One day in November 2005 after classes had ended for the day at King High School in Tampa, Otis Lorenzo Neal got out of a van and fired into a group of fellow teenagers in the parking lot at a nearby McDonald’s, killing one and wounding three others. Now a lawyer for Alexander McKinnie, one of the wounded students, is suing the restaurant, saying it should have foreseen and prevented the shooting “‘because of regular fighting amongst teenagers, gang activity, thefts, robberies, assaults and other crimes’ that took place at the restaurant and in the vicinity”. (Rebecca Catalanello, “Man sues McDonald’s for negligence in a 2005 shooting near King High”, St. Petersburg Times, Feb. 6; Justin George, “Plea deal in student killing”, St. Petersburg Times, Jan. 31).
Posts Tagged ‘crime and punishment’
Genarlow Wilson, Inmate #1187055
“Genarlow Wilson, honor student and football star, had consensual sex with a fellow teenager. What happened to him next was a crime.” Once the target of recruiting efforts by Ivy League coaches, the Douglasville, Ga. native is now twenty years old and Inmate No. 1187055 at Burruss Correctional Training Center, an hour and a half south of Atlanta. His crime? Sex with a 15-year-old girl, when he was 17. “Everyone, including the girl and the prosecution, agreed she initiated the act.” The operation of Georgia law was what you might call Draconian: “Just two years into a 10-year sentence without possibility of parole, he peers through the thick glass and bars, trying to catch a glimpse of freedom. Outside, guard towers and rolls of coiled barbed wire remind him of who he is.” (Wright Thompson, “Outrageous Injustice”, ESPN E-Ticket magazine, no date posted; Wilson appeal website; Chandra R. Thomas, “Why Is Genarlow Wilson in Prison?”, Atlanta magazine, no date posted; Sherry F. Colb, “The Harsh Wages of Sin: Why Genarlow Wilson is Languishing in Prison”, FindLaw, Jan. 10; Doug Berman, Jan. 24).
More: Georgia lawmaker has introduced bill that would allow for more lenient resentencing in Wilson case ((Alyson M. Palmer, “Ga. Bill Takes Aim at Sentencing That Resulted in 10-Year Term for Teen Sex”, Fulton County Daily Report, Jan. 29).
“These men are remarkably sophisticated consumers of legal talent”
But then the Hell’s Angels have been repeat customers of attorneys’ services for long enough to build up an expertise (Thomas J. Lueck, “After Police Search, Hells Angels Brace for Fight”, New York Times, Feb. 1)(quoting attorney Ronald L. Kuby). More: Feb. 10, 1996 (California county agrees to pay nearly $1 million after police shot and killed three guard dogs belonging to Hell’s Angels club).
“Homicide conspiracy” indictments in Tennessee
Litigious Unabomber
He’s got plenty of time, alone there in his prison cell, to work on making sure his legal rights get asserted far and wide. (Serge F. Kovaleski, “Unabomber Wages Legal Battle to Halt the Sale of Papers”, New York Times, Jan. 22).
Duke rape accuser changes story again
Maybe its time to join FoxNews.com in putting quote marks around rape in the headline (“Duke Lacrosse ‘Rape’ Accuser Changes Story Again, Says Seligmann Didn’t Touch Her”, AP/FoxNews.com, Jan. 11; Joseph Neff, “Accuser changes story in lacrosse case”, Raleigh News & Observer, Jan. 11). Dorothy Rabinowitz of the Wall Street Journal is one who isn’t laughing (“The Michael Nifong Scandal”, OpinionJournal.com, Jan. 11).
Lerach’s slippery affidavit
If ever you wonder while trial lawyers have a bad reputation, there’s no need to invent sinister conspiracies between moderate Supreme Court justices and the Chamber of Commerce. Just take a look at the affidavit of one of the leading lights of the plaintiffs’ class-action bar, Bill Lerach, as he tries to argue to a court that his client cannot fire him. Roger Parloff did, and the results are entertaining; and other journalists could certainly learn a lesson from Parloff’s skepticism and willingness to read between the lines. Earlier: POL Dec. 15 and Dec. 28.
The Duke rape case unravels
Los Angeles: Where Even the Prosecutors Are in Show Biz
In the sort of cases covered by this site, public relations overshadow substance all too often. For a glimpse of how even public servants — in this case the prosecutors of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office — are keeping a constant eye on the P.R. possibilities of their cases, consider this report from former Los Angeles Times reporter-turned-blogger, Kevin Roderick (LA Observed, "Rocky’s office defines what makes news," Dec. 22):
A recent email reminded all the lawyers in City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo’s criminal branch never to talk to reporters without clearance — and how they should recognize a newsworthy legal case. Public safety? Important public issue at stake? Nah, this is L.A.
Number one is any case involving a celebrity — ‘no matter how minor’ — followed closely by a politician. Death, mutilation, child molestation or animal cruelty are also sure bets.
Terrorism shows up as the tenth item on the list, slightly behind cases representing a "major personal accomplishment for the prosecutor" and not far ahead of cases involving "a truly weird fact pattern."
Roderick reproduces the entire long e-mail — repetitiously entitled "Improving Communications with the Communications Department" — which prescribes an elaborate protocol for keeping "’primary points of contact"’ within the Communications Department" [formerly the "Press Office"] informed as cases proceed, and concludes with a reminder that it pays to plan ahead, even before bringing charges:
[I]f you have a case that is very likely to attract media attention, such
as a celebrity justice case, you may want to obtain guidance from the
Communications Department in advance of the filing, arraignment, trial,
etc. regarding how to deal with expected press inquiries.
What a wonderful phrase: "Celebrity justice." Welcome to L.A.
Oh, Snap! The Cold Claws of Justice Close on Fraudulent Work Comp Claimant
Via Insurance Journal (Dec. 21), the story of William Fennelly, now sentenced to seven months in jail for perjury committed in support of a fraudulent workers’ compensation claim.
Fennelly claimed to have been totally incapacitated by an on the job back injury, and was collecting benefits from Maine Employers Mutual Insurance Company [MEMIC]. At the same time that he maintained he was unable to work, Fennelly was busily toiling away and collecting wages from several employers as a lobsterman.
As investigators trawled deeper, the truth got murkier. Not only was Fennelly commercial fishing while collecting workers’ compensation, he was also employed at the Town of Lamoine Transfer Station and earned wages as a sternman aboard another boat — none of which he report to MEMIC, which he was obligated to do by Maine law.
* * *
Under oath, he repeatedly denied working. When confronted with Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound records, he said he didn’t make ‘one penny’ and declared he only drove the boat to train an apprentice. He then testified there was no way to prove earnings because he did not have a bank account due to back child support that he owed.
When a subpoena turned up two bank accounts, one with deposited checks from the lobster pound, a new story of fronting the apprentice with workers’ comp money for bait unfolded. But Fennelly had no answer as to why he deposited a Trenton Bridge check, a MEMIC check and a Town of Lamoine check all on the same day. And evidence to confirm the apprenticeship story never materialized.
Note that Fennelly was witholding support payments at the same time he lied to the insurer. An all around upstanding citizen and now a guest of the State, tangled in the net of his own deceptions.