John Doe A v. Penn State
First Penn State scandal lawsuit says Coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abused a boy more than 100 times and the abuse was enabled by the school's "negligent oversight."
Bradley v. Lohan
Former Betty Ford Center employee sues Lindsay Lohan for assault, alleging the actress threw a phone at her and yanked her wrist while refusing to be breathalzyed.
N.D. v. New York Post
Hotel maid allegedly raped by French politician sues the New York Post for falsely reporting that she is a prostitute who "routinely traded sex for money" with male guests.
Reinhart v. Mortenson
Two Montana residents allege the author of "Three Cups of Tea" "fabricated material about his activities and work in Pakistan and Afghanistan" to sell the book.
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LC_ExtraPoints

• Roommate referral website does not discriminate by allowing users to list their preferences for roommate characteristics. "Holding that the [Fair Housing Act] applies inside a home or apartment ... would be a serious invasion of privacy, autonomy and security."
Fair Housing Council v. Roommate.com

• Student alleges a prank involving a bottle rocket and another student's anus backfired, causing him to fall off the deck of a frat house.
Helmburg v. Alpha Tau Omega

• 5th Circuit reinstates a jury verdict finding a man employed by an engineering firm was sexually harassed by a male supervisor. "The text message 'I want cock' could be taken as an explicit sexual proposition." 
Cherry v. Shaw Coastal

• The ex-wife of a man who fatally shot himself with a gun he had stolen cannot sue the gun's owner for wrongful death. "We conclude that public policy dictates that [Charles] Milot's criminal conduct acts as a bar to recovery."
Ryan v. Hughes-Ortiz

• Pennsylvania woman alleges her former employer discriminated against her because she wore a fake penis to assist her in her female-to-male transition. "Plaintiff's use of the prosthetic device was concealed and in no way interfered with the ability of Plaintiff to do her job." Davis v. J&J Snack Foods

• Son of a woman charged with murdering her husband cannot use the proceeds from the victim's life insurance policy to fund his mother's criminal defense. "[A]llowing the distribution of these proceeds to a third party who has clear intentions to transfer part of these proceeds to her, undermines the principles underlying the Slayer’s Act and federal common law."
In Re: Estate of Michael Burkland

• Seattle judge says an actress cannot proceed anonymously in her suit against the IMDb.com website for publishing her age. "[W]hile Plaintiff may face public ridicule and embarrassment if she elects to go forward under her real name, the injury she fears is not severe enough to justify permitting her to proceed anonymously."
Doe v. Amazon.com

• Family of an 11-year-old girl who was crushed by a boulder of ice says forest ranger negligence caused her death. Rangers "did not warn users of the risk of harm associated with the dangerous, unstable snow and ice" at the Big Four Ice Caves in Snohomish County, Wash. Tam v. U.S.

• 3rd Circuit dismisses a breach of data security case against a payroll-processing company. "Appellants' allegations of an increased risk of identity theft as a result of the security breach are hypothetical, future injuries."
Reilly v. Ceridian Corp.

• Oregon judge denies First Amendment protections to a blogger. "Defendant cites no cases indicating that a self-proclaimed 'investigative blogger' is considered 'media' for the purposes of applying a negligence standard in a defamation claim."
Obsidian Finance v. Cox

• A transsexual who was fired from her government job while she was in the process of becoming a woman wins her sex discrimination suit. "[A] government agent violates the Equal Protection Clause’s prohibition of sex-based discrimination when he or she fires a transgender or transsexual employee because of his or her gender non-conformity."
Glenn v. Brumby

• New York man sues a Texas fertility clinic for wrongful insemination, alleging it failed to obtain his consent before using a sample of his sperm to impregnate his ex-girlfriend.
Pressil v. Advanced Fertility

• Nebraska judge rules that school officials may have illegally disciplined students for wearing t-shirts in honor of a slain friend suspected of gang membership. "[Q]uestions of fact remain whether Plaintiffs’ speech occurred in a context likely to provoke gang violence or other disruptions of school activities."
Kuhr v. Millard Public Sch. Dist.




Alltop_125x125.jpg







Judge Defends Rejection of Killer's Last Appeal Print

 

Judge Keller

A Texas judge has responded to a lawsuit filed by the widow of a Death Row inmate, insisting she had “no reason” to exercise her authority and allow the inmate's lawyers extra time to file a last appeal.

Marsha Richard alleged in her unusual wrongful-death suit that Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller “prevented a death penalty appeal to be filed with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, thereby causing the death of plaintiff's husband.”

The judge closed the courthouse doors promptly at 5 p.m. on Sept. 25 even though Michael Richard's lawyers had asked for 20 more minutes because of computer problems. He was executed by lethal injection a few hours later.

In a motion to dismiss filed last week, Keller puts the blame squarely on the defense team.

“Texas law provides a clear and unambiguous avenue for litigants to file documents with the CCA directly through any of its judges, so Richard did not need the CCA clerk’s office to stay open after hours to file his motion,” she argues. “Thus, there was no reason for Judge Keller to exercise her authority ... to keep the clerk’s office open after 5 p.m.”

Two other judges, Paul Womack and Cathy Cochran, also were available at the courthouse to handle the appeal, but they and the judge assigned to the Michael Richard case -– Cheryl Johnson –- did not hear about it until after he was executed.

“[H]ad Richard chosen to contact them, at least three judges were prepared to accept and act upon his filings,” Keller says.

The motion does not explain, however, why Keller told the inmate's lawyers, “We close at 5.” As the Texas Kaos blog suggests, she should have said,

“We close at 5, but I have the authority as presiding judge to keep the court open past five in order to accept your appeal or you may just contact the duty judge on this case who is Judge Cheryl Johnson and here is her phone number.”

Indeed, Keller has admitted to the Houston Chronicle that the court's unwritten policy at the time of Richard's execution was to refer a death row inmate's appeals to the assigned judge. The court adopted written policies last month that reflected the unwritten procedure.

“To me, it's a pretty stunning admission that she operated totally outside of their procedures,” said Jim Harrington, a lawyer who has coordinated attorney complaints filed against Keller with the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct. “She doesn't have respect for the processes of the court, which are designed to protect due process.”

Keller also argues she is immune from liability for an act taken in her official capacity and that Marsha Richard's efforts to sue her for failing to prevent the execution “are analogous to suits for a lost chance of survival or cure, which have been soundly rejected in medical malpractice cases.”

In Kramer v. Lewisville Memorial Hospital, 858 S.W.2d 397 (1993), the Texas Supreme Court has barred “liability for negligent treatment that decreases a patient’s chance of avoiding death or other medical conditions in cases where the adverse result probably would have occurred anyway.”

On the morning of Michael Richard's execution, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to the lethal injection protocol used by Kentucky. His attorneys were working on an appeal that raised a similar challenge when Keller closed the courthouse doors on them.

By Matthew Heller
12/18/07


 
rc_insidestories
  • Jurors' Comments Fuel New Trial Bid in Bullying Case

    Jurors may have opened the door to a new trial in a Maryland school bullying case by saying they returned a verdict for the defense because they were afraid of setting a bad precedent for school systems throughout the country.
    Read more...
  • Abuse Victim Can Sue Ex-DA Over 'Sexting' Messages

    A Wisconsin judge has protected a domestic violence victim from a rogue prosecutor, finding that she can sue him for sending her text messages in which he pressured her to have sex with him.
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  • Jury Finds No Harm to Boy From Wrongful Circumcision

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  • Guest Can Sue Motel 6 Over Attack by Woman's Pimp

    A guest who paid for sex with a prostitute at a Motel 6 did not assume the risk of being attacked several hours later by the prostitute's pimp, a Pennsylvania judge has ruled in an unusual premises liability lawsuit against the motel operator.
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RC_OnFile

Marsh v. Air Tran Airways
Subject: Roaches on a plane
Document: Complaint

Classic Media v. J.G. Wentworth
Subject: "Lassie" copyright
Document: Complaint

Kardashian v. Old Navy
Subject: Publicity rights
Document: Complaint

McKee v. Laurion
Subject: Doctor defamation
Document: Opinion

Francis v. U.S.
Subject: Bear attack
Document: Decision

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RC_OnTrial

Doe v. Discovery Day Care
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Subject: Child molestation
Verdict: $3,000,000

Hoback v. City of Chattanooga
Court: USDC, E. Tenn.
Subject: PTSD discrimination
Verdict: $680,000

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RC_OnTheDocket

Brown v. Herbert
Date: 12/16/11
Court: USDC, Utah
Hearing: Motion to dismiss polygamy case

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