Three years earlier, he had shot his grandparents, Joe and Joy Pittman, with a pump-action shotgun as they slept, then set fire to their home in Chester County.

His attorneys argued unsuccessfully at trial that he was involuntarily intoxicated by the antidepressant Zoloft and didn't know right from wrong.

Pfizer Inc., the manufacturer of Zoloft, has said the drug "didn't cause his problems, nor did the medication drive him to commit murder."

Zoloft is the most widely prescribed antidepressant in the United States, with 32.7 million prescriptions written in 2003. In 2004, the Food and Drug Administration ordered Zoloft and other antidepressants to carry "black box" warnings — the government's strongest warning short of a ban — about an increased risk of suicidal behavior in children.

Christopher Pittman, now 6-foot-2, has attracted attention worldwide. He turned 18 in April and is in an adult prison, where supporters visit him regularly.

The case generated outrage that Pittman was held so long before his trial. In October, dozens of supporters and relatives gathered in Columbia as defense attorney Andy Vickery argued before the state Supreme Court that his client's confession was influenced by Zoloft and his youth.

South Korea-based Gravity Co. Ltd., an online game developer, said Monday it and other defendants came to a preliminary agreement to settle a class-action lawsuit for $10 million.

The lawsuit pertains to purchases of Gravity's American Depositary Shares between Feb. 7, 2005, and Nov. 10, 2005, and was filed on behalf of Gravity securities buyers.

Under the proposed settlement, a $10 million fund will be set up to settle buyers' claims, of which Gravity will pay $5 million. The company said settlement administration and plaintiffs' lawyers' fees and various expenses will be paid from the fund before class-action suit members are paid.

Gravity said in a statement that it "has denied and continues to deny any and all wrongdoing in connection with this matter, but believes that given the uncertainties and costs associated with litigation, the settlement is in the best interests of the company and its shareholders."

A law firm believes a conflict of interest may cost the school district money.

Two law firms represent the school district in trying to recover millions of dollars lost through fraud and abuse over several years. One, Saul Ewing LLP, a Princeton law firm, believes the other firm, Schenck, Price, Smith & King LLP of Morristown, has a conflict because it represents one of the parties the district might sue.

 
From 1998 to 2003, several contractors allegedly defrauded the district by padding bills, charging for incomplete work, receiving double payments and using other tactics.

Three former school district employees have so far been prosecuted for their roles in the case and the investigation is ongoing. Schenck Price has filed five lawsuits on behalf of the district since 2004 and recovered about $1.5 million thus far, said Sidney Sayovitz, an attorney for the firm.

But Schenck Price also represents Epic Construction Management, Sayovitz confirmed. John Pribish, a Saul Ewing lawyer, sent a letter obtained by the Herald News to the district on Sept. 14, 2006, expressing his concerns.

Pribish described Epic Construction as the construction manager during the time when the contractors sued by Schenck Price conducted their work. The Saul Ewing law firm was retained by the district to pursue litigation against Epic.

Now Pribish is saying that Schenck Price's representation of either the school district or Epic Construction compromises the law firm's ability to "maintain its duty of loyalty and confidentiality to both clients where the clients' interests are adverse."

Michael Glascoe, schools superintendent, was unavailable for comment Friday. Officials from the state Education Department would not comment on the matter.

Pribish said the matter is privileged between the attorney and his client, the school district, and would not comment.

In his September letter to Glascoe, Saul Ewing attorney Pribish asked to meet with school officials and Board of Education members to discuss the matter further.

No one confirmed whether a meeting has been set or ever took place.

Sayovitz, the Schenck Price lawyer, believes that his firm is not jeopardizing the district's ability to recoup money.

"Everyone understood from the beginning that we could not be involved with Epic. This was all very openly discussed," Sayovitz said Thursday. "Saul Ewing is free to sue Epic. That's why they were retained."

Sayovitz said the district informed his law firm to go ahead with its litigation against everybody but Epic. There is no record of any lawsuit being filed in Superior Court in Passaic County against Epic.

Mike Azzara, the district's former assistant superintendent for operations in 2002-2005, when both law firms were retained, said Schenck Price notified the district that they could not represent Paterson in anything related to Epic Construction. Azzara is the chief operations officer/treasurer in the Tredyffrin/Easttown school district in Pennsylvania.

"So I called around to find out who I could hire for a potential fraud investigation," of Epic, Azzara said Thursday, adding that Saul Ewing was recommended to him. "They knew I was hiring them because there was a conflict with our regular solicitor."

Saul Ewing lawyer Pribish wrote that Epic Construction may use the fact that it was not originally named in any lawsuits as a basis to argue that any further suit should be disallowed. The contractors currently being sued could also say that Epic is really culpable, and so the contractors themselves could not be held responsible.

Sayovitz said his firm has acted professionally and legally in all matters involving the school district.

"If they had filed suit against Epic," Sayovitz said of Saul Ewing, "and said they were intertwined with the other suits, then we would've done what we are required under the rules of professional conduct. We would've walked away."

SYDNEY — Joey Ellsworth can’t help but wonder if his troublesome life would be a lot easier had he never been prescribed OxyContin to treat a chronic illness he’s lived with for nearly half his life.

When he was 22, Ellsworth was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis that primarily affects the spine.

The pain was constant and he needed relief.

"I couldn’t walk," Ellsworth, a Glace Bay resident and recovering addict, said Thursday. "They started me out on Percocet."

The opiate put a dent in his daily episodes but Ellsworth realized he needed more. He visited a physician who increased his dosage of Percocet and introduced him to OxyContin.

It provided instant relief.

"Nobody warned me about any addiction. I think they called it habit-forming."

By the time he realized he was addicted, Ellsworth’s daily prescribed intake was four Percocets and three OxyContin pills at 20 milligrams each.

Ellsworth said he began to pop more OxyContin than he was prescribed. Before long, he was looking at the bottom of an empty container with no way to get a refill. He couldn’t ask his physician to increase his dosage because he didn’t want to risk losing his prescription.

"You don’t want to rock the boat because the boat might sink."

His next step was to turn to crime.

"I became a thief," he said. "I’m out there stealing meat and stuff like that to support my habit. Without it I’d be, well, sick is not the word. You start thinking about suicide. What am I doing to my family and myself? I’m no good to nobody. This is what you go through."

He was married at the time and father to three children. The marriage fell apart six years ago.

Ellsworth said he completely blamed himself for a long time, but he’s now pointing a finger at Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin. In May, some of the company’s top executives were fined $634.5 million for claiming the drug was less addictive and less subject to abuse than other pain medications.

When Ellsworth heard about the hefty fine, he was furious. "I thought, ‘you dirty bastards,’" he said.

Ellsworth said if the makers told the truth, maybe his life would be different. Maybe he wouldn’t be on parole right now. Maybe he would still be married instead of being separated from his wife.

"Instead of relying on painkillers, they might have tried something different on me and maybe helped my arthritis."

It’s those kind of uncertainties that Ray Wagner, of the Halifax law firm Wagners, hopes to explore in a potential class-action lawsuit against Purdue.

In an advertisement that ran in Friday’s edition of the Cape Breton Post, Wagner invited people who prescribed OxyContin and became addicted to the painkiller to contact the law firm.

Wagner said earlier this week that claimants could become part of the possible lawsuit that could go national.

Ellsworth said he’s interested and hopes to make contact with Wagner.

The judge ordered Jefferson to surrender his passport and post a $100,000 bond. Ellis said he would allow Jefferson unrestricted travel between the Washington area and Louisiana, but he must get the judge's approval for other trips.

Jefferson was accused of soliciting millions of dollars in bribes from nearly a dozen companies.

The business ventures included telecommunications deals in Nigeria and Ghana, oil concessions in Equatorial Guinea, satellite transmission contracts in Botswana, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo, and a Nigerian sugar plant.

According to the indictment, an FBI witness gave Jefferson $100,000 in cash intended as a bribe for an unnamed Nigerian official in 2005.

It said Jefferson put in his home freezer $90,000 of the cash, which was separated into amounts of $10,000, wrapped in aluminum foil and concealed inside various frozen food containers.

Representative Jefferson has not responded directly to the indictment, but his lawyer, Robert Trout, stated that his client was innocent and would "fight this indictment and clear his name." Acknowledging the comprehensive investigation carried out against his client, as detailed in the 94-page indictment, Trout pointed out that legislative action was not involved. "There is no suggestion that he promised anyone any appropriations," said Trout. "There were no earmarks. There were no government contracts."

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi expressed some concern over the allegations. "The charges in the indictment against Congressman Jefferson are extremely serious," said Pelosi. "While Mr. Jefferson, just as any other citizen, must be considered innocent until proven guilty, if these charges are proven true, they constitute an egregious and unacceptable abuse of public trust and power."

If found guilty of the charges ultimately, Representative Jefferson faces a maximum sentence of 235 years.

Rogers argues the agency waited too long after Enron's 2001 collapse to sue him. Mintz says lawyers told him Fastow's dealings were properly disclosed.

Fifteen ex-Enron executives pleaded guilty to crimes in the conspiracy that destroyed Enron, once the world's largest energy trader. Neither Rogers nor Mintz has been criminally charged.