Posts on ‘March 16th, 2009’

Federal investigators have subpoenaed at least one insurance company to testify about uninsured/underinsured motorist arbitrations in Luzerne and Lackawanna, Pa., counties before a grand jury, indicating for the first time that the corruption probe has expanded geographically. The investigators’ move comes on the heels of a report in a local newspaper that ties an attorney, whose name has turned up in an examination of allegations of case fixing, to a Luzerne County judge.

Tucked into the crest of the Napa Valley in California, Calistoga may be better known for mud baths than merlot. But lately wine’s been at the forefront of a fierce debate here: Who has the right to the Calistoga name? Some area vintners, like Bo Barrett of the Chateau Montelena Winery, say wines sold under the name Calistoga should be made with local grapes. But Roger Louer of Calistoga Cellars, which uses grapes grown all over Napa, says it’s unfair to demand that he change the company name.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on Friday rejected efforts by lawyer Howard K. Stern, executor for the estate of the actress-model Anna Nicole Smith, to expedite the $88 million inheritance from her late husband, billionaire J. Howard Marshall. Stern was seeking the money for Smith’s surviving daughter, Danielynn. In a separate matter, Stern was arrested on Thursday in California on charges of conspiring with two physicians to supply drugs to Smith, who died of an accidental overdose in 2007.

A building materials company and its owner have appealed a $12.6 million verdict against them, alleging that messages posted on Twitter during the trial show juror bias. The motion filed on behalf of Russell Wright and his company, Stoam Holdings, claims the juror sent eight messages — or “tweets” — to the microblogging site via his cell phone. According to the motion, one posting read in part: “oh and nobody buy Stoam. Its bad mojo and they’ll probably cease to Exist, now that their wallet is 12m lighter.”

In a legal memorandum filed in federal court Friday, the Obama administration introduced a new legal standard for detaining suspected terrorists, tying the president’s authority to Congress’ 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force and doing away with the Bush administration’s “enemy combatant” designation. But one advocate for several Guantanamo detainees called the memo “old wine in a new bottle,” saying, “We don’t consider this great progress at all.”

In a closely watched “takings” case involving public health and safety regulations, the Federal Circuit has held that the U.S. government did not have to compensate a major egg producer for nearly $9 million in losses in connection with a government effort to stop the spread of salmonella almost two decades ago. The Federal Circuit unanimously reversed a ruling by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which had held two trials, each time concluding there was a compensable takings.