Legal Radar

Judge Rules That Ashcroft Does Not Have Full Immunity

U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge ruled that Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft does not have absolute immunity in a lawsuit related to material witnesses filed by a student. The suit claims the student, Abdullah al-Kidd, who played football for the University of Idaho, was wrongly imprisoned in a computer terrorism case

The judge rejected Ashcroft's arguument to toss out the lawsuit because he was entitled to absolute immunity since his position at the Department of Justice was prosecutorial.

Al-Kidd claimed government wrongfully arrested him in the case against a fellow student, Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, in 2003. They both worked for the Islamic Assembly of North America.

A jury acquitted Al-Hussayen of using his computer skills to foster terrorism and of three immigration violations after an eight-week federal trial. But Al-Hussayen _ who was only months from finishing his doctorate study at the University of Idaho _ was eventually deported to Saudi Arabia.

Al-Kidd was never called to testify, but he spent two weeks in jail as a material witness and was later released to the custody of his wife with strict limitations on where he could travel.

His lawsuit claimed Ashcroft was personally liable for violating his rights because after the terrorist attacks Ashcroft "created a national policy to improperly seek material witness warrants, oversaw the execution of such warrants, and failed to correct the constitutional violations of conducting such actions," according court documents. Al-Kidd said the investigation and detainment not only caused him to lose a scholarship to study in Saudi Arabia, but that it cost him employment opportunities.

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Merck Wins Second Vioxx Victory

A federal court jury in New Orleans rejected a claim that pain killer Vioxx caused the 2003 heart attack of Robert Garry Smith who took the drug for approximately four months before his heart attack. Merck has now won two out of three federal Vioxx cases to go to trial.

Merck had argued that Smith, belonging to Kentucky, had multiple risk factors for a heart attack including elevated blood pressure, a family history of cardiac problems, coronary artery disease and he was considered medically obese. Additionally, he shoveled snow, in cold temperatures, for almost an hour on the day of his attack.

Vioxx has already landed the company in over 14,000 court cases. Merck voluntarily withdrew Vioxx from the market after a clinical study showed that 18 months of taking the drug increased the risk of heart attack and stroke.

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Lawsuit Claims Video Games Caused Boy to Kill

Family members of three people slain by a teenage boy on a New Mexico ranch filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming the video game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" contributed to the shootings. The $ 600 million suit is against Posey himself, Sony Corporation of America, Take-Two Interactive Software and Rockstar Games.

Posey admitted to shooting and killing his father, Delbert Paul Posey, and stepmother, Tyrone Posey, along with a stepsister in 2004. He was sentenced earlier this year to state custody until he is 21.

During the trial, prosecutors described Posey as a ruthless killer. But defense lawyers claimed the teen was subject to years of abuse by his father, and that the killings were committed in self-defense.

But the wrongful death suit blames "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," claiming that Posey played it "obsessively" for several months before the killings. According to the suit, plaintiffs' lawyer Jack Thompson was told by a sheriff's deputy that the game and a Sony Playstation 2 were found at the ranch.

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Judge Rules Suit Against California Auto Emissions Law Can Go Ahead

U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii has ruled that automakers can continue their lawsuit seeking to block strict vehicle emission standards adopted two years ago by California regulators.

The auto emission standards adopted by the California Air Resources Board were designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks by 25 percent and from sport utility vehicles by 18 percent starting in 2009. Ten other states have since adopted the California standard.

The automobile industry sued in U.S. District Court in Fresno, arguing that the state law amounts to an attempt to set new fuel-economy standards, something it says can be done only by the federal government.

Judge Ishii ruled the suit should go to trial Jan. 30.

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AOL Facing Privacy Lawsuit

AOL is facing a lawsuit filed in a District Court in Oakland, California by three  subscribers who suddenly found records of their Internet searches widely distributed online. They are suing the company under privacy laws and are seeking an end to its retention of search-related data, an Associated Press report said.

This is believed to be the first lawsuit in the wake of AOL's intentional release of some 19 million search requests made over a three-month period by more than 650,000 subscribers, including the three plaintiffs, two unnamed Californians and Kasadore Ramkissoon of Richmond County, New York.

The lawsuit seeks class-action status and does not specify the amount of damages being sought.

AOL has apologized for the release, and fired a researcher, while their chief technology officer had resigned over this issue.

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Landlord Sued for Fire that Killed Six Kids

The parents of the six children killed by a Labor Day weekend apartment fire are suing the landlord, Jay Johnson, alleging that he was negligent.

The lawsuit filed today by an attorney for Augusta Ramirez, her husband Anando and Maria Ramos -- who also lost her daughter in the fire -- says that the landlord failed to keep the building in a reasonably safe condition.

It also says that the apartment had no smoke detectors.

Authorities have said the fire was started by candle, which the Ramirez family was using because their electricity had been cut off.

Killed in the fire were six children between the ages of three and 14. Five of the children were siblings in the Ramirez family. The sixth was Ramos' daughter.

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Axl Rose Sued Over Painting Deal

An art broker is suing Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses for $1.15 million, claiming that Rose reneged on a deal to pay $2.36 million for a portrait of John Lennon by Pop Art master Andy Warhol. Instead, according to the lawsuit filed Sept. 11 in Los Angeles Superior Court, Rose has paid $1.21 million and is refusing to pay more.

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$2.15 Million Award for Inmates in Will County Strip Search Case

A settlement of $ 2.15 million was reached in a class action suit involving strip searches that were conducted on thousands of inmates at the Will County Jail. Some of these people had been arrested for minor misdemeanor or traffic violations.

Last December, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman ruled that jailers violated the rights of many inmates in Will County Jail by strip searching them. He ruled the searches could be allowed only when jail officials had reasonable suspicion to believe an inmate was carrying contraband, such as drugs or weapons.

Several thousand former inmates will share the $2.15 million settlement.

"Lights" Cigarette Question Debated in Yet Another Lawsuit

A federal judge is considering whether tobacco companies should be tried on the question of whether they deceived smokers for years about the safety of "light" cigarettes.

The case, filed in 2004, is part of the latest legal assault against tobacco companies. After the companies successfully warded off many lawsuits by people claiming to have been injured by smoking, more cases have been filed against the companies for defrauding consumers by selling light cigarettes.

In this case, known as Schwab after the lead plaintiff, Barbara Schwab, the lawyers asserted that cigarette makers had deceived smokers into thinking that light cigarettes, representing 45 percent of the market, were safer or less addicting.

While many of these so-called light cases have been unsuccessful, the Schwab case follows an opinion last month by a federal judge in the District of Columbia, who found that cigarette companies had engaged in decades of fraud and racketeering, including misleading smokers and concealing information about the health risks of light cigarettes.

Exxon Mobil Retirees $ 22 Million Award Upheld

A federal judge has  upheld a $22 million award to 32 retirees of Exxon Mobil Corp. in Baton Rouge who claimed an investment firm needlessly risked their money with questionable investments.

Securities America Inc. and financial planner David McFadden of Baton Rouge have until Nov. 1 to ask the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to set aside the award issued by an arbitration panel, said Jim Swanson, an attorney representing the retirees.

Read our previous post about the award.