Daily Record (Kansas City, MO) articles from April 2007

Daily Record (Kansas City, MO) archives from April 2007

XM wins dismissal of shareholder suit.
April 1, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff

Commentary: Solo lawyers should understand a little about computers.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Craig Napier If you are going to practice law as a solo Joe you better know a thing or two about computers. I have been dealing with the minutia of purchasing a few computers with my partner and another attorney in an effort to get...

Inside interview.
April 2, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff

Jackson County prosecutors file charges against man for sodomy, rape of 4-year-old.
April 3, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff Jackson County prosecutors charged William L. Pennell, 23, with first-degree statutory sodomy and first-degree rape Monday in connection with a sexual assault of 4-year-old girl. The victim's...

University of Missouri Kansas City honors lover of law, education.
April 3, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey Irv Belzer has a passion for two professions: the law and education. He is comfortable with being known as one of Missouri's top commercial litigators or just being called "Teacher" by a bunch of third-graders...

Parents claim St. Louis school's discipline led to teenager's suicide.
April 3, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The parents of a teenage girl who killed herself three years ago are suing the Parkway School District in St. Louis County and two of its employees, alleging the employees' detention of their daughter triggered her...

St. Peters wins free-speech lawsuit brought by residents.
April 3, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff St. Peters announced it received a favorable judgment in U.S. District Court in a lawsuit brought by six residents who claimed the city violated their free-speech rights. Judge Stephen Limbaugh ruled the city...

Scaled-down taxation bill sent to full Senate in Missouri.
April 4, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A proposal to prevent the Missouri judiciary from making some decisions that affect taxation or government spending is headed to the Senate floor. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the controversial measure 5-3...

Jefferson City-based Lathrop & Gage chief to take over as chairman.
April 4, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole Lathrop & Gage's long-term chief executive Tom Stewart will step down June 1 to take over as chairman. The job of chairman, until now an honorary title, will become a more active one, said Raymond Beagle Jr., who has...

K.C. man charged with aiding murder suspect.
April 4, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A 21-year-old Kansas City man who led police to a woman listed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, was charged in U.S. District Court on Tuesday for harboring the woman following possession of drugs and...

Independence woman receives three years for health-care fraud.
April 4, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A 37-year-old Independence woman was sentenced in U.S. District Court on Thursday for participating in a conspiracy to defraud Health Midwest's employee health-care plan administrator of more than $120,000,...

Commentary: Young lawyers can add style, reduce time wasted typing.
April 5, 2007... Byline: Christine Hughes Many of today's young lawyers are coming out of law schools with a great deal of proficiency in using their computers. They are used to typing their school papers and doing their own work. How does this experience...

Commentary: U.S. trial system does more good than harm.
April 5, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Murderer. That's right, Mr. or Ms. Trial Attorney, you have helped kill 114,000 people the past 20 years. Don't believe it? Just ask the Pacific Research Institute or the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry....

Federal judge restores jail control to Jackson County.
April 5, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick and Trish Mehaffey A federal judge on Wednesday returned control of the Jackson County jail to the county. U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple granted a motion by the Jackson County Department of Corrections to...

Still sprinting: Coaching keeps Kansas City lawyer moving.
April 5, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Cliff Wiley still can run fast. Age has cost him a step or two from his days as an Olympian and world champion runner in the 1970s and 1980s. But the 51-year-old lawyer and high school track coach is still confident...

NCAA, MLB, LPGA represented at University of Missouri-Kansas City sports symposium.
April 5, 2007... Byline: Bridget Heos Michael Stallworth, a second-year law student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, hopes to practice sports law after graduation. Like many students, he'd like to be an agent for an athlete. "That would be an...

DNA leads to arrest in 2005 rape case in Jackson County.
April 5, 2007... Byline: The Daily Record Staff Jackson County prosecutors used DNA evidence in their charges Wednesday stemming from a 2005 assault and rape of a 34-year-old woman. Raul A. Hernandez, 23, of Kansas City, faces forcible rape, first-degree...

Valley Park ordinance blocked again: Third time, third TRO on housing restrictions.
April 6, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The presiding judge of St. Louis County Circuit court issued a sweeping restraining order Thursday against the latest anti-illegal immigration bill to come out of Valley Park. Judge Carolyn Whittington's order echoed...

Raytown man indicted by federal grand jury on drug and firearm charges.
April 6, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Roberto V. Soto, 44, of Raytown, was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday for five counts of drug trafficking and illegally possessing two firearms. The indictment is the result of a successful...

Lee's Summit man indicted on child pornography charge.
April 6, 2007... Byline: Dailly Record Staff Report Jeffrey Dewain Dueker, 38, of Lee's Summit, was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Kansas City and charged with possession of child pornography and possession of illegal ammunition. The...

Missouri House approves amending state constitution to guarantee right to pray in public places.
April 6, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck The Missouri House has given first-round approval to a resolution that, if passed by the voters, would amount to the first change to existing language of the Missouri Bill of Rights in more than a century. The...

Independence man indicted by federal grand jury on bank robbery charge.
April 6, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff Clyde Douglas Nelson, 55, of Independence, was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday and charged with robbing a US Bank in Independence, according to an affidavit. The indictment alleges...

Commentary: Software case offers unique look at future of legal boundaries.
April 6, 2007... Byline: Mike Hoeflich Recently the 9th Circuit decided an extremely interesting case that has potential to extend the U.S. law of unauthorized practice. Most U.S. jurisdictions have statutes that prohibit the unauthorized practice of law....

Commentary: Poetic journey leads to valued experience.
April 7, 2007... Byline: Craig Napier Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; I took a murder case last week....

State and Region Briefs.
April 8, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff Police charge missing suspect with March arson, death A Kansas City man is wanted on charges that he started a fire in March at an apartment building where two men were found bound with duct...

U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit reverses Dilliard's discrimination judgment.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey A black couple who claim they were discriminated against and called racial slurs by an employee of Dillard's will get the opportunity to take it before jury. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit on Thursday...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: April 9, 2007.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Two weeks after reaching a confidential settlement for the daughter of a serial killer's victim, the law firm that represented her is taking more legal action. Monsees, Miller, Mayer, Presley & Amick sued the...

U of Missouri-Kansas city alumni award winner never let prejudices affect her.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey Not every place in Kansas City was accessible to a young black girl in the 1950s. But experiencing that prejudice and having parents who fought against it made one girl stronger. Angela Bennett was never told what...

Kansas City man faces charges for firing at officers.
April 10, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff Jackson County prosecutors charged a Kansas City man after a Sunday morning pursuit and shooting that ended when he was found unresponsive in a creek. Jay J. Truelove, 37, faces two counts each...

Missouri's law schools get mixed review in magazine's rankings.
April 10, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Like a rite of spring, the U.S. News & World Report graduate school rankings hit the newsstands last week. In Missouri, the deans of the four law schools frown on the rankings. Criticism of the rankings came even from...

Prosecutors bring charges against Kansas City man for Grandview hotel homicide.
April 10, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A Kansas City man faces a murder charge for the beating death of a woman found Sunday at a Grandview hotel. Timothy E. Hollingshead, 44, has been charged with second-degree murder. Vicki Protzman, 44, was found...

Former office manager for Warrensburg mortgage appraisal co. pleads guilty to embezzlement.
April 10, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Christy Hoagland, 37, of Hampton, Va., formerly of Knob Knoster, pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to a wire-fraud scheme in which she embezzled more than $81,000 from her Warrensburg employer. Hoagland...

Court doubts it can change state appropriation in Missouri.
April 11, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A Cole County judge said Monday that he had "serious doubts" about his authority to force the state to change an appropriation decision. Nonetheless, he said there was a way to give the plaintiffs affected by that...

Workload study in Missouri logs judges' minutes.
April 11, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Missouri judges logged their minutes, and now they await the results. A judicial workload study last month will determine the needs for circuit courts across the state. And it could be used in support of arguments...

Mo. Court of Appeals, Western District overturns second degree murder conviction.
April 11, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District reversed a second-degree murder conviction Tuesday because the circuit court judge didn't give the jury instructions regarding self-defense and...

8th Circuit hears challenge to South Dakota abortion law.
April 12, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Another battle in the abortion war was fought Wednesday in St. Louis. Lawyers representing Planned Parenthood, a group of pregnancy crisis centers, and South Dakota argued before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals...

Missouri native sworn as top-ranking federal prosecutor for the Western District.
April 12, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey The former chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was sworn in Wednesday as the top-ranking federal prosecutor for the Western District. John F. Wood, 37, a Missouri native, will replace Bradley...

Belton woman accused of preparing false tax returns.
April 12, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record Staff The U.S. Justice Department has asked the federal court in Kansas City to permanently bar a Belton woman from preparing tax returns for others. A civil injunction suit, filed in the U.S. District...

Lee's Summit man wanted for kidnapping found in Honduras.
April 13, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey A Lee's Summit man told his wife one morning he would stay home with their three children, so she could have a day to herself. She took him up on it. She went to church, but when she returned home he and the three...

Missouri state auditor sues for student loan agency minutes.
April 13, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey Missouri State Auditor Susan Montee filed a lawsuit Thursday to access records she says the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority is illegally withholding. The petition filed in Cole County Circuit Court asks for...

Murder, sex cases in Kansas City call for thick skin, say defense attorneys.
April 13, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey There are two sides to every story, even for a person accused of a crime. It doesn't matter if the accused is on trial for raping a woman or murdering his stepson. "I'm the only person that can help them at this...

Commentary: Second Injury Fund games ignore history.
April 13, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Politicians have been playing political football with Missouri's workers' compensation law for many years. Laws are written to favor employers over employees and vice versa, depending on which party is in charge....

Missouri Senate offers portion of defender request.
April 13, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck The Missouri Public Defender system is unlikely to get everything it needs for caseload relief this year, but a Senate committee has offered at least some hope. The Senate Budget Committee said Thursday that it would...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: April 16, 2007.
April 16, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Jackson County Circuit Judge Jon Gray is leaving the bench for Shook, Hardy & Bacon. Gray, a judge for more than 20 years, informed Presiding Judge Peggy Stevens McGraw of his plans last week. His last day is...

Commentary: Kurt Vonnegut, so much more than funny.
April 16, 2007... Byline: Craig Napier Kurt Vonnegut died last night, and I am sad or maybe happy. Not just because he left behind a number of great books and essays that I have enjoyed since first discovering him somewhere along my 1980s, junior high...

Clay County commissioner guilty of not reporting loan.
April 17, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff A former Clay County Family Court commissioner pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to failing to report he solicited and received a loan from an attorney who appeared before him in court....

Student accused of bomb threat sues over due process in Kansas City federal court.
April 17, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey A student who has indefinitely been suspended from school after accusations of writing a bomb threat is suing the school district for denying him his right to due process. Plattsburg Police Chief Zephrey Bingham and...

Commentary: Campus killings temper afterglow of NRA convention.
April 17, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan As I write these lines on Monday morning, reports of the deadliest mass killing spree in U.S. history are being broadcast. At least one gunman has killed as many as 31 people and wounded dozens more on the campus of...

Kansas City man sought after weekend kidnapping.
April 17, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff One man remains at large, and two others face several charges following a Saturday-morning kidnapping and murder. Jackson County prosecutors charged Marlyn L. Standifer and Robertico L. Cooper, both 19-year-old...

Kansas City restaurant owners and others indicted for $2.3M cocaine conspiracy.
April 17, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey The federal trial of a woman accused of killing a pregnant Skidmore woman and then cutting her baby out and kidnapping the infant has been continued for the fourth time to Oct. 1. Lisa Montgomery was charged with the...

Argument between brothers leads to shooting in Jackson County.
April 18, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff An early Sunday-morning shooting involving two brothers led to one being taken into custody. The Jackson County and Cass County sheriff's offices responded to a 911 call regarding a shooting in the 15200 bock of...

Missouri Supreme Court upholds death penalty exclusion.
April 18, 2007... Byline: Daily Record The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed a Washington County Circuit Court conviction and life sentence of a mentally retarded man, Steven Parkus, on Tuesday. Parkus, was convicted of first-degree murder for killing a...

Missouri Court of Appeals upholds $1.5M railroad verdict.
April 18, 2007... Byline: Daily Record The Missouri Court of Appeals in St. Louis upheld a $1.5 million verdict for a truck driver injured in 1999, ruling that an error in jury instructions would not have changed the jury's verdict. Sorrell was injured when...

Missouri Supreme Court approves private school for public tax project.
April 18, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that St. Louis University, despite its public identification as a Jesuit institution, is not "controlled by a religious creed." The decision makes the school eligible for $8...

Micheline Messler named manager of human resources by Jericho-based Purolator USA.
April 19, 2007... Byline: Kathy Lombardo Micheline Messler was named manager of human resources by Jericho-based Purolator USA. Messler has over 10 years of human resources experience working for Fortune 500 companies.

Two Kansas City men sentenced to life for drug trafficking.
April 19, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Dayron Johnson, 23, and Carlos R. Brandon, 30, both of Kansas City, were each sentenced to life plus five years in federal prison without parole for their involvement in a drug-trafficking conspiracy and...

Kansas City woman faces drug, firearm charges.
April 19, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Desiree N. Gharst, 26, of Kansas City, was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and illegally possessing firearms. According to the indictment, Gharst...

Kansas City man indicted on cocaine conspiracy charges.
April 19, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A federal grand jury indicted Akil R. Burns, of Kansas City, on Tuesday for participating in a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. Burns, also known as "Lo Lo," was charged with participating in a conspiracy...

Kansas City man indicted on cocaine conspiracy charges.
April 19, 2007... Byline: Daily Record A federal grand jury indicted Akil R. Burns, of Kansas City, on Tuesday for participating in a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. Burns, also known as "Lo Lo," was charged with participating in a conspiracy to...

Missouri Legislature looks to add judge seat in Independence.
April 19, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A proposal in the Missouri House could add a new judgeship in Jackson County's courthouse in Independence to help ease the workload crunch there. The new position, along with one proposed in Greene County, is contained...

State and Region Briefs.
April 19, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff Brookfield woman indicted on social security fraud charges A federal grand jury indicted Jennifer M. Lindsey, 29, of Brookfield, on Tuesday for receiving $21,676 in fraudulent Social...

Independence man indicted on child-pornography charges.
April 19, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Jeremy W. Clyborne, 28, of Independence, was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday for possessing and distributing child pornography. Clyborne faces charges of distributing child pornography over the Internet...

Brookfield woman indicted on social security fraud charges.
April 19, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A federal grand jury indicted Jennifer M. Lindsey, 29, of Brookfield, on Tuesday for receiving $21,676 in fraudulent Social Security benefits. According to the indictment, from July 2003 to April 2005 Lindsey...

K.C. man accused of sexually abusing boy.
April 19, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A Kansas City man has been charged for sexually abusing a boy for several years. Jackson County prosecutors charged Richard D. Zimmerman, 46, with two counts of first-degree sodomy and one count of incest. The...

Prosecutors in Jackson County charge man for molesting boy at work.
April 19, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Jackson County prosecutors charged a Kansas City man for molesting a 12-year-old boy. Matthew C. Lewellen, 31, has been charged with two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy. The alleged molestation occurred...

Jackson County prosecutors bring charges for assault on jazz singer.
April 19, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A man accused of assaulting jazz singer Ida McBeth faces several charges from the Sunday-morning attack. Jackson County prosecutors on Tuesday charged Manuel T. Tubbs, 64, with one count each of second- and...

Florida man pleads guilty to Internet sex charges.
April 19, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Billy G. Hicks, Jr. 44, of Jacksonville, Fla., pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to attempting to entice a minor over the Internet for illicit sex. Hicks admitted he initially contacted an undercover FBI...

Long Island educational institutions announce staffing changes: April 20, 2007.
April 20, 2007... Byline: Kathy Lombardo Hofstra University in Hempstead named James E. Quinn to its board of trustees. Quinn is the president of Tiffany & Co. Gary M. Cypres, president of Hispanic Express, was also named to Hofstra's board of trustees....

Missouri judges strike back at activist label.
April 20, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick As one judge prepares to leave his seat in Jackson County today and a resolution to weaken the judiciary's power awaits approval in the state House, Missouri judges say they have become the Legislature's punching...

Commentary: Lawyers have duty to help victims, not take advantage of them.
April 20, 2007... Byline: Mike Hoeflich This week our nation stands stunned and grieving after the mass killing at Virginia Tech. It has been especially poignant for me because I was the dean of the law school at Syracuse University when a Pan Am plane...

State and Region Briefs.
April 20, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff Pharmacist to serve 15 years for child pornography charges A 42-year-old St. Joseph pharmacist was sentenced in federal court Wednesday for publishing a notice of child pornography and...

Missouri Senate passes bill to ease public defenders' caseload.
April 20, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck The Missouri Senate this week passed a bill aimed at helping ease the caseload of the state's Public Defender's Office, although it's unclear yet by how many cases. The bill, by Sen. Jack Goodman, R-Mt. Vernon,...

Blue Springs man charged for Wednesday bar shooting.
April 20, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Jackson County prosecutors charged a Blue Springs man for his role in a Wednesday bar fight that led to a shooting. Joseph F. Pollina, 53, faces a first-degree assault charge after he shot another man in a bar in...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: April 23, 2007.
April 23, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick More than six years after receiving multiple life sentences for the deaths of two of her triplet sons, Mary Bass is in another court battle. Through a conservator, the lone surviving triplet, Jerry, filed a...

Commentary: If you have to think about the truth, it's too late.
April 23, 2007... Byline: Craig Napier Can I forget what happened in November? As that was the start of a rather slow time in my business, I wish I could, but forget firing someone? Forget canning eight out of 93? I don't think so. U.S. Attorney General...

Nacchio faces 10 years in trading deal.
April 23, 2007... Byline: David Voreacos and Joel Rosenblatt, Bloomberg News Federal jurors convicted Joseph Nacchio, former chief executive of Qwest Communications International, of insider trading after concluding he misled investors in an April 2001...

Kansas City-area trio charged in drive-by shooting.
April 23, 2007... Byline: The Kansas City Daily Record Staff Three men face charges for a Monday drive-by shooting that left one young boy injured. Raymond J. Cage, 18, and Kwatez L. Sinton, 17, both of Independence, and Cody J. Brown, 17, of Kansas City,...

Richmond man sentenced on child pornography charges.
April 23, 2007... Byline: The Kansas City Daily Record Staff Michael A. Bryan, 48, of Richmond, was sentenced in federal court Thursday for distributing child pornography over the Internet. U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner sentenced Bryan to nine years in...

Kansas City law firms announce staffing changes: April 24, 2007.
April 24, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff James Bartimus and Jennifer Gille Bacon are this year's recipients of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association's Deans of the Trial Bar Award. The award recognizes individuals for their litigation skills and...

Kansas City lawyer becomes 'go-to-guy'.
April 25, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick The family of a Louisiana man killed in a helicopter crash earlier this year recently retained Kansas City aviation lawyer Gary Robb. David Thibodeaux, 33, died when the helicopter he was riding in crashed into the...

Commentary: Have you heard?
April 26, 2007... Byline: Doug Linder, UMKC School of Law Editor's note: UMKC Law Professor Douglas Linder was asked to give the keynote address last week when The Daily Record honored its Legal Leaders for 2007. Linder responded with a stirring address...

Kansas City Councilman Fairfield heads for Polsinelli.
April 26, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole After falling short in a mayoral bid, Kansas City Councilman John Fairfield is going with Plan B and joining Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus' economic development practice group. Fairfield will join Polsinelli as...

Judges at the Kansas City Municipal Court looking for help from new mayor, Council.
April 26, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Judges at the Kansas City Municipal Court are optimistic that the new faces on the City Council will provide a little relief. With a new mayor in Mark Funkhouser and nine of the dozen council spots changing on...

Former University of Missouri-Kansas City law dean dies.
April 27, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey Everybody knew Patrick Kelly as Dean Emeritus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City law school, but there were many sides to him. He was that tough professor, but if a student didn't get it, it was his own fault,...