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Legal News

On Point News

Combines blog-style content with newspaper-style design. Features include a story of the day, upcoming court hearings of interest, and recently filed court documents.
By Matthew Heller, Editor

Post Frequency: 1.9/day

Last Entry: March 29, 2011 at 11:00:00

Granny Tasered by Police Gets Excessive Force Trial

Posted on March 29, 2011
An Oklahoma judge has granted a grandmother a trial on her claim that three police officers used excessive force by repeatedly zapping her with a Taser when she did not comply with their demands to drop a knife. Lona Varner ?At the time of the incident, [Lona] Varner was 86 years old and in a hospital-type bed hooked up to an oxygen concentrator with a long hose,? U...

Court Revives Suit of Woman Hurt in Cliff Jump Prank

Posted on March 27, 2011
Two recent decisions highlight the legal perils of playing pranks, with a Florida appeals court ruling in one of the cases that a woman could sue her date for tricking her into jumping off a cliff.Dr. Charles Reed's deceptive behavior created a foreseeable ?zone of risk? for which he owed Randi Borrack a duty of reasonable care, the 4th District Court of Appeal said in a Feb...

Porn Mogul Facing Default on Eve of Minor Abuse Trial

Posted on March 23, 2011
?Girls Gone Wild? mogul Joe Francis has less than a week to find a lawyer ? and avoid a possible default judgment ? in a case in which four women accuse him of sexually exploiting them when they were minors. Joe Francis After three years of litigation, the lawsuit is set for trial March 28...

Texas Teen Scores Legal First in 'Sexting' Privacy Case

Posted on March 21, 2011
A Texas teenager has taken a major step toward winning her privacy lawsuit against an assistant middle school principal who searched the contents of her cell phone, finding a nude photo of her. Stephanie Langner Alexis Mendoza, then an eighth-grader at Kimmel Intermediate School in Spring, Texas, admitted sending the photo to a boy because he had sent similar photos to her...

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Product Defect Case Over Ear Candle Cleared for Trial

Posted on March 17, 2011
The unusual product liability lawsuit of a woman who was injured by an ear-cleaning procedure using a special candle is heading for trial on the issue of whether a health store sold her an ear candle with inadequate instructions and warnings. A judge ruled earlier this week that Anne Danaher cannot claim a Wild Oats Markets store in Kansas City is liable for selling what was, in and of itself, an unreasonably dangerous product...

N.C. Courts Face Seduction Lawsuit Over Judge's Affair

Posted on March 14, 2011
North Carolina judges have stubbornly refused to abolish the archaic tort of alienation of affections. They may have a change of heart now that one of their own has been sued for seducing another man's wife. Judge Kevin Eddinger Rowan County District Court Judge Kevin Eddinger has admitted having an affair with Robin Isenhour, who worked as a clerk in his courtroom...

Free Speech Prevails for 'CSI' in 'Libel-in-Fiction' Case

Posted on March 09, 2011
CBS has won a major free-speech victory as a California appeals court ruled that it could not be sued for misusing the identities of two Los Angeles real estate agents in an episode of ?CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.? Scott and Melinda Tamkin A ?CSI? episode, which was broadcast in February 2009, featured the characters of Scott and Melinda Tucker, a pair of hedonistic married realtors involved in fraud and possibly murder...

What Happened in Vegas Lands Man in Jilted Bride Suit

Posted on March 06, 2011
For Robert Leighton, what happened in Vegas allegedly didn't stay there. And now his ex-fianc�e is suing him for breaching his duty of ?implied fidelity? by having sex with a woman he met in Las Vegas, where he had gone for his bachelor party.Leighton's encounter with a woman identified only as ?Danielle? allegedly occurred five weeks before he was due to marry Lauren Serafin in Chicago...

Businessman Loses Appeal of Liability for STD Infection

Posted on March 02, 2011
A California appeals court has affirmed a jury's finding that a wealthy businessman negligently infected his girlfriend with genital herpes but reduced the award of $6.75 million in damages ? one of the largest ever in a ?sex tort? case ? to $4.3 million...

Ruling Sinks Artists' Rights Claim in Surreal Boat Suit

Posted on February 28, 2011
Two San Francisco artists have suffered a major blow in their lawsuit against a landowner who torched their replica of a Spanish galleon as a Nevada judge ruled that their creation was not a protected ?work of visual art.? La Contessa on fire The $1 million case of the 40-foot boat known as La Contessa is a test of a 1990 law that protects a visual artist's ?moral rights? to his work...

Woman Hit by Car Says Google Maps Was Her 'Advisor'

Posted on February 28, 2011
The woman who claims faulty walking directions on Google Maps caused her to be hit by a car is trying to salvage her case with the novel argument that Google is liable for negligent publication because it provided her with ?individual advice.? The highway where Lauren Rosenberg was hit by a car The First Amendment protections enjoyed by publishers apply only when ?the information at issue was published to the public at large,? Lauren Rosenberg says in a brief...

Cops Say Granny's Knife Threats Made Them Taser Her

Posted on February 24, 2011
Three Oklahoma police officers accused of unlawfully zapping an ailing 86-year-old grandmother with a Taser are claiming they reacted reasonably to the threat presented by a knife-wielding, profanity-spewing woman who was rising from her sickbed to confront them...

Parent Alleges Principal Pressed Her for Sexual Favors

Posted on February 20, 2011
A New Jersey woman has filed what may be a first-of-its-kind sexual harassment lawsuit, alleging that a high-school principal pressured her for sexual favors in return for helping her special-needs son with disciplinary problems.The harassment allegedly even extended to a September 2010 meeting at a hotel where Clifton High School Principal Jimmie Warren stripped down to his underwear and asked Dawn Colombo to have sex with him...

Fisherman Cites Mexico Dangers in Suing Tour Operator

Posted on February 16, 2011
A Portland, Ore., real estate developer who was shot during an ?exotic angling? trip to Mexico has filed a negligence lawsuit that tests whether tour companies have a duty to warn customers about dangerous destinations. Lake Huites Thorndike ?Dike? Dame booked his trip to Lake Huites, a prime bass fishing destination in the state of Sinaloa, through Fishin' Expeditions, a company that specializes in providing ?fishing adventures of a lifetime...

Tardy Filing Costs Kin of Mob Hit Victims $8.5M Award

Posted on February 14, 2011
A federal appeals court judge has lashed out at his colleagues for overturning an $8.5 million award to the families of two men who were killed by notorious Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger during his "unholy alliance" with the FBI. James "Whitey" Bulger Edward Halloran, a Bulger associate, and an innocent bystander, Michael Donahue, were gunned down in May 1982 by Bulger and an unidentified accomplice...

Fan's Suit Over Stray Sausage Throw Can Go to Trial

Posted on February 10, 2011
A Missouri judge has refused to toss the Hotdog Toss case, ruling that a jury should decide whether the Kansas City Royals' "Sluggerrr" mascot recklessly hurled a foil-wrapped wiener at a fan, injuring him in the eye. The Royals struck out with what is usually an effective defense in sports injury lawsuit, On Point has learned, as Jackson County Circuit Court Judge W...

Student Loses 'Brokeback Mountain' Sex Scene Case

Posted on February 07, 2011
A teacher at a Chicago school did not act outrageously in screening part of the movie ?Brokeback Mountain? ? including gay sex scenes ? to a class of seventh- and eighth-graders, a jury has found in rejecting an unusual emotional injury lawsuit. Jessica Turner, a 12-year-old seventh-grader at the time, and her grandparents claimed she suffered ?severe emotional distress? as a result of seeing the R-rated Oscar winner at Ashburn Community Elementary School...

Ex-Son-in-Law Denies Agreement to be Faithful to Wife

Posted on February 03, 2011
A man whose former father-in-law sued him for the costs of his wedding after he cheated on his wife is arguing that the first-of-its-kind case would ?open the door to endless spurious claims? by vengeful parents.Stephen Levy's marriage to the daughter of Chicago attorney Carey M...

Fatal Police Shooting Lawsuit Seeks A Fistful of Dollars

Posted on January 31, 2011
A photo of Clint Eastwood's ?Man With No Name? character is part of the evidence in a wrongful death lawsuit against a Louisiana police officer, with the victim's family saying it shows the officer's ?trigger-happy? emotional state. Gerald Rice, 54, was shot to death Jan...

Rep. Kucinich's Olive Injury Suit May Not Be Legal Pits

Posted on January 28, 2011
Rep. Dennis Kucinich is getting kicked in the teeth over a dental injury lawsuit involving an olive pit but a vodka martini precedent suggests the House cafeteria may be liable for serving him a defective sandwich wrap. The Ohio Democrat allegedly cracked a tooth in April 2008 when he bit down on a ?dangerous substance? ? namely, an unpitted olive ? in the sandwich...

Parents Make History With $1M False Memory Award

Posted on January 26, 2011
In a blow to the rights of mental health patients, a Wisconsin jury has awarded $1 million to a couple who claimed malpractice by therapists caused their daughter to have false memories of childhood abuse.Several patients have won settlements or jury awards of $11 million or more in false memory lawsuits against therapists...

Golfer Gored by Gator Sues Course Over Pond Design

Posted on January 25, 2011
A golfer whose arm was torn off by an alligator during a round of golf in South Carolina has sued the course's owner under the novel theory that the design of the course created an alligator hazard. Ocean Creek Golf Club Fripp Island, a resort and nature preserve off the South Carolina coast, boasts two golf courses...

'Monster-in-Law' Suit Ends in Monster Award to Defense

Posted on January 21, 2011
A woman who claimed the movie ?Monster-in-Law? ripped off a screenplay she wrote has learned a painful lesson about ?idea theft? lawsuits as a judge ordered her to pay $894,983 in attorney fees to the film's stars ? including Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez ? and producers...

Lesbian Teen's Bias Case Becomes Battle Over Bikini

Posted on January 18, 2011
A Mississippi school district is arguing that yearbook photos of a lesbian student wearing a bikini top are ?inarguably fatal? to her claims against the district for refusing to allow a portrait of her in a tuxedo to be published in the yearbook. Ceara Sturgis (second from left) in yearbook photo from Senior Pool Party Ceara Sturgis has challenged a Copiah County School District policy that requires boys to pose for their senior portraits in a tuxedo and girls to pose for theirs in what she calls ?a scoop-necked 'drape,' a curtain-like garment that causes the female students to look as if they are wearing a dress or blouse...

Health Store Feels Heat in Suit Over Ear Candle Injury

Posted on January 14, 2011
A Chicago ear, nose and throat doctor has become the focal point of the unusual product liability lawsuit of a Kansas woman who claims she was injured by an ear-cleaning procedure using a special candle. ?Ear-candling,? which has become a trendy alternative to Q-tips, involves inserting the narrow tip of a hollow conical candle into the ear...

Judge Blocks Beckham Shot at Questioning Prostitute

Posted on January 12, 2011
Soccer star David Beckham has suffered a setback in his $25 million libel suit against the publisher of In Touch Weekly as a Los Angeles judge denied his request to question the former prostitute who claims to have slept with him. Irma Nici's allegations of sex trysts at hotels in New York and London were the centerpiece of the In Touch story entitled ?David's Dangerous Betrayal? that was published in the Oct...

Court Deals Loss to Dr. Phil, Win for Talk Show Hosts

Posted on January 08, 2011
A California appeals court has allowed two women to proceed with a fraud case against Dr. Phil but gave a boost to talk show hosts by finding that a free-speech law protects them from liability for just about any conduct related to the making of a program...

Toddler's Exposure to Used Condom Is 'Serious' Injury

Posted on January 06, 2011
A woman whose 2-year-old son swallowed a used condom left in a hotel room can sue the hotel operator for the emotional pain of witnessing his "near fatal" choking, a New Jersey judge has ruled in a first-of-its-kind decision. Citing the "uniqueness" of the case, U...

Newsman Fired Over 'N-word' Can Sue for Reverse Bias

Posted on January 03, 2011
Striking a blow against ?political correctness run amok,? a Philadelphia judge has ruled that a former TV news anchor who is white can sue a Fox station for firing him after he used the word ?nigger? during a newsroom meeting. Tom Burlington Joyce Evans Tom Burlington's reverse discrimination case is the first in which a court has addressed the social norm that it is acceptable for African-Americans to say ?nigger? but not whites...

Fossil Experts Allege Piracy of Dinosaur Bone Replicas

Posted on December 31, 2010
A first-of-its-kind case of paleontological piracy pits one group of fossil preservation experts against another over whether sculpted castings of dinosaur bones are sufficiently original to merit copyright protection. "Peck's rex" at Fort Peck Interpretive Center The Black Hills Institute (BHI) of Geological Research of Hill City, S...

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