LA LAWYER ARRESTED AFTER KNIFE ASSAULT ON PROCESS SERVER

Barrister Ralph Gibson Pagter Jr. (shown here without the Bowie Knife)

LA Now

A Santa Anna, California partner in the law firm Pagter and Miller has been arrested for allegedly attempting to stab a process server who tried to serve a civil suit on the Bowie Knife wielding barrister at his home.

According to Santa Ana Police Sgt. Mark Kozakowski, when the process server tried to serve the papers Ralph Gibson Pagter Jr., 49, confronted the man, threatened him, then tried to stab him.

According to police, Pagter’s weapon of choice to fend off process servers is described as a large hunting knife, the Los Angeles Times blog LA Now reported.

The process server fled unharmed and called police, who arrived at the home and arrested Pagter on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, police told the Times. He was booked at the Orange County Jail and released today on $25,000 bail.

Pagter, who specializes in bankruptcy law, has been a California attorney since 1984.

What, if anything, caused Pagter to flip out and allegedly assault the process server is not known.

Perhaps Pagter thought that the man was a would be burglar...trying to serve him with papers?

Since the process server was unarmed and outside Pagter’s home self defense would seem like a tough sell-but the case will be filed in Southern California……

We have covered lawyers arrested and/or convicted for all manner of misbehavior—including slavery, bribery, theft, forgery, embezzlement, manufacturing methamphetamine, mail fraud, being naked in the office, shoplifting, fighting, child molestation, and rape—but this is our first report of an alleged lawyer-on-process-server attack with a bowie knife.

Congratulations barrister Pagter—you have made blogging history.

But will the charges "stick"? Stay tuned.

PHILLIP SPECTOR APPEAL UPDATE: RECORD ON APPEAL FILED

On July 27, 2009, the Los Angeles County Superior Court Clerk and Court Reporter filed the official trial court record on appeal—triggering a due date of September 9, 2009 for the music producer’s appellate counsel to file his opening brief on appeal.

The case has been assigned to Division Three of the Second Appellate District; meaning that three of the following judges will most likely hear the appeal:

Presiding Justice Joan D. Klein
Associate Justice H. Walter Croskey
Associate Justice Patti S. Kitching
Associate Justice Richard D. Aldrich

The three judges to whom the case has been assigned is not publicly known at this time.

More later.

MICHAEL VIC REINSTATED INTO THE NFL

The NFL has conditionally reinstated Michael Vick.

Vick will not be eligible to play until Week 6 during the regular season and can play in the final two preseason games. His eligibility to play in Week 6 will be based on him following the NFL's guidelines that will oversee his off-field life, including his finances and personal relationships.

For those of you who have been living in the wilderness and do not understand this post, please see our prior post: Michael Vic Gets 23 Months in Prison for Federal Dog Fighting Case.

LAWYER JAILED FOR 14 YEARS OVER $2.5M HIDDEN FROM EX RELEASED

Is that a knowing twinkle in the Chadster’s eye, or our imagination?

In late 2007 we told you about the unusually stubborn Pennsylvania attorney H. Beatty Chadwick—who refused to reveal to his ex-wife in divorce proceedings where $2.5 million in hidden assets was located—even though he had been jailed until he coughed up the offshore accounts. As of our 2007 post, Chadwick had been in jail for 13 years!

We are please to report that attorney Chadwick has been released! Without coughing up a dime in hidden assets!

Legal humor blog Lowering the Bar reports that Judge Joseph Cronin said he agreed with previous rulings that Chadwick had the ability to comply with the order to pay but had "willfully refused to do so."

Explains Lowering the Bar:

“He released Chadwick, though, because he found that continued imprisonment would be legal only if there was some likelihood that ultimately he would comply with the order; otherwise, the confinement would be merely punitive instead of coercive. Apparently 14 years of incarcerated non-compliance - believed to be the longest sentence served for contempt of court in U.S. history - is enough to support a finding that future compliance is unlikely.”

One wonders, though, if it was not equally obvious that the Chadster would never tell after the first two, three or four years in the slammer.

The Chadster, who is now 73 years old, is not quite sure what to do with the rest of his life—now that his freedom has been restored.

May we respectfully suggest spending some of that $2.5 million + accumulated interest on suitable accommodations on some Caribbean island accompanied by a much younger and insanely beautiful woman?

We could make that suggestion, but it would be wrong.

Vaya con Dios Chadster.

Lawyer Jailed 13 Years Still Refuses to Tell Ex-Wife Where Assets Are

Lawyer Jailed for Contempt Is Freed After 14 Years

WOMAN BECOMES LAWYER TO FREE BROTHER, THEN WINS HIM $3.4 MILLION

Kenneth Waters served 18 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. His sister, Betty Ann Waters (right), earned a law degree and then obtained his release + $3.4 M in damages

This lady has our admiration. Her brother was wrongfully convicted and sent to prison. Convinced of her brother’s innocence, she decides to go to law school, graduates, passes the bar exam, then wins her brother’s freedom (based on DNA testing), then wins her brother a $3.4 million settlement for his wrongful conviction and incarceration. (Unfortinately, her brother died 6 months after his sister obtained his release, and did not live long enough to see his multi-million dollar award. )

Wow! What a story. What a lady! They should make a movie about it. Wait, they did….staring Hilary Swank.

Read More

Hat Tip: ABA Journal, Lawyer Vindicated After Long Fight for Wrongfully Convicted Brother

CHILD MOLESTING LAWYER FROM NYC MEGA-FIRM CRAVATH NOW SUING CITY FOR SEX-OFFENDER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

PoughkeepsieJournal.com

Not excruciating enough (for lawyers) that a former lawyer with (arguably) the most prestigious law firm in the United Stares was not only arrested for a paying a mother for sex with her children, was then fired, and then sued Cravath, dirt bag former tax lawyer James Colliton is once again in the news, once again for filing a lawsuit blaming others for his fall from grace/resulting quality of life.

As we previously reported, On October 2, 2007, Colliton pleaded guilty to second- and third-degree statutory rape and patronizing a prostitute. The married former tax lawyer, who also had five children of his own, was charged in connection with his payment to a woman so he could have sex with her two children.

Colliton, it was alleged, repeatedly had sex the children, ages 13 and 15, after paying their mother for permission.

Colliton, arrested and fired by his law firm in 2006, was sentenced in October, 2007 to the 19 months he had already served in jail awaiting trial and declared a sex offender. (See our prior post here .)

Then, as also reported here, Colliton sued his former employer Cravath, Swaine & Moore for salary, vacation pay and even annual bonus payments to which he claimed to be entitled.

Free after (incredibly) being sentenced to time served after paying a mother to have sex with her children, Colliton claims he has been harassed by town police officers who regularly visit his physical residence, which Colliton listed as a Route 9 motel. The visits are part of a sex offender monitoring program initiated several years ago by county District Attorney William Grady.

Colliton claims the program violates state law and deprives him of his constitutional right to privacy and his Fourth Amendment right against unlawful searches.

Describing police visits as the "intentional infliction of emotional distress," Colliton recently served town and county officials with a notice of claim - often a precursor to filing suit.

In his eight-page claim filed last month, Colliton indicates he intends to seek $3 million in compensatory damages and $97 million in punitive damages in federal court.

"I have suffered liberty and property deprivations," Colliton wrote in his notice, which he apparently authored. He said police "visits came and keep coming even though no court has adjudged they are lawful."

MEET REDNECK JUDGE TIMOTHY ELLENDER

WWLTV

What can you say about Louisiana Judge Timothy Ellander—who once earned a six month suspension without pay for wearing black face and a jail uniform to a party—except that he is at it again, as in suspended again—this time for being hostile and insensitive to an abused woman seeking a restraining order against her husband.

Judge Ellender received a 30 day suspension for violating the code of judicial conduct with inappropriate comments during a 2007 hearing on a domestic abuse case.

As explained by WWLTV:

“In court documents from the March 2, 2007 hearing, Judge Ellender questions why the couple didn’t just get a divorce rather than “go through this crap.”

“Ellender also instructed the couple on how they could file for a divorce without having to retain an attorney. The complainant responded that she wanted her husband to leave her and her children alone.

“According to court documents, Ellender said that the children belonged to the husband too and then he asked her to detail an incident that would show the problem.

“When she began by talking about a night when she, her husband and their daughters were in Subway eating, Ellender remarked, “Can’t you find a better place to eat than that?”

“As the woman pressed on, she said tht one of her daughters was being very active and that her husband told her he was going to bring her to the bathroom and that it would be bloody.

“Ellender asked the father if that was true and he replied that he did say he would whip her butt and make it bleed.

“Ellender responded by saying, “Good for you.”

“The woman then went on to detail other incidents and Ellender ended the hearing by telling the woman that if she wanted a divorce she should get one, but that she wouldn’t get the TRO.”

Way to go Judge Ellander! (This is, after all, the South, is it not?)

See also, Judge of the Day: Timothy C. Ellender (Above the Law).

EX DC MAYOR MARION BARRY ARRESTED A THIRD TIME AFTER ’90 CRACK COCAINE ARREST—FOR ‘STALKING’

WaPo

Marion Barry was planning to spend July 4 in Rehoboth Beach with an ex-girlfriend but returned with the woman to Washington Saturday afternoon, hours before being arrested for allegedly stalking her, Barry's lawyer said this morning. If convicted of the stalking charge, Barry could face a year in prison and a fine up to $500, The Washington Post is reporting, quoting “police sources”.

Here is the story: Barry (who is still married) takes on again, off again girlfriend to beach area for romantic weekend, which ends early. Barry drops GF off at her home, where her ex-husband is house-sitting. Barry leaves in one care, GF and her ex-husband in another. Both cars arrive in a DC park, where GF flags down police car, accuses Barry of “stalking” her. Barry is (once again) arrested.

This is the third arrest of the former DC mayor after he was videotaped in a motel in 1990 by the FBI then convicted of crack cocaine use.

Barry currently serves as a member of the Washington DC City Council. He was reelected as mayor after being released from federal prison following his videotaped 1990 crack bust.

WHEN CLOWNS GO BAD: CLOWN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR DEFRAUDING ELDERLY

The Daily Courier

A female clown who specialized in fairs and city events in Arizona will spend almost three years in prison for her financial exploitation of an elderly Prescott woman, according to a press release from the Yavapai County Attorney's office.

Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Ralph Hess sentenced Carrie Lynn Williams-Thompson, 49, on June 25. In addition to prison time, Hess sentenced her to seven years probation when she gets out.

Williams-Thompson pleaded guilty on May 12 to theft and unlawful use of power of attorney.

Now who in their right mind would give a clown a power of attorney? Oh, right, never mind.
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Related: Why are clowns so scary? University of Sheffield study finds children think clown's "frightening and unknowable"

JUSTICE KOZINSKI-FALSELY MALIGNED BY HACKER-CLEARED OF ALL WRONGDOING IN ETHICS INVESTIGATION

Source: David Lat, AbovetheLaw.com

For those readers unfamiliar with this story of a disgruntled lawyer-litigant named Cyrus Sanai who hacked into Chief 9th Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski’s family’s private web server and then publicly accused the conservative (but libertarian) jurist of being a pornographer (and worse) please see our prior post by guest blogger Stephen Gianelli here.

Rather than try to recap the story by reinventing the wheel, we will simply quote David Lat’s eloquent prose regarding the good news—not just for Justice Kozinski—but for lovers of fairness and justice everywhere (yes, the good guys won one today!!!!!):

“Someone's July 4th weekend is off to a good start. Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, has been cleared of misconduct by the panel of Third Circuit judges that was tasked with investigating him. As you may recall, Chief Judge Kozinski called for an investigation of himself, after it was revealed that he had a "website" -- which wasn't really a website, for reasons previously explained by the judge's wife, Marcy Tiffany -- containing some sexually explicit material.

“The Third Circuit Judicial Council's unanimous opinion, authored by Chief Judge Anthony Scirica, is available here (PDF). It was actually filed on June 5, but only made public today. It's thorough and lengthy, weighing in at 38 pages, and describes in detail the extensive investigation conducted by the council (with the assistance of outside lawyers, from Dechert and Morgan Lewis, and a technology consultant).

“To those with a deeper familiarity with the facts of the case, as opposed to just the headlines, Chief Judge Kozinski's vindication is not surprising. The judge violated no law; rather, the "website" -- actually just a private family file server, although imperfectly secured for a period of time, as explained in the opinion -- was a personal matter unrelated to his judicial duties. To the extent that the (overblown) public controversy created a problem in an obscenity trial that Judge Kozinski was presiding over at the time, any problem was obviated when the judge recused himself. And let's not forget that the whole controversy was originally kicked up by a disgruntled litigant, Cyrus Sanai, who tried peddling the story for months before someone finally bit -- and who "has been targeting Kozinski for years," as noted by Ted Frank.”
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Read More
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Kozinski Receives Witkin Medal—New Chief of 9th Circuit Credited with ‘Altering Legal Landscape’
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In re: Complaint of Judicial Misconduct [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit]

Third Circuit Concludes Proceeding Against Kozinski Without Finding of Misconduct [Patterico's Pontifications]

A 'Pleased' Kozinski Cleared of Wrongdoing [WSJ Law Blog]

http://blogonaut-blogonaut.blogspot.com/search?q=kozinski

GUILTY PLEA BY LAWYER-OWNER OF JUVIE JAILS WHO PAID JUDGES TO SEND KIDS THERE

AP

Now this is dark: An attorney who owns private juvenile jails, pays juvenile judges under the table to sustain petitions against alleged juvenile offenders (in other words, children), and then sentence the poor kids to serve time in the very same jails—at a tidy profit for attorney. So much so that the attorney was able to support a yacht and a corporate jet from the kiddy-jail-bribery revenues.

BTW, the attorney got caught, he pleaded guilty today, and he faces a 5 year sentence—except he is not going to a kiddy jail.

Robert Powell, 49, pleaded guilty to concealing a felony and being an accessory after the fact for his role in paying two judges who sentenced juvenile offenders to a pair of private detention facilities he owned.

The Hazleton attorney was charged after former Luzerne County Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella pleaded guilty in February to accepting the payoffs. The judges' admissions of wrongdoing prompted the state Supreme Court to overturn hundreds of juvenile convictions issued by Ciavarella, ruling the disgraced judge violated the constitutional rights of youth offenders who appeared in his courtroom without lawyers between 2003 and 2008.

Powell's attorney, Mark Sheppard, issued a statement saying his client accepted responsibility for his actions and promised full cooperation with authorities.

Among the offenders ordered into Powell's detention centers were teenagers who were locked up for months for minor offenses, including petty theft, prank notes and possession of drug paraphernalia. Many of the teens had never been in trouble before, and some were imprisoned even after probation officers recommended against it.

Prosecutors said that Powell paid $772,500 in kickbacks, disguising the payments as rental fees to the judges for docking his yacht at their Florida condominium. Under a plea agreement with the U.S. attorney's office, he will give up his ownership stake in the 56-foot yacht, named "Reel Justice," as well as a corporate jet.

FEDERAL JUDGE REVOKES BILLIONAIRE STANFORD’S PRETRIAL BAIL

Bloomberg.com

R. Allen Stanford, indicted for allegedly swindling investors out of more than $7 billion, must remain in jail until his trial, a federal judge ruled.

“The court determines that Stanford is a serious flight risk and there is no condition or combination of conditions of pretrial release that will reasonably assure his appearance as required for trial,” the court said on June 30, 2009 in a 13-page ruling.

“We are very disappointed, and we will appeal to the Fifth Circuit,” Stanford’s lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, said in a phone interview following the ruling. He didn’t indicate how fast he could file the appeal to the appellate court in New Orleans.

DeGuerin has said it will take about a year to prepare for Stanford’s trial, which could last six months.

Stanford has been in U.S. custody since June 18, when he was indicted on 21 counts by a federal grand jury in Houston.

Stanford is accused of conspiracy, fraud, obstruction and money laundering in connection with an alleged Ponzi by Antigua-based Stanford International Bank Ltd.

Stanford had hoped to live with his girlfriend in a luxury apartment in Houston on the $500,000 bail order granted earlier this week by a federal magistrate—which bond was revoked by the trial court before Stanford could post it.