Football Player's Attorneys Playing Hardball?

Up north, things are heating up in Reno in the civil suit against Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (RGJ). If you haven't been following the story, the allegation is that Roethlisberger raped a Harrah's Lake Tahoe worker, Andrea McNulty, who claims management covered it up.

Recent pleadings reveal that the alleged rape victim sent emails to a Harrah's security chief around the time of the alleged incident, saying Roethlisberger was "so effing hot" and joking about carrying "Big Ben's baby". (RGJ).

Well, in light of the emails, Big Ben's attorney has apparently decided the best defense is a good offense and is threatening sanctions:

Also Wednesday, Roethlisberger's lawyers threatened to file a motion for
sanctions against Andrea McNulty's lawyer, Cal Dunlap, saying he failed to make
a "reasonable inquiry" into her claims, and if he had, he would have "discovered
that the evidence does not support (her) reckless allegations."

Nice aggressive strategy. Try to take out the lawyer's legs before the Court has to deal with evidence or motions for summary judgement. Now that's a pitbull.

A**hole Gone Wild: Acting Like a Jackass Loses Francis $3 million

Girls Gone Wild producer and all around jackass, Joe Francis, used his time as a deponent to put on a seminar for what not to do when being deposed. Pay attention law students. Apparently, repeatedly stating that you plead the Fifth to most generic questions, farting openly and repeatedly checking your email or taking a cell call are sanctionable offenses. Who knew?

The LV Sun reports:

Unimpressed with his antics, District Judge Michelle Leavitt ruled in favor of Wynn Las Vegas and ordered the soft-porn video mogul to pay the Strip casino a $2 million gambling debt, which, with interest and court costs, could soar to $3 million.

In court papers, the Wynn’s lawyers argued that Francis improperly asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to answer even the most innocuous questions during the nearly daylong deposition in February.

And several times during the deposition Francis openly passed gas, further disrespecting the legal proceeding, the Wynn lawyers charged.

Note to litigant readers: try not to piss off the judge by insulting the legal process. They usually don't take it well. Especially when you insult the legal process with a case pending before a member of The Family like Judge Leavitt.

Monday News Roundup

On Friday, a federal jury found that apparently people do have to pay taxes, convicting Mr. Kahre and friends for using a gold coin scheme to evade taxes. (RJ)

Does being grossly obese count as contributory negligence? Louie Anderson is soon to find out (Courthouse News Service) [thanks to W for tip]

Apparently, judicial ethics do have a place in Nevada. Judge Cadish recuses herself from prosecution of Lt. Governor Krolicki case, citing potential conflict of interest. (RJ)

Dennis Kennedy [pictured left] proves that if you own the firm, there's no tie or wall decoration too tacky to have in your business profile (LV Business Press)

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy, Rudy tries to tackle his contractor after 3 years of hard work

Few people believed that "5 foot nothing, 100 and nothing" Rudy Ruettiger could walk onto the football field at Notre Dame and ever play a second of college football. Well, Rudy proved 'em wrong. Showed up every day, practiced with heart, "played like a champion" and at the end of his senior season, they let him on the field for a minute.

He just wishes his contractor would build his multi-million dollar home with the same level of "heart" (LV Sun):

Motivational speaker Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger is suing a contractor over problems with a $5.3 million house he's building in Las Vegas.

Ruettiger, his wife, Cheryl Ruettiger, and their Henderson company, Rudy International Motivational Speaking Ltd., filed suit in Clark County District Court on Tuesday against Premier Building Group Inc. of Las Vegas.

The suit says the Ruettigers purchased land at 22 Olympia Hills Circle in the Southern Highlands community and in January 2006 hired Premier to build a home there with a maximum budget of $5.3 million.

Ruettiger, the inspiration for the 1993 Notre Dame football movie "Rudy," claims in the lawsuit that construction of the home has been marred by problems and that the contractor failed to complete and then abandoned the project.

And what attorney has enough heart to represent Rudy? It's James W Pengilly of Pengilly Robbins Slater. Give it all you've got Mr. Pengilly. If you try hard enough and work hard enough, there's a good chance Jon Favreau will show up at the trial and yell "Who's the wild man now?!?" Go get 'em tiger.

Say it ain't so, Wayne

Like everyone else in this country, we've been reading about the horrific state of the country's economy, the 12.3% unemployment in Las Vegas and the increasing squeeze on the legal economy. But since most of our friends have held onto their legal jobs, the bad news hasn't personally affected us . . . until now.

A tipster reports that two lawsuits have been filed against Wayne Newton:

Austin Eide v. Wayne Newton, individually, et. al. (Case No. A595223)

Contract action. Wayne Newton and/or his foundation has failed to pay the plaintiff an outstanding balance of $32,384 for over 4,000 bales of hay he ordered. (filed by Gregory S. Mills on behalf of Plaintiff)

GMAC LLC v. Erin Meil Inc.; Wayne Newton (Case No. A595266)

Contract action. Wayne Newton, the famous Las Vegas Entertainer, has defaulted on the lease for a 2005 Cadillac Escalade. (filed by Brian E. Holthus of Jolley Urga)

Not sure about you other readers, but we here at WWL fell in love with Mr. Newton while watching Dancing with the Stars. Say it ain't so Wayne! We want you to stay on top of the Vegas world. As for Mr. Mills and Mr. Holthus, how dare you gentlemen!?! I know you have clients to represent, but this is the Wayne Newton, "Mr. Las Vegas," you're going after.



On a side note: gentlemen, there's a reason we ladies love Dancing with the Stars so much. If you're smart, you'll learn how to dance.

Weekend Roundup

• Mr. Wonderful got himself another article in the paper. (RJ)
  
• The State Board of Medical Examiners has filed a Complaint against a third doctor who worked in the practice of Dr. "Needles" Desai. (KTNV)
  
• The charges against 'Suge' Knight have been dropped. (LA Times)
• Two men are suing the Sands because the economy sucks. (RJ)

Weekend Roundup

Best prison photo ever (see photo to the right) (RJ) 

Congratulations to Judge Jennifer Elliot, the Eighth Judicial District Court's new Adult Drug Court Judge.  (lvcourts)

Celebrity prosecution watch: Las Vegas Justice Court just issued an arrest warrant for hip-hop genius and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy star Mos Def. (RJ)

No Prosecution of Suge Knight [alleged] batterer of women?

Looks like the next celebrity prosecution in Vegas may have stalled.  The D.A. is refusing to move forward in the prosecution of hip-hop mogul/thug entrepreneur Suge Knight unless his girlfriend of three years testifies that he beat her.

The Las Vegas Sun reports:

So why, two months later, haven’t charges been filed? Apparently it is because the victim, Melissa Isaac, who said she was Knight’s girlfriend of three years, has vanished. Even though prosecutors have the police witnesses, they want Isaac’s testimony, and she’s not helping.

Metro detectives can’t find her. She won’t return their calls. She has stalled her own case.

Hmm . . . hiding from police.  Doesn't want to testify.  Could it have something to do with Knight's history (available here)

Suge Knight must be frightened to death that the police will find her and she'll testify against him.  Why I bet he's cowering in a corner, crying . . . um . . . nope, apparently he found some solace in a strip club: 

. . .  Knight was spotted partying in a Strip nightclub less than 24 hours after he posted $19,000 bail on charges of felony assault with a deadly weapon, drug possession and misdemeanor domestic violence.

Awesome.  Some celebrities are afraid to live above the law.  It's nice to finally have one who openly couldn't give a damn what the D.A. is planning.

New Celebrity Prosecution Scheduled

Now that O.J. has been found guilty and all that's left to do is sentence him, Vegas has had a hole in its celebrity prosecution schedule. Thankfully, hi-hop mogul and perennial inmate Suge Knight was willing to step up.

The Las Vegas Sun reports:

Hip hop mogul Marion "Suge" Knight's status check hearing has been rescheduled for Nov. 14.

The founder of bankrupt Death Row Records posted $19,000 bail
and was released from a Las Vegas jail in August. He appeared in Las Vegas
Justice Court on Sept. 26 on felony assault and drug charges.

Metro Police arrested Knight on Aug. 27 after officers say they saw him beat his girlfriend while brandishing a knife in a parking lot near the Las Vegas Strip. . .

Police said Knight had the drugs Ecstasy and hydrocodone when he was arrested.

Thank God for Suge Knight and domestic violence. Otherwise, the cameras and news crews might have left the courthouse.

O.J. Editorial Decision/Roundup

Sorry about the delay in posting. We've been bogged down in a four day long editorial meeting over whether there is anything worth reporting about the O.J. trial. The editorial board's verdict: No. There's not much worth reporting.

As a result, the blog will now only provide the most absurd and idiotic moments from the Juice trial [pt 2].

Under such an editorial edict, we offer this nugget about the courtroom circus from the Review-Journal:

If District Judge Jackie Glass had a gavel, she might have snapped it in half Tuesday.
On day two of testimony in the O.J. Simpson armed robbery trial, the judge frequently found herself playing the role of exasperated parent to a courtroom of bickering children, holding multiple bench conferences with lawyers and refereeing a number of verbal jousting matches.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Glass yelled at prosecutors and defense lawyers after a round of objections during cross-examination of sports memorabilia dealer Bruce Fromong.
"This isn't going to become a free-for-all," she said.

Later during Fromong's testimony, District Attorney David Roger started asking a question that ignited another round of courtroom fireworks, all televised live on cable channel truTV, formerly Court TV.

"At the time the defendants came in with a bunch of guns and took your property ... ," Roger began before being cut off by Simpson lawyer Yale Galanter, who jumped from his seat and shouted, "Objection!" in true Hollywood style.

"Sit down!" Glass yelled at him before returning calm to the courtroom. "The last thing you want me to do, as a judge, is to lose my temper in front of the fine ladies and gentlemen of the jury and having to deal with all of you," Glass said to the lawyers.

Enjoy. We'll only bring you the Vegas-centered highlights.

Meanwhile, Saturday Night Live offered an amusing view of voir dire for O.J. (available here via Harmful Error)

O.J. Roundup

Lots of fun in O.J. world at the end of the week:

First, the cast of characters just got more colorful since it came out that the lawyer representing the O.J. co-defendant, Clarence "C.J." Stewart, is apparently under indictment in Louisiana for tax evasion charges. (Las Vegas Now)

Speaking of colorful characters, it was revealed that the media reporter who inappropriately approached O.J. jurors for information was none other than the "Naked Boy" blogger, who likes to post video reports on the Internet while wearing very little. (Review-Journal)

Then there's the fact that the O.J. judge, District Court Judge Jackie Glass won't be releasing the jury questionnaire that was used. (Sign On San Diego) The Nevada Supremes don't appear to be too impressed by this decision, ordering Judge Glass to explain her refusal to release the questions. (Review-Journal) [do you think O.J. will make Judge Glass will become as famous as he did California District Court Judge Ito?]

Finally, the jury that will convict O.J. . . I mean, hear the case has been chosen. Not sure what was on that jury questionnaire, but the D.A.'s office got their jury make-up wish: an all-white jury! (San Franciso Chronicle) It's a Chris Rock bit in the making (Youtube)

If you're gonna go to a media circus trial, don't bring your crack pipe

What is going on with Las Vegas doctors? Dr. Needles Desai seemed to have set a new low by [allegedly] handing out free Hepatitis C infections to his patients, but now Las Vegas Now reports:

A doctor from the Clark County Detention Center was arrested while trying to take a picture of O.J. Simpson leaving the courthouse Wednesday.

Doctor James Zinser is facing a misdemeanor charge for narcotics paraphernalia possession. Officers say he was acting suspicious. When they approached him, they noticed a crack pipe by his foot . . . Police say the pipe had warm foil in it, and no drugs were found.

Hurray for the medical community! The only group of people that make lawyers feel better about themselves.

Wednesday Roundup

Two crusaders for children kidnapped a child in North Las Vegas in order to show how easy it would be to kidnap a child. (Fox 5 News)

Meanwhile, in O.J. land, talk of a mistrial has already arisen after potential jurors informed the court they were contacted by someone who identified himself as a member of the press. (Las Vegas Now)

O.J. day 1

Nothing very interesting occurred as part of O.J. day 1 as it was all voir dire all day.

Outside, it was also a slow day, with most of the looneys [with the exception of the national media] staying away. The Review-Journal reported about one woman dressed as Wonder Woman and a man wearing only a barrel and carrying a sign blasting his grievances with the judicial system, who shouted "Power to the people! Power to the people!". (Review-Journal)

It would have been a day unworthy of even gossip-reporting except for the actions of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ("ATF"). According to the R-J, one of the security measures taken for the Simpson case involved a sweep using ATF bomb-sniffing dogs, which was fine until the dog smelled something in the bed of the Simpson judge's truck. (Review-Journal)

The L.A. Times explained the incident:

A dog "showed interest" in a judge's pick-up truck. And not just any judge -- the very judge whose courtroom is being used for jury selection. Checking the truck bed, law enforcement discovered a bag of dry dog food.But what makes this story really funny is that when Kihara contacted the ATF for comment on the obvious, the agent in charge of the Las Vegas field office insisted the dog did not react to the dog food. According to Kihara, the agent "Instead...surmised the dog might have smelled something on the ground or even the remnants of a firecracker."

Ugh. I've resorted to reporting about a dog sniffing dog food. This is going to be a boring trial.

The O.J. Circus has finally arrived

Yes folks. Today is Day 1 of the O.J. trial part 2. (Review-Journal) At this point, the Juice has probably figured out that compared to strippers, prostitutes, a two ton judge in the hospital, corrupt Plaintiff's attorneys and all the other fun Vegas has to offer, the second trial of O.J. Simpson needs to work a little harder for attention.

So to generate some publicity, O.J. went and got himself stopped by the Nevada Highway Patrol on his way into town. (Review-Journal) Turns out someone called the state patrol and suggested O.J. was driving juiced up on something (alcohol, narcotics, etc). [see what I did there? "O.J." was "juiced". ahh . . . Monday morning puns].

Meanwhile, local attorney James "Bucky" Buchanan chimed in with his expert opinion on O.J.'s chances. He told Eyewitness News he thinks there are going to be problems seating an impartial jury because most people in the potential jury pool think he got away with his murdering ex-wife in L.A. (Las Vegas Now) [wow . . . he really worked overtime coming up with that opinion].

Finally, O.J.'s co-defendant [a.k.a. soon to be found guilty by association] lost another appeal to the NV Supreme Court to delay the trial. (Review-Journal)

Weekend Roundup

The RJ reports about the Innocence Project at the Boyd School and the law student, Lucy Flores, who helped start it. (Review-Journal) Through the program, students investigate the crimes for which a defendant has already been convicted in the hopes of proving the person's innocence.

Meanwhile, one defendant who was pronounced innocent, but most people think is guilty (O.J.) is ready for his second trial. (Review-Journal). His co-defendant, however, is appealing to the NV Supremes for a separate trial or a delay in the hopes that either procedural maneuver would prevent his being found guilty by association with O.J. (Review-Journal)

Congratulations to Jason Jeskey, who was hired as an associate by Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck (Review-Journal) and Deanna Brinkerhoff who was hired as an associate by Holland & Hart (Review-Journal).

Friday Roundup

The Nevada Supreme Court denied the Motion for a Stay of the O.J. trial [pt 2] brought by O.J.'s co-defendant a.k.a. That Poor Soon to be Found Guilty Bastard. (ESPN) So the trial will start Sept. 8. (Review-Journal)

Congratulations to the Latino law student organization at Boyd School of Law: La Voz won Law Student Organization of the Year from the Hispanic National Bar Association.

The New Celebrity Drama or Welcome to Vegas Suge Knight

Yesterday, we reported about the arrest and release on bail of former Hip-Hop mogul and longtime thug Suge Knight. If you don't know much about thuglife Hip-Hop you can read about it here.

Today, the arrest report was released (you can read the full report here).

Las Vegas Now has the highlights:

"This was apparently Marion Knight's girlfriend that was riding with him in his car at the time. She started punching him while in the car (he was the driver and she was the passenger) in an effort to escape, she grabbed the steering wheel and steered it to the curb. That's when she got out of the car and tried to run and he caught up to her," said Lt. Chris Carroll, Metro.

According to the arrest report, the victim, Melissa Isaac, told officers the two started
arguing after he got a phone call from another woman. Isaac said she confronted
him and that Knight started hitting her.

Thank God for Suge Knight. The lack of scandal in town was getting so bad I was actually starting to pay attention to the O.J. trial [pt 2].

End of Week Roundup

Congratulations to Deanna Brinkerhoff, who was named an associate by Holland & Hart. (Review-Journal)

Speaking of Holland & Hart, congratulations to the firm itself, which was named law firm of the year by the Las Vegas chapter of the National Bar Association. (Holland Hart Blog)

And Vegas has another celebrity trial on the way: former Hip-Hop mogul and longtime thug, "Suge" Knight, is in the Clark County Detention Center after police found him holding a knife and standing over a woman in the western Las Vegas Valley today. He is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, battery domestic violence, possession of a controlled substance and possession of dangerous drugs without a prescription, police said. (Las Vegas Sun) Update: Suge Knight is out on bail. (AP)

Weekend Roundup

No delay for the upcoming trial on charges of armed robbery and kidnapping for O.J. Simpson and his co-defendant. (AP)

The highest profile divorce in the country continues with the lawyer for first lady Dawn Gibbons saying that Gov. Jim Gibbons has violated an agreement with his estranged spouse by speaking to the media about his wife and their pending divorce. (Review-Journal)

Congratulations to Assistant Clark County District Attorney Robert Teuton who has been appointed to fill the Family Court judge's position left vacant by retiring Judge Gerald Hardcastle. (Review-Journal)

A federal class action lawsuit has been filed in Massachusetts against Perini Corp. of Framingham alleging violations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Act. The suit, on behalf of holders of Perini Corp., alleges that Perini failed to tell stock holders about financial problems with its Las Vegas projects. (Worcester Business Journal)

Nevada may soon get rid of the duty to retreat within a home. So get your shotguns ready homeowners. (Fox 5 Vegas)

Chicken Ranch girl makes good? A former porn star/prostitute works her way through the 1L year at a SoCal law school. (Bitter Lawyer)

Congratulations to Christopher Stephens who was named a shareholder by Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. (Review-Journal)