Daily Record (St. Louis, MO/St. Louis Countian) articles from December 2007

Daily Record (St. Louis, MO/St. Louis Countian) archives from December 2007

St. Louis County jury says family of former hockey pro to receive $9.5M.
December 3, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Canadian civil law allowed the late Keith Magnuson's family what U.S. law would not -- millions from a rental car company that would owe nothing had his accident occurred in the United States. A St. Louis County jury...

Rare find offers glimpse into Missouri's past.
December 3, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole Call it the Holy Grail of probate court. The probate division of St. Louis Circuit Court recently unearthed a record book that documents when explorer William Clark assumed guardianship of Sacagawea's baby daughter and...

Search begins for Judge Joan Burger's successor on St. Louis Circuit Court bench.
December 3, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Report Applications are now being accepted for the St. Louis Circuit Court position being vacated by Judge Joan Burger. Burger, who was on the bench about 13 years, has announced she would retire Jan....

Help available to avoid foreclosure.
December 4, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The Truebloods were doing their best to get by. John worked two jobs to support the family while his wife, Cheryl, stayed at home with their three kids. Times got tougher when John lost his second job as a cook in...

Pre-filed bills in Missouri cover new, old ground.
December 4, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese In the opening hours of bill filing, legislators have offered proposals making it a crime to use alcohol or drugs while pregnant, adding new judges and asking voters to limit courts' authority. Many of the ideas were...

St. Louis T-shirt seller strikes out in federal court.
December 4, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A federal judge backed the St. Louis Cardinals last week in a case filed against a man who claimed ownership of team trademarks. Chief U.S. District Judge Carol E. Jackson said Douglas J. Lewis, the owner of STL...

Judge denies effort to toss taxpayers from school funding suit in Mo.
December 4, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A judge Monday denied a request from suing school districts to drop from the case three taxpayers who intervened to defend the state. The suing districts, collectively known as the Committee for Educational Equality,...

Missouri Attorney General Nixon to file amicus brief in gun-rights case.
December 5, 2007... Byline: Staff report Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon said Tuesday that he would work with attorneys general from other states to file a friend of the court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of an individual's right to keep...

Missouri Supreme Court rules privacy trumps discovery request.
December 5, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The state Supreme Court said Tuesday that a St. Louis County judge erred in January when he ordered the handover of a nurse aide's personnel file. Circuit Judge Gary M. Gaertner Jr. granted the request, made by a man...

Missouri Supreme Court criticizes delay in man's trial.
December 5, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A man who has asserted his right to a speedy trial for more than a year could get the chance to walk free, after tough questions by state Supreme Court judges Tuesday about delays in the case. Tracy McKee was...

Seniors file suit in St. Louis-based federal court to prevent razing of Catholic-run apartments.
December 5, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Four elderly residents of the Catholic-run San Luis Apartments in the Central West End are fighting the upcoming demolition of their building with a federal lawsuit. The suit, filed in the St. Louis-based federal...

Missouri Supreme Court mulls inmate's access to courts.
December 6, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The state Supreme Court considered on Wednesday whether an inmate serving a life sentence can sue his attorney. The judges expressed a strong reluctance to rule as the trial court did, that the inmate's legal...

Mo. Attorney General Mukasey speaks on effort to stop Internet predators.
December 6, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese Attorney General Michael Mukasey told law enforcement officials that people at all levels of government, and beyond, must work together, without concern about who gets the credit, to catch criminals who prey on children...

St. Louis County Circuit Court rules charity director to be banned from fundraising.
December 6, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A leader of the Gateway to a Cure charity will pay a fine and be permanently barred from working in fundraising or running a nonprofit group in Missouri under a court order filed Wednesday. Mary Bolling, a former...

Missouri Supreme Court Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. nominated for federal bench.
December 7, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese Missouri Supreme Court Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. has been nominated by President Bush to a spot on the federal bench. Bush on Thursday sent Limbaugh's name to the Senate for consideration to sit on the U.S. District...

Legal fees for Metro trial could top $46 million.
December 7, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka CEO Larry Salci's sudden exit from Metro wasn't the only announcement Thursday that will have a far-reaching impact. The transit agency could be on the hook for combined legal fees of $46 million or more. An attorney...

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocks funeral protest law.
December 7, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A federal appeals court on Thursday put on hold Missouri's law restricting funeral protests. A panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower federal judge who denied a preliminary injunction against...

St. Louis man seriously injured in car accident wins $3 million judgment.
December 7, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A St. Louis man who was walking across a street when he was hit by a car, and nearly killed, has won a $3 million judgment against the teenage driver, after that man failed to show up in court to defend himself. Whether...

AT&T agrees to pay cities $65 million.
December 8, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The ongoing litigation in St. Louis County over cell-phone taxes has produced the largest settlement yet in the case. AT&T, the largest of six cell-phone service providers negotiating with Missouri cities over back...

AT&T agrees to pay cities $65 million.
December 9, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The ongoing litigation in St. Louis County over cell-phone taxes has produced the largest settlement yet in the case. AT&T, the largest of six cell-phone service providers negotiating with Missouri cities over back...

AT&T agrees to pay Missouri cities $65 million.
December 10, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The ongoing litigation in St. Louis County over cell-phone taxes has produced the largest settlement yet in the case. AT&T, the largest of six cell-phone service providers negotiating with Missouri cities over back...

Limbaugh tapped for federal judgeship.
December 10, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese Missouri Supreme Court Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr.'s nomination to the federal bench could require the end of his father's judicial career. President Bush on Thursday sent Limbaugh's name to the U.S. Senate for...

How sweet it's not.
December 10, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Fizzy streams of Diet Coke cascade from soda dispensers in movie theaters, restaurants and convenience stores across Missouri. But one Kansas City consumer says a sugar substitute found in fountain Diet Coke -- but...

Missouri mother pleads guilty to causing baby's death.
December 11, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A woman accused of drinking so much she caused her newborn's death pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter Monday. Sherri Lohnstein received the maximum, a seven-year sentence, but she will undergo a 120-day alcohol...

Former Missouri lawmaker sentenced to prison.
December 11, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Former state Rep. Nathan Cooper was sentenced Monday to 15 months in federal prison on felony fraud charges that he steered temporary work visas to clients in the trucking industry. Cooper, a Cape Girardeau...

Panel named to fill St. Louis County judicial vacancy.
December 11, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Three attorneys and a judge were named Monday as possible successors to retiring St. Louis County Circuit Judge Emmett O'Brien. They are Mary Elizabeth Ott, Thomas J. Plunkert and St. Louis County Associate Circuit...

Groups urge businesses to support Missouri court plan.
December 12, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese Businesses depend on an impartial court system and should work against efforts to overhaul Missouri's method of judicial appointments, a business lawyer told a group gathered Tuesday to discuss attacks on the court...

Man charged with threats to judge, police in Adair County.
December 13, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka A Kirksville man accused of threatening to "destroy" an Adair County associate circuit judge was indicted by the U.S. Attorney's office Wednesday on charges of mailing violent threats. Lonnie E. Sutton, 33, has no...

Mo. Supreme Court consider class action against quarry.
December 13, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A lawyer for an O'Fallon quarry argued Wednesday that a homeowner who blames the business for creating a nuisance hasn't met the criteria for the class action she seeks. Lawrence F. Hartstein said during oral arguments...

State of Mo. official joins law firm's lobbying group.
December 13, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole A state economic development official who helped create the Missouri Quality Jobs Act has taken a lobbying job at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. Brian Grace, the former director of policy and legislative affairs for...

Governor calls for death penalty for rapists who prey on children.
December 14, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese Gov. Matt Blunt called Thursday for changing state law to allow for the death penalty in cases against rapists whose victims were young children. Blunt made the announcement at a cyber crimes summit in Jefferson City,...

Missouri Supreme Court mulls $6.1 million verdict against Countrywide.
December 14, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments this week over a $6.1 million verdict against a mortgage company for engaging in the unauthorized practice of law. Lewis Rice & Fingersh lawyer Richard Ahrens said the statute...

St. Louis seeks new leader after 'driving force' of drug court quits.
December 14, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese The head of the drug court for the St. Louis city circuit is moving on after 11 years, so circuit court officials are starting a national search for his replacement. Jeff Kushner, the drug court administrator, joined...

St. Louis Circuit Court judges to debate individual docketing.
December 17, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter After a year of operating under an individual docketing system, the St. Louis Circuit Court is set to discuss other docketing options at today's court en banc meeting. In January, the court's 18 trial divisions went...

Jasman Lutz of Missouri State Public Defender's office joins private criminal defense firm.
December 17, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Last summer, as the caseload crisis in the Missouri State Public Defender's office worsened, St. Louis defender Jasman Lutz fielded dozens of plea offers from prosecutors. It was nothing out of the ordinary in the...

St. Louis Circuit Court returning to more centralized docketing.
December 18, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese Judges argued Monday over the best way to get a backlog of criminal cases moving through St. Louis Circuit Court, but in the end the divided panel agreed to revert to a more centralized system of managing cases. The...

Costs take center stage in ballot language suit in Missouri.
December 18, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff The state auditor's office on Monday defended its estimate for the cost of a proposed constitutional amendment barring government from using racial and gender factors. The legal wrangling has the...

Vote expected today on Missouri law firms Blackwell-Husch merger.
December 19, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole The ballots have gone out at Blackwell Sanders and a vote on a prospective merger with Husch & Eppenberger is expected to be finished today, a Blackwell partner confirmed. The possible name of a combined firm still is...

Missouri Supreme Court splits its decision on murder conviction.
December 19, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The Missouri Supreme Court narrowly split on its decision to uphold the conviction and death sentence for a Cass County man whose criminal case has gone to trial five times. At his most recent trial in March 2006, a...

Missouri Supreme Court gets a dishonorable mention for two of its 2007 decisions.
December 19, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A Washington nonprofit took Madison County, Ill., off its list of "judicial hellholes" but handed the Missouri Supreme Court a dishonorable mention for two of its decisions this year. The American Tort Reform...

Missouri hearings on campaign donations will remain closed.
December 19, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A judge turned back an effort Tuesday to force open hearings by candidates seeking to keep campaign donations in excess of state limits. Democratic state lawmaker and attorney general candidate Margaret Donnelly, of...

Missouri judge is expected to rule early next year on constitution proposal.
December 19, 2007... Byline: Chris Blank A Cole County judge is expected to rule early next year on the wording and cost estimate for a proposed constitutional amendment that would bar government entities such as schools from considering race, gender or...

Missouri Supreme Court rules inmates can sue directly.
December 19, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese An inmate can directly file a lawsuit under state law, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. A state inmate imprisoned in Jefferson City, Murlin Phillips, filed a lawsuit against his attorney, Jasper Edmundson Jr. of...

Third time is a charm for lawyer seeking Missouri Court of Appeals judgeship.
December 20, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick A quick turnaround by Gov. Matt Blunt has the Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals back to a full bench for the first time in six months. It took Blunt less than two days to appoint Lathrop & Gage...

Man allegedly denied adoption due to weight gets custody -- and a scolding from Jackson County judge.
December 20, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A Jackson County judge took the rare step this week of publicly releasing a court order in an adoption case -- and excoriating the order's beneficiary in the process. Judge John O'Malley said Gary Stocklaufer's highly...

Petition backers may collect signatures in Missouri.
December 20, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese Supporters of a ballot measure seeking to expand government-funded health care services -- with a big price tag -- have been cleared to begin collecting signatures. To put the issue before Missouri voters in November...

Blackwell and Husch announce merger.
December 21, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole Partners at Blackwell Sanders and Husch & Eppenberger voted this week to merge the two firms. The combination, expected to close in late January, will create a 630-attorney firm -- second only to St. Louis-based Bryan...

Washington University asks U.S. Supreme Court to deny researcher's request.
December 21, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Washington University, in a case it says will affect the future of genetic research, asked the U.S. Supreme Court this week to reject the petition for review filed by a researcher who left. When Dr. William J. Catalona...

Greene Co. judge appointed to Southern District bench.
December 21, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick A Greene County Circuit Court judge is the newest member of a Missouri appellate court bench. Judge Donald E. Burrell Jr. was appointed by Gov. Matt Blunt on Thursday to the Southern District of the Missouri Court...

Missouri Supreme Court: Hold hearings now.
December 24, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese The state Supreme Court has ordered a St. Louis circuit judge to quickly hold a hearing for a man who has repeatedly requested a speedy trial, and either drop the charges or provide that trial soon. Tracy McKee was...

$27 million verdict for firefighter's family is Missouri's largest for 2007.
December 24, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese Lawyers for a family left without a husband and father persuaded a jury to blame the maker of safety equipment the St. Louis firefighter was wearing when he died. The case resulted in a $27 million verdict, apparently...

U.S. District Court judge sentences Devlin to 170 years in federal prison.
December 24, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Report Michael Devlin, who in October received 74 life sentences in state prison for the kidnapping and sexual assault of two Missouri boys, was sentenced Friday to another 170 years in federal prison....

Eminent domain fight carries into new year.
December 25, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The state's highest court shut down Centene Corp.'s plans this year to use eminent domain to obtain land for a gleaming office and retail tower in Clayton. That setback did not stop Centene from grabbing $78 million...

St. Louis district defender resigns, convicted of marriage fraud.
December 25, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Dec. 10, 2004, could have been the happiest day of Eric Affholter's life - if U.S. law had allowed him to marry the man he loved. Instead, the city's district defender and Pedro Cerna-Rojas were in a Las Vegas chapel...

Missouri governor grants pardons for old crimes.
December 26, 2007... Byline: St. Louis Daily Record Staff Report Gov. Matt Blunt announced on Sunday his decision to pardon six people who long ago were convicted of nonviolent felonies and have been law-abiding citizens since completing their sentences....

St. Louis Circuit Judge Dierker becomes an author, sparks debate about free speech rights.
December 26, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter This time last year the St. Louis legal community could talk about little else but a controversial book that St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert H. Dierker Jr. wrote with intentions to expose the liberal subversion of the...

Missouri public defenders expect to begin rejecting cases in early 2008.
December 27, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese Leaders in the state's public defender system have pleaded for years for more staff and better pay. But in 2007, the issue came to a head, and the results could start playing out early in the new year. Members of the...

Judge rejects suit to keep Highway 40 open.
December 27, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Thursday aimed at forcing transportation officials to keep a stretch of Highway 40 open. The suit was filed last week by Bill Haas, a former member of the St. Louis School Board who...

Upcoming audit could reveal more about Missouri-based Metro's legal fees.
December 27, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The chilly November afternoon when a St. Louis County jury handed down its verdict in the Metro fraud case was a moment of elation and deflation. Elation for the four engineering firms that successfully defended...

Federal judge in Missouri hears attempt to block Highway 40 shutdown.
December 27, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A St. Louis man asked a federal judge Wednesday to thwart plans by state transportation officials to shut down a stretch of Highway 40 next week. Bill Haas, a former St. Louis school board member, filed a lawsuit last...

Judge rejects suit to keep Highway 40 open.
December 28, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Thursday aimed at forcing transportation officials to keep a stretch of Highway 40 open. The suit was filed last week by Bill Haas, a former member of the St. Louis School Board who...

Judge appointed; selection process criticized.
December 28, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter A storm brewed in Missouri for much of the summer as politicians and interest groups criticized the Appellate Judicial Commission over how the commission chose its nominees to fill a vacancy on the Missouri Supreme...

Recent sentencing in St. Louis-based federal court ends Devlin saga.
December 28, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Michael Devlin's year of cops, courts and guilty pleas ended just as dramatically as it began. In front of a crowded courtroom in the St. Louis-based federal court on Dec. 21, Devlin received his fourth and final...

Missouri Supreme Court OKs a la carte representation.
December 31, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Unbundled legal services, litigation awareness programs, court clerks who can encourage pro se litigants to learn about their legal rights -- all these prospects will become a reality under new court rules adopted by...

Missouri Legal Briefs: December 31, 2007.
December 31, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka After deciding in September that women and minorities have been historically absent from the governing body of The Missouri Bar, the organization has put out an official call for nominations. That's the latest...

Big changes for big names in St. Louis.
December 31, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Controversial firings, divorce proceedings and deaths rocked the St. Louis legal community in the last year, including the drunken-driving death of a Cardinals pitcher that provoked a wave of lawsuits. Josh Hancock,...