I have a new Texas tax article over at The Dallas Morning News — it’s about a New York tax appeal case involving Match Group CEO Gregory Blatt.
Blatt moved to Dallas from NYC back in 2009 after becoming the CEO of Dallas-based dating site Match.com. Prior to that, he ran the legal department of Match’s parent company, IAC.
My newest post over at The Shark is about a Stanford law graduate who took an alternative route and used her JD to launch a high-end call-girl service.
Highest hourly rate? $1,300. Read the post here.
I read the most bizarre article this morning:
CHARDON, Ohio – A woman pleaded guilty to reckless homicide for exercising her 73-year-old husband to death in a swimming pool.
The 41 year-old woman pulled her 71 year-old husband around the pool and prevented him from leaving 43 times. He had a heart attack and died.
The article reads like a bizarre Lifetime/wife-loses-it story until we get to this part:
He knew her as John Vallandingham before she had gender reassignment surgery in 1993 and changed her name. They married in 2006.
S/he changed her sex and chose the last name Newton-John? Seriously? The Huffington Post version of the story confirmed by fear:
He knew her as John Vallandingham before she had gender reassignment surgery in 1993 and changed her name in honor of the singer and star of the hit movie version of the musical “Grease.”
My goodness. I wonder how Olivia feels about this.
The mystery bike groper has been caught! The University just emailed this out:
On 1/30, UMPD issued a public safety alert in response to a series of criminal sexual contacts around campus. Today’s Star Tribune is reporting an arrest in the case:
Man arrested in groping of 9 women at U
February 4, 2009
A man suspected of groping several women on the University of Minnesota campus was arrested Tuesday night and jailed on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct.
University police arrested the 41-year-old man on the East Bank campus after a woman complained that she had been molested about 8:30 p.m.
She was at least the ninth woman, most of them students, who have grabbed in the genital area by a man who sometimes was riding a bicycle.
The first assaults occurred in December, when two women were groped, and resumed last Thursday, when three women were victimized.
After two more women were groped this week, Minneapolis police issued a crime alert and university police increased patrols on the campus.
About 8:30 p.m., university police dispatchers received a call about a woman who had been touched inappropriately by a man in front of the McNamara Alumni Center.
Police said the suspect was last seen observed running towards the Aquatics Center, but after checking the East Bank and Dinkytown areas, officers spotted a man who matched the description offered by the victim on the West Bank campus.
As the officers were arresting the man, dispatchers told them about another groping that had occurred about 20 minutes earlier on Washington Avenue SE in front of Moos Tower. Both victims, who are students at the university, were brought to the suspect, where they identified the man as their attacker.
While the man was being told of the charges he was facing, he confessed, police said.
The suspect, with a listed address in Brooklyn Center, was booked into the Hennepin County Jail at 11:30 p.m. He has “no known affiliation” with the university, police said.
— BOB VON STERNBERG
© 2009 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
Ms. Montana-Cyrus is inspiring litigation:
A dude claims he’s the inspiration and more for “Hannah Montana” and wants Disney to give him due credit — as in a lot of money.
Richard Fronduto filed a lawsuit today in L.A. County Superior Court, claiming he wrote a script in 1990 called “The Secret Life of Sindi” which eventually became “The Family Business.”
Fronduto claims his agent pitched his work to Disney and that Disney liked it so much they asked him to turn his script into a two-hour pilot. In short, he claims he’s the brainchild for what became “Hannah Montana.” (Via TMZ)
Turns out that this isn’t the only Hannah Montana law suit…
Whenever a show or movie experiences high success rates, the inevitable happens. Someone shows up to claim that this lucrative idea was theirs all along. Such is the case with Disney’s Hannah Montana. This weekend, a comedy writer has filed a lawsuit against the Walt Disney Company that, in 2001, he came up with the idea for a show but used a different show title.
Taylor “Buddy” Sheffield, a veteran comedy writer, is suing for alleged breach of contract, breach of confidence, unfair competition and unjust enrichment. Six years ago, he pitched a show called Rock and Roland to the Walt Disney Company, about a middle school girl who has a secret alter-ego as a rock star. Sound familiar? (Via TV Buddy)
I couldn’t find anything on the Sheffield case except for a more recent lawsuit for Disney canning him. Hm.
Now, I know this may be outrageous, but maybe the problem is that the premise of Hannah Montana isn’t that original? Just a thought… I prefer Trace Cyrus anyway…
A University of Minnesota law school classic – Commonwealth v. Pestinikas, a case about a breach of contract that resulted in a murder conviction.
The gist: A couple agreed to care for an elderly man. They took his money, stuck him on an enclosed porch, and let him starve to death.
I mentioned that Rocky Joe was litigious. How litigious?
There’s a hilarious exchange happening right now on In Session. Ashleigh Banfield has Rocky Joe’s sister on the phone.
Banfield points out that Rocky Joe is lawsuit happy. He has sued everyone, and all the cases have been dismissed.
Here’s a typical Rocky Joe dismissal:
In this matter, filed January 1, 2007, Plaintiff sued President George W. Bush, Judge Phillips, the Sixth Circuit Clerk, the “federal government,” and the State of Ohio. Plaintiff alleges a deprivation of his Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff alleges “a conspiracy in furtherance of a conspiracy and a direct attempt to delay, impede, and obstruct justice”; in other words, his prior lawsuits have not been dealt with in the way Plaintiff would like, and George W. Bush and the Sixth Circuit were complicit in permitting this travesty (it is unclear what Ohio has done, other than being the state where the City of Cincinnati is located).
Plaintiff’s complaint is full of invective against non-defendant federal and state officials, police officers, the victim in the murder of which Plaintiff has been accused, and pretty much every one else except soldiers in the armed forces. Procedurally, Plaintiff has demanded Judge Varlan’s recusal and entry of default judgment against all defendants-despite the absence of evidence any defendant has been properly served.
Here (and in all his pending cases), Plaintiff is seeking monetary damages from government entities or officials. As stated herein, his claims are frivolous, malicious, offensive, and patently without merit. Moreover, his complaint fails to state a claim.The defendants are all immune and thus this Court does not have subject matter jurisdiction, as it has pointed out to Mr. Houston on numerous occasions. Plaintiff’s claims also appear to be time-barred…*
Banfield then asks the sister, “Do you see how this doesn’t help Rocky Joe’s case?”
What’s hilarious is that the sister doesn’t get it… “Well we sued George Bush because…”
Banfield looks shocked, but refuses to engage with the stupidity and asks another question.
On Westlaw: Houston v. Potter. Slip Copy, 2007 WL 5238976. E.D.Tenn.,2007.
On LexisNexis: Houston v. Potter, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39898 (E.D. Tenn. May 30, 2007)
The trial-of-the-week on In Session is the Rocky Joe Houston murder trial.
I’m watching the cross examination of Rocky Joe’s wife (Nancy Houston). Apparently Rocky Joe was very litigious. The prosecutor keeps asking her “was this suit successful? What about this one?”
None of the suits went anywhere. Nancy keeps saying “No, no, I’m not sure.”
Nancy Houston seems resigned. I half expect her to say,
“Sir, I have no idea. My husband was a paranoid man who thought the government was after him. He gets a speeding ticket and then sues George Bush. What am I supposed to do?! Some men have football, but my husband had law suits. So, no, I wasn’t paying attention to the law suit of the week. Rachael Ray was on okay? Stop asking me!”
“Oh my god that idiot…”
Rocky Joe and his brother Leon are on trial for killing a police deputy and a ride-along. An old fashioned shootout in front of the farmhouse:
Jones, 53, and Brown, a 44-year-old former police officer on disability retirement, died May 11, 2006, in a shootout with Rocky Houston and his older brother Leon in front of the Houston family farmhouse on Barnard Narrows Road south of Kingston. The brothers claim self-defense. (Via Knoxnews)
The original news story was more vivid:
According to the TBI, the deputy and Brown were still in the patrol car in the Houston’s driveway when the two suspects began firing shots into the vehicle with a high-powered rifle. One neighbor claims he heard at least 20 shots fired.
Rocky Joe and Leon were injuried. Rocky was arrested at a hospital, but Leon jumped out of the ambulance and fled through a cemetery. A brief manhunt ensued, shutting down a few schools…
The most dramatic part of the case was the testimony of Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan. She described each shot by stabbing an arrow through a mannequin.
It was gruesome. The doctor made it very easy to visualize each bullet entering and ripping through the body. A photo gallery of the trial is here.
High drama. I see why In Session selected this case.
The trial turned out to be, as Professor L would say, “sound and fury signifying nothing.” The jury returned an odd split verdict:
A jury couldn’t agree Friday afternoon after three days of deliberations about Rocky Houston’s guilt or innocence on most of the charges in the men’s deaths.
The split verdict marked the second hung jury in the case. Another jury deadlocked this summer on his brother’s guilt or innocence.
The jury found Rocky Houston not guilty of first-degree murder or facilitation of any other charges in the death of Brown. They couldn’t decide whether Brown’s death amounted to second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, reckless homicide or any type of felony murder.
Jurors also couldn’t agree on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, or most other lesser charges in the death of Roane County Deputy Bill Jones, except for facilitation of voluntary manslaughter.
Special Judge James “Buddy” Scott indicated he’d declare a mistrial and said he’ll set a status hearing on the case. (via KnoxNews)
At least In Session has a built-in sequel…
I was packing my gym bag when my mother called.
Me (opening my blinds): “…and it’s snowing here.”
Mom: “And you’re still going to the gym?”
Me: “If I used the snow as an excuse not to leave the house –“
Mom: “ – then you’d never go anywhere.”
Me: “Exactly. Not until March at least.”
The scene outside of the house:
After the gym I went to the student union and continued re-reading The Street Lawyer.
I first read The Street Lawyer the summer before I started high school.
I didn’t have access to Law & Order and Court TV during my summers Germany, so Grisham was the only way I could get my legal fix. My copy still has the Deutsche Mark price sticker on it.
The plot is only vaguely familiar but the book is still exciting as any Grisham novel. A significant change is that I now notice the novel’s shrill call to public interest law. I obviously didn’t pick up this theme as a 13-year-old…
I think public service element is preachy and distracting, but it fits the novel’s premise: A young lawyer leaves his big-law associate position to become a street lawyer for the homeless. He then sues his old firm, the firm goes after him because he stole a file…and krawall & remmidemmi ensues.
A VOGUE model is suing Google for defamation, and is calling on the search engine giant to reveal the identity of a blogger who has dubbed her an “old hag” and a “skank” on the Internet.
Liskula Cohen filed a defamation suit in New York City, in an effort to force the search-engine giant to reveal the blogger’s identity, which remains anonymous according to US reports.
The anonymous offender made the claims on the blog “Skanks in NYC” on Blogger.com, which is owned by Google.
Cohen was also dubbed “#1 skanky superstar.”
“I can’t begin to imagine why someone would post these things then hide behind a screenname,” her lawyer, Steven Wagner said, according to the New York Daily News. “I guess we’re going to have to find out.”
Cohen, who hails from Canada, has modeled for Giorgio Armani, Versace and Elle magazine.
Maybe they’re nicer in Canada – but in the US, and the rest of the world… if you take certain pictures without underbritches then someone will call you a skank. It happens. People are mean. That doesn’t mean we sue Google over every mean, anonymous person on blogspot.
Although the pictures on the offensive blog look pretty personal. And that’s creepy. (And a whole other issue.) Time for someone to check her facebook friends!
Liskula is no stranger to drama. Last year Liskula was in the news because of an interesting night in a club:
Samir Dervisevic, 25, got into a drinking-tossing dust-up with model Liskula Cohen at Ultra on West 26th Street on Jan. 14, 2007, that ended when he cracked a bottle of vodka across her face, she tearfully recalled yesterday.
She rushed to the hospital, where she received 46 stitches – 30 inside her mouth and 16 on her face – to close the gushing wound. She said she has had trouble finding work since then because of the scars. (Rest of the story here)
Although not as interesting or glamorous as Kate or Naomi, I think the tabloids have found a new lawsuit model.
Last night I watched Law & Order with a housemate.
Me: “I think I’m too scared to do family law.”
Housemate: “Why’s that?”
Me: “Some angry husband will probably kill me.”
I told him that Law & Order makes me want to apply to the district attorney’s office.
The episode involved MS-13. By the end of the episode the gang members were threatening the attorneys.
Me: “Hm. Maybe I’ll get murdered at the Prosecutor’s office too…”
Employment Law here I come!*
*The conversation is real, but said in jest… please hire me…
I’m watching In Session again. The Tyler Edmonds trial is still on. The current witness is an overweight woman with the most bizarre facial expressions. The defense attorney noticed too:
Defense Attorney: “What color is your hair?”
Witness: “Blonde.”
She then does a giggle and eye roll. (Yes, I’m serious.)
I have no idea why he asked that, but it was funny. There’s also a commentator who is obsessed with the word “porn.” Everything is ‘porn’ with this guy…including talk TV. It’s like watching a kid who has discovered a new naughty-sounding word.
One thing I forgot to mention Monday is that Joey Fulgham (the murdered man) went on the Montel Williams Show with his wife.
It was one of those “I’m dragging you on a national TV show to say I’ve been sleeping around. BOMBSHELL! YOU DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING! YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS A MAKEOVER HUH! (cut to commercial) Please forgive me baby!” shows.
She cheated. He cries and then takes her back. She murders him a few years later.
There’s probably a better way to spend my time.
This morning’s episode of Banfield & Ford covered the final Joey Fulgham murder trial. Fulgham’s wife was already convicted. Today’s case was the retrial of her 13-year-old accomplice. Here’s a rundown*:
On Friday, May 9, 2003, Kristi Fulgham, who was married to the victim Joey Fulgham, picked up her thirteen-year-old half-brother, Tyler Edmonds, to take him to the Fulgham home in the Longview community as she did every other weekend. She and Tyler have the same father, Danny Edmonds.
Tyler’s videotaped confession relates the following series of events: After arriving at Kristi and Joey’s home, Tyler and Kristi went out for Subway sandwiches for dinner. After dinner, Joey went to bed, while Kristi stayed up and used the computer.