Saturday, August 15, 2015

CHP officers, attorney among 9 arrested in man's death in 2006


CHP officers, attorney among 9 arrested in man's death in 2006
 08/15/2015
 
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A long and largely forgotten death investigation in California's Central Valley has led to a vast and unexpected set of arrests that included three current and former Highway Patrol officers and a prominent defense attorney. 

They were among nine people arrested in the 2012 disappearance and killing of Korey Kauffman, stemming from the belief that he was stealing the attorney's antiques, law enforcement officials said at a news conference Friday in Modesto, California.
Those arrested either played a part in the killing of the 26-year-old Kauffman or helped cover it up and misled investigators, the officials said. 
 
Kauffman was reported missing in April 2012. His body was found by hunters in August 2013 in rural Mariposa County near Yosemite National Park.
Modesto attorney Frank Carson orchestrated the killing and enlisted the help of two brothers who own a liquor store in Turlock, investigators with the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department said.
Carson believed Kauffman and others were stealing valuable antiques from storage containers on his property, and he wanted to stop the thefts by sending a message, investigators said...
 

Friday, August 14, 2015

Federal Judge in San Diego Slams Defense Lawyer for Discovery Breaches

Judge Slams Defense Lawyer for Discovery Breaches
 
The Recorder
 

A San Diego magistrate judge said a LeClairRyan partner gave false assurances that sought-after documents didn't exist...

Monday, August 3, 2015

Parents of Aurora shooting victim ordered to pay $200,000 in legal fees to ammo dealer


 Aug 03, 2015

Parents of Aurora shooting victim ordered to pay $200,000 in legal fees to ammo dealer

Daily Kos 
The Phillips family on NBC News.
A federal judge has ordered the Phillip's family to pay up.
The parents of Jessica Ghawi, a 24-year-old woman gunned down by James Holmes in the 2012 Aurora theater massacre, tried to sue the online ammunition retailer who sold James Holmes the ammunition used in the attack. The case was dismissed before trial:
Thomas added that the case was dismissed before a trial could take place thanks to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, or PLCAA, a federal law passed by Congress and signed by George W. Bush in 2005. “What PLCAA does is it provides very broad, blanket immunity from civil lawsuits for both gun manufacturers and gun dealers,” she said. “This is one example of a situation where somebody has tried to address liability, to go after bad actions of a dealer or manufacturer and PLCAA kept them from being able to do so.”
Adding insult to extreme injury, a federal judge has issued an order that will likely bankrupt them:
The family of 24-year-old Jessica Ghawi, a victim in the 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, is faced with more than $200,000 in legal costs after a federal judge ordered them to pay attorney’s fees for four ammunition dealers the family attempted to sue. “They have taken our daughter, and now they want to take our worldly goods,” Lonnie Phillips told MSNBC’s Tamron Hall in a televised interview earlier this week. “I think that’s a little much.”
In the ruling, the judge wrote "those who ignore a fire should be responsible for cost of suppressing it before it becomes a conflagration." See more about the case, why the family dropped an appeal (hint, they can't afford it) and why they may have had a case, despite the PLCAA. Video at NBCBayArea.com.
Meanwhile, jurors took a step forward in a possible death sentence for James Holmes.