Legal System

Motion for New Trial Based on Juror’s Twittering

I have ranted enough about the soul-crushing lump of Satan's dung that some call the "BlackBerry," so let me move on now to demon-spawned Twitter, which appears to be the latest method of shattering humanity's collective ability to concentrate and/or…


Mistrial Declared After Jurors Found Playing Sudoku

Showing that issues with the jury system are not limited to America, on June 10 a judge in Sydney declared a mistrial in a high-profile drug-conspiracy case after it was discovered that the jurors spent much of their time in…


Lessons in Avoiding Jury Duty

Thankfully, the Chicago Tribune is providing "gavel-to-gavel" coverage of the R. Kelly trial in Cook County, and though this trial will probably teach us many important lessons, the first of them has to do with jury service. Reporter Stacy St….




How to Avoid Jury Duty by Going to Jail Instead

Nobody really likes jury duty, but probably nobody doesn’t like it as much as Daniel Ellis.  Ellis was absolutely determined not to serve on a Massachusetts grand jury, apparently so determined that he wanted to go to jail instead. Ellis…


Six-Figure Award in Case of Golf Cart v. Chevy Cavalier

Madison County, Illinois, is not the lawsuit-lottery capital of the world like it used to be, but juries seem to still be pretty generous.  Last week, a jury awarded William Clawson over $111,000 for injuries he suffered after he drove…




Hussein Can Poke American Eyes With Own Hands

More comedy this week from the Saddam Hussein trial in Baghdad. Hussein claimed on Wednesday in one of his patented courtroom outbursts that he has been beaten "everywhere on [his] body" by Americans while in detention and that he has…