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Defendant won't testify in US webcam spying trial
Court Watch |
2012/03/12 10:00
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A former Rutgers University student accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate's intimate encounter with another man won't take the witness stand in his own defense, his lawyer told the judge as he rested his case.
The 20-year-old Ravi, who was born in India and came to New Jersey as a young child, is charged with 15 criminal counts, including bias intimidation and invasion of privacy. Bias intimidation is a hate crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison in New Jersey. He also could be deported to India, where he remains a citizen, if he's convicted on any counts.
Prosecutors presented about 20 witnesses over 10 days as they built a case against Ravi. Defense lawyers called nine lawyers in two days.
Ravi's roommate, Tyler Clementi, committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge in September 2010, just days after the intimate encounter. His death brought widespread attention to the difficulties that can be faced by young gays.
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Mo. court denies tax break for convenience stores
Court Watch |
2012/03/07 09:22
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Missouri's highest court says convenience stores cannot claim a tax break on the electricity used to prepare food.
The Supreme Court's decision Tuesday hinged on whether the act of warming or cooking food qualified as "processing" a product. If so, then the electricity used for food preparation could qualify for a state sales tax exemption.
In a 5-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that food preparation was not "processing" and the tax break could not be claimed.
Casey's General Stores had sought the tax break for one month of electricity used at stores in Grain Valley and Greenwood.
The Missouri Department of Revenue said it did not have a specific figure for what might have been owed to Casey's, or to other companies that might have made similar claims.
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Court: Inmate cannot change court-appointed lawyer
Court Watch |
2012/03/05 09:13
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The Supreme Court says a death row inmate can't change his court-appointed appeals lawyer because he didn't like the lawyer's defense tactics.
The justices on Monday turned away the appeal from Kenneth Clair, who was sentenced to death in California in 1987 for burglary and murder.
Clair wanted to change his federal public defender in 2005 because he says they were trying to stop his execution instead of trying to prove his innocence. A federal judge denied his request but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision.
The justices ruled unanimously that the appeals court's decision was incorrect
Justice Elena Kagan wrote that Clair's request came just as a judge was about to make a final ruling so any change would have been too late.
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Bankruptcy threat to iPad trademark challenger
Court Watch |
2012/03/04 09:13
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A major creditor of Proview Electronics, which is challenging Apple Inc.'s use of the iPad trademark, has moved to have the ailing computer monitor maker liquidated, reports said Monday.
Taiwan-based Fubon Insurance is seeking $8.68 million in debts and has filed an application to have Proview declared bankrupt, the reports by the Xinhua News Agency and other mainland media said.
Proview's mainland Chinese subsidiary is based in the southern export zone of Shenzhen, where an official at the city's Intermediate Court said he expected an announcement regarding the case soon.
"It's a sensitive case in a sensitive period of time, so we won't comment or release information while we will have an announcement in the near future," said the official who gave only his surname, Zhu.
Proview lawyer Ma Dongxiao said the company believes its financial problems won't affect the handling of a court case in which Apple is appealing a ruling against its claim to the iPad trademark in China.
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Mattel appeals $310M award in Bratz copyright case
Court Watch |
2012/03/02 10:19
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Mattel Inc. appealed a $310 million award in its eight-year legal fight over Bratz dolls but will no longer pursue its claim that a rival toy maker infringed on its copyright by developing the lucrative line.
In court papers filed with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, attorneys for Mattel said the company disagreed with the jury finding that MGA Entertainment didn't steal the idea for the pouty-lipped, hip hop-inspired dolls but wouldn't challenge it after the grueling legal battle.
"While we continue to believe that the Bratz designs ... were owned by Mattel, we've decided not to appeal that aspect of the verdict, because we do not wish to have another lengthy trial on the Bratz claims," Mattel spokesman Alan Hilowitz said Thursday.
However, El Segundo-based Mattel did ask the appeals court in the papers filed Monday to reverse the financial judgment entered by a judge based on a jury verdict. The award included $172 million in damages for MGA for misappropriation of trade secrets, and $137 million for MGA in attorney fees and defense costs.
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Supreme Court 101 in session at high court
Court Watch |
2012/02/27 10:17
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George Mason University law student Matthew Long still has three months of schoolwork before graduation, but this week he and two classmates had a case before the Supreme Court.
The group of students is part of a new class dedicated to Supreme Court work at the Fairfax, Va., school. Nationwide, more than a half dozen law schools offer similar courses.
The students don't get to argue the cases. They aren't even lawyers yet. But students participating in the so-called Supreme Court clinics get to do everything else: research issues, draft briefs and consult with the lawyer actually presenting the case to the high court.
"We're all very much aware that you can go your entire legal career without ever being on a case before this court, and it's unbelievable that we'd have this experience as law students," Long, 26, said as he stood outside the Supreme Court after Monday's arguments in a case about a man in prison for murder in Colorado and time limits involved in his case.
Stanford University started the first Supreme Court clinic for students in 2004 and is still involved in the most cases. But schools with clinics now include Harvard University, Yale University, the University of Virginia and the University of Texas. In the past three years, clinics report that students have been involved in about 1 out of every 6 cases argued before the court. This week, students are participating in two of the court's cases.
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British arms-to-Iran suspect faces Texas court
Court Watch |
2012/02/27 10:16
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A retired British businessman is to appear in a federal court in El Paso after being extradited last week on charges that he tried to sell missile batteries to Iran in 2006.
Christopher Tappin turned himself in Friday after fighting extradition from the United Kingdom for two years. Two other men were sentenced in 2007 to 20 and 24 months in federal prison for their roles in the scheme.
The 65-year-old Tappin was denied a final appeal of his extradition last month and delivered to El Paso by federal marshals. His deportation sparked a debate in the U.K. over whether British and American citizens are treated equally under the two countries' extradition treaty.
Don Cogdell, Tappin's attorney in Texas, said he plans to aggressively push to have Tappin granted bail. |
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Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
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