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

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

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District reverses officer's murder case.
May 1, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District reversed a first-degree murder conviction of a Columbia police officer Thursday, saying that two hearsay statements allegedly made by the victim improperly...

Missouri's U.S. Chief District Whipple is senior but still active.
May 1, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey U.S. Chief District Judge Dean Whipple moved into "senior" status Monday, but don't assume the title is going to slow him down. The biggest advantage for a judge to move into senior status is a reduced caseload, but...

Missouri Supreme Court upholds abortion law, right to offer counsel.
May 2, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick, The Daily Record The Missouri Supreme Court has clarified a law that Planned Parenthood claimed violated the First Amendment rights of teenage girls who seek abortions without parental consent. In a decision...

Missouri Supreme Court reverses murder conviction.
May 2, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey The Missouri Supreme Court reversed the first-degree murder conviction of a man who allegedly stabbed and strangled his girlfriend to death in 2003 because his only witness, a psychologist, wasn't allowed to testify...

Commentary: The high costs of helping out the family.
May 2, 2007... Byline: Craig Napier The family is a good source of experience for the solo attorney, but I won't come right out and rate the quality of the experience. Or maybe I will. I recently bought a new acoustic guitar. A (hopefully) real sweet...

Developer charged in Kansas City with removing asbestos.
May 2, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey The developer of University Towers was charged Monday by the federal government for illegally removing asbestos from the 16-story building. Matthew J. Abbott is charged with one misdemeanor count of violating the...

Missouri's deadly force bill contains loopholes, attorneys say.
May 3, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey Local attorneys see loopholes and possible abuses in deadly force legislation passed by the Missouri House Tuesday. Senate Bill 62 would eliminate any "duty to retreat" and give a person the right to meet force with...

Commentary: Advocacy a common thread in legal field.
May 3, 2007... Byline: Christine Hughes Last weekend I attended the National Association of Legal Professionals (NALS) of Missouri annual meeting in Independence. A state-chartered affiliate of NALS, NALS of Missouri offers many opportunities throughout...

Birth control patch led to embolism, suit filed in federal court says.
May 4, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey Leslie Walquist will never make the decision whether to have children because she suffered a near fatal pulmonary embolism at age 25 after using the Ortho Evra birth control patch, a lawsuit filed Wednesday in...

Nation Briefs.
May 6, 2007... Nestle files lawsuit to get revenue from Eskimo Pie sales Nestle, which bought Eskimo Pie and Chipwich ice-cream brands from CoolBrands International in January, asked a judge to order the maker of frozen desserts to surrender more than $1...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick The application process is officially open. The 16th Judicial Commission began accepting applications last week for the vacancy created last month in Jackson County following the departure of Judge Jon Gray, who...

Commentary: Rage against pre-trial anxiety.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Craig Napier I get some nerves before a hearing or trial. I've never argued to a jury, and I would like to give it a shot, but some of my lawyer friends were talking the other day, and - having very little need for machismo as...

Shirley Lute paroled after 26 years.
May 7, 2007... Byline: The Daily Record staff A woman convicted 26 years ago of killing her abusive husband walked out of prison and into freedom Friday morning. Shirley Lute, 76, whom former Gov. Bob Holden commuted in 2004, left the Chillicothe...

Missouri bill spelling court plan's end advances but could be too late.
May 9, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A resolution that would repeal the nonpartisan court plan won approval in a House committee Tuesday morning, despite misgivings by the committee's chairman that it would ever reach the House floor, much less pass into...

Author Grisham to speak at Innocence Project dinner in Kansas City.
May 9, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Bestselling author John Grisham will speak at a local dinner fundraiser Thursday night. The Midwestern Innocence Project is hosting the event to strengthen its ability to provide pro bono investigative and legal...

Lee's Summit couple convicted on tax fraud charges.
May 9, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A Lee's Summit husband and wife who operated a multimillion-dollar firm marketing trusts and a retail business selling American Silver Eagle coins were convicted in federal court Friday for aiding and abetting...

Saline County man charged in bank robbery.
May 9, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Jeffrey Lee Wright, 35, of Saline County, was charged in federal court Monday with robbing Community Bank in Sweet Springs. He is accused of stealing $10,594 from the bank at 111 N. Locust in Sweet Springs,...

Iraqi man charged with sodomy and rape of child in Jackson County.
May 9, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Ali I. Albidery, 40, has been charged on a grand jury indictment on four counts of first-degree statutory sodomy and one count of first-degree statutory rape. The Jackson County grand jury returned the...

Prosecutors charge Kansas City man for robbery, resisting arrest.
May 9, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A Kansas City man is accused of robbing a woman of her car and then crashing it after trying to outrun police. Michael J. Peterson, 42, faces first-degree robbery and resisting arrest charges following the...

ABA's Second Season program offers options for 'retired' lawyers.
May 9, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Lawyers are a different breed. While those in many other jobs dream of their retirement in terms of playing rounds of golf, taking fishing trips and reading some good books, many lawyers are reluctant to give up the...

State and Region Briefs.
May 9, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff Bill spelling court plan's end advances but could be too late A resolution that would repeal the nonpartisan court plan won approval in a House committee Tuesday morning, despite misgivings...

Suit: Westport security used unnecessary force.
May 10, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick A Rockhurst University graduate student claims several Westport security officers injured him while using unnecessary force. Rudy Maki, 24, suffered a dislocated shoulder after the officers detained him for...

U.S. attorney for Western Mo. departure becomes key in firings.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey Todd Graves left his post as U.S. attorney for Western Missouri because he felt he was not "part of the team" and not because of a controversy over the state's fee office, he said. Attempts to link the fee offices to...

Former K.C. student claims district failed to protect him from attack.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick A vicious attack at a Kansas City high school less than two years ago changed the life of Craig Dydell. After a fellow student slit his neck with a box cutter, nearly taking his life, Dydell was too afraid return to...

Commentary: Missouri could cash in on Hilton-style jails.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan Every day, thousands of people are sentenced to spend time in jails across the country. Whether they have been sentenced to 30 days for driving under the influence or three days for not paying some traffic tickets,...

Kansas City Legal Secretaries Assn. appoints board of directors.
May 11, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff The Kansas City Legal Secretaries Association announced the appointment of its 2007 board of directors on April 11. Members of the new board are law firm legal support professionals,...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: The Daily Record Staff Prosecutors try to keep controversy out of fraud case Federal prosecutors filed a motion last week to prevent defense attorneys in a mortgage fraud case from using any information regarding the...

Commentary: The computer bridge comes falling down.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Craig Napier As I have described before I am a somewhat knowledgeable user of computers. I do not tear them apart, and I do not go out of my way to do more than be a good little user. I update regularly and run my spyware and...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick A woman's long-running legal feud with the Kansas City Fire Department spawned a new lawsuit last week. Kathleen Kline, a former firefighter for nearly 30 years, filed the suit Wednesday in Jackson County Circuit...

State watches legislative session's end for Second Injury Fund's future.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck As the legislative session enters its final week, groups on both sides of the state's Second Injury Fund debate are waiting to see what changes, if any, are in store. Groups as diverse as trial lawyers, labor unions and...

Innocence award winner John Grisham: Too many not assumed innocent.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick The presumption of innocence is lost, author John Grisham said. At a fundraiser for the Midwestern Innocence Project Thursday evening, Grisham told the crowd it was unfortunate how many innocent people spent time in...

Appeal looks to dismiss $10 billion verdict based on Illinois Supreme Court's bad fact.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann In sports, errors by game officials often are reversed in the name of fair play. A St. Louis lawyer is asking the Illinois 5th District Appellate Court whether that kind of instant replay applies to apparent errors in...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: May 15, 2007.
May 15, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff Judge denies Shields motion claiming vindictiveness A federal magistrate judge denied a motion Monday asking the court to dismiss the indictment against Katheryn Shields and her husband...

Missouri voter fraud cases make way into prosecutor investigations.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann Many of the cases of alleged voter fraud in Missouri -- which have become entangled in the congressional investigation into the firing of U.S. attorneys -- are still working their way through the court system. The...

Professional women in Mo. finding alternative ways to network.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey When it comes to networking, good ol' boy activities --such as heading to the golf course -- are out, and wine tasting, shopping and hand treatments are in. Carol Clark, attorney with Black & Vetch, said she didn't...

Missouri Bar, Missouri Supreme Court consider increasing annual dues.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Members of The Missouri Bar may be asked to hand over at least $70 more in annual dues if the bar and state Supreme Court approve a fee hike later this year. The increase, which would be effective Nov. 1, was...

Linkage holding down pay for federal judges.
May 16, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Twenty years ago Congress linked its members' salaries to those of federal district judges with the hope the public wouldn't mind so much when Congress approved salary increases. But faced with voter hostility,...

Missouri House passes backup abortion law.
May 16, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck The 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is expected to deal soon with a 1998 Missouri law banning so-called partial-birth abortions. But just in case that decision takes awhile, the state may put a backup version on the...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: May 16, 2007.
May 16, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record Staff Kansas City man receives five years for enticing minor Raymond L. Wiley Jr. was sentenced in federal court last week for using the Internet to attempt to entice a minor for illicit sex....

Lawyers say Missouri man's death resulted from car crash.
May 17, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Tiffany Lett drove her car six miles the wrong way on U.S. Highway 71 before colliding head-on with another vehicle. The April 2005 accident near Missouri Highway 58 instantly killed Lett, who had spent the previous...

Missouri dodges contempt accusation in child-support case.
May 17, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka Attorney Sherrie Hansen was startled earlier this month to get a notice from the Missouri Department of Social Services announcing an upcoming hearing date for a change in her child support. The May 2 letter was a...

Nonprofit files suit in Jackson County Circuit Court against renovators after fire destroys building.
May 17, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick A nonprofit corporation whose Belton building was destroyed by a fire more than three years ago is suing the companies that were renovating the facility when the blaze started. Turner's & GACA Family Development...

Family faults truck driver, company in Kansas City cyclist's death.
May 18, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey Almost a year after John Triggs died from a bicycling accident with a cement truck, the cyclist's family is suing the truck driver and the company he worked for. Triggs, an avid bicyclist, was riding eastbound on...

Commentary: History shows two sides of contingent fees.
May 18, 2007... Byline: Mike Hoeflich Of all the areas of legal practice that give rise to ethical problems, the calculation of fees is one of the most complex and controversial. For much of the 20th century the most common method of calculating fees was...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: May 18, 2007.
May 18, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record Staff Third ACORN worker pleads guilty to voter fraud The third of four Kansas City voter-registration workers who were the subject of controversial indictments for voter-registration fraud just...

Ex-CEO of Missouri-based Lathrop & Gage may have been forced out.
May 18, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole A controversy over workplace conduct may explain former chief executive Tom Stewart's resignation from the firm. Stewart, who had been on a sabbatical, officially left the firm and lost his chance at the chairmanship...

Missouri House fails to kill Judicial Conference.
May 18, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck In a session full of tensions between the Legislature and judiciary, it was unlikely that a massive bill full of judiciary-related items could pass through the Missouri House without comment. The House considered a...

Salmonella led to amputations, Kansas City woman claims.
May 18, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Attorney Brian Niceswanger says his client is an eggshell plaintiff. His client, a 72-year-old diabetic woman, claims a fish dinner contaminated with salmonella eventually led to the amputation of both her legs just...

Second appeal in Mo. COA over Aquila plant pits county versus state approval.
May 18, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey The latest argument over the power plant in Peculiar before the Missouri Court of Appeals pits county government against state government. The question is who rules. Aquila, the Kansas City-based company who built...

Missouri's first and only black Supreme Court justice retires.
May 19, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck White announces retirement from bench By Scott Lauck scott.lauck@molawyersmedia.com Ronnie L. White, the first and only black member of the Missouri Supreme Court, announced his retirement from the bench Friday...

Missouri's Legal Services bill squeaks by before session's end.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A bill to allow Legal Aid groups in Missouri to continue receiving state funding passed in the final hours of the legislative session and is headed to the governor's desk. The bill extends the sunset date for a state...

Kansas City school employee charged with sexual misconduct.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Jackson County prosecutors on Friday accused an elementary lunchroom monitor of making a lewd comment to a 10-year-old student. Larry E. Busey, who has a history of inappropriate conduct with children, was...

White's retirement prompts questions about replacement.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck Ronnie L. White, the first and only black member of the Missouri Supreme Court, announced his retirement from the bench Friday afternoon. White's departure, scheduled for July 6, marks the end of a judicial career that...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: May 21, 2007.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Attorneys for a man who died a year after he sustained serious injuries in a car wreck asked a Jackson County judge to award his family $17 million. Plaintiffs' attorneys John Turner, of Turner & Sweeny, and Dirk...

17-year-olds to remain adults in Missouri courts.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A bill making 17-year-olds subject to the juvenile courts for truancy, running away from home and other so-called status offenses died late Thursday after a lengthy fight in the Missouri House. Under state law, a...

Attorneys for the Damned teaches unpopularity lesson at U of Missouri-Kansas City.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Bridget Heos Choosing which clients to represent isn't a popularity contest. That's what University of Missouri-Kansas City law students learned at an Attorneys for the Damned presentation last month. There, lawyers spoke to the...

Jackson County school faces lawsuit claiming sexual harassment, retaliation.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick A former teacher is suing the Derrick Thomas Academy Charter School on claims that she was fired for complaining about being sexually harassed. Stephanie King filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Jackson County. King lost...

Commentary: When dad's nature collides with lawyer's nature.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Craig Napier One of the reasons I went to law school was my experience as a Court Appointed Special Advocate in Ohio. In the Ohio program I participated in, CASA volunteers served as guardian ad litem in Juvenile Court to advocate...

Graves testimony prompts question on voter fraud in Missouri.
May 22, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey Questions of voter fraud and fee-office favors top the list of what the Senate Judiciary Committee should ask former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves next month, according to local politicians and attorneys. One former...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: May 22, 2007.
May 22, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff Area firm shares benefits of going paperless nationally Roger Burnett and Karen Morrison, of Burnett & Driskill in Liberty, gave a presentation last month on being a paperless office to the...

U.S. Supreme Court's telecom case draws attention in Missouri case.
May 22, 2007... Byline: Allison Retka The U.S. Supreme Court's decision Monday clearing several telecom companies of antitrust allegations may have some resonance in Missouri. The U.S. District Court in St. Louis is the host venue for a class action...

U.S. Supreme Court dismisses Missouri death sentence.
May 22, 2007... Byline: Tom Herrmann The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed a St. Louis County death penalty from 1987 concerning whether the prosecutor's remarks during the death-penalty phase of the case had unfairly inflamed jurors. In an unsigned...

Mo. Court of Appeals, Western District reverses drunken driving conviction.
May 23, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey The Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District reversed a driving-while-intoxicated conviction based on lack of evidence to prove the driver was drunk when he wrecked the car. The driver, D. Byron, left the...

Stinson Morrison adds 39 attorneys in St. Louis merger.
May 23, 2007... Byline: Heather Cole For the second time this year, a Kansas City law firm is growing by adding a smaller St. Louis firm. Kansas City-based Stinson Morrison Hecker announced on Monday its upcoming merger with St. Louis firm Blumenfeld...

Missouri's new eminent domain law faces first Supreme challenge.
May 23, 2007... Byline: Scott Lauck A redevelopment case on a judicial fast track offered the Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday its first opportunity to review eminent-domain reforms passed by last year's Legislature. The case pits properties in one of...

Two plead guilty to mortgage fraud in Kansas City.
May 23, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record Staff James E. Coleman, 59, a certified accountant and former president of the board of a Kansas City magnet school, and James R. Rhoades, 48, pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to conspiracy to...

Commentary: Supreme pick needs to be non-partisan.
May 23, 2007... Byline: Will Connaghan The retirement of Judge Ronnie White from the Missouri Supreme Court comes at a divisive time in the state's judicial history. This past session the Missouri Legislature considered several bills that would have...

Jackson County judge awards $7.5 million for death a year after crash.
May 24, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick The 2006 death of a Holden man was the result of a crash caused by a drunken driver, a Jackson County judge determined Wednesday. Judge Sandra Midkiff awarded the family of Tony Bryant $7.5 million after hearing...

Correction.(Correction notice)
May 24, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff Stinson Morrison Hecker is adding 39 Blumenfeld Kaplan & Sandweiss attorneys. The move, announced Tuesday, means Stinson will become the second Kansas City firm to grow in St. Louis by adding...

K.C. woman sues parent company of Marshalls over hacked records.
May 24, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey Teresa Lamb shopped at Marshalls at least once a month from 2003 to 2006 not realizing every time she swiped her credit card she might have shared her information with computer hackers. The Kansas City resident...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: May 24, 2007.
May 24, 2007... Byline: The Kansas City Daily Record staff Charges filed in stabbing that killed one over weekend A Kansas City woman faces charges for her alleged involvement in a weekend stabbing that left one man dead. Jackson County prosecutors...

Inns of Court raise the bar for lawyers and students in Kansas City.
May 25, 2007... Byline: Bridget Heos When Lee Anderson, an attorney at Rouse Hendricks German May, wanted to improve his trial skills, he joined the Ross T. Roberts Inn of Court. Now, once a month, he practices giving opening and closing arguments or...

Family of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock sues Shannon's in St. Louis.
May 25, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter The family of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Wednesday against Mike Shannon's Steak and Seafood, manager Patricia Shannon Van Matre and several other defendants the family says...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: May 25, 2007.
May 25, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff American Equity Mortgage asks federal court to dismiss suit A federal trademark lawsuit between American Equity Mortgage and Vinson Mortgage may be at an end. On Monday, American Mortgage...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: May 28, 2007.
May 28, 2007... Byline: The Daily Record staff Shook among firms honored for Guantanamo Bay assistance The National Legal Aid & Defender Association will honor more than 50 U.S. law firms for providing pro bono assistance to detainees at Guantanamo...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: May 28, 2007.
May 28, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick Despite what attorney Patrick Reavey described as convincing evidence, a Jackson County jury still struggled in reaching a verdict for a black plaintiff last week. After a day and a half of deliberations, which...

Graduates put pasts behind them after finishing drug, family courts.
May 28, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick They described their lives before drug court as complicated, depressing and just simply screwed up. Alcohol and drug addictions cost them their jobs, education and, in some cases, families. Many faced felonies and...

U.S. Attorney Todd Graves report disputes Monica Goodling testimony.
May 28, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey A Department of Justice report released last week disputes Monica Goodling's claims of why former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves, of the Western District of Missouri, was on the list of fired federal prosecutors. Goodling...

Commentary: Sunday-morning insight shows scary reality.
May 28, 2007... Byline: Craig Napier Sunday before last I put the boy down for a nap, grabbed a copy of the Sunday New York Times, brewed some coffee and sat down for a little bit of "me" time. It is a rarity that I get much "me" time on the weekends...

K.C. juries pick doctors over plaintiffs.
May 29, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick A string of defense verdicts in medical-malpractice trials is causing some discomfort for plaintiffs' attorneys. Mired in a slump dating back to the start of 2006, plaintiffs have won just two of approximately 30...

Web site identifying witnesses, agents gets Kansas City federal courts' attention.
May 29, 2007... Byline: Trish Mehaffey Prosecutors are sealing more plea agreements in the Kansas City federal court to protect witnesses who could be outed on a Web site database that has more than 4,600 profiles of confidential informants and undercover...

Dram shop attorneys see struggle for Hancock family.
May 29, 2007... Byline: Donna Walter Lawyers representing the family of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock are fighting an uphill battle in their lawsuit against Mike Shannon's Steak and Seafood, according to area lawyers familiar with Missouri's dram shop...

Missouri Supreme Court OKs bargaining for public staff.
May 30, 2007... Byline: Charles Emerick The Missouri Supreme Court reversed a 60-year-old ruling in granting public workers the right to bargain collectively with employers on Tuesday. The ruling for three employee associations, which sued the...

State and Region Briefs.
May 31, 2007... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record staff Retired grade school teacher indicted for child porn John Edward Enness, 68, of Independence, a retired elementary school teacher, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Kansas City on...