Verdicts & Settlements

Jury acquits defendant in murder trial, despite prior conviction for killing alleged getaway driver

Marcellus Jones argued with the prosecution, the judge and even his own lawyer during his Philadelphia murder trial, which he complained was unfair. Plus, by taking the stand Tuesday in his own defense and offering rambling, sometimes incredible testimony, Jones put on the record his previous murder conviction and five…

Dec 10, 2015 11:25 AM CST

Los Angeles to pay $15M in suit over fatal crosswalk crash at intersection that lacked traffic light

Los Angeles has agreed to pay $15 million to settle litigation brought by the families of two girls who were struck by an inattentive driver in a crosswalk of a North Hollywood intersection that lacked a traffic light. Emely Aleman, 12, was killed by the 2010 accident and Angela Killings-Rodriguez,…

Dec 10, 2015 6:15 AM CST

Top state court nixes conviction based on testimony by anger-management therapist

A therapist for a man in court-ordered anger management counseling did nothing wrong by reporting that the client wanted to hurt a child protection worker he blamed for standing in the way of the reunion he sought with his children. But the therapist should not have been allowed to testify…

Dec 9, 2015 5:00 PM CST

Aide to Pennsylvania AG Kathleen Kane is convicted for email snooping in violation of court order

An aide to Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane was convicted of criminal contempt on Tuesday for violating a protective order by reading office emails to learn about a grand jury investigation of Kane. The aide, Patrick Reese, was convicted by a Montgomery County judge, report the Legal Intelligencer (sub. req.),…

Dec 9, 2015 10:29 AM CST

Federal judge blasts ‘dirty lawyer,’ gives him jail time despite his help in cases against lawmakers

A disbarred New York Lawyer credited with helping the government successfully pursue corruption cases against three state senators and other government officials was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Monday by a federal judge who blasted him as a “dirty lawyer.” The prosecution in the Manhattan case had sought…

Dec 8, 2015 1:53 PM CST

Judge used wrong standard to disqualify law firm in major case, top state court says

After initially agreeing with a trial judge and an intermediate appeals court that Bickel & Brewer should be disqualified from representing the plaintiff in a $60 million case between business partners, the Texas Supreme Court reversed course. It conditionally granted a petition for a writ of mandamus on Friday, ruling…

Dec 7, 2015 11:40 AM CST

Lawsuit over fake de Kooning painting is settled

A settlement has been reached in a New York art collector’s lawsuit against a now-defunct gallery that sold him a forged Willem de Kooning painting in 2007 for $4 million. The terms of the settlement, disclosed in a Wednesday court filing, are confidential, the Wall Street Journal (sub.req.) reports. John…

Dec 4, 2015 1:30 PM CST

Lawman’s assurance that woman’s ex wasn’t dangerous created no special duty to her, court rules

Although a New York state trooper allegedly reassured Jessica Kasten last year that her former live-in boyfriend Michael Skiadas (a mutual friend of theirs) didn’t pose a danger, the statement didn’t create a special duty establishing government liability when Skiadas killed Kasten’s new boyfriend, a court has ruled. Because six…

Dec 4, 2015 12:40 PM CST

Judge rejects Chapter 13 filing by lawyer known for porn-downloading lawsuits

Already under fire from legal ethics authorities concerning a once-profitable litigation business targeting individual porn downloaders, a Minnesota lawyer is now facing new trouble. A federal bankruptcy judge on Thursday rejected a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition by attorney Paul Hansmeier. The judge found Hansmeier had been dishonest with the court…

Dec 4, 2015 11:00 AM CST

Focus on hiring recent grads creates basis for age-discrimination suit, 11th Circuit says

A seasoned 49-year-old applicant who said he did not get a response when he applied for a sales job with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 2007 can use a disparate impact theory to sue for age discrimination, a federal appeals court has ruled. Reversing a federal trial court judge in…

Dec 4, 2015 8:45 AM CST

CEO convicted of misdemeanor in rare safety prosecution after coal mine explosion kills 29

A rare prosecution of a coal mining executive, following a 2010 explosion in West Virginia that killed 29 people, brought a mixed verdict from a federal jury in Charleston on Thursday. It acquitted Donald Blankenship, 65, of three felony charges alleging that he deceived regulators and investors, which could have…

Dec 4, 2015 6:20 AM CST

Suburban Chicago school board OKs full locker room access for transgender student

As potential litigation with the federal government loomed, a suburban Chicago school district early Thursday agreed to settle a civil rights complaint about not providing a transgender high school student unrestricted access to the girls locker room. Both sides appear to have compromised to resolve the dispute in the groundbreaking…

Dec 3, 2015 2:45 PM CST

Oscar Pistorius was guilty of murder, rather than manslaughter, appeals court finds

A South African appeals court has overturned Oscar Pistorius’ manslaughter conviction and found that he is instead guilty of murder. The track star faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison as a result of the ruling Thursday, the New York Times and the Guardian report. Pistorius had been…

Dec 3, 2015 9:14 AM CST

Lawyer’s marijuana-sting arrest put him on the right path, he says

Arrested after allegedly agreeing to accept marijuana in exchange for legal services from a purported client, Louisiana criminal defense attorney James Mecca might be expected to be angry or upset about the experience. But instead he is grateful that the arrest put him on a path to a better life,…

Dec 2, 2015 4:45 PM CST

Guitarist for rock band Boston lacked basis for defamation suits, top state court says

After years of litigation, a top state court has definitively ended consolidated defamation cases by Boston guitarist Tom Scholz against the Boston Herald and the ex-wife of the rock band’s late frontman, Brad Delp. Scholz said news coverage in the Herald implied that he was to blame for Delp’s 2007…

Dec 1, 2015 12:35 PM CST