A two-hour fit of pique in which an New York upstate city judge ordered 46 defendants into custody because none would take responsibility for a cell phone that went off in court should cost him his judicial career, the Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended Tuesday.
Niagara Falls City Court Judge Robert M. Restaino's "painfully prolonged" outburst on March 11, 2005, "transcended poor judgment" and warrants his removal from the bench, according to the commission's recommendation to the Court of Appeals.
"In causing 46 individuals to be deprived of their liberty out of pique and frustration, respondent abandoned his role as a reasonable, fair jurist and instead became a petty tyrant, abusing his judicial power and placing himself above the law he was shown to administer," the commission concluded.
Although the judge's behavior constituted an isolated incident, his conduct brought the judiciary into "disrepute" and irreparably damaged public confidence in his ability to remain a judge, the commission held.
The commission's chairman, Raoul Felder, was the lone dissenter in the 9-1 determination. He called his decision the most difficult he has made in his four years on the commission.
Felder conceded that Restaino engaged in "two hours of inexplicable madness" and wrote that when he first reviewed the facts in the case, he believed the judge had become a "tyrant" whose behavior merited removal. But on further review, and upon hearing a remorseful Restaino ascribe his outburst to the buildup of stress in his personal life, Felder urged compassion and punishment short of removal.
"I cannot find it within myself to destroy this individual's professional life over this regrettable episode," Felder wrote.
With hordes of attorneys set to assume senior status, achieving a consensus to ditch mandatory retirement policies is just the first step in switching to what many call a fairer system. Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis recently did it, as did Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, and others are expected to follow. While these firms say deciding to abandon age-based retirement was relatively painless, implementing a merit-based system for evaluating older attorneys will not be a simple feat for most.
In May, Dale Ross, chief judge for the Florida circuit court in Broward County for 16 years, stepped down following a year of embarrassing scandals, gaffes and bad behavior by his judges.
Although pressure was building for Ross to resign for years, many legal observers say it would not have happened if not for the new Broward courthouse blog, JAA Blog.
That blog hammered Ross on a daily basis and reported on such incidents as a judge arrested for smoking pot in a park, another judge making an off-color sexual remark and another judge allegedly taking a loan from a defense lawyer appearing before him.
The JAA Blog was started in August 2006 by a group of criminal defense lawyers fed up with the way things were being run in the Broward courthouse. They believed that it operated like a "good ol' boys network" rather than the second-largest county court in Florida.
A man who never finished college passed himself off as a Harvard Law School graduate and bilked clients out of more than $50,000, Broward County, Fla., authorities said Monday.
Robert Brady, 26, was charged with six counts of unlicensed practice of law and organized fraud, according to the sheriff's office. He was being held at the Broward County main jail on $350,000 bond.
Authorities said Brady posed as an attorney and collected retainer fees and other payments from clients that included respected lawyers, corporate executives and a physician. He even attended a Republican fundraiser for presidential candidate Fred Thompson recently and introduced himself as an attorney, authorities said in a statement.
Brady also convinced a local mortgage broker to obtain a black American Express card for "Charles J. Brady, Esq." and charged a total of $18,450 in goods and services, authorities said.
Brady's previous arrests include grand theft and uttering a forged instrument.
If Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Barbara Zuniga isn’t prepared to handle arguments, she doesn’t try to sugarcoat the reasons why. She just tells it like it is.
In a tentative ruling filed late last month, the law-and-motion judge postponed a hearing on four defense motions in the same case, explaining that she needed “a lot more time” to get ready.
Three weeks later, when Zuniga again had to postpone a hearing on the case, she offered a more detailed — and entertaining — explanation:
1. COURT APOLOGIZES TO COUNSEL.
2. COURT NEEDS TO PUT THIS OVER ONE MORE TIME.
3. COURT JUST RETURNED FROM A CONFERENCE IN PHILADELPHIA. HOWEVER, LUGGAGE WITH MOTION PAPERS AND COURT’S NOTES STAYED IN PHILADELPHIA.
4. LUGGAGE WAS DELIVERED TOO LATE FOR COURT TO COMPLETE TENTATIVE.
5. MOTION CONTINUED TO NOVEMBER 21, 2007.
An insurance defense lawyer said he burst out laughing when he spotted Zuniga’s tentative ruling while looking for information about a different case. At the same time, “you can’t help but feel a little sympathy,” he said.
A Sioux Falls man caught in the Washington Pavilion having simulated sex with a mannequin didn't commit a crime of indecent exposure, the state Supreme Court says.
In a decision released Thursday, the court reversed the conviction of Michael James Plenty Horse, who was found in the late afternoon of Nov. 14, 2005, lying on top of a mannequin in the Alumni Room of the Pavilion.
A security guard surprised Plenty Horse, the record says. He lay with his pants partially down on a mannequin which had its band uniform partially removed. He was 19 at the time.
The Supreme Court unanimously reversed a misdemeanor conviction, saying the state's indecent exposure statute "criminalizes sexual gratification by displaying or showing one's genitals in public."
The evidence failed to show that Plenty Horse was trying to display himself in public. It was almost closing at the Pavilion, and no other patrons were around when the guard found the man.
The court said Plenty Horse's action, "lewd though it may be, does not fall within the purview of the indecent exposure statute."
This blog, The Legal Reader, was born five years ago today on November 6, 2002. That makes this website practically ancient in terms of weblogs and the normal weblog life cycle. This is my 3,865th post. I've enjoyed doing this.
As the few of you who are regular readers may have noticed, my posting frequency has declined recently. After five years, I'm getting kind of bored. But I haven't decided to quit -- yet.
If any of my regular readers would like to become "guest contributors" to this weblog, please contact me at john *at* legalreader *dot* com to discuss it. (You can also send me links to interesting stories that you think I should post about at that email address . . . .)
Meanwhile, happy birthday to me, and Cheers!
"They're just a couple of nice kids from Berkeley who wound up being the victims of their own success."
That's how lawyer and longtime family friend Harold Rosenthal summed up the case against his clients Winslow and Abraham Norton, the brothers charged last week with moving an estimated $49 million worth of pot through their marijuana dispensary just outside Hayward over the past three years.
And, believe it or not, the brothers paid state and federal taxes on all of it. What's more, their dispensary had a medical marijuana permit issued by Alameda County and was regularly visited by sheriff's deputies to make sure everything was on the up and up.
Although as Sheriff Gregory Ahern told us in a recent interview, most of the young "patients" who frequented the dispensary on Mission Boulevard didn't "appear to be suffering from any serious illness."
Nevertheless, state law allows marijuana be sold to anyone who has a doctor's note, which - if you know the right doctor - takes about 15 minutes and costs about $100.
Winslow Norton, 26, who lives in Lafayette, and 23-year-old Abraham Norton of Oakland were indicted by the feds on charges of conspiracy to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana, distribution of marijuana, maintaining drug-involved premises, conspiracy to launder money and money laundering.
The feds said the brothers used drug proceeds to purchase luxury items and properties, including two new Mercedes-Benzes, a new Ford F-250 truck, three new motorcycles and Winslow's Lafayette home.
Details here from the San Francisco Chronicle. You know, these guys were (apparently) in compliance with California state and local laws. Yet they violated federal drug laws. This case cries out for "jury nullification" -- even if the feds prove that the defendants violated federal drug laws, the jury could refuse to convict them.
There's a brawl raging in the Lone Star state among some of America's richest plaintiffs lawyers. It's much quieter than a fight you might find in a saloon on Telephone Road in Houston. Forget the racket of splintering bar stools and bottles shattered on skulls. Wire transfers are silent, and the time/date stamp a clerk puts on a brief amounts to nothing more than a thunk. But make no mistake: "This is a blood feud," as one local lawyer puts it.
In one corner is John O'Quinn, 66, of Houston, bloodied and bowed after convictions for drunk driving and practicing without a license, and after not one but two ethics probes by the State Bar, one of which resulted in a public reprimand by the Texas Bar in 1989.
In the other corner is Joseph Jamail, also of Houston, crowned the "King of Torts" by Newsweek. Speaking with the confidence that only a long string of wins can produce, Jamail, 82, claims to be above the fray. "I don't have any animosity toward O'Quinn," he says. Maybe that's what $1.5 billion (Jamail's net worth, according to Forbes magazine) will do for a man.
The final combatant is Ronald Krist, 70, who essentially is acting as Jamail's corner man. A veteran Houston litigator, Krist says he doesn't go looking for cases that involve O'Quinn, but clients "present them and we take them."
Lawyers and law firms that recognize the value of sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace in building their businesses are at the forefront of a new networking movement. At the same time, these pioneers are blazing ethics trails into previously uncharted territory. As with any attorney venture, the use of social networking sites can be subject to state ethics rules and regulations. Just because the interaction is in cyberspace, rather than a conference room, doesn't mean it's immune to regulation.
PROVIDENCE — You could have predicted Abraham Lincoln. No one was shocked by Jesus or Thurgood Marshall. But Larry Bird came as a bit of a surprise.
During interviews last week, Judicial Nominating Commission member June Tow posed this question to candidates vying for a pair of state District Court seats: “If you could spend a day with any one person in history, who would it be? And why?”
Over the course of three days, the commission interviewed 14 candidates for the District Court vacancies created by the death of Judge Richard A. Gonnella and the retirement of Judge Patricia D. Moore. . . .
[W]hen asked to name someone he’d like to spend a day with, Stephen M. Isherwood, a Warwick Probate Court judge, didn’t hesitate. “Larry Joe Bird,” he said.
Isherwood, 47, of Warwick, said the former Boston Celtics star “is a lunch-pail kind of guy who goes above the call of duty. When you think of some of the adversity he faced and what he accomplished, it’s impressive.”
Each episode of the documentary series Iconoclasts from the Sundance Channel pairs two famous people and films them essentially interviewing each other. A couple of years ago, one of the first episodes paired Robert Redford and Paul Newman, and I found it very interesting.
One scene stuck with me. In 1992, Paul Newman was honored at the Kennedy Center. Robert Redford was one of his inductors. In archival footage from the ceremony, they showed Robert Redford in a tuxedo on the stage making the following speech, while also showing Newman’s reaction from his seat in the audience. It was an absolute classic. I have tried to find the text of it on the internets ever since, but have been unable to. Tonight, the Sundance Channel broadcast the program again, so I wrote down what Mr. Redford said from the stage, and I immortalize it here:
We’ve had quite a road together, Paul and I. Jumped off cliffs. We’ve, um, robbed trains. Pulled off a sting or two.
But to give you an idea about the kind of friend he’s been to me, um, there was a time – a while ago – when I was trying to get an apartment in New York. So I wrote to a few friends [to see] if they would support me and give me references. And I’d like to share with you tonight the, um, the letter that Paul wrote the Board [pulling letter from jacket pocket]:
To Whom It May Concern:
Mr. Robert Redford has owed me a hundred and twenty bucks for over three years. He will not assume his obligation under threat of loss of friendship, honor, or loyalty. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend him for anything.
Paul Newman
An affair between star partners. A bitter divorce. Claims of mishandled 401(k) funds. Things have gotten messy at Beveridge & Diamond. A dispute that stems from a bitter divorce battle between firm partner John Guttmann and his wife, Nancy Lasater, has ensnared partners at 95-lawyer Beveridge & Diamond in allegations that include adultery and forgery. The couple's real-life "War of the Roses" has pulled a litany of well-known Washington lawyers into the fray as well.
Brian T. Valery convinced colleagues, clients and judicial officials that he had earned his position at a major Manhattan law firm. But by billing Norwalk, Conn., client Purdue Pharma based on his lawyer's salary, he was actually stealing money. That's because Valery never was a lawyer in the first place.
When he applied for -- and was later granted -- pro hac vice admission in 2005 in Stamford Superior Court, he signed an affidavit attesting to his status as a New York lawyer in good standing. Little did anyone know that the Anderson, Kill & Olick employee had fabricated most everything about his legal background, from his Fordham Law School education to his passing of the New York bar exam.
On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny. New York State Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro said he would sentence Valery to five years probation if he repays at least $150,000 by his Jan. 30 sentencing. If he fails to make restitution, the judge could send Valery, 32, of Massapequa, N.Y., to prison for five to 15 years.
He admits he stole more than $200,000 from the firm by collecting a lawyer's salary for almost two years.
Valery started as a paralegal at Anderson Kill in 1998, earning $21,000 a year, spokeswoman Jennifer Kushner of the Manhattan district attorney's office said after his arrest. He then falsely claimed he later got his law degree and passed the bar.
This is a tape recording and transcript of LBJ ordering clothing by phone from the Oval Office on August 9, 1964. I first heard this several years ago on NPR Nightline, and have never forgotten it -- perhaps because the President discusses, among other things, the fit of the pants around his "nuts" and his "bunghole." (He also belches loudly into the phone while doing so.) They don't make 'em like they used to . . . .
I just found it again here from American Radio Works.
A judge has tossed out a $1.2 million judgment against the city of Denver, citing the courtroom behavior of lawyer Mark E. Brennan, which he called "boorish and unprofessional."
"I am chagrined that despite my continuing best efforts (to exert control over Brennan's behavior), the proverbial sideshow inexorably consumed the circus," U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn wrote in a scathing order granting a motion for a new trial.
"In over 19 years on the bench, I have seen nothing comparable," the judge wrote. "Such disrespectful cockalorum, grandstanding, bombast, bullying and hyperbole as Mr. Brennan exhibited throughout the trial are quite beyond my experience as a jurist, and, I fervently hope, will remain an aberration during the remainder of my time on the bench."
Brennan did not return a message left at his law office Friday.
NORWALK, Ohio (AP) -- A state legislator surprised a high school class when the computer he was using projected a photo of a nude woman during a lecture on how a bill becomes a law.
State Rep. Matthew Barrett was giving a civics lesson Tuesday when he inserted a data memory stick into the school computer and the projected image of a topless woman appeared instead of the graphics presentation he had downloaded.
Police interviewed Barrett and school officials and seized the data memory stick and the computer to determine where the image came from, a state highway patrol spokesman said.
Barrett said there were a few snickers from the approximately 20 students in the senior government class at Norwalk High School when the image appeared. He said he immediately pulled the memory stick out of the computer.
50 years after poem ruled not obscene, radio fears to air it
Fifty years ago today, a San Francisco Municipal Court judge ruled that Allen Ginsberg's Beat-era poem "Howl" was not obscene. Yet today, a New York public broadcasting station decided not to air the poem, fearing that the Federal Communications Commission will find it indecent and crush the network with crippling fines.
Free-speech advocates see tremendous irony in how Ginsberg's epic poem - which lambastes the consumerism and conformism of the 1950s and heralds a budding American counterculture - is, half a century later, chilled by a federal government crackdown on the broadcasting of provocative language.
In the new media landscape, the "Howl" controversy illustrates how indecency standards differ on the Internet and on the public airwaves. Instead of broadcasting the poem on the air today, New York listener-supported radio station WBAI will include a reading of the poem in a special online-only program called "Howl Against Censorship." It will be posted on www.pacifica.org, the Internet home of the Berkeley-based Pacifica Foundation, because online sites do not fall under the FCC's purview.
Can we please, please, please vote the Republicans out of power? I'm tired of being embarrassed and ashamed to be an American.
Details here from the San Francisco Chronicle (and bless them for reporting it).
The "offending" 50-year old poem is reproduced in its entirety after the jump, and I urge you to take a few minutes out of your busy day to relax and read it. It will not hurt you, despite the lies that the minions of the ever-more ridiculous and impotent Bush administration and its close bedfellows, the "Christian" "Right", might try to threaten you with.
JUDGE TRADES S.J. APPEALS COURT FOR BENCH AT NATIONAL PARK
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK - From behind his redwood desk, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Wunderlich has to crane his neck just slightly to gaze up at Yosemite Falls.
Wunderlich's corner office is in a tiny, slate-gray courthouse, just off the beaten path from Yosemite Village. His "commute" is typically a five-minute stroll down a dirt trail, past the Bear Management Office and horse stables to a cabin nestled across from a deer-infested meadow.
The 60-year-old Wunderlich knows he may just have the best judge job in America.
"Someone is willing to pay me a salary to live and work in a national park," Wunderlich says. "Sometimes I have to pinch myself."
Nearly four years ago, Wunderlich left a prestigious job as a state appeals court justice in San Jose to become the federal magistrate judge in Yosemite, where bears and bobcats are known to roam outside the courthouse. Only Yellowstone National Park has a similar judicial job in the U.S. court system, and legend has it that the magistrates at the two parks in years past have argued over gin and tonics about who has the better view from his office window.
An Oklahoma City attorney accused of robbing an Edmond drug store last week jumped from the fifth floor of a metro hospital on Thursday, police said.
Robert Behlen, 50, had been in custody for several days, but authorities said they took him to the University of Oklahoma Medical Center in northeast Oklahoma City after he stabbed himself in the neck with a pencil. . . .
[A]lthough he was standing on a fifth-floor ledge, the fall to a rooftop below was only about three stories. According to authorities, Behlen fractured his pelvis and dislocated his hip. As of 6 p.m., he was in critical condition.
Behlen is accused of robbing the Barrett Drug Center at 410 W. Edmond Road. Witnesses said he was high, shaking and that he had a gun. . . .
[B]ehlen practices law with Behlen, Bentwood and Luther. A representative with the Oklahoma Bar Association told Eyewitness News 5 that Behlen is an active member in good standing.
