Court Digest

Nevada
$228M awarded to some plaintiffs who sued bottled water company after liver ­illnesses
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A jury has awarded more than $228 million in damages to several plaintiffs who sued a Las Vegas-based bottled water company after its product was linked to liver illnesses, a newspaper reported Thursday.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that jurors determined Real Water and two other defendants in the case were liable for $28.5 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages.

Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Real Water and the Review-Journal said the case that resulted in Wednesday’s verdict was the first to go to trial.

Plaintiffs in the case included the family of a 69-year-old woman who died from liver failure in 2020 and the family of a 7-month-old boy who was hospitalized with severe liver failure, according to the newspaper.

In the lawsuit, plaintiffs alleged faulty testing meters produced by the companies contributed to toxic chemicals found in the water.

Joel Odou, an attorney for Real Water, told jurors the company tested the water but did not know to test for hydrazine — a toxic chemical used in rocket fuel.

In May 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned consumers, restaurants and retailers not to drink, cook with, sell or serve Real Water.

The product was sold at stores throughout the Southwest including Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and the Los Angeles area and also was delivered to homes in large bottles before being pulled off shelves in March 2021.

Affinitylifestyles.com marketed Real Water in boxy blue plastic bottles as mineral-rich, “infused with negative ions” and “the healthiest drinking water available.”

Affinitylifestyles.com was headed by Brent Jones, who served as a Republican Nevada state Assembly member from 2016 to 2018. The company did not dispute that the water was drawn from the public Las Vegas-area water supply.

New York
Fisherman convicted of exceeding legal fish quotas by 200,000 pounds
CENTRAL ISLIIP, N.Y. (AP) — A commercial fisherman accused of conspiring with others to sell 200,000 pounds (90,000 kilos) of fish in excess of legal quotas has been convicted in federal court in New York.

Christopher Winkler, 63, of Montauk, was convicted Wednesday in Central Islip of one count of criminal conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud and two counts of obstruction of justice. Winkler, the captain of a fishing trawler called the New Age, was accused of falsifying records to sell illegal fluke and black sea bass worth nearly $900,000 between 2014 and 2017.

“Fluke and black sea bass play a vital part in our marine ecosystem and quotas are designed to prevent overfishing and stabilize populations for the public good,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim said in a news release. “We will continue to seek justice against those who flout laws that protect fisheries and the fishing industry.”

Winkler’s attorneys Richard Levitt and Peter Smith said the case was based on outdated limits on fluke, also known as summer flounder.

“There is nothing at all rational about this system, but Mr. Winkler and other Long Island fishermen are easy scapegoats for this regulatory insanity,” the lawyers said in a statement.

The New York Times reported that Levitt told jurors that Winkler was a “working stiff” who had been wronged by the government in a misguided prosecution. Levitt also pointed to rules that force fishermen to throw over-quota fish back into the water even if most die.

Prosecutors said Winkler supplied over-the-limit fish to dealers, including Gosman’s fish dock in Montauk and two others that operated out of the New Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx.

Two members of the Gosman family, cousins Asa and Bryan Gosman, pleaded guilty in 2021 to a single count of mail fraud and cooperated in the government’s investigation.

Newsday reported that Winkler’s attorneys sought to paint the prosecution’s witnesses as untrustworthy, noting that many, including the Gosmans, admitted to drug and alcohol use.

Prosecutor Christopher Hale said during his summation that some of the witnesses were “scoundrels” but added, “We take the witnesses as they come. It’s not a beauty pageant.”

Levitt vowed to appeal the verdict. Winkler remains free on bail and no date has been set for his sentencing.


New Jersey
Candidate sues state over ‘so help me God’ pledge on nominating form
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey man who wants to run for Congress next year has sued the state over its requirement that candidates sign a nominating petition including the affirmation “so help me God.”

James Tosone, 70, plans to run for Congress in 2024 as a Libertarian. But as a nontheist, he said he cannot sign part of the petition required for candidates who run for office in New Jersey.

The Bergen County resident filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court against Secretary of State Tahesha Way, who also is the state’s lieutenant governor. It seeks an injunction preventing the state from requiring candidates to sign a petition including the religious oath.

“It’s an egregious violation of freedom of conscience, as well as our Constitution — to compel nontheists to take a religious oath,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, the co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit that promotes separation of church and state. “This legal challenge seeks to put an end to this discriminatory and anachronistic practice.”

Tosone, who refuses to sign the document, claimed the requirement is preventing him from running for office.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office declined comment.

Tosone said he contacted the state Division of Elections about the requirement and was told in November 2021 that the oath is required by state law.

The lawsuit claims Way has the authority to amend the petition form to enable nonbelievers to run for office and assert the truthfulness of their submitted information without having to “violate their conscience.”


Oklahoma
Judge arrested in Texas reported pistol stolen from his pickup truck
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma authorities confirmed this week they are investigating a report of a pistol stolen from the vehicle of an Oklahoma judge who was arrested in Texas last month after officials there say he opened fire on parked vehicles while driving.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation also is investigating a drive-by shooting in February at the ranch of Judge Brian Lovell’s brother-in-law, Garfield County Undersheriff Ryan Fuxa told The Oklahoman newspaper on Wednesday.

Lovell, an associated district judge in Garfield County, was arrested Sept. 11 in Austin, Texas, on a misdemeanor count of reckless driving. A felony count of engaging in deadly conduct with a firearm was forwarded to a grand jury for consideration.
He was released on $10,000 bond and ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation.

A telephone message left Thursday at Lovell’s office wasn’t immediately returned.

Lovell’s brother-in-law, Kenneth Markes, reported someone fired at least five times at his home on Feb. 12, damaging a window, a wall and an oven, according to a Garfield County sheriff’s report. A bullet and five .40-caliber shell casings were recovered.

Two days later, on Feb. 14, Lovell reported a .40 caliber pistol had been stolen from his pickup between Jan. 28 and Feb. 11, according to a sheriff’s report.

Fuxa, the undersheriff, told The Oklahoman his office asked the OSBI for assistance on the two cases after the incidents in Austin were reported.

In the Texas case, officers were called just after 4 p.m. on Sept. 11 by a witness who reported a man firing “approximately five times while driving down the street,” striking at least one of the parked vehicles.

About 90 minutes later, police responded to a call about a crash about 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the shooting scene, where a woman said a man had deliberately collided into the rear of her vehicle twice.

Lovell and his SUV matched the description of the shooter, according to the affidavit.

He told police he believed the woman had cut him off in traffic and although he acknowledged their vehicles had collided, he “did not admit the collisions were intentional,” according to the document.

Lovell told police there were two handguns in his vehicle, but he said “he did not know why he would have shot his gun and could not recall any part of the shooting incident,” according to the affidavit.


Florida
Feds: Man meant to sell ill-gotten erectile drugs in retirement town
THE VILLAGES, Fla. (AP) — Federal authorities have arrested a 77-year-old man for allegedly buying more than $1,800 in erectile dysfunction drugs without a prescription and intending to sell them in the massive central Florida retirement community The Villages and elsewhere.

The man was arrested last month in The Villages, where he lives alongside nearly 80,000 fulltime residents and which was featured in the 2020 documentary “Some Kind of Heaven.”

The defendant has pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge and agreed to have his case heard before a magistrate judge instead of a jury. If convicted, he faces up to a year in federal prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

In court filings, prosecutors allege that the man received more than $1,800 worth of erectile dysfunction drugs that had been shipped through interstate commerce. The drugs were misbranded because the man obtained them without a valid prescription, according to federal authorities.


Arkansas
Former state  announces bid for State Supreme Court chief justice
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A former Arkansas legislator who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination last year is running for chief justice of the state Supreme Court.

Jay Martin on announced Wednesday that he’s running to replace outgoing Chief Justice Dan Kemp in next year’s nonpartisan election. Kemp said earlier this year that he would retire and not seek reelection.

Martin is the fourth candidate to launch a bid for the post, joining Justices Karen Baker, Barbara Webb and Rhonda Wood.

Arkansas’ court seats are nonpartisan, but the court has been targeted by outside conservative groups in recent years.

In July, Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders named a former state GOP chairman and federal prosecutor, Cody Hiland, to the seven-member court, creating a conservative majority that includes Webb and Wood. Baker won reelection last year, defeating a former Republican lawmaker who touted himself as a constitutional conservative.

Hiland was named to fill the vacancy created by Justice Robin Wynne’s death.

Martin served in the state House from 2003 to 2007. He lost his bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination last year to Chris Jones, who was defeated by Sanders in the general election. Martin also ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in 2006.