Texas, KXAN: “A Liberty Hill man faces life in prison for aggravated perjury charges after claiming he was innocent following a plea bargain with the Williamson County District Attorney’s Office.” He’s now been found guilty. Jamie Spencer at Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer scents a prosecutorial grasp for advantage.
Also on the topic of plea bargains, Scott Greenfield has some thoughts on the coerciveness of the process.
Apparently thousands of British borrowers had guns held to their heads when they signed on to mortgages that provided low or zero interest rates but promised the lenders the lion’s share of future increases in home value. The subsequent huge runup in housing prices in Great Britain made this a great deal for the banks, and some of the homeowners are now taking their retrospective buyers’ remorse to court in a group action. [Independent] Note the interesting use of the phrase “trapped in their homes and unable to move”, which appears from context to mean “free to move, but lacking the large accumulation of equity that they wish they had”.
Add another to our list of tavern patrons who discovered that dancing on the bar was not as safe a pastime as they initially assumed. This time the scene of the accident, and target of the resulting lawsuit, is Nashville’s Coyote Ugly Saloon. Her attorney says Ms. Barnes “‘had had a few drinks’ but was not drunk.” [Tennessean via Day]
“A Dallas woman has filed a lawsuit seeking six figures from a former neighbor and landlord for damage she says was caused by cigarette smoke wafting through adjoining walls of her high-end townhome. ‘Smoking is not a right, it’s a privilege,’ said Chris Daniel, a retired nurse.” [Dallas Morning News]
Per its critics, at least, who include a vice president of the Florida bar association [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]. More: AP.
The disbarred lawyer and anti-videogame crusader says the social networking site is responsible for tolerating user posts that he says constitute physical threats to his well-being. [PC Mag, Ken at Popehat] More: Citizen Media Law.
U.S. District Judge William Smith in Providence vacated a $388 million award to Uniloc, a Singapore-based company, ruling that the jury “lacked a grasp of the issues before it and reached a finding without a legally sufficient basis.” [Bloomberg]
A Missouri statute raises various civil-liberties and Bill of Rights problems. [Columbia, Mo. Tribune]