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

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

Ramage trial ends in $9.5M verdict.
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...

Ex-General Re officials' trial may highlight Buffett.
December 3, 2007... Byline: Jane Mills and David Voreacos, Bloomberg News Two former General Reinsurance Corp. executives may argue at their trial that contracts they arranged with American International Group Inc. didn't defraud investors because their boss,...

Commentary: Future looks bleak for 18-year-old client in jail.
December 3, 2007... Byline: Craig Napier I had a conversation this week with a young man that will stay with me for a long, long time. It's a criminal case I've written about in the past. It's a young client, who at this point will not listen to me or my...

Officers in traffic stop miscarriage file suit over unpaid suspensions.
December 3, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Two Kansas City police officers claim they followed department protocol when they denied a pregnant woman's plea that she needed medical attention during a traffic stop last year. In a lawsuit filed in Jackson...

An element of Missouri's school funding case could be a national first.
December 3, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese While politicians and school officials alternately celebrate and decry a judge's ruling that Missouri's school funding system is constitutionally sound, a less visible element in the case quietly could be setting a...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: December 3, 2007.
December 3, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick A Blue Springs business picked up a rare defense verdict last week in a lawsuit alleging age discrimination under the Missouri Human Rights Act. Meyer Laboratory, which manufactures and sells industrial cleaning...

Missouri lawmakers offer bills on courts, taxes, alcohol for '08.
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...

As mortgage crisis deepens, some seek aid -- or lawsuits.
December 4, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter In Overland, the Trueblood family was doing its best to get by. Husband John worked two jobs to support the family, and his wife, Cheryl, stayed at home to take care of their three kids. Times got tougher for the...

Taxpayer-intervenors to remain in Missouri's school funding suit.
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,...

Attorney defends hog odors in rural Missouri areas.
December 4, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Normal farm smells associated with living in the country do not entitle a rural Missouri family to millions of dollar, a lawyer for a leading pork producer told a Jackson County jury. During opening statements on...

Taxpayer-intervenors to remain in school funding suit.
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,...

Awards, next leader on tap for Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Assn.'s annual meeting.
December 5, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick The judge behind one of the nation's most divisive decisions in recent years will highlight the largest annual gathering of lawyers in Kansas City. U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III, whose 2005 ruling regarding...

Missouri Supreme Court rules Ford data can't be shared.
December 5, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that in a fight between efficiency and confidentiality, confidentiality wins. In a 5-2 decision, the court made absolute a writ of prohibition preventing Jackson County...

Defender criticized by Missouri Supreme Court for 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 charged in...

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 Attorney General Nixon to file amicus brief in gun-rights case.
December 5, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record Staff 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...

Missouri Supreme Court considers whether inmate can sue his lawyer.
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...

Temp workers allege racism in treatment at job site.
December 6, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Two African-American men filed suit against a Jackson County company and the staffing agency that sent them there, claiming they were effectively fired when they complained of racial discrimination. In a complaint filed...

Privacy trumps discovery request, Missouri Supreme Court judges say.
December 6, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Trial court shouldn't have granted access to employment records, they say. 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...

Gateway to a Cure leader gets fine, ban from fundraising in Missouri.
December 6, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record 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...

Guantanamo rights divide U.S. Supreme Court.
December 6, 2007... Byline: Greg Stohr, Bloomberg News The Bush administration's handling of Guantanamo Bay inmates divided the U.S. Supreme Court, as the justices clashed over a law that bars the suspected terrorists from challenging their detention in...

Nation Briefs.
December 6, 2007... Byline: Bloomberg News Lincoln Electric jury awards $20.5 million in lawsuit Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc., the world's largest welding equipment maker, and competing welding- rod makers must pay $20.5 million for a worker's illness...

Commentary: The gifts of pronunciation and proofreading.
December 6, 2007... Byline: Christine Hughes Thanksgiving this year found me in a hospital in Lakeland, Fla. When I tell people that, their first reaction is "Oh, you poor thing." However, with delight I proceed to tell them the rest of the story. My...

U.S. AG goes after Internet predators.
December 6, 2007... Byline: Kelly Wiese A month into job, Michael Mukasey speaks on keeping kids safe online Attorney General Michael Mukasey told law enforcement officials Wednesday that people at all levels of government, and beyond, must work...

Intelligent design case judge urges Kansas City's legal community to defend judiciary.
December 7, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A federal judge with plenty of personal experience in fending off attacks on the judiciary urged Kansas City's legal community to be vigilant against such attacks in the their own backyards. U.S. District Judge John E....

Limbaugh nominated for federal bench.
December 7, 2007... 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 Court's Eastern District...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals blocks Missouri's 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 Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower federal judge who denied a preliminary injunction against the law...

Injured St. Louis man 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...

Baum: Mr. Paulson goes to Washington, loses his way.
December 7, 2007... Byline: Caroline Baum If you're like me, you've spent the last few days sorting through the sketchy outline of the U.S. Treasury's subprime rescue plan and mulling the potential impact. (Hey, I never said I was a swinger!) We learned last...

Panel named for Jackson Co. judge opening.
December 7, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick For the third time in just over a year, Gov. Matt Blunt will select a new Jackson County Circuit judge. The governor received the latest panel late Wednesday to replace J.D. Williamson, who retired in October after...

Coca-Cola battles Jackson County suit over sugar substitute.
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...

Kansas City to get $5.6M in settlement.
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 His father, also a judge, ready to step down if son confirmed 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...

Kansas City Court Roundup: December 10, 2007.
December 10, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Thousands of Missouri borrowers are asking for monetary damages and injunctive relief in a large class-action trial that began last week. The class, represented by attorneys from Walters Bender Strohbehn & Vaughn,...

Commentary: Thanks, partner, for taking one for the team.
December 10, 2007... Byline: Craig Napier I often write about my veteran partner. I don't think I've underrepresented the importance I place on his counsel and support. But this week, he is reaching new heights. About eight months ago I talked him into taking...

Summer Shipp's family files wrongful death suit.
December 10, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick The daughter of a Kansas City woman whose body was found in October almost three years after she disappeared claims her mother's employer is partly to blame for her death. On Friday, Brandy Shipp sued the New...

Panel announced for Clay County judge vacancy.
December 11, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick One of three judges sitting on the Clay County Circuit bench is in line to get a promotion in the next two months. The 7th Circuit Judicial Commission on Friday named Clay County associate judges Liz Davis and...

Justices give federal judges more leeway in drug cases.
December 11, 2007... Byline: Greg Stohr, Bloomberg News Decisions follow dismissalof similar St. Louis case The U.S. Supreme Court handed down two decisions Monday that accomplished what a St. Louis man's appeal of his federal drug sentence set out to do...

Shipp family sues mother's employer for wrongful death in Jackson County Circuit Court.
December 11, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Two months after the discovery of Summer Shipp's remains in an eastern Jackson County river, her daughter is holding the companies that employed her mother responsible. Shipp's daughter Brandy Shipp sued the New...

Former Missouri state Rep. Cooper gets 15-month prison term.
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...

Woman pleads guilty in Missouri court to causing baby's death, will get treatment.
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...

Dispute over a Peculiar rock quarry in Missouri garners raft of opinions.
December 12, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick A ruling by a Cass County zoning board received a thorough critique by an appellate court panel. Each of the three judges that heard arguments in a dispute over land located near a Peculiar rock quarry weighed in...

Poll: Most Missourians like current way of picking judges.
December 12, 2007... Byline: Kansas City Daily Record Staff Justice at Stake samples voters, says 71% support Missouri Plan According to the poll released by Justice at Stake, Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts and the Missouri Institute for Justice, 71...

Mistaken detention by Kansas City police officers prompts $1M suit.
December 12, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City man claims police officers injured him one year ago today with "mob-like" violence. In a federal lawsuit filed Monday, Wilson Smith alleged that Kansas City Police Department officers were looking for...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: December 12, 2007.
December 12, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record State official joins law firm's lobbying group A state economic development official who helped create the Missouri Quality Jobs Act has taken a lobbying job at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal....

Lawsuit accuses Kansas City attorneys of milking 'cash cow'.
December 13, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick In a case described as an "embarrassment" to the legal profession, three Kansas City lawyers are accused of swindling a family out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys' fees. And as a result, they're...

Missouri Supreme Court hears class suit over land use.
December 13, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter O'Fallon facility damaged plaintiff's home, her attorney tells state Supreme Court. A lawyer for an O'Fallon quarry argued Wednesday that a homeowner who blames the business for creating a nuisance hasn't met the...

Man charged with threatening Adair County judge, police.
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...

Missouri Supreme Court mulls 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...

Blunt to seek death penalty for rapists of young 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,...

Ballot language heads to Missouri court.
December 18, 2007... Byline: Chris Blank 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 amendment's sponsor and...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District gets third and final panel.
December 18, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick The Missouri Court of Appeals' Western District is slowly moving closer to being full-strength for the first time in nearly six months. Operating short-handed since the departure of three judges beginning in June,...

Independence law firm wins effort to keep employee suit in arbitration.
December 18, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick An Independence law firm facing allegations that it wrongly fired two employees for blowing the whistle on overcharging won an order on Monday that will keep the case from being heard in open court. In the decision,...

Vote expected today on Missouri law firms Husch-Blackwell 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...

Group releases 'Judicial Hellholes' report for 2007.
December 19, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Mo. Supreme Court a 'dishonorable mention;' Madison Co. falls from list A Washington nonprofit took Madison County, Ill., off its list of judicial "hellholes" but handed the Missouri Supreme Court a 'dishonorable...

Missouri Supreme Court splits its decision on a murder conviction.
December 19, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Evidence too weak for dissenting judge. 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....

Missouri man allegedly denied adoption due to weight gets custody -- and a scolding.
December 19, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A Jackson County judge took the rare step Tuesday 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...

Missouri judge says previous attorney's conduct is no shield for Allstate.
December 19, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Attorneys for Allstate Insurance Co. said they will turn over company secrets on a bad-faith claim only if a protective order is granted. During a hearing on Tuesday, Ronald Getchy, an attorney for the insurer, told...

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...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: December 19, 2007.
December 19, 2007... Byline: Kansas City Daily Record Staff Western District overturns Porter kidnapping charges As Jackson County authorities prepare to prosecute a man for murdering his two children, a series of earlier kidnapping convictions has run...

Missouri hog farm trial ends in defense verdict.
December 20, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick A little more than a year after being on the losing end of a multi-million dollar verdict, two of the nation's leading pork producers won round two on Wednesday. A Jackson County jury returned a defense verdict in...

Lawsuit filed over extension of Kansas City manager's contract.
December 20, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick A lawsuit filed on Tuesday by Mayor Pro Tem Bill Skaggs seeks to reverse the Kansas City Council's passage of an ordinance last week that extended the contract of City Manager Wayne Cauthen. Skaggs, together with...

Missouri backers of health-care petition may begin collecting signatures.
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...

Nation Briefs.
December 20, 2007... Byline: Bloomberg News Bank of America awarded $347M in gas lawsuit Bank of America Corp. was awarded $347 million in a lawsuit originally filed by American Electric Power Co., the biggest U.S. producer of electricity from coal, over a...

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

Missouri's Blackwell Sanders and Husch & Eppenberger announce merger.
December 21, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole As-yet-unnamed marriage of equals would be among state's largest firms Partners at Blackwell Sanders and Husch & Eppenberger voted this week to merge the two firms. The combination, expected to close in late...

Not-so-brief brief lands Kansas City law firm in suit.
December 21, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick An erroneous and lengthy brief was the downfall of a man's wrongful termination claim and is now the basis of his new lawsuit alleging negligence on the part of a Kansas City law firm. In a federal lawsuit filed in...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: December 21, 2007.
December 21, 2007... Byline: The Daily Record Staff Grill named Sexy Single, raises money for charity Attorney and state representative Jason Grill made a special cover of KC Magazine this month as one of the city's Sexiest Singles. As a part of the event,...

K.C.'s Todd Graves labels himself 'bit player' in AG ouster.
December 24, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Last year, Todd Graves, the U.S. attorney in Kansas City, announced that he was leaving office. At the time, no one, including Graves, knew that his departure was linked to high-level Department of Justice shenanigans...

2007 in Review -- Kansas City: Municipal Court still waits for judges.
December 24, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick It's been a year of waiting at the Kansas City Municipal Court. The court's five full-time judges have waited and watched as City Hall tried to work out issues regarding background checks for judicial applicants....

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: December 24, 2007.
December 24, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick A McDowell, Rice, Smith & Buchanan lawyer who is the subject of a negligence lawsuit filed by a former client said Friday that the claim is baseless. Thomas Buchanan, a firm co-founder, said a lawsuit filed last...

Missouri Supreme Court orders hearing on speedy trial.
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...

University asks state high courtto deny researcher's request.
December 24, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Doctor claims ownership of tissue samples 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...

Commentary: Like any good defense lawyer, I need to share.
December 24, 2007... Byline: Craig Napier I read the news today, oh boy. Newark, N.J., prosecutors allege a defense lawyer had a role in a murder. It seems that "Kemo" got shot, and was therefore unavailable to testify in this attorney's client's drug case....

Eminent domain fight at Missouri Supreme Court 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...

Lathrop & Gage law firm moves on after CEO Tom Stewart's departure.
December 25, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Most of us will likely never know exactly what went on in Lathrop & Gage's boardroom this year, but the end result was clear enough. In May, the firm's long-time CEO, Tom Stewart, resigned from the firm. Initially,...

Missouri governor pardons six for old crimes.
December 25, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record 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. Noting the...

Missouri death penalty case awaits Supreme Court decision.
December 26, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick The dispute over whether death by lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment is about to be played out before the nation's highest court. And the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court will resolve the...

Well-known 2004 crimes in Kansas City courts take major turns in 2007.
December 26, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck In the court system, three years is a reasonable period of time in which to bring a case to a close. For victims families, of course, it can seem a lifetime. Two major criminal trials came to a close in Kansas City...

Missouri public defenders expect first rejected cases in beginning of 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...

Allstate tab nears $3 million in document fight.
December 27, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick When 2007 ends next week, Allstate Insurance Co. will face a fine totaling more than $2.7 million. It's an amount that will continue to tick upward at the rate of $25,000 per day. And it's a fine the company could...

2007 in Review -- Statewide: Bar seeks to diversify.
December 28, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka

Breckenridge appointed; 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...

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District sees upheaval, will enjoy full bench next year.
December 28, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick The Missouri Court of Appeals' Western District comprised the same 11 judges for more than six years. But 2007 brought a shakeup that was like nothing the court had ever seen before. Over the course of three months,...