decades, an Ontario appeals court yesterday acquitted Steven Truscott of a 48-year-old crime that originally resulted in a death sentence for him as a teenager. Sentenced at age 14 in 1959 to death by hanging for the rape and murder of a…

Aug 29, 2007 10:56 PM CDT

Who Will Close in Spector Murder Trial?

At the conclusion of five months of testimony in Phil Spector’s murder trial and with closing arguments scheduled to begin on Sept. 5, observers are asking an unusual question. Who is going to give his closing argument? Ordinarily, of course, that would be the lead defense lawyer at trial. But…

Aug 29, 2007 9:52 PM CDT

A&P v. Workers in $1 M Veggie Video Suit

Two New Jersey brothers apparently meant to be funny when they filmed a gangsta rap parody, “Produce Paradise,” at the A&P supermarket at which they then worked. But management isn’t getting the joke. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., which owns A&P, has not only fired the two shelf-stockers…

Aug 28, 2007 10:41 PM CDT

Thompson’s Dual Role as Gov’t Counsel

During decades as a government lawyer serving a prominent advisory role in scandalous situations, Fred D. Thompson has forged a reputation as a hard-driving prosecutor. (In between, he has also had a well-known acting career, which was jump-started when he played himself in Marie, a movie about his client, the…

Aug 28, 2007 8:55 PM CDT

Former KY Bar Ass’n Prez Disbarred

Four years ago, Stephen B. Catron was president of the Kentucky Bar Association. Today he’s no longer a lawyer, having been disbarred last week by the Kentucky Supreme Court. Catron, who is accused of having mishandled $500,000 in public funds, says the allegation is unfounded. However, he apparently didn’t fight…

Aug 28, 2007 7:47 PM CDT

Fence-Building Crime Time: 6 Months

A California man with no prior record has been sentenced to six months in jail. His crime? Building a fence at his home on what the city of Torrance apparently told him was his own property, after he called to ask the city to fix a dilapidated fence that was…

Aug 28, 2007 6:55 PM CDT

8th Circuit: Resentence Wal-Mart Exec

A federal judge may have been too lenient in sentencing a former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executive to five years of probation (including about two years of home confinement) in a $500,000 fraud case, an appeals court has ruled. It says Tom Coughlin must be resentenced. A 28-year employee who rose…

Aug 28, 2007 4:27 PM CDT