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Taser Stuns Coroners with Win in Autopsy Reports Case
Court Watch |
2008/05/08 07:37
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pAn Ohio judge has given medical examiners around the country a shock by ordering a coroner to remove any reference to Tasers in her autopsy reports on three men who died after police officers shot them with the stun guns./ppAmnesty International estimates that since June 2001, more than 150 people have died in the U.S. following Taser shocks, but the gun's manufacturer has been suing medical examiners who have cited its products in autopsy reports./ppThat aggressive strategy paid off big time after a four-day bench trial of Taser International's case against Dr. Lisa Kohler, the chief medical examiner of Summit County, Ohio. She had identified the physiological stress of being incapacitated by a 50,000-volt Taser as a contributory cause of the deaths of Dennis Hyde, 30, Richard Holcomb, 18, and Mark McCullaugh, 28./pp“There is simply no medical, scientific, or electrical evidence to support the conclusion that the Taser X26 had anything to do with the death[s],” Court of Common Pleas Judge Ted Schneiderman said in a May 2 decision./ppUnder Ohio law, a judge can direct a coroner “to change his decision as to [the] cause and manner and mode of death.” Schneiderman ordered the county to delete any reference to a “contributing factor of electrical pulse incapacitation” in the Hyde and Holcomb autopsy reports and similar language in the McCullaugh report.
/p |
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9th Circuit Resurrects School Bible Club Lawsuit
Court Watch |
2008/04/29 07:41
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The 9th Circuit partially revived a lawsuit pitting a Seattle-area school district's non-discrimination policy against students' right to form a Bible club that requires members to declare their Christian faith.
A three-judge panel upheld in August 2007 Kentridge High School's decision to ban Truth, a proposed extracurricular club that required members to profess a belief in the Bible and in Jesus Christ. These criteria inherently exclude non-Christians in violation of the non-discrimination policy, the judges concluded.
The court withdrew its opinion, replacing it with one that still allowed Kent School District to refuse to recognize discriminatory clubs, but took issue with waivers given to groups such as the Men's Honor Club and the Girl's Honor Club, which exclude members based on gender.
There is no evidence in the record as to why these groups were allowed apparent waivers from the district's non-discrimination policy, Judge Wallace wrote. The court allowed the plaintiffs to proceed with their claim that the school chose to extend waivers to some student groups, but not theirs, based on religion or the religious content of their speech. |
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Appeals Court Rules Against Qualcomm
Court Watch |
2008/03/20 10:57
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| pA federal appeals court has turned down Qualcomm Inc.'s request to hold off imposition of an injunction against sales of some of the company's cellphone chips, while Qualcomm pursues an appeal of a patent suit won by rival Broadcom Corp./ppThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, without providing details, ruled Tuesday that Qualcomm had not met its burden of proof to win a stay pending appeal of the injunction, which was ordered by federal judge in Santa Ana, Calif. on December 31./ppThe appeals court also denied a motion for Sprint Nextel Corp. to intervene in the case. The company is among the cellphone carriers potentially affected by the injunction./ppA federal jury concluded last year that Qualcomm infringed three Broadcom patents, covering features that include digital-video technology, technology for allowing cellphones to use two or more networks simultaneously as well as a push-to-talk feature for instant communications between phones./ppThe subsequent injunction by U.S. District Judge James Selna had an immediate effect on U.S. sales of some handsets using Qualcomm chips. But most of the affected products fall under a sunset provision so that the company can continue selling them through January 2009 if it pays royalties to Broadcom. Qualcomm has been working on technical changes to some products to avoid infringing the Broadcom patents./ppA Qualcomm spokeswoman, in a prepared statement, said: Although our motion for a stay was denied, the Federal Circuit has recognized the need for speedy resolution of the many issues raised by the verdict and remedy in this case, and has therefore granted Qualcomm's motion for an expedited schedule for briefings and oral argument./p |
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Supreme Court to Hear Indecency Case
Court Watch |
2008/03/19 10:59
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The U.S. Supreme Court has stepped into one of the biggest free speech fights of the past three decades, but it's unclear how far the court will go when it rules on just how much trouble broadcasters can get into for a slip of the tongue.
On Monday, the court agreed to hear arguments over the Federal Communications Commission's policy regarding so-called fleeting expletives in a closely watched case that will decide whether the government can fine or revoke a broadcaster's license because someone says a bad word. The case will be argued late this year.
Both News Corp., the Fox Broadcasting parent that wanted its victory in a lower court to stand, and the FCC, which pushed the Bush administration to appeal the case, applauded the justices' decision.
The commission, Congress and most importantly parents understand that protecting our children is our greatest responsibility, FCC chairman Kevin Martin said.
Solicitor general Paul Clement, the Bush administration's top lawyer, urged the court to take the case, arguing that the appeals court decision had placed the commission in an untenable position, powerless to stop the airing of expletives even when children are watching.
Fox said the move would give us the opportunity to argue that the FCC's expanded enforcement of the indecency law is unconstitutional in today's diverse media marketplace, where parents have access to a variety of tools to monitor their children's television viewing.
The case surrounds two incidents in which celebrities used profanity during the emBillboard Music Awards/em. In 2002, Cher told the audience: People have been telling me I'm on the way out every year? So f--- 'em. The next year, Nicole Richie said: Have you ever tried to get cow s--- out of a Prada purse? It's not so f---ing simple. |
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Court Accepts Crime Lab Case
Court Watch |
2008/03/17 11:02
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| The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether prosecutors can use crime lab reports as evidence without having the forensic analyst who prepared them testify at trial.pThe reliability of crime labs has been questioned in several states and at the federal level in recent years./ppState and federal courts have come to different conclusions about whether recent Supreme Court decisions affirming the constitutional right of a defendant to confront his accusers extend to lab reports that are used in many drug and other cases./ppThe case the justices accepted, and will consider in the fall, comes from Massachusetts. Luis Melendez-Diaz was convicted of trafficking in cocaine partly on the basis of a crime lab analysis that confirmed that cocaine was in plastic bags found in the car in which Melendez-Diaz was riding./ppRather than accept the report, however, Melendez-Diaz objected that he should be allowed to question the person who prepared it about testing methods, how the evidence was preserved and a host of other issues./p |
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CNet to Appeal Court's Bylaw Ruling
Court Watch |
2008/03/17 11:02
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| CNet Networks Inc. said Monday that it will appeal a lower court's decision on bylaw provisions to the Delaware Supreme Court.pLast week the Delaware Chancery Court ruled that CNet's bylaws do not give it the ability to prevent a group of dissident shareholders led by an affiliate of hedge fund Jana Partners LLC from nominating directors to the company's board or proposing an increase to the board's size./ppThe court's decision incorrectly calls into question the bylaws of a large number of companies with the same or similar bylaw provisions, CNet said in a release. The company said its stockholder-approved bylaws are fully applicable to the hedge fund./ppA costly and disruptive proxy contest is not in the best interest of stockholders, and Jana should not be able to seek control of CNet without paying a premium, the company said./ppIn a letter to CNet Chief Executive Neil Ashe issued earlier Monday, Jana managing partner Barry Rosenstein questioned whether an appeal would benefit shareholders. We believe it is time for fundamental strategic and operational change at CNet, and that the nominees we have proposed... have the collective experience and expertise to successfully implement this change, he wrote./ppJana had about a 10 percent stake in CNET as of Dec. 31./p |
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