Legal Commentary

Supreme Court Turns Down Donofrio Appeal

Posted on December 09, 2008
As expected, the Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J. to intervene to bar President-elect Barack Obama from taking office due to the fact that he had British citizenship at birth. There remain other pending challenges around the country but I think Obama can go ahead and [...

A is for Autopsy . . . C is for Cadaver: High School Students Taken to Watch Another Student?s Autopsy

Posted on December 09, 2008
Waterford Kettering High School in Michigan has a curious concept of interesting learning experiences. A teacher reportedly took a class to see an autopsy of a 14-year-old girl from the Waterford Kettering middle school. After the parents of the dead girl objected, medical examiner’s office has canceled public school tours and Mike Zehnder, the county’s [...

Prison Guards Sentenced for Allowing Inmates to Rape Teen

Posted on December 09, 2008
Two former prison guards, Shawn Freeman and Wesley Lanham, have been sentenced for federal prison for 14 years and 15 years respectively for allowing inmates to rape an 18-year-old locked up overnight on traffic violations. U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves sentenced the two in an important — and rare — punishment for the prison [...

MSNBC Producer Allegedly Goes Live ? And Livid. But Is It Real?

Posted on December 09, 2008
Live television is not for the faint of heart as MSNBC anchor Contessa Brewer allegedly learned when a producer went on a profanity laced tirade with an open mike picking up the full exchange. The video below could be a training tape for anchors and producers alike...

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Lawyer Accused of Impersonating a District Attorney Employee to Keep Witnesses From Appearing in Court

Posted on December 09, 2008
Edward G. Kelly, 51, a defense attorney in Fall River, Massachusetts has pleaded innocent to a bizarre criminal allegation: that Kelly pretended to be a district attorney employee to tell government witnesses on the telephone that they did not need to show up for court...

Illinois Gov. Blagojevich Arrested in Corruption Charges Relating to Obama?s Senate Replacement

Posted on December 09, 2008
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been arrested on federal corruption charges related to his alleged efforts to sell his appointment of a successor for Barack Obama to the United States Senate. Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of [...

Simpson Sex Scandal: Man Convicted of Possession of Child Pornography of Cartoon Characters

Posted on December 08, 2008
New South Wales Supreme Court Justice Michael Adams is not amused and believes John McEwan should not aroused by the Simpson children having sex. The jurist has ruled that Bart Simpson is a “person” for the purposes of pornography and thus McEwan was properly convicted of possessing child pornography and using his computer to [...

Harsh Treatment: Salvation Army To Fire Officer For Marrying Outside of Church

Posted on December 08, 2008
Capt. Johnny Harsh of Oshkosh, Wisconsin thought that the Lord had provided his answer to the loneliness and grief that followed the loss of his wife, Capt. Yalanda Harsh, to a heart attack. It was Cia, 56, a nurse, that he met on a Christian online dating Web site...

RIAA Sues Transplant Patient for Copyright Violations and Then Secures a Default for Not Responding to the Complaint

Posted on December 08, 2008
For those who view the RIAA as akin to Land of Mormor have another baffling alleged abuse to cite. Nineteen-year-old Ciara Sauro was sued for allegedly sharing 10 songs online. RIAA lawyers sued her. She didn’t respond so the lawyers secured a default judgment...

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Four Co-Defendants Seek to Plead Guilty

Posted on December 08, 2008
There are reports today that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-defendants have indicated that they want to plead guilty to the charges that they are facing before a US military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It is a bizarre turn of events when the defendants were likely to see new rights granted under an [...

?Cultural of Intoxication?: Giants Stadium Settles Dram Shop Case for $25 Million

Posted on December 08, 2008
A major “dram shop” case just settled in New York that could be a forerunner to similar cases across the country. The Giants Stadium and Aramark agreed to pay $25 million to settle the case of Antonia Verni, a girl paralyzed in a crash with a drunken football fan...

Jefferson Losses Reelection and Louisiana Elects First Vietnamese-American to Congress

Posted on December 07, 2008
Nine-term Democratic Rep. William Jefferson has lost his reelection bid in a triumph for anti-corruption advocates. However, 47 percent of his district still wanted to send him back to Congress despite his well-earned indictment — almost the same percentage that wanted to send Sen...

Ninth Circuit Overturned 1983 Conviction for the Murder to Two Girls

Posted on December 07, 2008
Prosecutorial misconduct has led to one of Nevada’s most infamous cases being overturned. An appellate panel overturned the death sentence of Ricky David Sechrest for the murder of Maggie Schindler, 10 and Carly Villa, 9, in 1983 over statements made by then-District Attorney Mills Lane...

Montana Judge Rules Doctor-Assisted Suicides Are Legal

Posted on December 07, 2008
In a surprising opinion out of Helena, Montana, Judge Dorothy McCarter has handed down a powerful decision in favor of the constitutional rights of patients and doctors in physician-assisted suicides. Judge McCarter ruled that a Billings man with terminal cancer has a right to such assistance as a matter of state constitutional law: “The Montana [...

?Kop Buster? Claims to Nail Texas Police in Private Sting

Posted on December 07, 2008
It is unconstitutional for police to use use the heat signatures of homes to detect and raid houses suspected of growing marijuana. Ex-cop and now “Kop Buster” Barry Cooper believed that officers were still using the technology and lying on affidavits to secure search warrants...

Worker?s Paradise: Chinese Communist Officials Under Fire For Frolic With State Funds

Posted on December 06, 2008
Mao Tse-Tung once said that “a revolution is not a dinner party.” Perhaps, but it might be a good sex show in San Francisco and some gambling in Las Vegas. A lost bag found in a Shanghai subway has produced an embarrassment for the government after it yielded receipts for everything from a $700-a-night [...

Living By the Ruehls: Ohio Judge Sentences Attorney to Six Months for Swearing in Court

Posted on December 06, 2008
Judge Robert Ruehlman clearly does not like swearing in his courtroom. Ruehlman recently sent two men — including an attorney — to jail for six months for using foul language. This is not unique, but Ruehlman’s punishment is grossly out of line with a reasonable sanction in such cases...

Assumption of the Risk 101

Posted on December 06, 2008
For those students who seek an easy way to spot assumption of the risk, this video may help. In 2007, these guys climbed a massive crane and then filmed themselves doing pull ups while dangling over Paris. Yes, this would be trespass and constitute assumption of the risk...

Boston Police Officer Tickets Woman In Labor Trying to Get to Hospital

Posted on December 06, 2008
Jennifer Davis and her husband, John Davis, were facing a nightmare of an expecting couple. Jennifer’s contractions had dropped from five minutes to just three minutes apart and they were stuck in the legendary Boston traffic. John pulled into the breakdown lane and pulled up behind Trooper Michael Galluccio to ask whether [...

Mukasey?s Comment on the Surveillance and Torture Program Leads to Congressional Confrontation

Posted on December 05, 2008
Attorney General Michael Mukasey has made new comments excusing both the unlawful surveillance program and the torture program. In his most recent statement, Mukasey dismisses the need for a pardon since “[t]here is absolutely no evidence anybody who rendered a legal opinion either with respect to surveillance or with respect to interrogation policy did [...

Supreme Court Grants Review in Al-Marri Enemy Combatant Case

Posted on December 05, 2008
In an important vote, the Supreme Court has granted review in al-Marri v. Pucciarelli, 08-368. The case will return the issue of enemy combatants back before the Court with a new twist. The case would have to be argued by the Obama Administration, which will be given a clear opportunity to show [...

Berkeley City Council Set to Vote on Professor John Yoo?s Alleged Crimes and Academic Courses

Posted on December 05, 2008
A rather bizarre scene is unfolding in Berkeley’s City Council which is considering five measures attacking Berkeley Professor John Yoo. One measure demands criminal charges of Yoo for his torture memo as a Bush official while another demands that no student be compelled to take a class from him...

Simpson Sentenced Up to 33 Years

Posted on December 05, 2008
A Nevada judge has sentenced O.J. Simpson to up to 33 years for his role in taking property in a Las Vegas hotel that he claimed was stolen from him. While this may not be popular, I think the sentence is excessive and that the entire case was overcharged...

Video: Police Taser Son Who Tries to Rescue His Father After Police and Fire Department Refuses to Go Into Water

Posted on December 05, 2008
The video below reveals another troubling use of a taser. 54-year-old Maurizio Biasini went to a Mendocino Beach called Portuguese Beach with his two twin sons, Dario and Andriano Biasini, and fell into the water. The police and fire department refused to go into the choppy water as the father was swept [...

Doctors? Union Objects to Surgeon Having to Pay Damages for Losing His Temper in Surgery, Cutting Off Man?s Penis and then Chopping It Into Small Bits

Posted on December 05, 2008
And I thought the AMA was unreasonable on malpractice caps . . . Surgeon Naum Ciomu was operating on patient Nelu Radonescu, 36, to correct a testicular malformation when he suddenly lost his temper. He cut off Radonescu’s penis and then chopped it up into small bits on a nearby operating room table...

Bad Boy: Boy George Found Guilty in False Imprisonment Case

Posted on December 05, 2008
Boy George appears headed to jail after a conviction for his abuse and imprisonment of Norwegian Audun Carlsen, 29, a male escort. The jury rejected ’sGeorge O?Dowd claims of computer tampering by Carlsen. At the trial, Carlsen testifed that O’Dowd invented the story about computer tampering after he refused to have sex at a [...

A Bit Too Cautious

Posted on December 04, 2008
Is this necessary? Of course not. Many such pictures circulate to show how the law has imposed ridiculous requirements on businesses and governments. In reality, such legal urban legends are often based on intentional or idiotic interpretations of tort law and other areas of liability...

Journalist Jailed in Iraq for Writing Story on Homosexuality

Posted on December 04, 2008
There is another outrage emerging from the Iraqi legal system this week, targeting a journalist Adel Hussein. Hussien has been sentenced to six months for writing a story on homosexuality and the physical effects of homosexual sex. He was convicted of violating public decency in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq...

Home With the Havens: Man Shoots Wife During Sex in Alleged Accident

Posted on December 04, 2008
Police in Springfield, Ohio are dealing with a bit of challenging case to charge. Timothy Havens, 38, claims that he accidentally shot his estranged wife, Carolyn Havens, 42, while having sex. As the audio tape below indicates, he insists that he was reaching for something on the night stand when the gun went [...

Novak?s Revenge: Columnist Now Reverses Past Statements and Says That He Would Intentionally Out Valerie Plame Again ? Just Because He is Angry at His Critics

Posted on December 04, 2008
Conservative commentator Robert Novak is back in the news. This time it is not for mowing down pedestrians in his sports car. Instead, Novak has refuted all of those defenders who insisted that he would never have intentionally blown the cover of a CIA operatives...

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