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Homeowner Get 122K in Hidden Cash, Court Says
Law Firm Press Release |
2008/09/30 07:10
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The $122,000 cash that an electrician found hidden in a ceiling belongs to the woman who bought the home, not the seller's estate, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled.
Helen Sollars bought a home from the estate of Helene Valoff in Milwaukie, Ore. An electrician found the money more than a year after the purchase.
The trial court ruled that the city should release the disputed money to the estate, because the real estate transfer was not intended to include the money.
Judge Ortega disagreed, citing the language the estate was required to remove personal property and leave other items. So, when the estate left Sollars the refrigerator, stove, and window coverings, it also left her the money.
Nothing in the requirement that the estate remove all personal property provides any exception based on the parties' knowledge of such property, Ortega wrote. |
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Court Clears Microsoft in $1.5 Billion Patent Action by Lucent
Law Firm Press Release |
2008/09/29 07:16
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Microsoft Corp. does not have to pay $1.53 billion in damages awarded to Lucent Technologies in a dispute over two patents for compressing digital music into MP3 format, the Federal Circuit ruled. The court affirmed U.S. District Judge Rudi Brewster's decision to throw out a jury's verdict against the world's largest software maker.
In February 2007 the San Diego jury ruled that Microsoft's Windows Media Player infringed on Lucent's patents. Brewster tossed the verdict in August 2007, finding that the jury had improperly used the value of the entire computer as the royalty base.
The Federal Circuit held that Microsoft had not infringed one of the two patents, and that Lucent lacked standing to sue Microsoft over the second patent. |
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Attorney's Letter To Jurors Questioned
Law Firm Press Release |
2008/09/24 07:11
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An attorney may face federal contempt charges for contacting jurors who ruled against his client in a civil rights case. James Ensz sent a questionnaire to the jurors this month after representing a Lee's Summit police officer, court records indicate.
Ensz represented Lee's Summit Police Officer Richard McKinley, who was sued for allegedly conspiring to arrest Theodore White on trumped-up child molestation charges. The jury awarded White $16 million after White spent 5 years in prison before being acquitted.
White claimed McKinley hid evidence and covered up an affair he had with White's estranged wife, whom McKinley later married.
In the questionnaire, Ensz asked jurors whether they found certain witnesses credible, how much certain pieces of evidence affected their decision, whether they felt the judge favored one side or the other, and asked for specific examples of favoritism and how it affected the verdict.
Court documents show that U.S. District Judge Nancy Laughrey held a telephone conference with attorneys to discuss the questionnaire.
The court informed Mr. Ensz that it is inappropriate to send out correspondence to the jury ... A party must obtain permission from the court in advance of contacting any juror, the meeting's minutes state.
Judge Laughrey has scheduled an Oct. 14 contempt hearing for Ensz.
Ensz defended his actions in a memo requesting that the hearing be canceled.
There is nothing inappropriate about the questions asked, nor is there any pressure placed upon jurors to respond to the questionnaire should they choose not to respond, Ensz wrote.
There is no set penalty for Ensz if he is found guilty of contempt, but federal guidelines allow fines and jail time. |
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EPA Must Set Pollution Standards for Builders
Legal World News |
2008/09/23 06:58
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The Environmental Protection Agency must develop pollution standards for storm water runoff from construction sites or risk violation of the Clean Water Act, the 9th Circuit ruled.
The EPA identified the construction industry as a point-source category of pollution in its 2000 environmental plan, but then exempted the industry from the plan in 2004, skipping a three-year deadline to develop standards after listing.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, along with the Waterkeeper Alliance, filed suit against the EPA and its administrator, Stephen Johnson, for violating their duty to promulgate effluent limitation guidelines and new source performance standards for toxic storm water runoff from construction sites.
The environmental groups have standing because the polluted storm water ran into waterways that the groups' members use for recreation, the appeals court ruled. The National Association of Home Builders and Associated General Contractors of America, intervening on behalf of the government, argued that even if the runoff contained pollutants, the water wasn't toxic. The 9th Circuit disagreed. In fact, the EPA has explicitly stated that storm water runoff from construction sites includes toxic and non-conventional pollutants, Judge Smith wrote.
The Clean Water Act clearly outlines the EPA's responsibility to develop standards for polluters within three years of developing a plan, the ruling states. The Act does not give the EPA authority to remove a point-source category from its plan once it is identified, or the three-year deadline would be meaningless, the court ruled. Also, the intensive listing process, which allows for public review and comment, shows that the agency seriously considered adding the construction industry before its listing.
The three-year delay ... is not to decide whether to list a point-source category, Smith wrote, but to allow the EPA to consider what the substance of the (standards) should be. |
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