There is a very interesting controversy brewing in Orange County, Florida. A 13-year-old girl Alisha Dean has a MySpace page that portrays herself as a 19-year-old divorced woman. She has been accused about lying to two men — Morris Williams, 22, and Darwin Mills, 24, about her age in two separate incidents. Both have been convicted and sent to jail for statutory rape — regardless of whether the older looking girl deceived them. While her parents admit that they did not take down the MySpace page and that she still stays out late at night, her father insists that minors are not expected to have the same judgment as adults.
Continue reading “13-Year-Old Girl Reportedly Lies About Age Leading to Statutory Rape Conviction — Twice”
Category: Lawyering
The Wisconsin Supreme Court reprimanded Justice Annette Ziegler, who recently joined the Court, for conflicts of interest in cases that she handled as a circuit judge. Ziegler committed obvious judicial ethics violations in hearing cases involving a bank on which her husband was a director. Legal and ethics experts have decried the decision as insufficient — arguing that Wisconsin judges use a double standard for their own misdeeds and that lawyers are treated more harshly in such sentences.
Continue reading “Wisconsin Supreme Court Reprimands One of Its Own”
A new judge is under scrutiny over improper her relationship and conduct. Ana Gardiner, the chief criminal judge for the 17th Judicial Circuit, is accused of having a romantic relationship with defense attorney John Cotrone and also discussing pending murder cases over dinner with prosecutors — including laughing about the evidence, jurors, and capital charges.
Continue reading “Florida Judge Ana Gardiner Accused of Improper Relationship and Conduct”
Judge Robert Somma of the United States Bankruptcy Court has everyone debating whether he is a judge or not. Somma first resigned after being caught drunk driving while wearing a dress and make up. He then tried to unresign and now it is not clear and a few litigants and their lawyers would like to know.
Continue reading “Are You In or Are You Out? Judge Summa Resigns and Then Un-Resigns After Drunk Driving Arrest”
Willie Campbell, 42, is a homeless man who is HIV-positive. In May 2006, he spit in the face of three Dallas police men who arrested him. He was sentenced to 35 years for harassing a public servant with a deadly weapon: his saliva. It is a very disturbing sentence given the lack of a credible threat to passing AIDS by saliva.
Continue reading “HIV-Positive Man Gets 35 Years for Spitting on Officer”
With the networks canceling shows this week, the Maryland courts have decided to take off the bench one of the most colorful and quotable jurists. The Maryland Supreme Court has suspended Baltimore County District Judge Bruce S. Lamdin for his use of profanity and wise cracks from the bench. Continue reading “Show Suspended: Baltimore Judge Punished for Jokes from Bench”
The trial of controversial lawyer Geoffrey Fieger for illegal campaign contributions to John Edwards 2004 campaign is in full swing with the testimony of his paralegal and trainer. Despite his all-star defense team, Feiger’s defense seems pretty lame: he admits that he reimbursed employees for contributions but did not realize that it was illegal. Continue reading “Lawyers, Paralegal and Trainer Testify Against Geoffrey Fieger”
Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Greg Damm is the focus of a blistering condemnation by the trial and appellate courts of his alleged prosecutorial misconduct in a Las Vegas case. The case against five individuals, attorneys Daniel Chapman and Sean Flanagan, involved alleged securities trading violations. Damm is accused for failing to turn over 650 pages of critical evidence after telling the court that all evidence had been produced for the defense. Continue reading “Dammed if You Don’t: Ninth Circuit Dismisses Criminal Case Due to Flagrant Prosecutorial Abuse”
Even though in a city that prides itself on “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” Elizabeth Halverson has achieved national infamy for conduct as a judge that allegedly ranges from having a bailiff rub her back to sleeping in the courthouse to making her husband swear under oath that he has done the chores at home. Now the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission is starting a week of hearings to remove her from the bench. Continue reading “Nevada Judge Halverson Faces Possible Removal Over Bizarre Conduct”
Federal agents raided the office and home of U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch on Tuesday as they investigate whether he destroyed evidence that he retaliated against his own staff. It is a considerable reversal of fortunes for the man who investigates such retaliation against whistle-blowers. It is a scandal that gets more bizarre by the day — even sweeping Geeks on Call into the criminal investigation. Continue reading “Federal Agents Raid Office and Home of U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch”
The controversy over Pennsylvania judge Deborah Griffin is over. The state supreme court has removed her from the bench due to her guilty plead to credit card fraud 25 years ago.
Continue reading “Pennsylvania Judge Deborah Griffin Removed From Bench for Concealment of Prior Crime”
Former judge Richard McLean and attorney Edith Stevens appear to have had an eye on some land of neighbors Don and Susie Kirlin for some time. They got their wish when another judge, District Judge James C. Klein ruled that a mysterious path that appeared on the property gave them possession of 34 percent of the Kirlins’ lot on Hardscrabble Drive. Continue reading “A Judge Runs Through It: Family Loses Land by Adverse Possession to Colorado Judge”
Baseball star Roger Clemens has admitted to a series of extra-marital affairs while denying statutory rape allegations with 15-year-old country singer Mindy McCready. With Clemens facing both a criminal investigation and a civil lawsuit (that he filed against former trainer Brian McNamee), this may be only the first of such revelations. Continue reading “Three Strikes? Roger Clemens Admits to Adultery But Denies Statutory Rape”
There is yet another allegation of undue influence by a campaign contributors on the Texas Supreme Court. A closely divided court gave home builder Bob Perry a major victory in reversing an $800,000 arbitration award to Jane and Robert Cull. Perry happens to be the largest contributor to judicial campaigns in Texas as curious interest of a home builder in the make up of the state bench. Continue reading “Money Well Spent? Major Donor Receives Major Victory Before the Texas Supreme Court”
The Supreme Court has taken the case of a breakthrough case where the Ninth Circuit had held that a wrongly convicted man could sue the prosecutor who was allegedly responsible for injustice. The expectation is that the Court will carve out an exception for prosecutors — further insulating abusive prosecutors from responsibility for their acts. Continue reading “Supreme Court Takes Prosecutorial Abuse Case”