Daily Record (Kansas City, MO) articles from September 2008

Daily Record (Kansas City, MO) archives from September 2008

Hog suits could get boost: Animal feeding operation ruling in Cole County likely faces appeal.
September 2, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick If a recent order out of Cole County stands, attorneys with nuisance lawsuits against large corporate hog farms could stand to benefit. Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce last week barred the construction of a...

Public defenders working well with mid-Missouri court.
September 2, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese This week, public defenders in two offices could start turning away some new cases. But they're not going to quite yet. Cathy Kelly, deputy director with the Missouri State Public Defender's Office, said officials with...

Residents sue St. Louis County over trash districts.
September 2, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley In an effort to prevent St. Louis County's from dividing its unincorporated areas into eight different trash districts, two residents filed suit alleging that the county violated its own charter by not allowing...

Sign denial suit can proceed, 8th Circuit appeals court says.
September 2, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A man protesting St. Louis' use of eminent domain with a three-story mural got the go-ahead from a federal appeals court to pursue his claims against one of the city agencies that denied his application for a sign...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: September 2, 2008.
September 2, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick It is now up to an appellate court to sort out the messy details of a March verdict. All three parties involved in a $1.4 million verdict recently appealed the post-trial rulings by the trial judge to the Missouri...

Commentary: Analysis leaves no silence to hear the cheers.
September 2, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier I think I hate the news these days. Or at least the people who do the news these days. Last week I spent some time in the evenings watching the Democratic National Convention. I think the 24-hour news channels killed...

Lawsuit about disputed ballots in Democratic primary for Missouri AG adds only two.
September 3, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Two ballots. Of all the disputed provisional and absentee ballots in the Democratic primary for the Missouri attorney general race, only two will be reconsidered, according to a joint stipulation signed Tuesday in Clay...

Freed from prison by Missouri judge, man speaks out.
September 3, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese A man convicted of murder in 1985 for a gas station killing but freed from prison by a judge last month says the justice system broke down. Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan ruled last month that Darryl...

Kansas City lawyer David M. Byrn named to fill spot on Jackson County bench.
September 3, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Gov. Matt Blunt named Kansas City lawyer David M. Byrn to the Jackson County Circuit Court. Byrn, a partner at Jeter, Rains & Byrn, received Blunt's call Friday afternoon before he went out of town for the Labor Day...

Missouri man acquitted of molestation wins $16M verdict against ex-wife.
September 3, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley A man who served five years in prison before he was acquitted of molesting his adopted daughter was awarded $16 million by a federal jury in a suit against his ex-wife and a Lee's Summit police officer. Theodore W....

Revised judicial evaluations to be released by Missouri Bar today.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Only third revision in 60-year-old process Yes or no. The question faces voters in every election cycle when they must decide whether appointed judges should keep their jobs. This year, the choice should be a bit...

Pardoned felon-turned-lawyer concerns Missouri Supreme Court.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A felon-turned-attorney appears to have the Missouri Supreme Court scratching its collective head about how it should discipline him for lying on his bar application. Thomas Michael Fisher's lawyer told the court on...

St. Louis Circuit Court delays approval of BJC Health settlement.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Uninsured patients who were treated at BJC hospitals could start seeing lower bills under a settlement pending in a St. Louis courtroom, but a judge did not give final approval after a hearing on the matter Wednesday....

8th U.S. Circuit rules numbered paragraphs ruled unnecessary in sex harassment facts.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A former civilian employee for the Navy recruiting district office in Kansas City may pursue her sexual harassment claims, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday. But the plaintiff, Gina Jenkins, may not...

Kansas City-area judges get high marks.
September 5, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Judges in Kansas City should keep their jobs on the bench, according to evaluations released by The Missouri Bar on Thursday. All 13 area judges and one Supreme Court judge up for retention later this year received...

Missouri Supreme Court considers polio vaccine standard.
September 5, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The state Supreme Court considered Thursday whether a lawsuit against a vaccine maker should have been allowed to reach a jury trial. A St. Louis jury considered the case of a man who contracted polio after receiving a...

O'Fallon woman loses two bids in cyber-bullying case.
September 5, 2008... Byline: Sarah Wienke A Los Angeles judge has upheld much of a novel use of an anti-hacking law in the prosecution of an O'Fallon woman accused of harassing a teen by creating a fictitious online identity. U.S. District Judge George Wu...

Missouri Supreme Court considers 'mobile' DNA evidence.
September 5, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The attorney for a man found guilty in a 1992 murder told the Supreme Court that DNA and other evidence should not be enough to uphold his conviction and life sentence. Samuel Freeman was convicted in southeast...

Commentary: When a prayer request should be unspoken.
September 5, 2008... Byline: Christine Hughes It's Sunday morning and you are enjoying being with people you generally do not see or talk to during the week. It's a moderate sized Sunday School class and these folks have prayed for you while you were studying...

Legacy of judicial restraint: Lecture reviews Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr.'s time on the bench.
September 8, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley To honor Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr.'s 16 years on the Missouri Supreme Court bench, the St. Louis Federalist Society hosted a review of some Limbaugh's most interesting, influential and controversial decisions and...

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling means attorney fees can't be seized.
September 8, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared Friday that attorney fees awarded under the Equal Access to Justice Act belong to the attorney who represented the prevailing party, not the party itself. The decision...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: September 8, 2008.
September 8, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick A Kansas City company received only a portion of the damages it sought for a fire allegedly sparked by faulty machinery. A Jackson County jury last week found plaintiff Grahn Manufacturing 78 percent at fault for...

State and Region Briefs.
September 8, 2008... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record Court delays Middleton's execution, pending appeal Another Missouri inmate had his execution date pushed back by the Missouri Supreme Court. The court last week granted the state's motion to...

Commentary: For politicians, acrimony comes naturally.
September 8, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier Americans want us to stop yelling at each other. So says Republican nominee for president John McCain. Do we really? Can we disagree without being disagreeable? I know as a lawyer I often counsel my clients to put...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: September 9, 2008.
September 9, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Law firms come to aid of towns destroyed by tornadoes Dripping wet and standing in a sea of mud -- the result of a torrential downpour a day earlier -- Mark Johnson worked among hundreds of volunteers in an effort...

Candidate for Mo. AG Michael Gibbons seeks boost from GOP excitement over McCain-Palin.
September 9, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Republicans across the country are generally thrilled by Sarah Palin's effect on the Republican ticket. So is Michael Gibbons, but his excitement is more personal -- he thinks she might help him get elected. John...

Former St. Louis County deputy's bribery conviction upheld by 8th Circuit.
September 9, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A former St. Louis County deputy sheriff, convicted of taking bribes, failed to persuade a federal appeals court to throw out his conviction. A jury convicted Curley Hines of 10 counts of accepting bribes, one count of...

Hallmark accused of infringing patent for adhesive gift wrap.
September 9, 2008... Hallmark Cards Inc., the closely held maker of greeting cards, was sued for patent infringement by two North Carolina inventors. Nancy E. Hall and Robert C. Economos, of Mecklenburg County in North Carolina, accused Hallmark of infringing a...

Cole County judge rules energy initiative qualifies for November ballot.
September 10, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Supporters of a clean energy initiative collected enough valid signatures to get the measure placed on the November ballot, a Cole County judge said. In August, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan certified that...

Children's Division receives national accreditation.
September 10, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick The 16th Judicial Circuit became the latest in Missouri to meet national accreditation standards for its behavior healthcare and social service programs. The accreditation is part of a statewide effort by the...

Polish parishioners countersue Archdiocese of St. Louis.
September 10, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The dispute between a Polish Roman Catholic church and the Archdiocese of St. Louis is proceeding toward trial, and the church has filed a countersuit. The archdiocese sued St. Stanislaus in July, seeking to bring the...

Officers attempt unions in wake of Missouri Supreme Court ruling.
September 11, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Some Missouri Supreme Court decisions go by with little notice taken by the general public, but that is not the case with the decision handed down in May 2007 to allow public workers the right to bargain collectively....

Lee's Summit claims verdict covered by state fund.
September 11, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Lee's Summit and a state fund that provides liability coverage for the city are disputing who is responsible for a portion of a recent multimillion dollar federal court verdict. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Jackson...

Missouri Supreme Court considers property tax rates.
September 11, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Taxpayers say law violates Hancock Amendment rights State Supreme Court judges are wrestling with a detail of property tax law, with one judge saying the court basically will have to determine which side's inference...

Public reprimand sought for Lake Ozark attorney.
September 11, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Attorneys for the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel and a Lake Ozark lawyer facing discipline both argued to the Missouri Supreme Court that the lawyer should receive a public reprimand for his wrongdoing. Warren S....

Candidates for Missouri AG meet in first debate.
September 12, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Attorney general candidates Chris Koster and Michael Gibbons expressed support for Missouri's plan for choosing appellate judges, but differed on the need for a media shield law and the future of a fund for injured...

Missouri recount of primary vote gives a wider victory to Chris Koster.
September 12, 2008... Byline: The Daily Record Chris Koster was named the official winner of the Democratic primary for attorney general, with the results of a statewide recount widening his margin of victory. According to results announced Thursday by Missouri...

Missouri Supreme Court: Do Saturdays count for statutory deadlines?
September 12, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A lawyer for a group of insurance companies asked the Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday to find that his clients filed timely claims for tax refunds even though the Department of Revenue didn't receive their filings...

Running for the bench in Missouri: Seeking judicial office entails questionnaires, county fairs.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Missouri's candidates for the Supreme Court undergo a rigorous series of interviews with lawyers, laypeople and the governor's staff. In North Carolina, Supreme Court candidate Suzanne Reynolds holds aloft cakes at...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: September 15, 2008.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Emil Brown found an unwanted visitor outside his Plaza apartment when he returned to Kansas City earlier this month. Brown, a former Royal and current outfielder with the Oakland A's, was approached on Sept. 2 by a...

Family court commissioner named to St. Louis bench.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Gov. Matt Blunt has appointed a St. Louis Family Court Commissioner, Robin Ransom Vannoy, to the St. Louis Circuit Court. Vannoy said she received the news late Thursday afternoon and has been floating on air ever...

Commentary: Cold and flu season can be hard on a lawyer.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier Man. I hate the flu, or a bad cold, or a sinus infection or whatever I've had this week. It makes everything stink. I mean, us lawyers don't have a really physically demanding job most days. But when your head is full...

St. Louis court to hold commissioner slot open.
September 16, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Hoping to appease lawmakers intent on removing judges, the St. Louis Circuit Court judges have decided not to fill a commissioner vacancy for now. At an en banc meeting Monday, the judges welcomed Robin Ransom Vannoy,...

Governor of Missouri urged to reject panel for high court.
September 16, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley The Better Courts for Missouri and five organizations are urging Gov. Matt Blunt to reject all three of the Appellate Judicial Commission's nominees for the Supreme Court. The organizations oppose the nominations of...

Attorney Hayden named to fill Judge Kays' seat on Missouri's 26th Judicial Circuit.
September 16, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Gov. Matt Blunt has appointed Kenneth M. Hayden to the 26th Judicial Circuit, filling the vacancy created by appointment of Judge Gregory Kays to the federal bench. Hayden received the news on Thursday from Blunt...

St. Louis Circuit Court approves BJC Health System settlement.
September 16, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Hundreds of thousands of patients could see their outstanding medical bills start to fall under a settlement agreement that now has the final stamp of approval in St. Louis Circuit Court. BJC Health System and attorneys...

Metabolic curve testimony saves woman's license, rules Mo. Court of Appeals Western District.
September 17, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Despite blowing over the legal limit after being arrested, an Oregon woman will keep her license because she apparently wasn't intoxicated at the exact time she was pulled over. The Missouri Court of Appeals Western...

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds manditory arbitration clause for American Express.
September 17, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A federal appeals court has upheld the mandatory arbitration clause included in the terms and conditions accompanying American Express cards. Chrystin Pleasants, a Texas resident, filed a class action lawsuit against...

Fake lawyer from California had little presence in St. Louis courts.
September 17, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A California man facing federal charges in North Dakota related to practicing law without a license worked for a short time on a case for a St. Louis Blues hockey player who pleaded guilty four years ago to plotting to...

The Missouri Bar prepares to pass gavel.
September 18, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick and Donna Walter A historic presidency comes to an end Friday, when Charlie Harris hands over leadership of The Missouri Bar to St. Louis attorney Thomas M. Burke. Harris, a partner at the Kansas City firm Seyferth...

Missouri Bar extends comment period on new ad rules.
September 18, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck What was once an urgently sought change to Missouri's lawyer advertising rules now might not go to a vote until next summer. The Missouri Bar's Board of Governors voted Wednesday to extend the comment period for the...

Saint Louis University Law School celebrates Constitution Day with a Supreme Court review.
September 18, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley In celebration of Constitution Day, Saint Louis University Law School took a look back at the most influential decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court's past term and a look forward to the impact that a new president will...

Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Stith salutes legal pioneers.
September 19, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck The intricate and perhaps too-small web of diversity in Missouri's legal profession was on full display Thursday in Kansas City, as a generation of pioneers took the stage at the Missouri Bar Annual Meeting. As she gave...

Panel at Missouri Bar Annual Meeting says more diversity needed.
September 19, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Progress has been made in diversifying the legal profession, but there is still much more work that needs to be done. A panel of legal professionals at The Missouri Bar Annual Meeting came to that conclusion on...

Critic of Missouri's Nonpartisan Court Plan says 'minor changes' still required.
September 19, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Attempts to alter Missouri's Nonpartisan Court Plan have failed twice in the last two years, but fears that the system could face further attacks remain strong. At a plenary session of the Missouri Bar Annual Meeting on...

Missouri making court-ordered payment to probation officers.
September 19, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick More than 1,000 probation and parole workers soon should get the back pay a court found they deserve back in 2005. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and the Service Employees International Union Local 2000 announced Thursday in...

Doe Run lawsuit moves to federal court for third time.
September 19, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter The venue volleyball match between a group of Peruvian plaintiffs and Doe Run Resources Corp., its owners and officers continues as the defendants -- for the third time -- move the game to federal court. The plaintiffs...

Governor's office places Missouri Supreme Court panel's questionnaire responses online.
September 19, 2008... Byline: The Daily Record Those trying to study the three candidates for the state Supreme Court vacancy just got a bit more information at their fingertips. Gov. Matt Blunt's office late Thursday afternoon posted online the responses from...

Missouri Supreme Court candidates list judicial resources as top issue.
September 22, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese The three finalists to fill a vacancy on the Missouri Supreme Court all list the need to make sure there are enough judges to meet the workload as the top administrative issue facing Missouri courts. They offer a...

U.S. Supreme Court's decision on testimonial hearsay remains confusing for judges, lawyers.
September 22, 2008... Byline: Scott Lauck Four years after the U.S. Supreme Court issued the landmark Crawford v. Washington case, judges, defense lawyers and prosecutors are still finding devils in the details. At a CLE session Friday, part of the Missouri Bar...

Saint Louis University hosts largest naturalization ceremony in city history.
September 22, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Saint Louis University's Chaifetz Arena will always hold a special place in Nedim Ramic's heart. He graduated from SLU's law school in the arena in May and on Friday became a U.S. citizen in the same place. It's one...

Commentary: Supreme Court rulings carry less weight worldwide.
September 22, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier The New York Times last week posted a story about the U.S. Supreme Court's waning influence on the high courts from other democracies around the world. Apparently since World War II, many democracies young and old had...

Missouri's state, federal courts not always explicit on jury-contact rules.
September 23, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Missouri's state and federal courts have a patchwork of rules regarding attorneys' ability to contact jurors after a trial, as a case in Kansas City's federal court illustrates. But the bottom line, attorneys and legal...

Hallmark Cards asks Missouri Supreme Court to review arbitration dispute.
September 23, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Unhappy with an appeals court ruling from this summer, Hallmark Cards is now asking the Missouri Supreme Court to enforce an arbitration agreement against a former employee. The Kansas City-based greeting card...

Cass County Circuit judge approves $1M settlement for wrongful death.
September 23, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Questions surrounding a deadly crash last year will remain unresolved following a $1 million settlement. Larry Freeman's surviving wife and four adult children received the settlement for the May 2007 accident that...

Gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof pitches 'novel' Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan reform.
September 24, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Claiming the courts are in disorder, Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof proposed reforms to the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan. Hulshof told a group of reporters on a conference call Tuesday morning that...

Trial over young girl's hip fracture underway in Jackson County Circuit Court.
September 24, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick As captain of the ship, a family claims a Kansas City doctor was responsible for the complications that occurred during surgery to fix a young girl's fractured hip. Mackenzie Kieslich and her parents assert it took...

FTC seeks to enforce '97 order over failure to turn over assets.
September 24, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter The Federal Trade Commission wants a federal judge to jail a convicted scammer until he pays a $3.2 million fine for violating an 11-year-old injunction against making false claims while marketing training and business...

Missouri Governor Blunt's office to meet judicial candidates.
September 24, 2008... Byline: The (Kansas City) Daily Record Gov. Matt Blunt's office said Tuesday it will hold the first round of interviews with the three Supreme Court nominees beginning Friday. Judges Zel Fischer, Lisa Hardwick and Ron Holliger were...

Hog suit draws ire of Farm Bureau in Missouri.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick An organization representing Missouri farmers is attempting to get involved in a case that changes how large farms operate near a state historic site. In a motion to intervene by the Missouri Farm Bureau Federation...

Role of county attorneys questioned in trash dispute by Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District considered Wednesday the role of the St. Louis County counselor and whether she violated the Missouri Sunshine Law by making a settlement agreement with a controversial...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District upholds country club lawsuit class action status.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Heather Cole An appeals court upheld class certification for a lawsuit against the Country Club of St. Albans over fee refunds. The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District on Tuesday issued an opinion agreeing with a circuit...

Kansas City Legal Briefs: September 26, 2008.
September 26, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick When the spouse of a federal judge is injured during a slip and fall, litigation is likely to follow. Such is the case for McCormick & Schmick's. The Plaza restaurant was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed...

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District considers recognition of false light invasion of privacy.
September 26, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District is weighing recognition of what would be a new tort in Missouri: false light invasion of privacy False light resembles defamation in that both involve publishing...

Missouri Plan supporters dissect gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof's ideas.
September 26, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter Supporters of Missouri's Nonpartisan Court Plan say the changes proposed by gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof would inject partisan politics into judicial selection, despite Hulshof's claims otherwise. Hulshof,...

Fight over Kansas City's smoking ban to persist.
September 29, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick An amendment to Kansas City's smoking ban by the City Council last week will not affect a lawsuit pending before a Jackson County judge. The council on Thursday eased up on some of the smoking restrictions...

8th Circuit erases bright line on debts.
September 29, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter A federal appeals court erased a bright-line rule against preferential transfers when it permitted certain creditors in a bankruptcy case to recoup the full amounts owed to them. Bankruptcy law allows trustees to go...

Kansas City Courthouse Roundup: September 29, 2008.
September 29, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Even though he admitted to deviating from the standard of care while operating on a 9-year-old girl, a Kansas City doctor walked away from a medical malpractice trail with a favorable verdict. A Jackson County jury...

St. Louis law firm files class action suit against H&R Block over auction-rate securities.
September 29, 2008... Byline: The Daily Record Staff The St. Louis law firm of Carey & Danis filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of those who bought auction-rate securities from H&R Block Inc. and H&R Block Financial Advisors Inc. within the last five years....

Commentary: Domestic law is all about communication.
September 29, 2008... Byline: Craig Napier While reflecting in a marble hallway this week with a colleague about a domestic situation, I was struck by my own naive attitude about domestic law. I'm naive to think that each and every one of our clients will be...

Report: U.S. Sen. Kit Bond's office wanted former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves out.
September 30, 2008... Byline: Kelly Wiese Former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves was forced to leave because U.S. Sen. Kit Bond's staff wanted him out, not because of professional misconduct or other allega-tions, a federal investigation has concluded. The U.S....

Washington University in St. Louis establishes dress code, protest zone for VP debate.
September 30, 2008... Byline: Angela Riley Some Washington University students may be lucky enough to receive tickets to the hottest ticket in town -- the vice-presidential debate -- but they won't be able to show their support of their candidate when they walk...

Man who posed as federal drug enforcement agent in Missouri pleads guilty.
September 30, 2008... Byline: Donna Walter The man who posed as a federal drug enforcement agent in Gerald, Mo., pleaded guilty Monday morning to all charges filed against him. Under the plea agreement, Bill Anthony Jakob could serve from five years to just...

Missouri A.G. candidate Michael Gibbons attacks Internet predators.
September 30, 2008... Byline: Charles Emerick Republican attorney general candidate Michael Gibbons promised to crackdown on cybercrimes if he's elected to office. Gibbons traveled to four cities across the state on Monday to announce his plans to create a...