Most Mischievous Verdict: N.O. Lawyer Accusing Cab Driver of Extortion Convicted of Lying to Police 

A New Orleans attorney was recently found guilty of criminal mischief, and the circumstances surrounding her conviction are an excellent reminder to think ahead before acting. So reports WDSU.

Lawyer Jennifer Gaubert had accused Hervey Farrell, a Crescent City taxi driver, of trying to extort money from her by sending her attorney a cellphone video of her sexual advances toward him (you can see the video here). 

Farrell was charged with extortion after Gaubert told police he threatened to release the video unless she ponied up $1,000. Oddly, Gaubert only went to police nearly one year since the encounter. Farrell was booked and spent 30 hours in jail until a district attorney noticed some inconsistencies in Gaubert’s story.

She was then charged with the felony filing a false police report against cab driver. Gaubert waived a jury trial, instead opting for a judge to preside over her case. On January 16, an Orleans Parish Criminal Court judge handed down his verdict, lessening the crime to a misdemeanor. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 13. Gaubert, who was convicted of simple battery against Farrell in 2014, is free on $25,000. Her future as a Louisiana attorney is also in the balance.

Read the full article from WDSU.

Least Freeing Verdict: Ninth Circuit Dictates Enforcement of Condoms in Porn

Much to the chagrin of California-based porn stars, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently upheld a lower court ruling requiring the use of condoms in porn movies. So reports The National Law Journal. 

Vivid Entertainment and other adult erotica film producers argued that forcing condom use in porn films violated their First Amendment rights of free speech to have unprotected sex on camera. In her opinion, Circuit Judge Susan Graber wrote the condom mandate did not interfere with people’s right of expression while upholding the government’s interest in reducing the rate of sexually transmitted infections.

The court’s ruling heavily relied on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in City of Erie v. Pap’s A.M. In that case in 2000, the justices held that requiring erotic dancers to wear pasties and G-strings did not violate their First Amendment rights.

Read the full article from The National Law Journal.

The $6M Dollar Verdict: Georgia Mom Wins Judgment for Faulty Gun that Killed Her Son

A jury in Fulton County, Georgia awarded Linda Bullard $6 million in damages after ruling a pawnshop owner was negligent and breached his duty of implied warranty of merchantability for the sale of what proved to be a faulty .380 pistol. So reports The National Trial Lawyers.

She filed the suit on behalf of her 15-year-old son, who was killed when the handgun, purchased new, fired unexpectedly in 2001. The pistol had been purchased by Bullard’s sister, Tiffany Hardware, in the year 2000. Shortly after the pistol was purchased, Hardware tried to shoot the pistol at a gun range, but it jammed. She returned it to the hardware shop for repair or replacement.

The shop owner tried unsuccessfully to clear the gun’s chamber, and requested Hardware return with it the following Monday when his “gun guy” would be back in the store. When she got home, Hardware put her purse and gun on the table. Unfortunately, the gun fell off the table and fired, shooting her younger brother in the abdomen. He later died of his injuries.

Bullard claimed the shop owner should have kept the gun until it could have been repaired or replaced, rather than returning it to Hardware. That negligence, coupled with the gun’s defects, were responsible for her son’s death, Bullard argued.

In products liability cases, the manufacturer is held strictly liable for defective products. However, that liability is limited for inherently dangerous items, such as guns. In her case, Bullard alleged a breach of implied warranty of merchantability against the shop owner because the gun was defective at the time of sale. This tort doctrine protects buyer from defects unlikely to be discovered through regular use of caution. In her case, Bullard satisfied the four elements of the doctrine, including that the goods were subject to warranty, the item was defective when purchased, her son’s death was caused by the defective gun and that damages were incurred as a result of the defects. Post-verdict motions are pending.

Read the full article from The National Trial Lawyers.

Most Sleazy Verdict: Man Convicted of Murdering Wife to Be With Mistress

Just because prosecutors painted Robert Bashara as a sleazy, lying cheater who betrayed his wife and family, that did not necessarily mean he was involved in his wife’s murder. Rather, it was the facts of the case. So reports the Detroit News.

Testimony and evidence detailed by the prosecution are what caught Bashara in his web of lies. After ten weeks of jury selection and testimony, Bashara was recently sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating the 2012 murder of his wife. It was revealed he paid his handyman to strangle her in the couple’s garage.

According to prosecutors, the lascivious Bashara wanted his wife dead so he could pursue his lifestyle of sadomasochism and bondage with his longtime mistress without the complications engendered with having an affair. “The majority of the testimony did not paint a very flattering picture of Bashara,” jury foreman Bill Mohney told the Detroit News. “’But … my opinion of the man has nothing to do with determining whether he did or did not do something that he deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison for."

It took less than three days of deliberations for the jury to reach its verdict. 

Read the full article from The Detroit News.

Tami Kamin Meyer is an Ohio attorney and writer.