Daily Record and the Kansas City Daily News-Press back issues from October 2008:
Large Missouri voter turnout expected
Oct 01, 2008; ... Expecting an 80 percent voter turnout for the November election,Missouri officials say they've been working long hours to ensurethat the election runs smoothly. The hotly contested presidential race between Republican JohnMcCain and Democrat Barack Obama is likely to spawn charges ...
Missouri Court of Appeals Western District sides with Kansas City in contract dispute
Oct 01, 2008; ... A panel of appellate judges affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuitchallenging last year's employment contract to Kansas City's CityManager Wayne Cauthen. The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District agreed with aJackson County trial judge, who granted summary judgment in ...
Missouri Supreme Court orders quick trial for St. Louis man
Oct 01, 2008; ... The Missouri Supreme Court has ordered the St. Louis CircuitCourt to give a man his trial within 30 days, or show a reason whyhe should not be released. The court on Tuesday ordered the lower court to proceed quicklyin the case of William Stanford. The St. Louis man faces charges ...
U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens's prosecutors ask federal judge not to dismiss charges
Oct 01, 2008; ... Prosecutors denied hiding evidence in U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens'scriminal trial and asked the judge to reject the senator's requestto dismiss the charges or grant a mistrial. Prosecutors, in court papers filed Tuesday in Washington, saidthey acted properly in telling a witness he could ...
Independence law firm representing popcorn consumers suing for injuries
Oct 02, 2008; ... A disease once thought to have only sickened workers at popcornfactories is now becoming the subject of lawsuits filed by consumersof the buttery snack. Bronchiolitis obliterans, or "popcorn lung," is being claimed inthe only two known lawsuits filed by consumers, who say fumes ...
Cyberbullying lawsuit filed in St. Louis County
Oct 02, 2008; ... Another case of cyberbullying has arisen out of St. Louis. A St. Louis father alleges in a petition filed in St. LouisCounty Circuit Court that someone used a Facebook account to harasshis daughter who struggles with mental illness to the point that shewas psychiatrically admitted ...
St. Charles judge fined for role in alleged bribe
Oct 02, 2008; ... A former assistant prosecutor investigated for an alleged bribeinvolving an autographed baseball has been reprimanded by theMissouri Supreme Court and ordered to pay a $750 fine. A state disciplinary panel found that Matthew Thornhill, now anassociate circuit judge in St. Charles, ...
St. Louis Rams sued by EEOC
Oct 02, 2008; ... When the St. Louis Rams fired a long-time employee with a seizuredisorder, it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act'sprohibition of disability discrimination, the Equal EmploymentOpportunity Commission said in a federal lawsuit against the team. Ron DuBuque was an assistant ...
Man wants Mo. Supreme Court to overturn his conviction over out-of- court statements
Oct 03, 2008; ... Supreme Court judges reacted with skepticism to a man's argumentthat his conviction for child molestation should be tossed becausethe child's out-of-court statements were allowed. The man argued that a 2004 U.S. Supreme Court decision madeunconstitutional a pre-existing state law ...
Federal Findings: Sanctions sought for lawyer's trial behavior
Oct 03, 2008; ... The attorneys for a man who recently won a $16 million juryverdict are now seeking sanctions against a defense attorney for hisactions at trial. James Ensz, of Ensz & Jester, is accused of committing "dozens ofsanctionable violations of key motions in limine" during the two-week ...
Alleged conflict of interest spawns filing of lawsuit in St. Louis County Circuit Court
Oct 03, 2008; ... A former director with St. John's Mercy Health System is suingthe Lowenbaum Partnership for failing to provide adequate legalcounsel when the law firm represented both the employee and employerin a sexual harassment lawsuit. Bill Ross, the former administrative director of Imaging ...
U.S. Attorney's Office in Missouri indicts three for loan fraud
Oct 03, 2008; ... The U.S. Attorney's Office indicted three people for mortgagefraud, including a father and son, involving the multimillion dollarsales of 12 local properties. U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway made the announcement Thursdayafternoon. Hanaway said the scheme represented "easy money" ...
Missouri teachers reflect on Hazelwood decision which allowed administrators to censor school papers
Oct 06, 2008; ... It's not every day that a U.S. Supreme Court decision arising outof your own backyard has resounding implications 20 years later. Today marks the start of the new Supreme Court session, and thisyear is the 20th anniversary of that court's decision in HazelwoodSchool District v ....
Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: October 6, 2008
Oct 06, 2008; ... A woman who claimed she was regularly sexually harassed byemployees of the Kansas City Wizards soccer team dismissed herlawsuit last week. Kathryn Carver filed the suit three months ago against the team'sownership group, OnGoal; Greg Cotton, executive vice president andgeneral ...
CEO of St. Louis-based Engineered Support Systems sentenced for backdating stock options
Oct 06, 2008; ... Michael Shanahan Sr. was sentenced to three years of probationand ordered to pay $7.8 million in restitution for backdating stockoptions at Engineered Support Systems. He was also ordered to pay a$40,000 fine. Backdating stock options is not illegal as long as it isdisclosed ....
Commentary: Going easy on Sarah Palin? Say it ain't so Joe
Oct 06, 2008; ... Like many of us Americans I tuned in last Thursday night to watchthe debate between vice presidential candidates Sarah Palin and JoeBiden. I have been watching more of the talking-head-24-hours-a-day newslately because of the presidential race and economic crisis, whichhave ...
Kansas City Lawyers in the News: October 6, 2008
Oct 06, 2008 ... Shook's Cotton picked to chair e-discovery committee Chris Cotton, a partner in the Kansas City office of Shook, Hardy& Bacon, was selected to chair the Defense Research Institute'sElectronic Discovery Committee. His selection was made on therecommendation of current committee ...
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt to interview court candidates
Oct 07, 2008 ... Gov. Matt Blunt plans to interview the three candidates for theMissouri Supreme Court today as his 60-day window to make hisselection wanes."An important part of this extensive review process will be thetime I spend interviewing and getting to know each candidate," Bluntsaid ...
Attorney sentenced for defrauding North Kansas City bank
Oct 07, 2008 ... A lawyer who pleaded guilty to defrauding a North Kansas Citybank will spend more than four years in prison. Dawn Renee Harpster, 38, of Kidder, received a sentence of fouryears and two months in federal prison and also ordered to pay morethan $866,000 in restitution. She was ...
Law restricting sex offenders' movements on Halloween challenged in U.S. District Court in St. Louis
Oct 07, 2008; ... The American Civil Liberties Union wants a federal court todeclare unconstitutional a new Missouri law requiring registered sexoffenders to avoid "all Halloween-related contact with children." In addition to avoiding contact with children, registered sexoffenders are required to ...
Barber's family to settle in U.S. District Court with hairspray makers
Oct 07, 2008; ... A federal lawsuit claiming a barber's death was the result of achemical found in hair products has nearly settled, according tocourt records. Loren Bates, of Raytown, had cut hair for about 50 years when hedied from liver cancer nearly five years ago. His family, which ...
Missouri Court of Appeals Western District reinstates K.C. officer's suspension
Oct 08, 2008; ... The question of whether a Kansas City police officer improperlytouched a detained man while collecting a urine sample left a panelof appellate judges strongly divided. Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Judges JosephDandurand and Lisa White Hardwick reversed a trial court ...
Lawyer wins $100K in fees for campaign finance lawsuit in Missouri Court of Appeals Western District
Oct 08, 2008; ... More than 14 months after the Missouri Supreme Court ruled on thestate's campaign finance laws, Chuck Hatfield is a step closer togetting paid for the case. The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District ruled Tuesday thata lower court was within its power to award the Stinson ...
Lethal injection challenge may rest on definitions: Rule or policy?
Oct 08, 2008; ... Lawyers representing death-row inmate John C. Middleton and 16others sentenced to death asked the Missouri Supreme Court onTuesday to require the state Department of Corrections to submit itslethal injection policy to public comment. Middleton, the lead plaintiff, was scheduled to ...
8th Circuit OKs $20.7M award over stock repurchase
Oct 08, 2008; ... A federal appeals court affirmed a $20.7 million arbitrationaward in favor of a former Enterprise Rent-A-Car executive. The dispute arose after the Crawford Group, Enterprise's parentcompany, announced its intention in 2004 to repurchase stock ownedby William F. Holekamp, who ...
Missouri Court of Appeals Western District reinstates judgment against Allstate
Oct 08, 2008; ... The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District ordered a trialcourt judge to reinstate a $100,000 default judgment againstAllstate Insurance Co. The court on Tuesday ruled Patricia Mathers was entitled to theaward because of Allstate's neglect and inattention. According to ...
Woman sues St. Louis, Southwest Airlines for failing to use AED on father
Oct 08, 2008; ... No law required St. Louis to install automatic externaldefibrillators throughout Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.But once it did, does the law make the city liable if the AEDsaren't used or aren't used correctly? The so-called undertaker doctrine is at the center of a ...
16th Circuit mourns 'great loss' of Judge Kelly Moorhouse
Oct 09, 2008; ... Judge Kelly Moorhouse, a member of the Jackson County Circuitbench for more than eight years, died Tuesday night following aprivate fight with cancer. She was 49. Judge Ann Mesle was Moorhouse's "suitemate" on the west side ofthe courthouse's sixth floor, where their offices were ...
A mission to perform: Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act was quest of K.C. activist
Oct 09, 2008; ... Emmett Till's violent death more than half a century agocontinues to reverberate in the law. On Tuesday, President George W. Bush signed the Emmett TillUnsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, which provides money for federalauthorities to reopen cold civil-rights-era criminal cases ....
U.S. Supreme Court lets stand ruling allowing inmate abortions
Oct 09, 2008; ... The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to consider the state ofMissouri's appeal over its policy to deny transportation for inmatesseeking an abortion. The state changed its policy in fall of 2005 and began refusingto transport incarcerated women to clinics for an abortion unless ...
8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds $21 million verdict
Oct 09, 2008; ... The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a $21 millionverdict against a St. Louis-based carbon-fiber manufacturer in abreach-of-contract lawsuit. A federal jury in St. Louis awarded Structural Polymer Group andStructural Polymer Systems, which are British corporations, ...
Missouri gubernatorial candidates split on litigation, business climate
Oct 10, 2008; ... Missouri gubernatorial candidates Kenny Hulshof and Jay Nixonsquared off Thursday over climate change. Not the kind that meltsice caps, but the type that helps or hurts businesses, depending onwhom you ask. Hulshof, a Republican congressman, said one of his goals was tokeep the ...
Suit filed in St. Louis County claims doctor on probation performed unnecessary surgery
Oct 10, 2008; ... A second lawsuit has been filed against a doctor with a historyof drug and alcohol abuse. In the lawsuit against Dr. Michael Impey, Des Peres Hospital andDes Peres Medical Specialists, plaintiffs George and Deborah Chaklosallege that an unnecessary series of colonoscopies ...
Southwest Airlines sued for detaining St. Louis woman
Oct 10, 2008; ... A St. Louis woman says she was hospitalized and sedated againsther will after Southwest Airlines officials told Las Vegas policethe woman was suicidal when she only having a panic attack. The woman, Joung Hwa Levy, who goes by Kim, sued the airlineWednesday in St. Louis Circuit ...
Missouri Supreme Court case might clarify liability for 'integrated' systems
Oct 10, 2008; ... The Missouri Supreme Court may make it easier for plaintiffs tosue parent corporations for conduct of their subsidiaries. Three cases, all involving the same issues, were heard before thecourt Tuesday concerning the venue in a medical malpractice case. In May 2004, Dr. James ...
Kansas City U.S. Attorney Wood creates position to fight corporate fraud
Oct 10, 2008 ... Kansas City U.S. Attorney John Wood on Thursday announced thecreation of a position to help his office fight corporate fraud andother white-collar crimes. Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Nelson will serve asSecurities Fraud Coordinator. Nelson will be the principal ...
'Derivative citizenship' claim in Branson turns into international incident
Oct 13, 2008; ... Proving a Samoan government official has the right to possess aU.S. passport is apparently one part legal maneuvering, one partgenealogy. The Overland Park-based immigration firm of Sharma-CrawfordAttorneys at Law has taken the case of a Samoan man, Hans JoachimKeil, detained ...
Confidential settlement reached in crash near Six Flags in Missouri
Oct 13, 2008; ... The remainder of the five family members killed by a dump truckdriver in a fiery crash near Six Flags has reached a confidentialsettlement with the driver's employers. On July 29, 2005, Angela Huckaba, 30, was driving two of herchildren -- Joshua, 7, and Jacob, 9 -- and her two ...
Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: October 13, 2008
Oct 13, 2008; ... A metro-area car dealer wants a possible class action lawsuitagainst it arbitrated. Attorneys for Lee's Summit Honda filed a notice with the MissouriCourt of Appeals Western District last week. The dealership seeks toreverse a ruling by Jackson County Circuit Judge Jack Grate, ...
Commentary: In this economy, lobbying might be the ticket
Oct 13, 2008; ... Somewhere in the past few weeks, the talking heads and politicaltypes in this country have started saying the R word. Recession. So, now I can expect to get a bag of nuts on the back porch fromthe Walter Cunninghams of the world in lieu of actual payment ofmoney. Or, ...
St. Louis County Circuit Court's Case.net, like court staff, takes holiday
Oct 14, 2008; ... While the state and federal courts were scheduled off forColumbus Day, Case.net decided to take the day off too. The Web site was down on Monday due to a technical error. The Information Technology Department at St. Louis County CircuitCourt learned of the outage Monday morning ...
Water tower dispute settles between Greenwood and Jackson County
Oct 14, 2008; ... A federal lawsuit claiming Greenwood city officials tried todisrupt a Jackson County water district's operations is on the vergeof settling. Jackson County Public Water Supply District No. 12 and two of itsofficers last week agreed to settle the case, which namedGreenwood's ...
8th Circuit rules previous fine doesn't lengthen prison term
Oct 14, 2008; ... The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines do not allow federal judges to addpoints for a defendant's criminal history when, in the prior crime,the defendant only had to pay a fine, a federal appeals court said. On Friday, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered afederal judge in Little ...
Man stuck with dumps in Kansas City while economy slumps
Oct 15, 2008; ... Jason Aytes thought he was making an investment when he purchased21 Kansas City homes in 2004. Instead, Aytes claimed in a lawsuit filed in Jackson County onFriday, he soon ended up broke and bankrupt -- the victim of analleged conspiracy carried out by a real estate agent, ...
Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District finds official's suit against trash facility frivolous
Oct 15, 2008; ... Decision doesn't address claims that county counselor violatedSunshine Law A decision from the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern Districthas moved forward the construction of a controversial Fred WeberInc. trash facility in South County. The decision in effect affirmed an ...
Missouri Supreme Court says PSC exceeded mandate
Oct 15, 2008; ... Empire Electric customers may now challenge '07 rates A Missouri Supreme Court decision paves the way for consumers insouthwestern Missouri to challenge electricity rates collectedduring 2007. The Public Service Commission approved Empire District ElectricCo.'s request for a ...
Settlement in Cole County Circuit Court to give media Missouri governor's old e-mails
Oct 16, 2008; ... Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt has agreed to turn over old e-mails atno cost to three news organizations that requested them. The Associated Press, Kansas City Star and St. Louis Post-Dispatch intervened in a lawsuit filed by two court-appointedlawyers about the governor's e-mail ...
Kansas City man's lawsuit challenges light rail on procedural grounds
Oct 16, 2008; ... A Kansas City man is seeking judicial review of the enactmentthat put the light rail initiative on the Nov. 4 ballot. In an effort to stop the vote, Patrick Tuohey sued the city andthe Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners in Jackson CountyCircuit Court on Wednesday, claiming ...
Big donations flow into race for Missouri attorney general
Oct 16, 2008; ... In the waning weeks of the race for Missouri attorney general,Republican Michael Gibbons and Democrat Chris Koster both showedliberal use of the state's new laws allowing contributions ofunlimited size. In his October quarterly filing, posted Wednesday on the MissouriEthics ...
Governor Matt Blunt taps Zel Fischer for Missouri Supreme Court
Oct 16, 2008; ... With little fanfare, Gov. Matt Blunt has tapped Associate CircuitJudge Zel Fischer for the Missouri Supreme Court. Blunt's office made the announcement with a news releaseWednesday afternoon, amid a slew of releases on topics from ethanoland e-mail to mental health services. Blunt ...
Commentary: Fear Not...about money in the bank
Oct 16, 2008; ... I have a friend who works in the banking industry. He told methat his particular bank had a run and that, without someintervention, they would not have been able to open their doors onthe following Monday. Some people are literally taking their money out of the bank andputting ...
Polsinelli, Shughart approve merger, creating fourth largest firm in Missouri
Oct 17, 2008; ... A merger of two Kansas City firms that will create PolsinelliShughart is set for January. Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus and Shughart Thomson &Kilroy announced late Thursday that they were planning to merge. Thecombination will create Missouri's fourth largest law firm, ...
One injured in Clayton high-rise blast
Oct 17, 2008; ... A bomb exploded Thursday morning in a Clayton parking garageunder an office building that houses several law firms. Steve Murphy, a partner at law firm Devereux Murphy, a tenant ofthe Plaza in Clayton, said in a phone interview he was getting outof his car in the garage when a man ...
KC woman sues McCain-Palin over threats made by crowds
Oct 17, 2008; ... Are John McCain and Sarah Palin inciting their supporters to apoint that could lead to an assassination attempt on Barack Obama? They are, according to one Kansas City woman, who sued theRepublican presidential candidate and his running mate in federalcourt earlier this ...
Hunt for Clayton bomber continues
Oct 20, 2008; ... A shadowy individual wearing a trench coat and carrying balloonswalked into a Clayton garage and placed a "gift basket" bomb next toArmstrong Teasdale senior counsel John Gillis' car the night beforeit blew up, investigators say. Gillis, 69, was the only one injured Thursday in the ...
Missouri voters concerned about future of national judiciary
Oct 20, 2008; ... Even with the floundering economy heavy on the minds of voters, arecent poll by the Federalist Society indicates Missourians arestill concerned about the future of the national judiciary. In a survey of 500 likely voters in the state, 78 percent ofresidents said a president's ...
Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: October 20, 2008
Oct 20, 2008; ... A Kansas City company wants a former NBA All-Star to cough up themoney he owes. Latrell Sprewell, whose career was largely overshadowed by anincident in which he choked his coach during a practice, still owesnearly $27,000 from a credit card transaction with BankCard ...
Commentary: An economic and communications breakdown
Oct 20, 2008; ... Last week was another weird one, filled with a desire to shut offthe ol' thinker and run on auto pilot. Baby-momma drama early in the week, drama that seems to beworking out after some calming words for my client and and a call tomom's attorney for a little discussion about what he ...
Specialty that barely existed 30 years ago is on display this week in Kansas City
Oct 21, 2008; ... Kansas City attorney Craig Reaves didn't set out to practiceelder law, a specialty that didn't even have a name in 1980. It was by accident that Reaves, now president of the NationalAcademy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), became an authority in thelegal needs of elderly and ...
Companies appeal a Jackson County jury's $99M verdict
Oct 21, 2008; ... The largest verdict returned by a Jackson County jury in the pastfour years is facing an appellate challenge. Three mortgage companies are fighting a $99 million verdict fromJanuary for their alleged role in a scheme that defrauded more than300 Missourians who obtained second ...
U.S. Supreme Court refuses appeal from death-row inmate
Oct 21, 2008; ... The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up the latestappeal by death-row inmate Dennis Skillicorn. "I don't think he's in any immediate danger of being executedbecause of the lethal-injection case before the Missouri SupremeCourt," said Kent Gipson, a Kansas City lawyer ...
Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan clears casino measure for ballot
Oct 21, 2008 ... A judge has cleared the way for Missouri voters to decide whetherto eliminate loss limits at Missouri casinos. Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan on Monday rejected theclaims of two lawsuits filed against a ballot measure approvedearlier for the November ballot by the ...
Groups raise tens of thousands for court plan in Springfield
Oct 17, 2008; ... Groups formed to support an effort to add southwest Missouri'sGreene County to the areas that use the Nonpartisan Court Plan toselect its judges have raised tens of thousands of dollars towardthe effort. Greene Countians for Fair and Impartial Judges, the groupsupporting the ...
Bombing in Clayton places focus on emergency planning
Oct 22, 2008; ... In an instant, everyone's day changed. After the explosion in the parking garage of 190 Carondelet inClayton last Thursday, all floors of the 16-story building had to beevacuated. Many employees in a hurry to get out left keys and pursesbehind, and the building did not reopen that ...
Former U.S. Sen. John Danforth from Missouri targets ACORN, voter fraud
Oct 22, 2008; ... Election Day fraud, including its potential in Missouri, couldlead to a national "nightmare" if it's not addressed, said one ofthe state's well-known political figures. During a press conference in Independence on Tuesday, formerRepublican U.S. Sen. John Danforth spoke out mostly ...