Vick's Plea

Here is Vick's plea agreement, filed with the court today.

The funniest part to me? The fact that "Ookie" is actually listed as an a/k/a in the caption of the case.

11th Circuit Rules on Fulton Strip Searches

A blanket policy of strip searches for any inmate entering the jail population, without any showing of reasonable suspicion of hiding weapons, drugs, or other contraband, is unconstitutional. Reasonable suspicion exists for strip searches of violent arrestees, and usually not for nonviolent ones. The city and county are not liable. This is an oversimplificiation; if you want the unsimple version, read the opinion: Powell v. Barrett, 05-16734 (08/23/07).

Punitives Still Available In Maritime Actions

Punitive damages are still available in the 11th Circuit in "maintenance and cure" actions, despite the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Miles v. Apex Marine Corp., 111 S. Ct. 317 (1990).

Atlantic Sounding Co. v. Townsend, 06-13204 (8/23/07).

Nine Candidates For New State Court Judgeship In Clarke County

From the ABH:

Nine lawyers and judges applied to be Athens-Clarke County's second state court judge by late Wednesday, the deadline for applications for the judgeship.

The state Judicial Nominating Commission is scheduled to interview the candidates Tuesday, then forward a short list of recommended names to Gov. Sonny Perdue for a final selection, likely on Wednesday or Thursday, said Barbara Watson, executive assistant to Michael Bowers, who chairs the commission.

The applicants are:

Magistrate Court Judge Patricia Barron
Municipal Court Judge Kay Giese
Former Magistrate Court Judge John Michael Coleman
Former Municipal Court Judge Ethelyn Simpson
John F. Beasley, Jr. (see attorney directory after following link)
Edward H. Brumby, Jr.
William C. Bushnell
Former Athens-Clarke County Attorney Ernie DePascale (not D. Pascale, as the paper had it)
Phillip C. Griffeth

The person appointed to this new seat will have to face reelection immediately in 2008.

Habeas Granted

The district court erred in requiring the defendant to proceed pro se when he had not clearly and unequivocally elected to do so.

Jones v. Walker, 04-13562 (8/22/07).

EPA's OK On Oglethorpe Plant Upheld

11th Circuit gives Chevron deference to the EPA's interpretation of Georgia's Statewide Compliance Rule, and thus upholds EPA's failure to object to a permit granted to Oglethorpe Power Corporation.

Sierra Club v. EPA, 06-10714 (8/21/07).

Vick To Enter Plea Next Monday

From the Virginian-Pilot via How Appealing:

Atlanta Falcons quarterback and Hampton Roads native Michael Vick has accepted a plea deal - and a likely prison sentence - to avoid additional federal charges related to a professional dogfighting operation, according to one of Vick's attorneys.
Vick is going to enter a guilty plea to the felony conspiracy charge at 10:30 a.m. next Monday, said Lawrence Woodward, one of Vick's defense attorneys.
"Mike's accepting full responsibility," Woodward said. "He's going to do everything he can personally and professionally to make this situation right."

After Vick enters the plea, it will be at least 60 days before a sentencing hearing is held. The hearings for his co-defendants who have already pled have been set in November and December.

Status Conference at 3:00

A status conference is scheduled in Vick's case at 3:00, at which time we should have more information about Vick's deal.

Vick Reportedly Accepts Plea Deal

CNN is reporting that Vick has accepted a plea deal, and is citing as sources a Virginia newspaper and one of Vick's attorneys, Lawrence Woodward. More details to come...

Lawyer Ad Of The Day

We've noticed that not all of you are enthrolled with my intermittent, inconsistent reporting of appellate decisions. We hear ya. So in an attempt to be, if not all things to all people, at least a few more things to a few more people, we're going to be rolling out some new features here at the GLB.

First up is a feature called "Lawyer Ad of the Day". Pretty self-explanatory; we're gonna feature funny, bad, really good, or otherwise interesting lawyer ads. Ideally we will focus on ads from Georgia, but we're not going to limit it to that. If you have any suggestions for lawyer ad of the day, send it to the tipline.

I have to start with this one: an ad from Jim "The Hammer" Shapiro. From the beginning of the Wikipedia bio of Jim:

Jim "the Hammer" Shapiro is an American attorney and author who was known in the Rochester and Florida areas (as well as some areas of Canada where Rochester station WUHF is available on cable) for his aggressive television commercials, as well as for a letter of solicitation he sent to a comatose accident victim.

Here's a classic ad soliciting business from victims! victims! VICTIMS!!!

Tax Appeal Dismissal Affirmed

From the case, Carter v. Fayette County, A07A1342 (8/09/07):

There is nothing in the record before us to show that Carter applied for and was denied a homestead exemption or to show that he complied with the requisite tax appeal procedures. Thus, we must accept the trial court’s finding that Carter failed to exhaust his administrative remedies.

Class Certification Upheld

The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's approval of class certification in a suit over unsolicited faxes under TCPA. The case is American Home Servs. Inc. v. A Fast Sign Co. Inc., A07A0986 (8/9/07).

11th Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Free Exercise Claim

The plaintiff is allowed to go forward with claims that his termination from a social work practicum and as a result from the master's degree program as well because he told a client about religious alternatives for therapy violates his religious rights.

The case is Watts v. Florida International University, 05-13852 (8/17/07).

Another Georgia Car Chase Case

In a case pretty much controlled by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision earlier this year in Scott v. Harris, the 11th Circuit has affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to the defendants in Beshers v. Harrison et. al., 05-17096 (8/14/07). Judge Presnell's concurring opinion raises an interesting point: Has the U.S. Supreme Court in Scott essentially sanctioned virtually all high-speed police chases? It is hard to see, as he points out, how any real-world chase would fail the balancing test set out in Scott.

UGA Law's Class of 2010 Ties All-Time High for Median LSAT at 163

The UGA School of Law is calling the Class of 2010 "one of the most academically gifted in school history". From the press release:

The Class of 2010, comprised of 222 students, boasts a median undergraduate grade point average of 3.67, a school record. Moreover, the median Law School Admissions Test score for these first-year students is 163, which ties the all-time high and reflects a score that places these students near the top 10 percent of test takers nationwide. Additionally, the top quarter of the class scored a 165 or higher on the LSAT and achieved a 3.86 or better undergraduate GPA.

Classes begin tomorrow.

Oral Arguments Scheduled in $13 Million Clarke County Products Liability Case

Oral arguments have been scheduled before the Supreme Court on September 10 in four separate appeals of a December 2005 $13 million verdict in favor of the Plaintiff in a Clarke County products liability/wrongful death case. The appeals are:

S07A1365. Ford Motor Company v. Gibson et al.
S07A1367. Draw-Tite, Inc. v. Gibson et al.
S07X1368. Gibson et al. v. Draw-Tite, Inc.
S07X1389. Gibson et al. v. Ford Motor Company

The plaintiff is the husband of a woman who was killed when her 1985 Mercury Marquis was rear-ended and the gas tank, which was located near the rear of the vehicle (too close to it according to the Plaintiff), exploded and caused a fire which ultimately caused the woman's death. There were also allegations that the seat back was not strong enough and therefore thrust her into the back seat where the flames were, quickening her burn injuries, and that the door latch was defective, preventing her from opening it to escape.

The defendants are Ford Motor Company, manufacturer of the car, and Draw-Tite, Inc., manufacturer of a post-market trailer hitch that had been installed on the vehicle. It was alleged that the hitch interacted with the gas tank to cause the explosion, and that this foreseeable result rendered the hitch defective as well.

(The driver who hit the woman was also a defendant at trial; the jury returned a verdict of only $5,000 against him, and he is not a party to any of the appeals. He was allowed to present the "enhanced injury" defense, essentially arguing that the injuries from the collision would have been minor but for the enhanced injuries (in this case death) caused by the product defects of the other defendants. The jury obviously bought this defense.)

There are many issues on appeal, but each defendant has one primary issue that it feels entitles it to reversal:

For Ford, it is the sanctions imposed on it by the trial judge as punishment for discovery abuses. As a result of the sanctions, Ford was not allowed to put on certain evidence and there was a judicial finding of defect as to certain of the product defect claims. Ford claims that these sanctions were an abuse of discretion.

Draw-Tite's main argument on appeal will be that it should have also been allowed to present an "enhanced injury" defense (in other words, the injuries would have been minimal from the hitch moving forward but for Ford's defective gas tank). Draw-Tite was not allowed to present this defense, and is therefore jointly and severably liable for the $13 million verdict of the jury.

The jury awarded the $13 million as compensatory damages and pain and suffering, but did not find that the Plaintiff was entitled to punitive damages. Only Ford was on the hook in the first place for punitives, since summary judgment had been granted already to Draw-Tite as to punitive damages. Both Ford and Draw-Tite had been granted summary judgment on other issues as well, and the Plaintiff is appealing these rulings as well as other evidentiary and jury charge issues.

AT&T Found To Lack Standing to Challenge NASCAR's Blocking Of Its Sponsorship Of Burton's #31 Car

AT&T Mobility v. NASCAR and Sprint Nextel, 07-12299 (8/13/07).

The court found that AT&T was merely a incidental beneficiary of the agreement between NASCAR and Burton that had allowed the Cingular sponsorship of the car to be grandfathered in after Nextel became the exclusive communications sponsor of NASCAR. As such, AT&T lacked standing to challenge NASCAR's ruling blocking the use of the new AT&T logo in Burton's paint job.

11th Circuit Grants New Trial to Defendant in Manufacturing Plant Accident Case

Proctor v. Fluor Enterprises, Inc., 06-14909 (8/13/07).

Programming Note

I've just experienced a blogger's worst nightmare: a week without my laptop. Much to my surprise, it turns out I can live a somewhat functional life without it. But it's tough to do much blogging; thus a week with no posts. Sorry bout that.

Everything is as it should be again, and posts will soon pour forth ad nauseum.

Georgia Carnival 15

is available. I've been too busy this week to get anything up worth submitting, but check out the great work of some of Georgia's best bloggers.

Dershowitz Joins Walker's Defense Team

Alan Dershowitz wants to put Charles Walker, Sr.'s case before the full 11th Circuit.

A three-judge panel rejected Walker's appeal last month.

Another Education Speech Case

The court rules that a Florida principal was not "speaking as a citizen" when he was fired for advocating that his school become a charter school.

D'Angelo v. School Board of Polk County, 06-13582 (8/1/07).