Nevada
Former Simpson lawyers settle on breach of contract
LAS VEGAS (AP) — O.J. Simpson’s feuding former Las Vegas trial lawyers have settled a breach of contract lawsuit in federal court in Nevada and their slander claim in Florida state court.
But the imprisoned former football star’s ex-lawyer from Miami, Yale Galanter, and one of Simpson’s current attorneys in Nevada still have one dispute remaining.
Galanter confirmed Thursday that a Miami defamation case remained active against Simpson attorney Malcolm LaVergne in Las Vegas.
LaVergne said his lawyer in Miami was trying to resolve the case.
Terms of agreements between Galanter and attorneys Gabriel Grasso and Joshua Tomsheck weren’t disclosed.
Each noted that a June 4 filing dismissing a breach of contract dispute in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas and a May 29 filing voluntarily dismissing the defamation and slander claim against Grasso and Tomsheck in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court contained confidentiality clauses.
The Miami case alleges that Galanter’s reputation in the Florida legal community was harmed by comments in April 2012 about Grasso’s allegations that Galanter failed to pay him promised legal fees in the Simpson case.
The root of the dispute between Simpson’s lawyers was Grasso’s contention that Galanter stiffed him of a promised $250,000 fee for serving as local attorney following Simpson’s arrest in September 2007 and through his trial in 2008.
Simpson, now 66, was convicted and sentenced to nine to 33 years in state prison for leading a group of men in an armed confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in a room at a Las Vegas casino hotel.
Indiana
Court dismisses appeal on crosses along riverfront
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A federal appeals court has dismissed an Evansville church’s appeal of a judge’s decision barring its plan to display 31 crosses along four blocks of the city’s riverfront, saying the church lacked standing because it was not a party to the original lawsuit.
The ruling by the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on Wednesday said the West Side Christian Church could have standing if it applied to Evansville for a permit to display the crosses and were denied. However, the court decision also said “West Side’s road ahead might not necessarily get any easier if it ever attains standing to challenge the injunction.”
West Side Christian Church attorney Chris Wischer told The Associated Press on Thursday that the church was still considering what it would do next.
“Options haven’t been laid out and considered just yet,” he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed the lawsuit last June on behalf of Chris Cabral and Nancy Tarsitano Drake asking a federal judge to block the city’s plan to allow a local church to erect 31 6-foot-tall, 4-foot wide crosses decorated by Bible school children along a public sidewalk near the Ohio River, arguing it would violate Supreme Court rulings involving separation of church and state.
U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker ruled in July that the crosses would convey an unconstitutional endorsement of religion by the city.
Drake told the Evansville Courier & Press she hopes the city can move on and that West Side Christian Church will celebrate their religion and their crosses on private property. She said, she was disappointed, however, the court didn’t rule on constitutional grounds.
The court ruling indicated that the church likely would have a constitutional challenge if it continues to pursue the display on public property.
“We question whether a reasonable observer would be put on notice that the ‘Cross the River’ display is strictly private speech given the sheer magnitude of a display that takes up four blocks and has two signs alerting citizens that it is a private display,” the court decision reads.
Florida
Miami judge won’t allow new motion in Puig lawsuit
MIAMI (AP) — A Miami judge has denied a motion by Los Angeles Dodgers star Yasiel Puig to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a Cuban man blaming the player for his imprisonment and torture on the communist island.
In the lawsuit, Miguel Angel Corbacho Daudinot claims he was falsely accused by Puig of involvement in human trafficking and was subjected to torture in Cuban prisons. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams denied Puig’s request this week and set a trial date for November.
Puig has denied the allegations. His attorney says in court papers that Corbacho Daudinot’s torture allegations aren’t sufficient under U.S. law.
Other lawsuit filings have detailed Puig’s eventual defection out of Cuba by smugglers who took him to Mexico and eventually to the U.S. amid threats over unpaid debts.
South Carolina
Trial in Episcopal schism may be delayed by appeal
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A state lawsuit to settle issues in the Episcopal schism in eastern South Carolina, including ownership of a half billion dollars in church property, may be delayed because of an appeal to the state Court of Appeals.
Parishes in the conservative Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina separated from the more liberal national church almost two years ago amid differences over a variety of theological issues, including the authority of Scripture and the ordination of gays.
The churches that left sued in state court to protect the use of the diocesan name and ownership of the property of the parishes. The lawsuit is scheduled to be heard by Circuit Judge Diane Goodstein next month in Dorchester County.
Last month the judge again denied a motion by attorneys for the diocese remaining with the national church - a diocese that now calls itself The Episcopal Church in South Carolina - to add four people, including Bishop Mark Lawrence, to the case.
Lawrence heads the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and the motion argued that he and three other diocesan officials acted outside their legal authority when they withdrew the diocese.
But Goodstein ruled, and reaffirmed this month in order denying reconsideration of her ruling, that adding the parties to the lawsuit with new counterclaims “would unduly complicate this matter, especially at this state of the litigation.” The judge noted that the request to add the parties had already been denied by the court three other times.
Her ruling was appealed last week to the South Carolina Court of Appeals, putting the trial, for now, on hold.
Connecticut
Judge orders arrest of no-show lawyer
WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) — A Waterbury lawyer accused of failing to show up at clients’ court dates faces arrest after missing his own disciplinary hearing.
The Republican-American newspaper reports 34-year-old Raymond Kotulski failed to appear Wednesday at a hearing before Judge Salvatore Agati, prompting the judge to issue a warrant for his arrest.
Kotulski’s law licence was placed on inactive status in December after he was found to be incapacitated and entered a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.
Several clients had complained that Kotulski did not show up to represent them in court.
Kotulski’s cases were turned over to another attorney, Jerry Attanasio. But Attanasio has said he has had a hard time getting those case files from Kotulski and several lawsuits have been dismissed due to a lack of action.
Hawaii
Maui mayoral candidate Mamuad disqualified
WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — A Maui man who sued the county then attempted to run for mayor was blocked from the race Wednesday because of how he filed financial disclosure statements.
Neldon Mamuad said on his MAUIWatch Facebook page that a Maui judge disqualified him in a Wednesday ruling.
The Maui News reported the Maui County Clerk had already said that he should be disqualified, but county officials asked a judge to weigh in on the matter.
Mamuad has said he was led to believe by a county elections clerk that because he already submitted paperwork for his role on the Liquor Control Commission he didn’t have to file more disclosures. But the clerk said she told Mamuad he had to make changes to his paperwork.
Mamuad filed the paperwork a half hour before closing time on the last day to file, county officials said. They said that two days after the filing deadline, a clerk told Mamuad that his nomination papers did not contain the required financial-disclosure statement, and then Mamuad emailed the clerk and included a financial-disclosure statement as an attachment.
Mamuad said that there was a miscommunication and that it was “an honest mistake.”
Mamuad is founder of the MAUIWatch Facebook page and sued the county after a complaint was filed against him about his posts. Mamuad said he was pressured to shut down the page. His lawsuit was settled out of court for $25,000 last month.
Delaware
Officials eye medical marijuana license
DOVER, Del. (AP) — As a lobbyist who once worked for U.S. Sen. Tom Carper seeks to run Delaware’s first medical marijuana dispensary, state officials are trying to keep a lid on the negotiations, and a judge has scheduled a hearing next week in a legal battle that could decide who ultimately runs the operation.
Public health officials informed Mark Lally, president of First State Compassion Center, in a letter last month that his organization had submitted the top bid for the medical marijuana operation.
Officials released the letter Thursday in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by The Associated Press, but have been unwilling to discuss it publicly. Kelly Bachman, a spokesman for Gov. Jack Markell, said in an email last month that because the Department of Health and Social Services was still in negotiations, officials would not have any further comment.
“It is important that both First State Compassion Center and the Office of Medical Marijuana remain silent on the status of the contract until it is signed,” public health director Dr. Karyl Rattay wrote in the May 16 letter.
Lally, a former state trooper who once ran the governor’s executive protection unit and later served as Carper’s Sussex County director, said in an email that his organization is continuing to work on with DHSS on plans for the marijuana dispensary.
“We look forward to formally announcing our organization’s plans in the near future,” Lally wrote.
