From the ABA General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division.
Effective Strategies for Litigators
Convincing the Judge: Practical Advice for Litigators
Position Opening: O’Quinn Law Library University of Houston
Currently we have an opening at the O’Quinn Law Library: the position of Special Projects Librarian. For detailed information please visit: http://www.law.uh.edu/libraries/job%20ads/SpProjLibrn-04-09.htm.
Applicants please send a cover letter, a resume, and the names of three references to: Mon Yin Lung, Associate Director, O’Quinn Law Library, University of Houston, 12 Law Library, Houston, TX, 77204-6054 or mlung@central.uh.edu. Official review of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled. The University of Houston is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
PowerPoint Security Bug Found in Microsoft Office 2003
“A new zero-day remote code execution vulnerability has come to light, this time affecting Microsoft Office PowerPoint.
The software giant has issued a security advisory about the potential exploit, which affects older Microsoft Office versions up through Office 2003. The current flagship Office 2007 product is not vulnerable.”
For more details see article by Jabulani Lefall, “PowerPoint Security Bug Found in Office 2003” at:
As Mexico Battles Cartels, The Army Becomes the Law
Posting prepared by Matthew Micka
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Mexican President Felipe Calderón is now deploying nearly 50% (45,000) of his nation’s combat ready troops to wage a war against his nation’s powerful drug traffickers, who supply an estimated 90% of the cocaine entering the United States.
U.S. Supreme Court Update: Harbison v. Bell, Warden
Harbison v. Bell, Warden
No. 07-8521
“In reversing a 6th Circuit opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court has found that a certificate of appealability is not required to appeal a denial of federally appointed counsel, and that federally appointed counsel may represent clients in state clemency proceedings and be compensated for that representation. Following Tennessee state courts’ rejection of Petitioner’s conviction and death penalty challenges, a federal public defender had been appointed to represent him in a habeas petition. Upon denial of that petition, counsel sought to continue representing Petitioner in state clemency proceedings since Tennessee does not provide counsel for such proceedings. The District Court had denied the motion, and the 6th Circuit had affirmed.”
Rescuecom Corp. v. Google Inc.
From: Findlaw Case Summaries, Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals:
CYBERSPACE LAW, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, TRADEMARK
Rescuecom Corp. v. Google Inc. , No. 06-4881
Findlaw Case Summaries: Criminal Law and Procedure 15
To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.
March 30 – April 3, 2009:
U.S. Supreme Court, March 31, 2009 Rivera v. Illinois, No. 07-9995 Provided that all jurors seated in a criminal case are qualified and unbiased, the Due Process Clause does not require automatic reversal of a conviction because of the trial court’s good-faith error in denying the defendant’s peremptory challenge to a juror. Defendant’s murder conviction is therefore affirmed.
U.S. Supreme Court, April 01, 2009 Harbison v. Bell, No. 07-8521 In a capital habeas proceeding, the denial of federal appointed counsel’s motion to expand the scope of her representation to include state clemency proceedings is reversed, where: 1) a certificate of appealability is not required to appeal an order denying a request for federally appointed counsel, because 28 U.S.C. section 2253(c)(1)(A) governs only final orders that dispose of a habeas corpus proceeding’s merits; and 2) because state clemency proceedings are “available” to state petitioners who obtain representation under 28 U.S.C. section 3599(a)(2), the statute’s plain language indicates that appointed counsel’s authorized representation includes such proceedings.
U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 30, 2009 US v. Gonzalez-Ramirez , No. 07-1880 Conviction and sentence for drug crimes is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant’s motion for a competency hearing and request for a continuance; 2) the court did abuse its discretion in admitting the cocaine and packaging as evidence, or the officer’s testimony related to the evidence; and 3) the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction.
U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 30, 2009 US v. Rivera , No. 07-2675
District court judgment is affirmed where the “did assault and beat” charging language in the criminal complaint sufficed to identify the offense as a violent felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act or a “crime of violence” under the career offender provision of the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Read more…
U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, April 01, 2009 US v. Marsh , No. 07-1698
Sentence for drug crimes is affirmed where the court was not unreasonable in applying a twelve-month upward departure from defendant’s mandatory minimum sentence, as the court made an informed decision and also stated it would have reached the same result under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines as it would have in a non-Guideline setting.
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Findlaw Case Summaries: Constitutional Law 11
To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.
March 30 – April 3, 2009:
U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, April 01, 2009 Garcia v. Yonkers Sch. Dist. , No. 07-3167 In an First Amendment action between students and school district, district court’s grant of attorney’s fees to plaintiff is reversed where plaintiffs were not prevailing parties in the matter as the court did not issue a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order and therefore there was no basis for according prevailing party status. ..
U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 02, 2009 Andrew v. Clark, No. 07-1184 In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging that Defendants violated Plaintiff’s First Amendment rights by retaliating against him for releasing an internal police memorandum, the complaint’s dismissal is vacated, where there was a dispute as to whether Plaintiff released the memorandum as part of his official duties.
U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 30, 2009 Coors Brewing Co. v. Méndez-Torres, No. 07-2682 In an action challenging a beer tax exemption as unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause, district court’s grant of defendant’s motion to dismiss is reversed and remanded where: 1) the court erred in finding that the decision of the jurisdictional issue in the earlier Calderón action precluded consideration of that issue in the current suit; 2) plaintiff’s action is not barred by the Butler Act limiting federal jurisdiction in Puerto Rico or by principles of comity; 3) the PR Supreme Court’s decision in Brewers does not provide a basis for granting defendant’s motion to dismiss; and 4) defendant failed to meet the burden of showing sufficient privity between plaintiff and plaintiff’s PR beer distributor, and thus the the prior final judgment involving the distributor does not preclude the present action.
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New York Appellate Criminal Cases Originating from the New York Supreme Court NY County – Lexis. April 6, 2009.
Update from the Lexis Alert Service,
April 6, 2009.
1. People v. Nunez, 212, 4936/06, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2535; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2442, April 2, 2009, Decided, April 2, 2009, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (James A. Yates, …
2. People v. Pearson, 225, 225A, 225B, 4340/06, 4464/06, 4478/06, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2543; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2428, April 2, 2009, Decided, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgments, Supreme Court, New York County (Charles Solomon, J. …
3. People v. Smith, 217, 5584/05, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2538; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2431, April 2, 2009, Decided, April 2, 2009, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Lewis Bart Stone, …
4. People v. McClain, 222, 1200/06, 223, 224, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2542; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2441, April 2, 2009, Decided, April 2, 2009, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
… Defendant-Appellant. The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Rena K. Uviller, …
5. People v. Tucker, 176, 800/07, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2469; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2510, March 31, 2009, Decided, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Bonnie Wittner, J. …
6. People v. Bush, 193, 5516/04, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2477; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2504, March 31, 2009, Decided, March 31, 2009, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Charles H. Solomon,
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Social Security Administration: Fugitive Felons Serving As Representative Payees
The Office of the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration (SSA) has prepared an audit report, Fugitive Felons Serving As Representative Payees. March 2009. The Report consists of a review and analysis of representative payee issues within the SSA. To conduct the review, a file of fugitive records was obtained from the SSA Office of Investigations. From that file it was determined that 14, 594 inbdividuals for whom arrest warrants had been issued and who were represenative payees for SSA benificiaries as of July 2007 From this group 275 individuals were randomly selected for detailed analysis..
To see the entire Report click on the link below:
Audit Report: Fugitive Felons Serving As Representative Payees