Daily Record and the Kansas City Daily News-Press back issues from June 2007:
Judge Edwin Smith wraps up time on bench to return to private practice in St. Joseph
Jun 04, 2007; ... Judge Edwin H. Smith was the last magistrate judge elected inAndrew County and the first associate judge to serve the county in1978, all in one day. The Court Reform and Revision Act of 1978 brought municipal courtsunder circuit court jurisdiction, which turned Magistrate Smith ...
Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: June 4, 2007
Jun 04, 2007; ... Two bars that served alcohol to a woman on the night she caused adeadly crash have been ordered to pay $5 million each. Jackson County Judge Sandra Midkiff reached the decision last weekbased on the confessions of judgment field by the owners of Richey'sClub and Fin's Peppermill ...
Bar summit seeks better understanding of judicial branch's role
Jun 04, 2007; ... Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Wolff recentlyattended a conference in Kosovo to look at how the former part ofYugoslavia was adjusting to democracy. While there, he encounteredelected officials who said the old court system had been a means ofoppression, and to prevent ...
Commentary: My me time at Mike's Tavern may have to change
Jun 04, 2007; ... There's been a change in my life. My bar has a new owner. I guess I'm not too worried that the new owners will dramaticallychange the ol' place, but as strange as it sounds, the bar was kindof the one constant in my transformation from law school topracticing ...
Kansas City Legal Briefs: June 1, 2007
Jun 04, 2007 ... Chinese nationals indicted for prostitution Four Chinese nationals who own and operate a group of Asianmassage parlors in Johnson County, Kan., were indicted by a federalgrand jury Thursday for transporting people across state lines andnational borders for the purpose of ...
U.S. Supreme Court tosses Missouri case
Jun 05, 2007; ... The murder of a 23-year-old convicted drug dealer in St. Louislast week has thrown the U.S. Supreme Court for a loop. The nation's highest court was on the cusp of issuing a decisionin Mario Claiborne's criminal appeal that would have addressed theability of a district judge to ...
Federal appeals court in St. Louis upholds lethal injection
Jun 05, 2007; ... The federal appeals court in St. Louis upheld theconstitutionality of using lethal injection to carry out a deathpenalty. And the ruling is a landmark vindication of the state'spractice of executing condemned inmates, a spokesman for theDepartment of Corrections said. "This ...
Western District Court of Appeals receives 16 applications for Division 18 opening
Jun 05, 2007; ... A greater-than-average number of applicants are seeking the benchin Jackson County. Terry Lord, clerk for the Western District Court of Appeals, said16 filed applications before Monday afternoon's deadline for the openCircuit Court judgeship. Lord said he typically received ...
Former U.S. attorneys of Missouri to testify about voter fraud
Jun 05, 2007; ... Two former U.S. attorneys for Western Missouri will testify todaybefore the Senate Judiciary Committee about how voter fraud affectedthe Justice Department's decisions to hire and fire federalprosecutors. The committee will first question Bradley Schlozman, interim U.S.attorney ...
Two Jackson County juries side mostly with State Farm Mutual Insurance Co.
Jun 05, 2007; ... State Farm Mutual Insurance Co. received mostly favorable verdictsin a pair of trials last week. The plaintiffs, who included a woman who lost her son in a June2000 accident, sought millions of dollars in uninsured motoristclaims But the two Jackson County juries returned ...
Possibilities of prison, disbarment loom for former head of St. Louis public defender's office
Jun 05, 2007; ... Losing his license to practice law might not be Eric Affholter'smost pressing concern right now, but the possibility looms for theformer head of the state public defender's office in St. Louis. Affholter, who was charged Wednesday with arranging a fraudulentmarriage to keep his ...
Jackson County Circuit Court: Woman sues liquor store for threats, racial slur
Jun 05, 2007; ... An African American woman claimed the manager of a downtown liquorstore threatened her with a gun after making a racial slur. In her lawsuit against the store, Letrice Dionne Adams said shesuffers from great emotional distress stemming from the Septemberattack at Grand Slam ...
Missouri House committee begins review of injury fund
Jun 05, 2007; ... A House committee on Monday began a summer-long review that couldresult in proposals to reform or eliminate the state's Second InjuryFund. Some of the most critical information needed to make a decision -a full-blown actuarial study of the fund and its liabilities - won'tbe ...
Five board members of St. Louis Public School District fights takeover with lawsuit
Jun 06, 2007; ... Five board members of the St. Louis Public School District aretrying to fend off a looming takeover date with a lawsuit in ColeCounty Circuit Court. Alleging various constitutional and statutory violations, theboard members are asking the court to intercede and avert the June ...
Applicants sought to fill Missouri Supreme Court vacancy
Jun 06, 2007 ... The Missouri Supreme Court is accepting applications to fill thevacancy created by the resignation of Judge Ronnie L. White. White served more than 11 years on the court. He will resign fromthe position on July 6. The deadline to file is July 9, and interviews with the ...
Mo. judge says judges can be taught about the Americans with Disabilities Act
Jun 06, 2007; ... When the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted in 1990, itrepresented the first comprehensive attempt to define the legalrights of the disabled. But the fight to defend those rights did notend with the first President Bush's signature. Hardly. First, there was ...
Interim U.S. attorney for Western District of Mo. denies politicizing department
Jun 06, 2007; ... Bradley Schlozman told the Senate Judiciary Committee he didn'tthink filing a voter-fraud lawsuit shortly before the 2006 electionwould affect the outcome. The interim U.S. attorney for Western District of Missouri in 2006and former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves testified before the ...
Missouri Court of Appeals Western District reverses deaf man's conviction for drunken driving
Jun 07, 2007; ... The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District reversed a deafman's conviction for drunken driving based on statements he made toan unlicensed interpreter. Lake Ozark Police Chief Jonathan Hasker stopped Timothy Wadas inFebruary 2005 for no headlights, according to the appeal ....
Commentary: Arts in the workplace bring out best of employees
Jun 07, 2007; ... The past few weeks for me have been filled with events surroundingart. On May 16 the International Visitors Council of Greater KansasCity hosted 14 artists from Iran at a reception at Californos inWestport. These contemporary artists were accompanied to Kansas Cityby a member of ...
Assn. of Community Organizations for Reform Now worker from Kansas City pleads guilty to voter fraud
Jun 08, 2007 ... Kwaim A. Stenson, 19, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty in federalcourt Wednesday to voter registration fraud. Stenson was hired by theAssociation of Community Organizations for Reform Now, a nonprofitorganization, in 2006 to work with Project Vote, also a nonprofitorganization. ACORN ...
Johnson County plaintiff's verdict ends losing steak
Jun 08, 2007; ... An eight-month run of defense verdicts in medical-malpracticetrials came to an end last week. And the venue where the metrowide streak ended is one that manyplaintiffs' lawyers argue is the toughest to win in the Kansas Cityarea: Johnson County. It was just the third ...
Justice appeal seeks to reinstate voter-fraud suit
Jun 08, 2007; ... The Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal Mondayregarding a voter-fraud lawsuit filed that a federal court judgetossed out in April. Cynthia Magnuson, spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, saidThursday the brief of the appeal hadn't been filed at this time ....
Compared to California, Missouri less likely to grant medical parole
Jun 08, 2007; ... If Paris Hilton lived in Missouri, she'd have to be close to deathor in need of long-term care to qualify for a medical parole. On Thursday, the hotel heiress was reassigned from the CenturyRegional Detention Facility in Lynwood, Calif., to home confinementafter extensive ...
Commentary: Plaintiffs' attorneys keep manufacturers in check
Jun 08, 2007; ... Why does it seem like manufacturers have it in for the children inour country? Every week we hear about some product causing a child to breakthis or that. This week's candidate is the ubiquitous roller shoe. I'm sure everyone has noticed some child wheeling about in a mallor ...
Missouri Supreme Court rules sex offender registry not retroactive
Jun 14, 2007; ... A juvenile who pleaded guilty to publicly displaying explicitsexual material does not have to register on the state's sex offenderlist because his plea was entered before the law expanding theregistry took effect, the Missouri Supreme Court said Tuesday. The juvenile, according to ...
Missouri court administrator to leave for Kosovo position
Jun 14, 2007; ... The Missouri State Courts administrator will leave his post nextmonth to help Kosovo develop its courts system. Mike Buenger, who has served as Missouri's top judicial budgetersince 2000, announced Tuesday afternoon he would resign effectiveJuly 8 to work for the National Center ...
Former prosecutor in St. Louis charged with sodomy of boys
Jun 15, 2007; ... A former assistant U.S. attorney who claimed as long ago as 2001that he was wrongly being investigated for child molestation has beencharged with having sex with two 15-year-old boys in his Town &Country home the past three years. Eric T. Tolen, 46, was arrested on 18 counts of ...
Wichita woman sues day-care operator, social services over children's abuse
Jun 15, 2007; ... A Wichita mother claims a foster child repeatedly sexually abusedher two children at a Lee's Summit day care two years ago. In her lawsuit filed this week in Jackson County, Melissa Scalessued Love and Logic Daycare, its owner, Andrea Walker, and theMissouri Department of Social ...
Commentary: Prosecutors harm legal profession in public eye
Jun 15, 2007; ... The past few weeks have put a renewed focus on the problems thatarise when law enforcement officials permit internal conflicts toaffect how they do their jobs. In North Carolina, Mike Nifong, the former prosecutor in the Dukelacrosse team case faces a disciplinary hearing after ...
Missouri's Second Injury Fund chairman leaves lobbying position
Jun 15, 2007; ... An interim House committee studying the Second Injury Fund pressedon with its work Thursday, despite a few employment changes for thepeople pushing the study. The committee's chairman, Rep. Steve Hunter, R-Joplin, announcedthat he was no longer working for Associated Industries of ...
Commentary: Watch out for side effects from advertising
Jun 15, 2007; ... Warning! Law firm advertising may be bad for your health,according to a survey released on Wednesday by drug maker Eli Lillyand Co. and the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. The survey of 402 psychiatrists who treat patients withschizophrenia and bipolar ...
Public defenders seek court rule
Jun 18, 2007; ... Having failed to persuade the Legislature to give it full relieffor its heavy caseload, the Missouri Public Defender's Office istaking measures into its own hands, possibly with help from theMissouri Supreme Court. The Public Defenders Commission voted Friday to ask the high ...
Commentary: As hard as it can be, make time to get away
Jun 18, 2007; ... I have somewhere to go each of the final three weekends in June. My son and I took a trip to Ohio to see friends and family thefirst weekend from Friday morning until Monday night, the nextweekend my wife will join the boy and me with a trip to Chicago fromSaturday afternoon, until ...
Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: June 18, 2007
Jun 18, 2007; ... A Jackson County jury awarded $81,000 to a man who claimed evilmotives were behind his firing from a Kansas City car dealership twoyears ago. Tim McGeeney claimed his boss at Superior Volvo cited poorperformance when he fired him in May 2005. But McGeeney said he was aproductive ...
Magazine recognizes Bryan Cave for IT services
Jun 20, 2007 ... Bryan Cave, the international law firm with offices in St. Louisand Kansas City, has been named to CIO magazine's annual CIO 100, acompilation of organizations around the world that exemplify thehighest level of operational and strategic excellence in informationtechnology ....
Jackson County Court rules dealership to pay $50K in punitive damages for firing
Jun 20, 2007; ... After his lawyers demanded a half-million dollars for punitivedamages, a wrongly fired car salesman received $50,000 from a JacksonCounty jury. Tim McGeeney, who won an $81,340 verdict on his wrongfultermination claim against Superior Volvo, received the punitive awardlate Friday ...
Florida man sentenced for falsifying missile tests
Jun 20, 2007 ... Russell B. Cohen, 48, an employee of a Florida aerospace firm wassentenced in federal court Friday for falsifying testing results oncomponents used in Peacekeeper nuclear missiles. Cohen, of Lighthouse Point, Fla., will serve 15 months in federalprison without parole. He was ...
Kansas City litigator may be next federal judge
Jun 20, 2007; ... A business litigation and product liability attorney withPolsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus could be the next federal judgein Kansas City, U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner said. A background check is proceeding on Cathy J. Dean, one of thethree candidates, named by Sen. Kit Bond, ...
American Bar Association president reaffirms support for merit selection
Jun 20, 2007; ... Karen Mathis, the president of the American Bar Association, hasalready met with minority law students, the heads of regional barassociations and others on a two-day trip to St. Louis that concludestoday. She even took in a baseball game. A partner in the Denver office of McElroy, ...
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Mo. rules Zoo wins trademark battle
Jun 20, 2007; ... The St. Louis Zoo may keep ownership of its name. The zoo did not have a formal trademark on its name for the mostof its nearly 100 years of existence, but a common-law trademarkprevents a St. Louis man from using the zoo's name on hats, T-shirtsand other items he hoped to sell, ...
Kansas City area roofing companies, employees indicted
Jun 20, 2007 ... An indictment was unsealed Monday by a federal judge, chargingnine employees and four area roofing companies for employing illegalimmigrants in a financial scheme. A grand jury indicted the men and companies May 29. Law-enforcement officers arrested six of the nine ...
Injury fund reformer forced out
Jun 11, 2007; ... Pat Secrest, the director of the state's Division of Workers'Compensation and a frequent voice in this year's effort to reform theSecond Injury Fund, left office Thursday. Tammy Cavendar, spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor andIndustrial Relations, confirmed Friday that ...
Commentary: Choose your perception wisely around public
Jun 11, 2007; ... I was born in Missouri, about a quarter-mile from where my officeand posterior presently sit. I was raised in Kansas. I was benched once before a football game for dippin' in thehomecoming parade, I know the difference between cow poop and horsepoop, and I even sing along ...
Fired shareholder files lawsuit against Cupini's in Jackson County
Jun 11, 2007; ... A former Cupini's shareholder is suing the restaurant and itsowners for wrongful termination. Andrew Rowland, who was a shareholder, director and officer forCupini's, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Jackson County. He, FrancoCupini and Eddie Cupini each owned 500 of the 1,500 ...
Law decreases bankruptcy filings but makes more work per case
Jun 11, 2007; ... Bankruptcy filings are down since new federal requirements wentinto effect in 2005, but the work per case has increased, accordingto a national survey by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The survey released late last month included10 bankruptcy courtsacross the United ...
Kansa City Courthouse Roundup: June 11, 2007
Jun 11, 2007; ... In a case described as bizarre by both plaintiff's and defenseattorneys, a Jackson County jury needed little time in dismissing awoman's allegations against a liquor store. The jury returned a unanimous verdict in only 13 minutes. "The plaintiff's attorney came out and said, ...
Jackson County jury awards $1 million to patient
Jun 11, 2007; ... For the second time in two weeks, a metro jury returned aplaintiff's verdict in a medical-malpractice trial. A Jackson County jury awarded $1 million to Kathryn Cetto, who hada surgical sponge left in her armpit by a plastic surgeon duringreconstructive breast surgery in May 2000 ....
U.S. Supreme Court overturns 8th Circuit on cigarette case
Jun 12, 2007; ... Tobacco giant Philip Morris Cos. lost federal court jurisdictionin a lawsuit challenging the design and promotion of the company'slight cigarettes - a decision that could reach beyond the tobaccoindustry. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court said Philip Morris couldn't usethe ...
Mo. Court of Appeals upholds Wal-Mart class action
Jun 13, 2007; ... Workers from 128 Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores across Missouri domake up a class, an en banc appeals panel found. The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on Tuesdayunanimously affirmed a trial court decision certifying a class actionclaming Wal-Mart and Sam's Club forced ...
Two candidates for Jackson County Circuit Court reappear on panel for opening
Jun 13, 2007; ... Two familiar names are again in the running for a judgeship in theJackson County Circuit Court. Brian Wimes and Jim Tobin will interview with Gov. Matt Blunt fora judicial vacancy for the second time in less than a year after the16th Circuit Judicial Commission nominated them - ...
Missouri Supreme Court rules physical limits qualify for hearing
Jun 13, 2007; ... A sex offender with lung disease should be allowed a hearing tochallenge his confinement in a mental-health facility, but thestate's sexually violent predator law is valid, the Missouri SupremeCourt said Tuesday. Larry L. Coffman was civilly committed in January 2004 after a ...
Clayton property doesn't meet Mo. Supreme Court's definition of 'blighted'
Jun 13, 2007; ... For the first time in two years, Clayton business owner DebbiePyzyk feels her property is safe from City Hall and the corporationaround the corner. Her relief came when the Missouri Supreme Court issued adefinitive stop Tuesday to Clayton's efforts to condemn her andothers' ...
Missouri Supreme Court to hear challenge to campaign rules
Jun 21, 2007; ... State representative hopeful James Trout wants the state SupremeCourt to listen favorably this afternoon to his assertion that aMissouri law on campaign finance is unconstitutional. Trout's Supreme Court appeal claims the vague language of HouseBill 1900 violates the state's ...
Driver of tow truck threatens countersuit against Cardinal pitcher's family
Jun 21, 2007; ... The tow truck driver being sued by the family of Cardinals reliefpitcher Josh Hancock is threatening a suit of his own. Jacob E. Hargrove and his attorney, Robert Pedroli, said at apress conference Wednesday that the family had 21 days to dropHargrove from the wrongful death suit ...
American Family Mutual Insurance asks Jackson County Circuit judge to toss $17 million verdict
Jun 25, 2007; ... Attorneys for American Family Mutual Insurance are pushing aJackson County Circuit judge to toss out a $17 million verdict. American Family attorney David Oliver said on Thursday that heplanned to argue motions for a new trial, judgment notwithstandingthe verdict and class ...
Rouse Hendricks German & May, of Kansas City, sued over conflict of interest
Jun 25, 2007; ... Two business partnerships are suing Rouse Hendricks German & May,of Kansas City, claiming conflict of interest because the law firmrepresented the partnerships and its owner in a lawsuit between thetwo. The law firm, where KCMBA President Charles German is ashareholder, ...
Kansas City Legal Briefs: June 25, 2007
Jun 25, 2007 ... Murder suspect found in Cape Girardeau Antwan S. Wooden 21, was arrested Wednesday in Cape Girardeau ontwo Jackson County warrants in connection with murder, kidnapping andother crimes. He will be extradited to Kansas City early this week. Wooden is charged with second-degree ...
Commentary: Babysitting as a lawyer gets the job done
Jun 25, 2007; ... I do a lot of domestic work, and by and large I have learned toenjoy the process and helping families through difficult times. I fully expect that there will be some "babysitting" involved withthis process as I deal with the most difficult of human issues ...
Accused attorney appeals dismissal of contract suit against St. Charles
Jun 25, 2007; ... Saying he was singled out by manipulative St. Charles officials,St. Louis attorney Eric Tolen will take a third swing at reviving hisbreach of contract lawsuit against the city. "The crux of the matter is that I was singled out by the city ofSt. Charles," said Tolen, 46. "What they ...
Jackson County judge overturns $17 million verdict
Jun 26, 2007; ... A Jackson County judge has wiped out one of the year's largestverdicts in Kansas City. In a rare ruling, Judge Edith Messina threw out a $17.3 millionjury verdict in a class action lawsuit against American Family MutualInsurance over the use of nonoriginal equipment manufacturer ...
8th Circuit rules Washington University has ownership of medical research
Jun 21, 2007; ... In a unanimous decision described as having national significancefor medical research, the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruledthat samples donated for medical research cannot be forcibly removedat the request of donors. The appellate court upheld a lower court decision that ...
Former employee accuses Kansas City law firm of retaliation
Jun 22, 2007; ... Another Kansas City area law firm faces an accusation that itfired an employee in retaliation. In a lawsuit field last week, Hubbell Peak O'Neal Napier & Leachis charged with firing paralegal Frances Alaniz because shecomplained about a racially insensitive comment one of the ...
Missouri Supreme Court hears challenge to ethics law
Jun 22, 2007; ... The Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday heard arguments in a caserelating to ethics. Is "relating to ethics" too vague? It's actually the samedescription given last year to a bill that overhauled the state'scampaign-finance laws. And according to plaintiff James Trout, aformer ...
Gov. Blunt calls for judges to rule on law, not imagination
Jun 22, 2007; ... Gov. Matt Blunt told the Kansas City Federalist Society he wantedto nominate qualified judges who were "faithful to the constitution." He stopped by a luncheon with the lawyer's chapter of the societyThursday in North Kansas City to share his outlook of the courts. Blunt, who ...
Commentary: Beer bribe allegations highlight privacy issues
Jun 22, 2007; ... The criminal mind is a curious thing to consider. Ideas that wouldnever occur to the average person are front and center in the brainsof many scofflaws. Take the case of Laron A. Williams. He was charged last week forthe attempted bribery of a public servant. It seems Williams ...