October 2009 Archives

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Hector Ruiz, the former chief executive of Advanced Micro Devices Inc., was the unnamed executive who federal investigators say disclosed confidential information about AMD's manufacturing plans to New York hedge fund executives last year. Ruiz has been linked to a wide-ranging insider trading case that led to charges of securities fraud against six people this month.  All six defendants in the case have pleaded not guilty. If they are convicted, they face prison terms of up to 20 years and penalties for any profits they made trading on the inside information.

Michael Perino, a professor and securities expert at St. John's University School of Law, said that generally speaking, the exchange of confidential information is often the result of hubris, but it can also come from a feeling of invincibility.  "Sometimes, people think there is a very low probability that they'll actually get caught," Perino said. "Sometimes, it's a matter of prestige, showing you're someone who knows what's going on."

Source: www.statesman.com.

Construction crews from Sacramento-based MCM Construction and Caltrans are repairing the damaged section of the Bay Bridge but aren't sure exactly what day and at what time the bridge will re-open to traffic.  Engineering expert witnesses around Northern California offered cautions but also said the failure of the Labor Day solution doesn't mean bridges can't be fixed quickly.  Civil engineering expert Dauwn Cheng, assistant professor of civil engineering at UC Davis, said she was "shocked" by the failure.

Caltrans officials closed the bridge Tuesday when a newly installed 100-foot-long steel rod snapped, pulling another rod and part of a 6,000-pound steel clamp down onto the roadway during the evening commute, damaging three vehicles but causing only minor injuries.  Wednesday, Caltrans officials acknowledged the design did not work. They said they believe high winds caused the patch's 100-foot-long metal rods to vibrate and rub against other, causing one to break.

Source: www.sacbee.com.

A federal jury Monday convicted tax protester and author Peter Hendrickson on 10 counts of filing false documents.  Hendrickson, 54, of Commerce Township, MI, and the author of "Cracking the Code," could face prison when he is sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen on Feb. 9. Each count is a three-year felony.  Hendrickson's trial began Oct. 20 on charges he falsely reported zero or nominal income on his 2000-06 tax returns when he earned tens of thousands of dollars each year.

Testifying in his own defense, Hendrickson told jurors that income tax is an excise tax and excise taxes may only be levied upon those who benefit from a government privilege such as a government job. But the government called forensic accounting expert witnesses from the Internal Revenue Service who rejected Hendrickson's arguments. Hendrickson, who is free on bond to await his sentencing, was convicted in 1992 for failing to file a federal income tax return and for a conspiracy involving a fire bomb placed in a bin at a Royal Oak post office.

Source: detnews.com.

The company that holds thousands of artifacts from the Titanic luxury liner returned to federal court in Norfolk on Monday seeking sole title to the property and an end to more than 15 years of legal wrangling over the treasure.  After the Titanic's discovery and subsequently the first expedition to retrieve the artifacts in 1987, ownership of the property has been a legal and corporate challenge.  Lawyers for the company said they will present about 15 expert witnesses, including appraisal experts who estimated the worth of the artifacts. The $110 million figure, the appraisers said in a court filing, is not to be taken literally.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith opened a hearing that will determine the fate of the artifacts lifted from the depths of the North Atlantic.  Premier Exhibitions Inc., the parent company of RMS Titanic Inc., has asked the court to award it sole title to the artifacts with covenants to preserve them forever, or alternatively, a cash award of the estimated value of the pieces.  The company also notified the court that it has begun initial planning for another expedition to the site, tentatively scheduled for 2010.

Excerpted from hamptonroads.com.

The Yearning For Zion Ranch trial begins today and will be the first of 10 criminal trials for men in the sect. The state claims FLDS members prey on their children by marrying girls to older men, often their blood relatives while FLDS leaders and members claim the state is persecuting it for practicing its religion.

Jessop, 37, has pleaded not guilty to the charge of sexual assault of a minor, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison. Defense attorneys have launched a variety of actions since the April 2008 raid, among them motions earlier this year to have the evidence seized at the ranch suppressed, arguing that the original search warrant was flawed, and in the past week a 25-page consolidated motion to have the original indictments against all the men quashed because of the 12 grand jury members only one was Hispanic, although the population of Schleicher County includes more than 37 percent Hispanic people.

One name on the witness list is John P. “Jack” Sampson, a University of Texas law professor who said Friday he had been called as an expert witness on Texas family code provisions regarding marriages.  Other witnesses on the list include numerous law enforcement officers, officials from the Department of Family and Protective Services, former sect member and author Carolyn Jessop, three sect members from the YFZ Ranch, a Denton attorney, forensic accounting experts and clerks from check cashing stores.

Excerpted from gosanangelo.com.

Geology expert J. Berton Fisher has given extensive testimony for Oklahoma about poultry waste and its application in the Illinois River watershed.  The expert's firm has spent about five years gathering data on pollution in the watershed, testified that the poultry companies sued by Oklahoma in 2005 have polluted surface water, ground water, soil and sediment.

The state is suing 11 poultry companies, saying they are legally responsible for the handling and disposal of poultry waste — also known as litter — that the state says has damaged the watershed. During his testimony before U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell in Tulsa, Fisher discussed the phosphorus, copper, zinc and arsenic that the state asserts are contaminants in the watershed that can be traced to the poultry industry.

On Wednesday, Fisher repeated his assertion that the chemical composition of poultry waste — including its high concentrations of phosphorus, copper, zinc and arsenic — is distinct from that of cattle waste in the area. Defense attorneys tried to establish on cross examination that Fisher's emphasis on those four substances as a sort of "fingerprint" of poultry waste has not been replicated to any extent by other scientists.

Excerpted from tulsaworld.com.

The Louisiana Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously rejected arguments that the convicted killer of a Baton Rouge police officer should be spared the death penalty because he is diagnosed as mildly mentally retarded.  Justice Greg Guidry authored the decision, which affirmed the conviction and death penalty for Shedran Williams, 39.

A store detective sought Lt. Vickie Wax’s assistance after noticing that Williams was leaving the business without paying for two cameras in his back pockets, court records show. Williams seized Wax’s pistol, fatally shot her, wounded the detective and another witness, then bolted from the store and hijacked a car in the parking lot, according to Guidry’s summary of the case. Williams later surrendered. A jury rejected Williams’ claim that he is mildly retarded. They heard conflicting testimony on that issue from expert witnesses for the defense and prosecution, Guidry noted.  "We do not find the jurors were confused on the issues or the evidence before them,” Guidry wrote.

Excerpted from 2theadvocate.com.

In Feds Should Look At West Virginia Reform Laws, Donna Brinkel, RN, writes:

Thanks to civil justice reform, West Virginia is ahead of many states in reform laws. We need to ensure the same kind of proactive legislation continues at state and federal levels while investigating other alternatives.

The West Virginia Legislature has worked to pass laws to secure the medical liability system and maintain patient access to care. Reformation included a state-run insurance program for physicians to obtain liability insurance, a tax credit to assist with their rising premiums, prohibition of third-party bad faith claims, requiring notice of claims and a certificate of merit prior to filing a medical malpractice claim, expansion of the juries in medical liability cases from six to 12 members, a $250,000 non-economic damages cap, a $500,000 trauma cap, elimination of joint liability, creation of a patient injury fund, and more stringent medical expert witness requirements.

Excerpted from bdtonline.com.

Plainfield Township, IL, residents have filed a lawsuit against the Lakelands Community Homeowners Association over a Lakelands subdivision berm that they say will put their property under water during heavy storms. A temporary restraining order halting work on the DuPage River block was issued last week by a Will County judge, and a preliminary injunction that would stop construction until the matter is settled in court is being sought.  The plaintiffs have hired Joliet attorney Carl Buck and expect to hire an engineering expert witness to testify that while the berm will prevent the river from flooding the Lakelands subdivision, the water it diverts will flood property farther down river.

The proof, they say, is the flooding that occurred after heavy storms in September 2008. Lakelands used sandbags to create a temporary berm, which the plaintiffs say created higher river levels elsewhere and resulted in an overflow of water onto their land. "They may have a right to block the water on their property, but they don't have a right to divert it and push it back onto other property," plaintiff Carl Bryant said.

Excerpted from www.chicagosuburbannews.com.

The defense lawyer for Kristen A. LaBrie, the Salem, MA, woman accused of withholding cancer treatment from her 9-year-old son, who died in March, seems to be exploring a possible insanity defense for her trial.  On Wednesday in Salem Superior Court, defense lawyer Kevin G. James asked the court to allow $3,000 for him to hire a psychologist, Dr. Frederick Krell, of Salem, to examine LaBrie in anticipation that her defense at trial could be that she could not conform her actions to the requirement of the law because she lacked criminal responsibility at the time.

James must notify Assistant District Attorney Kate B. MacDougall if he intends to use a criminal responsibility defense prior to the trial. Then MacDougall will have her own medical expert examine LaBrie concerning that issue for a diagnosis.  James also was allowed $3,000 to hire an independent oncologist to conduct a medical record examination of the 3,500-plus pages and offer an expert opinion.

Excerpted from www.thedailyitemoflynn.com.

In More Hype Than Hope, environmental expert Zoltan Mester, Ph.D., explains how conservation evaporates ethanol's benefits for cars:

Assuming 3.4 billion Barrels (average 9.3 million Barrels per day) of gasoline consumed in 2006 the 5.7 billion gallons (372,000 Barrels per day) of maximum ethanol production represents 4 percent of the gasoline pool. The percentage of gasoline that can be replaced by ethanol drops to a modest 2.9 percent (266,000bbl per day) because it takes 1.4 unit volume of ethanol to replace 1 unit volume of gasoline to account for equivalent heat contents in these fuels.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandated a steady growth in annual ethanol production from renewable sources reaching 7.5 billion gallons of output in 2012. Renewable sources include dedicated energy crops, trees, wood, plants, grasses, fibers, agricultural residues, and waste materials. Assuming 10 percent increase in gasoline consumption in 2012 compared to present levels, the 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol targeted by the Energy Policy Act from any renewable sources would still replace only 3.4 percent of the gasoline pool adjusted for equivalent heating values. To achieve this goal from corn alone would require 32 percent increase in the quantity of corn dedicated to ethanol production compared to the present level. This scenario would likely upset the balance with other important uses of corn such as food for humans and feed for livestock.

In More Hype Than Hope, environmental expert Zoltan Mester, Ph.D., explains how conservation evaporates ethanol's benefits for cars:

The sharp increase in crude oil prices during the past year created an urgent need to search for alternative sources of transportation fuels. Ethanol emerged as the primary candidate to replace a part of the gasoline pool used for transportation. Ethanol can be produced from carbohydrates which are abundantly present in nature as key structural and functional constituents of plants. Carbohydrates come in a great variety including simple sugars, most prominently glucose, and in more complex forms such as starch and cellulose, which consist of several thousand interconnected glucose units. Ethanol production from complex carbohydrates is a two-step process: first the carbohydrate structure has to be broken down to its simple sugar units which in turn need to be converted to ethanol by fermentation. Starch can be converted to ethanol with relative ease while other carbohydrates such as cellulose are more resistant to ethanol conversion. Factors influencing commercial scale ethanol production include availability of the renewable source material in sufficient quantities, efficient means of conversions to ethanol, attractive pricing conditions, government subsidies and tax incentives.

In the USA more than 95 percent of the ethanol is produced from corn, while other sources include cheese whey, barley and shorgum. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasted 10,550 million bushels of corn crop from 71 million acres of land for 2006. Approximately 20 percent (2,100 million bushels) of the corn crop is slated for ethanol production.

School security expert Kenneth S. Trump says "most school administrators strive for firm, fair, and consistent discipline applied with good common sense. Unfortunately, in some higher-profile cases the 'common sense' part is missing from the equation."  Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, said students need consequences, but they must be appropriate to the context of the situation, the disciplinary and academic history of the student, age appropriateness, and related factors.  His comments followed the recent case of a Delaware 6-year-old being suspended from regular classes for 45 days for possession of a Boy Scout multi-purpose utensil which included a knife, fork, and spoon.

"The consequences for a 6-year-old bringing a Boy Scout utensil with a knife for show-and-tell should be different from a 16-year-old brining a bag of knives, guns, and other weapons with the intent to kill students and teachers. Both actions are inappropriate, but context and common sense must be factored into administrative decisions as to what the exact consequences will be," Trump said.  Trump says schools have developed tunnel vision focus in training school administrators on how to improve test scores, but often fail to provide adequate training on discipline and school safety issues.

Excerpted from expertclick.com.

On Sept. 17, the Washington Supreme Court found unconstitutional a state law requiring patients, at the initial filing of a lawsuit, to submit a statement from a medical expert certifying that there was a reasonable basis for the allegations. The court unanimously said the certificate-of-merit statute encroached on the court's ability to set its own procedural rules, violating the separation of powers between the Legislature and the judiciary. In particular, the court found that the law conflicted with an existing rule barring additional verification of a case.

A majority of the court's nine justices also said the measure burdened patients' access to the courts by requiring them to submit evidence supporting their claims without the benefit of the full discovery process to uncover such facts. But two justices disagreed with that part of the ruling, saying the courts and lawmakers have the discretion to impose reasonable restrictions on cases that do not necessarily violate patients' rights. "In this case, the Legislature's interest to curb malpractice insurance costs outweighs the moderate burden on the plaintiff," Justice Barbara A. Madsen wrote. She noted that even without the certificate of merit, patients still must present expert witness testimony later in the litigation process.

Excerpted from amednews.com.

A nurse charged in the death of a Veterans Affairs Medical Center patient entered a not guilty plea Friday during an arraignment in U.S. District Court.  Maria K. Whitt, 32, of Mount Sterling, KY, is charged with murder in the death of 90-year-old World War II veteran Jesse Lee Chain, who died of a morphine overdose Sept. 3, 2006.  Senior Judge Karl S. Forester set a Dec. 7 trial date. Patrick Nash, Whitt's attorney, said he anticipates calling expert witnesses and said he might be asking that the trial date be changed.  "I think this case is going to involve a lot of expert testimony," he said. He also said he had questions about other health care workers who had been caring for Chain at the time of his death.

Ohio prison officials are considering a major overhaul of death-penalty procedures that might include changing out such key elements as drugs and an execution team. Prison officials are consulting with Dr. Mark Dershwitz, a University of Massachusetts professor of anesthesiology who testified for the state last year as a paid anesthesiology expert witness in a lethal-injection lawsuit in federal court. He has consulted with several states on lethal-injection litigation.

Ohio would become the first state to make major changes in a three-drug execution process that was essentially copied by 35 states from Oklahoma, where it was developed by an anesthesiologist in 1977.  Injecting deadly drugs into muscle and bone, using a single, more powerful drug, or using an entirely different combination of drugs are options being reviewed. Gov. Ted Strickland and prisons director Terry Collins are considering major changes after the botched Sept. 15 execution of Romell Broom of Cleveland, the first time in modern U.S. history that an execution had to be abandoned after it was started.

Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center, said it is "significant that they're looking at a major overhaul of the process. This has been a long time coming." California and Maryland are looking at protocol and procedures changes, but Dieter said no other state is considering the major revamp contemplated by Ohio officials.

Excerpted from dispatchpolitics.com.

A False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit against the prime contractors for the Coast Guard’s $26 billion Deepwater acquisition program will go to trial in November 2010, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled.  Deepwater is the Coast Guard’s largest acquisition program and  includes the production of new assets including national security cutters and patrol boats. Former Lockheed Martin Corp. engineer Michael J. DeKort filed the complaint against Integrated Coast Guard Systems, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman Corp. DeKort accused the companies of being seriously deficient in carrying out the contract and caused major safety, security and national security problems and wasted taxpayers' money.

On Oct. 5, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a schedule for pleadings, naming of expert witnesses, identifying evidence, and a trial. He also instructed the parties to hire a mediator and attempt to come to an agreement to resolve the case. The trial will take place upon two days’ notice at any time during the four weeks that start Nov. 1, 2010.

The Coast Guard has acknowledged several significant problems with the program, and in 2007 the service rejected eight new patrol boats due to structural problems with the hulls. The Coast Guard is seeking a refund for $96 million for unsound patrol boats produced under Deepwater.

Excerpted from washingtontechnology.com.

Prosecution medical expert Dr. Walter Edge of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Albany Medical Center testified Monday that four-month-old baby Matthew Thomas was close to brain dead when he arrived from Samaritan Hospital and that trauma played a role in his death.  The defense argues baby Matthew died from the sepsis, not at the hands of his father Adrian Thomas. Defense attorney Ingrid Effman says the baby tested positive for bacteria when admitted to the hopsital, and believes his injuries were related to the infection, not trauma.

"The doctor testified that by the time he wrote his report he wasn't aware of the results from Samaritan Hospital and didn't wait to make his finding until that blood culture came back. And that's important," Effman says.  Later in the day, two Troy police officers took the stand. Both testified to the details of Thomas' alleged taped confession. They told the jury that Thomas was fully coherent when he admitted to slamming his son onto a mattress several times.

Excerpted from www.fox23news.com.

A Bellingham, WA, neurosurgeon being sued for medical malpractice testified that modern medicine hasn't progressed enough to prevent the brain damage his patient suffered at St. Joseph Hospital in October 2004. Dr. David Goldman took the witness stand Thursday, Oct. 1, and told a Whatcom County Superior Court jury he did everything possible to prevent the damage Carol Martin suffered Oct. 7, 2004, following neck surgery. The Martins' attorneys, Christopher Otorowski and Thomas Golden, called orthopedic surgery expert witness Dr. Mark Palumbo to the stand last week to criticize Goldman's care of Martin and say it was below the standard of care.

Goldman performed surgery on Martin, but a blood clot formed in her neck afterward, a rare but known complication. That restricted her breathing, caused swelling and eventually led to severe, permanent brain damage. "This was a very bad outcome, and we all felt terrible about this tragedy," Goldman testified. "There is nothing I think I could do. This is the limit of what modern medicine can do. That's very hard to accept and live with, but that's my job."

Excerpted from thenewstribune.com.

After five years of litigation including the testimony of hydrology expert witnesses, finality may be in sight for three Camp Verde, AZ, area families battling Salt River Project over wells on their property.  In 2004, SRP filed suit against 11 Verde Valley water users for pumping well water they believe to be surface water, belonging to downstream water users.  Eight of the parties reached settlements with the Phoenix area water provider.

But three, the Kovacovich, Wiertezema and Jordan families, have fought on, arguing that what constitutes surface water and what constitutes groundwater should be determined as part of the statewide settlement of water rights and not as individual cases.  Last April, during a summary judgment hearing, in which all three asked Judge Eddward Ballinger to have their cases dismissed, the judge found probable cause to dismiss two of the cases, the Kovacovich's and the Wiertezema's.  However, he delayed final dismissal pending additional information.

Excerpted from verdenews.com.

Thousands of homeowners in coastal Texas communities who were devastated by Hurricane Ike in September 2008 have unleashed a fierce storm of their own on area courthouses.  In recent weeks, hundreds Ike-related lawsuits were filed in courthouses in Houston and Beaumont, prompting court officials earlier this year to consolidate the claims into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) panel, according to a report in the Southeast Texas Record. In all, officials estimate there are currently more than 1,500 lawsuits filed regarding Hurricane Ike damages.

As part of the MDL, the consolidated claims will be heard collectively and possibly tried together if the parties cannot reach settlements or other dispositions before trial. In addition to promoting fair and equitable handling of the thousands of cases, the MDL process saves taxpayers money by streamlining pre-trial hearings and rulings on matters such as expert witnesses and other trial matters.

The lawsuits are based on homeowners’ claims that various insurance providers failed to pay for hurricane-related claims, the Record said. Frustrated policy holders who submitted claims for repairs to their homes say they have been left high and dry, without needed cash to begin or complete necessary repairs.

Excerpted from attorneyatlaw.com.

Prosecutors preparing for self-proclaimed street preacher Brian David Mitchell's upcoming competency hearing in federal court say his religious views do not make him incompetent to stand trial.  Mitchell has twice been found incompetent for trial in state court. Mitchell and his estranged wife were found with Elizabeth Smart nine months after she disappeared from her Salt Lake City home.

Prosecutors also contend that defense expert witnesses used in Mitchell's state court competency hearing "seriously misjudged and misunderstood the content and context of (Mitchell's) religious thinking and writing," according to court documents.  The government's key forensic psychology expert witness, Dr. Michael Welner is expected to testify that according to staff members at the Utah State Hospital, Mtichell was "unique among the patients in that he was extremely high functioning and that he displayed a clear grasp of his legal situation.

Excerpted from deseretnews.com.