September 2009 Archives

Circuit Judge Robert Hawley said he will rule by Wednesday in the criminal case of Ira Hatch, a disbarred attorney who is accused to taking several million dollars from clients of his now-defunct Vero Beach-based Coastal Escrow firm.  The case spans a number of years, from 2004 until Coastal Escrow unexpectedly closed in late 2007 with virtually no money in its accounts.  The case also involves Hatch’s spending at his former law firm, Hatch and Doty.  Vero Beach police arrested Hatch, 62, in early 2008 on 57 criminal charges and he is being held in the Indian River County Jail.

Judge Hawley set Tuesday’s hearing during a court session in August in which he indefinitely postponed the trial because the State Attorney’s Office added a potential key forensic accounting expert witness, a local certified public accountant, who has been reviewing Hatch’s financial records.  Eisenmenger said he needed time to review what the witness is finding.

Excerpted from tcpalm.com.

U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball ruled Monday that Elizabeth Smart will testify in court about her interactions with the homeless street preacher who took her at knife point from her home in 2002.  The hearing will determine whether Brian David Mitchell, who allegedly wanted Smart as a plural wife, is mentally competent to stand trial.  Mitchell's defense attorneys do not object to the now-21-year-old testifying about the facts of her kidnapping and nine-month captivity but they oppose allowing Smart, as a lay person, offering opinions about the self-proclaimed prophet's state of mind. The prosecution has four experts listed as potential witnesses.  Kimball said forensic psychology expert reports filed in the case -- completed without Mitchell's cooperation -- use Mitchell's history to diagnose his mental state.

"None of Ms. Smart's proposed testimony suggests that she will be opining on anything other than her lay observations," the judge said in his ruling, adding that prosecutors have said Smart will present mainly facts, with limited opinion testimony.

Excerpted from sltib.com.

An estimated 2,000 people in Austell, GA, lost their homes or sustained significant damage in last week’s flood when damage exceeded flood map boundaries.  Many property owners whose homes were ruined had no idea that their standard homeowners insurance policy would not cover damage caused by a massive flood. Those who did understand the policies probably had no inkling that a property located outside the flood zone still faced a significant chance of getting hit. Mapping experts all over Atlanta are anxious to compare the floodplain maps with aerial maps of the flooding that actually occurred. Ernie Smith, the GIS coordinator in Newton County, said the flooding appeared to remain close to the predicted flood zone around the Alcovy and South rivers. But around the Yellow River the flooding appears to exceed the expected boundaries, he said.

Only 60 flood insurance policies were in force on Austell properties, federal data show. It’s unclear now how far off the maps are for the Atlanta area. In some parts of town, the rainfall that came with the recent storm exceeded the so-called “100 year flood,” the event that has a 1-in-100 chance of occurring each year.  The U.S. Geological Survey concluded last week that rainfall in parts of Cobb and Douglas counties was so intense that it had only a 1-in-500 chance of occurring. With such an event, the flooding would be expected to extend beyond the official floodplain.

Excerpted from www.ajc.com.

Research by Moneysupermarket.com reveals that a fifth of motorists in Britain admit to driving without insurance - up by a third on 2008. The price comparison site also found that 62% of people feel that those who drive without insurance should be punished harder. Although 15% felt that the government or providers should subsidize young drivers, as a greater proportion of young people are likely to drive without insurance. Insurance expert and head of motor insurance at Moneysupermarket.com Steve Sweeney says:

Premiums can run into the thousands meaning they are out of reach for many drivers. However, I don't think harsher punishments are the right way to combat this. We need a solution, not more fines. Some car insurance providers had piloted a pay-as-you-drive insurance scheme which saw lower premiums for Britain's younger motorists. It also made them think twice about driving their cars unnecessarily. I would suggest it is time for the insurance industry to revisit these innovative models to help drive down the cost of insurance.

The Government could also take a look at driving tests and whether they should be changed to reflect actual driving habits. More lessons for younger drivers, the inclusion of motorway driving and lessons at night could reduce the underwriting risks associated with younger drivers.

Excerpted from www.which.co.uk.

Attorney and DUI expert Lawrence Taylor reports on this Chicago case:

A head emergency room nurse at Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital has sued the city and a Chicago Police officer for handcuffing her and putting her in the back of a squad car during a dispute over drawing blood from a suspected drunken driver.  Lisa Hofstra said she was the “charge nurse” in the emergency room on Aug. 1 when the officer approached her at about 4 a.m. The officer requested she perform a blood work-up on a DUI suspect, the lawsuit said. Hofstra told told the officer the suspect needed to be admitted to the hospital before she could draw the person’s blood. Hofstra said she told a police lieutenant that it was the hospital’s protocol to wait until a suspect was admitted, and the lieutenant agreed, she said.  The lieutenant left the emergency room. 

Then Hofstra called her supervisors, but before they could respond, the officer put her in handcuffs in front of her co-workers and escorted her to a squad car, according to the lawsuit…She was in the car for about 45 minutes before the situation was resolved, Hofstra said. The cuffs were too tight, requiring treatment in the hospital after she was released from custody, she said.  A security video of the incident shows the officer smiling outside the squad car as Hofstra sat inside.  Hofstra said it was a major problem for her to be removed from the emergency room at a time when there were numerous patients suffering from “bad trauma.”  She was responsible for triage — the process of deciding which patients need the most urgent attention.  If this officer is treating me the way he treated me, what is he going to do to people on the street?” Hofstra said, adding that she filed her lawsuit to “stand up for nurses.”

Taylor notes that "In cop-talk, it’s called 'attitude adjustment' or 'field-administered punishment' for not doing what you’re told."

It was a fault in its structure that made a part of the roof of the new domestic terminal, 1D, of the Indira Gandhi International Airport blow off on August 21 due to strong winds and leak in several places, said a source at the airport. Flight

operations at IGI Airport had to be shut for nearly two hours after a 30 minute heavy downpour. There was flooding in the new terminal 1D because the ceiling leaked at several places and a part of the roof near Gate 14 had crashed.

Airport operator Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) on Tuesday said in a statement that investigations carried out by the four-member committee are still on and the committee has sought time till October 15 to complete its report and suggest remedial measures. The committee is comprised of RSSLN Bhaskarudu, Independent Director (DIAL); P Seth, nominee of the Airports Authority of India; P S Nair, CEO (DIAL) and Prof (Dr) Meher Prasad, Structural Engineering Expert from IIT Chennai.

Excerpted from expressindia.com. 

Engineering expert Raymod Rase, of the engineering firm Specs, Inc., met with the Luke, Maryland, Mayor and Town Council this week to brief town officials on a new storm-water runoff ordinance that will govern new development but “grandfather” existing homes and other structures.  The expert presented the state-mandated ordinance, which takes a nine-page document that had governed stormwater runoff since 2000, and expanded it to a regulatory package more than 2 inches thick. Like revisions to sewage treatment systems that required the $26 million sewer plant upgrade just north of Westernport, Rase said the changes were prompted by concern for the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

Rase noted that existing homes, businesses and parking lots will not be affected. The act will only apply to new construction, including any building projects that NewPage may undertake.  “This is for new construction, it's not yet retroactive,” he said. “As long as everything stays as is, you don't have to do anything.”  Rase said the new law provides local government little latitude in applying the various provisions. “This isn't something we really have a lot of choice on,” he said. The town has until November to adopt a draft ordinance. A final ordinance must be adopted by next spring.

Excerpted from www.newstribune.info

Monrovia is one of 22 southern California cities to pool their money to insure themselves against losses from litigation as a member of the Independent Cities Risk Management Authority (ICRMA). For a city, or any large employer, a settlement may appear to make more financial sense than continuing a court battle. But settlements can also attract more lawsuits, according to Michael Kaddatz, interim general manager of ICRMA.

Because of insurance and other considerations, decisions on whether to fight lawsuits in court are not made just on the merits of the case.  The rising costs of fighting a case can trigger ICRMA to settle out of court.  A range of factors is taken into account when ICRMA considers whether or not to settle a case, Kaddatz said: the consortium looks at the case facts, severity of the claim and even the tendencies of the court where the suit may be tried. The costs to prevail - attorneys fees, costs to hire expert witnesses, etc. - are also taken into account, he said.  Once a city reaches its deductible, which can range from $200,000 to $2 million, ICRMA has the authority to force a settlement if it believes continued litigation costs would outweigh settlement costs.

Excerpted from www.pasadenastarnews.com.

A committee of lawmakers in Utah gave unanimous approval today to a draft bill that would make the muscle relaxer/painkiller Soma illegal to possess and a Class B misdemeanor unless a person is under current, verifiable physician's care. The abuse of Soma among patients and street sales of the drug has reached "epidemic proportions in Utah," bill sponsor Rep. Trisha Beck, D-Salt Lake, told members of the Legislature's Health and Human Services Interim Committee.

If the 2010 Legislature approves the bill, it would, in effect, be the state's official recognition of Utah's so-called "other drug problem" and would put Utah among 17 states that have adopted stricter regulations on Soma than the federal government. The U.S. Federal Drug Administration has recommended that the drug be similarly classified, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency is expected to follow suit.

Lawmakers decided they can't wait. Expert witnesses told the committee that incidents of the drug factoring into the deaths or major medical problems and in criminal activity increased nearly sixfold — to 3,845 from 645 — in Utah between 2000 to 2008.  The drug can draw as much as $80 per pill on the street, where it is getting notoriety as the thing to take to enhance the euphoria users get from taking other painkillers such as OxyContin and its street version, heroin.

Excerpted from www.deseretnews.com.

Richard J. Hubeny III, 53, has three weeks to hire a medical expert witness to testify about the effects of Tasers on human bodies after he was accused of shooting a police chief.  The Iroquois County, IL, resident is charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and domestic battery after police were called to his home June 6 on a report of a suicidal person.

Onarga Police Chief Phil Statler was shot in the arm when a gun discharged while he and Gilman Police Officer Jim Lehmkuhl were trying to subdue Hubeny, Iroquois County sheriff's reports said. Hubeny had been shot in the chest with a Taser, model X26, before the gun went off.

Excerpted from www.daily-journal.com.

A federal appeals court overturned a Caltech graduate student's convictions on two counts of arson for his role in the 2003 torching of several SUVs at San Gabriel Valley, CA, car dealers, attacks authorities blamed on a radical environmentalist group.  The U.S. Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit upheld the conviction of William Cottrell, 26, on a conspiracy count, but the court vacated two arson convictions in its ruling, issued last week but made public Thursday.

The court agreed with Cottrell's attorneys, who argued that the judge in his trial should have allowed testimony from medical expert witnesses regarding Cottrell's Asperger's syndrome. "It was relevant and could have assisted the jury's determination of whether Cottrell had the specific intent required for aiding and abetting (arson)," the court's ruling said.

Excerpted from PasadenaStarNews.com.

The U.S. Department of Transportation says the death toll on the nation's highways dropped in 2008 to 37,261, a 9.7 decrease from the 2007 total and the lowest level since 1961. The trend continued in the first quarter of 2009; the 7,689 traffic related fatalities from January through March represent a 9 percent decline from the same period a year ago.

Insurance expert Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, says that in 1970 around 55,000 people were dying on U.S. roadways every year, so recent trends are definitely going in the right direction. Speaking at a conference held by the Insurance Council of Texas in July 2009, Lund said much of the recent decrease in traffic fatalities has a lot to do with the economic downturn.

"When the economy tanks one of the few good things about it is people are driving less, they are driving more safely and we don't kill as many people on the roads. That's unfortunately why we're down to 37,000 deaths in 2008," Lund said. Vehicle miles traveled during the first three months of 2009 declined by about 11.7 billion miles, according to preliminary data collected by the Federal Highway Administration. Lund suggested that those numbers will start to creep back up as the economy recovers.

Excerpted from InsuranceJournal.com.

Nationally known medical expert Dr. Michael Baden was called by the defense to testify Friday in Palm Beach that 89-year-old Elly Lorey died of a combination of natural causes - including Alzheimer's, heart and kidney disease - and that her death was not a homicide. In testimony related to whether Lorey was starved, the former New York City chief medical examiner and star of the HBO series 'Autopsy', said yellow spots in autopsy photos of the emaciated woman's belly showed that some fat remained on her body.

"I don't think there's any evidence from a medical examiner point of view that anything's here that would indicate somebody caused her death" said Baden.  Prosecutors are arguing that Lorey's daughter Kerstin Fenn and Kerstin's husband Toby caused her death by withholding food and medical care.

Excerpted from PalmBeachPost.com.

 

The intellectual property trial between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC, Hsinchu, Taiwan) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC, Shanghai, China) began Wednesday in  Alameda County Superior Court.  The SMIC attorney said he will call a series of technology experts to show that what TSMC claims to be trade secrets are in reality process-related information that is readily available within the industry's published literature, with ion implant recipes as a promised example to be provided later in the trial. 

David Steuer of the Wilson, Sonsini said he will show evidence that "TSMC wanted to destroy SMIC and pick up the pieces" in an acquisition of SMIC. "Why? Because SMIC is in China, and in China TSMC cannot open up an operation with leading technology" due to Taiwan government technology transfer restrictions.  "This case is all about China," he concluded.

Excerpted from semiconductor.net.

Dr. Jack W. Snyder was a physician, a licensed attorney and a full time senior official at the National Institute of Health (NIH). He also served as a medical expert witness in many criminal and civil cases across the United States, particularly as a witness for the defense of asbestos manufacturers. When he began working with the NIH, an ethics employee instructed him to stop doing this outside work as an expert witness, but he disregarded this for years.

Snyder got caught during a 2007 deposition with former Baron & Budd attorney Troy Chandler in an asbestos case concerning a welder who developed mesothelioma in the course of his work. During his sworn testimony, Snyder lied to downplay his role at the NIH and the corresponding conflicts of interest. He also lied by stating that available medical and scientific literature did not support a causal connection to cancer in even the most extreme cases of asbestos exposure.

Chandler wrote letters to Snyder’s boss at the NIH and to the Office of Inspector General to look into Snyder’s side work as a legal consultant. The U.S. Attorney’s office got involved as well, launching an investigation that ended with Snyder being convicted of making false statements on NIH financial disclosure forms.

Excerpted from mestheliomanews.com.

 

An article in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now acknowledged receiving 98 reports of suicides and 188 reports of suicide attempts that appear to be linked to use of Chantix, a prescription medication for smoking cessation. In addition, the FDA has received reports of patients taking the drug being involved in motor vehicle crashes.

At the same time, the FDA which has approved Chantix, seems focused on keeping electronic cigarettes, which have yet to be proven harmful, from the public.  A growing number of tobacco control and medical professionals are questioning the motives of the FDA. Medical expert Dr. Michael Siegel, associate chairman and a professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health, wonders why the FDA is threatening to take electronic cigarettes off the market.

“If Chantix has been studied and has been found to have likely caused 98 deaths and an additional 188 attempted suicides and it is allowed to remain on the market because smoking cessation is such an important goal, then what is the point of removing e-cigarettes from the market while studying its potential adverse effects? Suppose e-cigarettes were to be found to have caused 100 deaths. Would that warrant taking it off the market, since it - like Chantix - is helping people to quit smoking?” Dr. Siegel asks in a statement released by the Center for Public Accountability in Tobacco Control.

Excerpted from emailwire.com.

Dave Jansen testified as a forensic accounting expert for the plaintiff in Muscogee (Creed) Nation Distric Court case CV 2009-33 in which the Muscogee (Creek) Nation administration and six MCN communities are battling over gaming funds. Lawyers for the six communities had requested more time to review audit reports, which were completed and made available in August.  The investigations into the communities’ finances were conducted with a focus on tracking gaming funds. Determining certain monetary amounts and tracking those monies caused Jansen to believe practices within the communities resulted in co-mingling of funds.

MCN controller Rodgers said the total of the monies seized from the communities amounted to $20 million to $21 million. Questions were directed to Rodgers as to the financial health of the Nation if the funds were to remain in the custody of MCN or if the funds were returned to the communities.

Excerpted from www.nativetimes.com.

Construction expert Davy Sukamta said last week that well-constructed high-rise buildings in Jakarta could stand an earthquake up to a magnitude of 8, if the epicenter was not in Jakarta.  However, Ahmad Juhara, an architecture expert from the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Association of Architects, said that a lack of emergency procedures from building management meant that casualties and injuries could still occur. He suggested that workers should demand their right to safety and emergency procedures in their office such as standard operational procedures for emergencies and also evacuation drills. "There should be a person designated to manage emergency situations," and disaster preparations should be included in the initial stages of building construction and be handled by certified construction services.

Jakarta was among the cities affected by the 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the southern coast of West Java.  Office workers rushed out of their buildings through emergency stairwells. "Yesterday's quake had a magnitude of 7.3, if it reached 8.0, which is 10 times bigger, buildings in Jakarta would still stand," said the chairman of the Association of Indonesian Construction Experts, Davy Sukamta.  However, Davy said that residential houses were more prone to damage as they were not usually designed to weather earthquakes.

Excerpted from thejakartapost.com.

A new analysis finds lead levels in many lipsticks are higher than those reported in 2007 by the consumer advocacy group Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. This new analysis, conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and published in a recent issue of the Journal of Cosmetic Science, used new techniques to determine the lead levels. 

Medical expert Dr. Sean Palfrey, a professor of pediatrics and public health at Boston University School of Medicine and medical director of Boston's Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, says  that the levels are low, but wondered if they could build up to more toxic amounts, especially in fetuses and children. "If you put this on your mouth every day, or little kids' mouths or when you're pregnant, is this small amount of lead building up in a way that would actually affect infants, fetuses and young children significantly over time?" 

Excerpted from ajc.com.

The capital’s high rises were left largely unscathed after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the island of Java Wednesday, with cracks on floors and walls the only tell-tale signs a temblor had occurred. This, experts said, was proof that Jakarta was in a good position to withstand further quakes. “With the earthquake today, no building collapsed even though the magnitude was quite strong,” said architecture expert Budi Sukanda, chairman of the Indonesian Association of Architects, adding that most buildings in Indonesia would survive a 7.0-magnitude quake.  He added that a 1985 city regulation required new buildings to be quake resistant, but that buildings constructed earlier than that had already implemented quake-proof measures.

Adang Surahman, an earthquake engineering expert, said most buildings in Jakarta could withstand a horizontal acceleration of up to 20-30 percent of gravity, an engineering measure of the side-to-side movement of buildings. Stronger than that, he said, most buildings would collapse.  “The earthquake we have just experienced was only around a 5 percent horizontal acceleration, so we were relatively safe.”

Excerpted from thejakartaglobe.com.

Based on a ruling from a Charleston judge, Bausch & Lomb Inc. plans to seek to dismiss the majority of active lawsuits stemming from the 2006 global recall of a top-selling contact lens solution.  Chief U.S. District Court judge David C. Norton in Charleston last week granted the eye-products maker's request to exclude the testimony of a medical expert in more than 1,000 complaints that have been filed by individuals.

Bausch & Lomb already has paid out more than $250 million to settle about 600 lawsuits linking MoistureLoc to a potentially blinding fungal infection known as Fusarium keratitis.  But after a three-day hearing in New York in June on the admissibility of expert evidence, Norton said in an Aug. 26 ruling that there is no reliable scientific basis in the 1,024 remaining complaints for arguing that MoistureLoc caused various eye infections.  He said attorneys who were relying on the opinion of corneal expert Dr. Elisabeth Cohen to support their cases "did not submit any peer-reviewed studies, articles or case reports concluding that there is a causal relationship" between MoistureLoc and the infections.

Excerpted from postandcourier.com.

Jason Stinson, the former head football coach at Pleasure Ridge Park High School, was in court Aug. 31 for the start of his trial on charges of reckless homicide and wanton endangerment in the death of one of his players, Max Gilpin. Gilpin was 15 when he collapsed on the PRP practice field on August 20, 2008. Gilpin died three days later in the hospital.

Emergency medicine expert and U of L Professor Dr. William Smock has testified in the past as an expert witness for police and prosecutors. "The opinion was that Max, he died of heat stroke, but he did not die of dehydration," Smock said. "That was not the cause of his heat stroke. Based upon the information that I had read, in the medical record and the emergency medical literature, that the most likely cause of Max's heat stroke was that related to the use of amphetamines. That would have been Adderall."

Prosecutors argued that Smock's background does not qualify him as an expert on Adderall, a drug used to treat narcolepsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Excerpted from wave3.com.