SD Supreme Court disciplines circuit judge

Legal Business 2011/05/18 09:13   Bookmark and Share
The South Dakota Supreme Court has ruled that Circuit Judge A.P. "Pete" Fuller of Rapid City must retire or undergo a six-month suspension followed by strict probation for misconduct that involved mistreating lawyers, court personnel and others.

The Judicial Qualifications Commission had recommended that Fuller be removed from office or forced to retire because he repeatedly displayed a lack of courtesy and respect for lawyers and court staff.

The case marked the first time in the 121-year history of the South Dakota judicial system that the Supreme Court had been asked to remove a judge from the bench.

In a hearing last month, Fuller told the high court he is ashamed of his behavior but believes he could return to the bench and be an effective judge.

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Minn. court: Defendant may withdraw guilty plea

Legal Business 2011/05/17 08:49   Bookmark and Share
The Minnesota Court of Appeals says defendants may withdraw a guilty plea if they are not told a conviction could result in deportation.

The court on Monday sided with Rene Reyes Campos. Campos said if he knew he risked being deported for a conviction for simple robbery for the benefit of a gang, he never would have pleaded guilty.

Campos was 17 when he was charged in Hennepin County in 2009, and had been a lawful U.S. resident for about seven years. He agreed to plead guilty as an adult and get a stayed sentence. He was not told the plea could affect his immigration status.

Last June, Campos moved to withdraw his plea.
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Ala. chief justice warns more court layoffs coming

Legal Business 2011/05/16 08:49   Bookmark and Share
Alabama Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb warned the state's judges and circuit clerks Monday to expect substantial layoffs because of the budget crisis in the state judicial system.

Cobb met with judges and clerks mostly by conference call Monday. The meeting was not open to news reporters or the public. She said 270 court employees have already lost jobs in the past two years because of budget cuts, and she expects another 265 court workers to be laid off during the coming fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

Cobb told The Associated Press that she had hoped to receive a $10 million supplemental appropriation from the Legislature to help the courts get through the remainder of the current year. She said that is unlikely now because the money is needed to help with recovery from last month's violent tornadoes that killed more than 200 in Alabama.

She said she doesn't expect to receive the supplemental appropriation and she also believes a bill to raise the state's cigarette tax by $1 a carton is dead for this session. Some proceeds from the cigarette tax were to go to the courts.
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Raided pot providers sue government

Legal Business 2011/05/12 08:49   Bookmark and Share

Two medical marijuana providers have accused the U.S. government of civil rights violations in what may be the first lawsuit of its kind in response to a federal crackdown on pot operations across the nation.

The owners of Montana Caregivers Association and MCM Caregivers claim federal raids on pot businesses across Montana in March were unconstitutional, exceeded the government's authority and pre-empted the state's medical marijuana law.

Since then, federal agents have raided two Washington state dispensaries, and federal prosecutors have sent letters of warning to leaders in most of the 15 states with medical marijuana laws.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Missoula against the government, Department of Justice, Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Attorney for Montana Michael Cotter.

The plaintiffs claim the intent of the raids was to shut down the medical pot industry.

"The federal government has made clear its intent to threaten and eventually eliminate any business or enterprise related to the medical use of marijuana," Christopher Williams of the Montana Caregivers Association and Randy Leibenguth of MCM Caregivers claimed in the lawsuit.

The Department of Justice did not comment when contacted Wednesday. Cotter spokeswoman Jessica Fehr also declined comment, saying the U.S. attorney's office had not been served with the lawsuit.


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Top U.S. class-action lawyer coming to Canada

Legal Business 2011/05/10 08:50   Bookmark and Share
Ontario’s move to allow American-style shareholder class-action lawsuits has attracted a feared and revered Wall Street plaintiffs’ lawyer to the province just as the pendulum is swinging away from similar suits in the United States.

Michael Spencer, a senior partner who sits on the executive committee at Milberg LLP – one of the original class-action firms – is preparing to practise law in Canada.

He was most recently a lead counsel in the Vivendi SA shareholder lawsuit that left the French media company facing an eye-popping $9.3-billion (U.S.) damage award for misleading investors.

The size of that award was reduced by the courts. But Mr. Spencer, who recently led a U.S. class action against a French company on behalf of American, French, British and Dutch investors, is at the epicentre of the globalization of securities class actions.

That epicentre will soon be stationed part-time in the offices of Kim Orr Barristers PC, a Toronto class-action boutique, working on Canadian and cross-border cases.

Mr. Spencer makes no bones about why, at the pinnacle of his career, he is prepared to swap the perks of a privileged life in Manhattan for Toronto. It’s because of Ontario’s Bill 198, enacted in 2005, which allows shareholders who buy stock on the open market to sue if they feel a company misrepresents its financial situation.

Ordinarily, an amendment to provincial securities law would not attract the attention of someone in Mr. Spencer’s ambit, but these are not ordinary times for U.S. class-action lawyers.

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Courts nationwide hold hearings with video

Legal Business 2011/05/09 09:13   Bookmark and Share
George Villanueva, charged with first-degree murder in the death of an NYPD officer, will not leave jail for months of pretrial hearings.

Instead, he'll be beamed into the courtroom via video as lawyers discuss his case in front of the judge.

Villanueva's case is part of a surge in court appearances done by video in New York and around the country, as cash-strapped communities look for ways to boost efficiency and cut costs. The tools are used in courts large and small, and the savings for some are staggering: $30 million in Pennsylvania so far, $600,000 in Georgia, and $50,000 per year in transportation costs in Ohio.

"We've had to trim our spending wherever we can and still provide what we think is effective constitutional justice, and we're doing that with the help of modern technology," said Pennsylvania State Supreme Court Justice Ronald D. Castille.

Advocates say the virtual hearing is easier on defendants, who don't have to get up at 4 a.m. to be shuttled with other criminal suspects to court, only to wait hours standing and handcuffed for an appearance. Judges say their cases are moving faster. And civil liberties groups say the practice raises no red flags.
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