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W.Va. Gov. seeks review of $400M DuPont case
Business | 2008/07/03 08:23
Gov. Joe Manchin wants the West Virginia Supreme Court to clarify whether DuPont has the right to be heard as it appeals $196.2 million in punitive damages, about half the amount a jury awarded in a case involving health threats from a former zinc smelting plant.

The lead attorney for the plaintiffs on Wednesday called the governor's action unprecedented.

"I've never seen anything like this," said Florida lawyer Michael Papantonio. "This just further delineates how badly the deck is stacked in West Virginia against people trying to recover when they're taking on DuPont. It's stacked against people who have been wronged by corporate America."

The jury in Harrison County Circuit Court last fall awarded damages totaling nearly $400 million to residents living near the former plant in Spelter. The plaintiffs argued the chemical giant spent decades downplaying and lying about health threats from arsenic, cadmium and lead that contaminated air, soil and water.

Punitive damages are designed to deter future misconduct, and the jury ruled that DuPont had engaged in wanton, willful and reckless conduct in its operation of the smelter. Non-punitive damages included $130 million to fund a 40-year health screening plan to monitor plaintiffs for any ailments related to exposure to chemicals.

Last week, DuPont appealed the entire verdict, arguing it has been unfairly punished for doing the right thing at the site and for the community. The state Supreme Court, which is in summer recess, has not yet indicated whether the appeal will be heard.

In a "friend of the court" brief filed last week, Manchin urged the justices to clarify what sort of appellate review is to be afforded DuPont under its constitutional right to due process. His lawyers cited a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision to argue that the 14th Amendment guarantees appeals of punitive damages.



Florida Supreme Court nixes Indian casino pact
Breaking Legal News | 2008/07/03 07:22
The Florida Supreme Court is overturning the agreement Gov. Charlie Crist signed with the Seminole Tribe to expand gambling at its casinos.

The court ruled Thursday that Crist doesn't have the constitutional authority to enter into the agreement that allows Las Vegas-style slot machines, black jack and other card games at facilities such as the Hard Rock Casinos in Tampa and Hollywood.

House Speaker Marco Rubio challenged the agreement after Crist signed it in November. The tribe has already given the state $50 million as part of the deal that was expected to generate at least $100 million a year for the state.



NYC crane inspector pleads not guilty
Court Watch | 2008/07/03 06:22
A former inspector accused of lying about examining a crane that later collapsed in midtown Manhattan and killed seven people has pleaded not guilty in a New York City court.

Edward Marquette entered the plea at his arraignment in state Supreme Court in Manhattan on Thursday. He was charged with tampering with public records, offering a false instrument for filing, falsifying business records and official misconduct.

He had been scheduled to inspect the crane on March 4. It collapsed 11 days later, but officials said it was unlikely the inspection would have prevented that.

Justice Marcy Kahn allowed Marquette to remain free and ordered him back in court on Aug. 14. Neither he nor his lawyer would comment



Court proceedings begin for killing-spree suspect
Criminal Law | 2008/07/03 05:20
Now that the multistate manhunt has ended, legal wrangling has begun over an ex-convict suspected in a killing spree that left eight people dead in Illinois and Missouri.

Nicholas T. Sheley appeared at a brief court hearing Wednesday via a video feed from a jail in southwestern Illinois, not far from where he'd been captured a day earlier as he smoked a cigarette outside a bar.

Judge Edward Ferguson read Sheley the first-degree murder, aggravated battery and vehicular hijacking charges that accuse him of the beating death of 65-year-old Ronald Randall. Randall's body was found Monday behind a grocery store in Knox County in the northwestern part of the state.

Sheley, 28, said he understood the charges and could not afford the $100,000 necessary to post his $1 million bail. The judge then ordered Sheley held until Knox County authorities could pick him up.

Authorities believe Sheley, 28, killed seven other people in the past week, including a 93-year-old man and a 2-year-old child. He is charged in only two of the eight deaths, but authorities say evidence links him to each crime scene.

Sheley has had several brushes with the law, including a pending home invasion case, and has spent time in jail. But investigators said the brutality of the killings — the victims were bashed with blunt objects — has left them puzzled about Sheley's motives.

They said they're not ruling out drug abuse as a possible factor, though Sheley had no drugs on him when he was captured.



Hudson & Luros open law firm in Napa
Legal Marketing | 2008/07/03 03:24
Two local entrepreneurs have started a new law firm. Hudson & Luros, a general civil practice, specializes in business formation, estate planning, contract drafting, identity theft and intellectual property law.

“It shouldn’t be so difficult to get affordable legal help these days,” partner Jason Luros said.  “A growing area like Napa requires high-quality legal services, but with the current economy, the people of Napa also require reasonable rates. ...”
Hudson & Luros credits the Napa County Chamber of Commerce with taking some of the frustration out of starting a business.

“Starting a law firm is hard enough,” said partner Mary Hudson.  “The last thing we wanted to deal with was red tape. But starting a business in Napa is not as hard as one would think. The city has been extremely helpful throughout this process, and the Chamber of Commerce has been a useful resource.”
“Our goal in starting this law firm is to provide a service to the people of Napa that is both affordable and of the highest quality,” Luros said.  “Thanks to the help of local Napa resources, we have the potential to make our business dreams a reality.”

Hudson & Luros will offer free one-hour consultations to potential clients.  Most legal services may be negotiated on a flat-fee basis.

For more information go to www.hudsonluros.com


NY drops claims against Grasso after court defeat
Legal Business | 2008/07/02 08:54
The four-year legal battle over former NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso's $187.5 million compensation package ended Tuesday when a New York appeals court dismissed claims against him of excessive pay and the state's top prosecutor said the case was closed.

"We have reviewed the court's opinion and determined that an appeal would not be warranted," Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's spokesman Alex Detrick said. "Thus, for all intents and purposes, the Grasso case is over."

Cuomo's announcement came soon after the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court ruled the attorney general's authority to pursue two remaining claims against Grasso lapsed when the New York Stock Exchange changed in 2005 from a nonprofit to a for-profit corporation. Last week, the Court of Appeals, New York's highest court, dismissed four common law claims against the 2003 compensation package.

The midlevel court concluded Tuesday that seeking to recover money for two remaining claims under New York's Not-For-Profit Corporation Law would simply benefit the NYSE's private owners. The court also dismissed a claim against Home Depot founder Kenneth Langone, who was chairman of the exchange's compensation committee and was accused of misleading other NYSE board members about Grasso's pay.

Justice James McGuire wrote that based on case law and the "evident purpose" of the not-for-profit law, the attorney general's authority to pursue the claims "lapsed" when the NYSE became a for-profit corporation. He wrote for the court majority.



Judges rip Texas courts in death penalty case
Breaking Legal News | 2008/07/02 08:51
A federal appeals court blasted Texas courts for refusing to hold a hearing to consider evidence that a convicted killer may be mentally disabled, therefore ineligible for the death penalty.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ordered a federal evidentiary hearing for Michael Wayne Hall, who was sentenced to die for the 1998 slaying of a 19-year-old woman abducted as she rode her bicycle to work.

The panel criticized both the trial court and the state's highest criminal appeals court for relying on written arguments rather than holding an open evidentiary hearing in Hall's case.

"The facts before us are a core manifestation of a case where the state failed to provide a full and fair hearing and where such a hearing would bring out facts which, if proven true, support ... relief," the judges said.

The ruling late Monday reversed the findings of a federal district judge who upheld the state courts' rejection of defense attorneys' claims that Hall is mentally disabled. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that mentally disabled people may not be executed.



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