Trials

Salem Library Told to Stop Wiccan Censorship: "We Are Pleased This Matter is Behind Us"

Public library officials in Salem are pleased with a court order against them this week that says they cannot block Wiccan and Native American websites -- after the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri accused them of refusing to allow a patron to conduct online research on certain rel ... More >>

YMCA St. Louis Lawsuit: Two Men Sue Over Alleged Swimming Instructor Molestation

This week, two men have filed a lawsuit against the YMCA of Greater St. Louis -- more than twenty years after a swimming instructor allegedly molested them when they were just middle school age. The petition, on full view below, says that both plaintiffs want to ensure this abuse does not happen t ... More >>

Judge Upholds Ellisville's Red Light Cameras

St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Thea Sherry is the latest Missouri magistrate to rule in favor of the constitutionality of red light cameras. Judge Sherry dismissed a class-action lawsuit October 30 that challenged Ellisville's ordinance allowing for the controversial cameras. Her ruling marks the fif ... More >>

Couple Sues Doctors For Decapitating Their Baby During Labor

Hey, buddy. How are you? Havin' a bad day? Well, if so, you may want to mosey on down the internet trail and skip this post. Because this is the worst story we've heard in a really, really, really long time. Here's what happened to a young St. Louis couple and their unborn baby, according to a law ... More >>

Have You Illegally Downloaded the Porno "Total Black Invasion 2"? Beware this Lawsuit!

Yesterday, in our esteemed federal court, the Southern California-based company, West Coast Productions -- "Your Premier Source for Interracial Porn!" -- filed suit against 71 unnamed people living in eastern Missouri. The accusation? That they infringed copyright by downloading "Total Black Invasio ... More >>

Kansas City's Red Light Cameras Survive Class-Action Lawsuit

Last year the St. Louis-based Simon Law Firm filed six class-action lawsuits challenging the legality and constitutionality of red light cameras in Missouri. To date, the Simon lawyers are 0-3 in their quest to banish the cameras in a half-dozen municipalities. The latest defeat occurred last week w ... More >>

Billy Little: Pastor and Pyschologist Accused of Dusty Sex Scandal

A retired Baptist minister and licensed psychologist who, according to his biography, once hosted a counseling program on KMOX and worked as a sports psychologist for the baseball Cardinals, stands accused today of taking advantage of a female patient. And the plaintiffs and their attorney believe m ... More >>

Creve Coeur's Red-Light Cameras Win Another Legal Battle

​A St. Louis County judge this week upheld Creve Coeur's red-light camera system, dismissing a class-action suit challenging the legality of the cameras. Attorneys Ryan Keane and John Campbell with the Simon Law Firm filed the suit last year on behalf of four people who'd received tickets from the ... More >>

Scott Solovic: Thrice Convicted of Raping Children, Contends Current Accuser is "Too Young" for Him

​Scott Solovic, 38, is currently serving his third stint in jail for sexually assaulting underage girls. A fourth victim of his depredations came forward only after he was sentenced to prison this most recent time, because she felt she was safe enough to do so with him out of her life. Authorities ... More >>

Club-Goers Sue Blackmon's for Last Year's Infamous Ruckus

Five plaintiffs have filed suit against an East St. Louis nightclub after claiming to have suffered injuries during a no-holds-barred melee made infamous last April after video footage emerged and circulated across YouTube. The fracas, which lasted several minutes, included pistol whippings, body sl ... More >>

Lawsuit Filed Over Brawl at Blackmon's Webbie Concert

​Five plaintiffs have filed suit against an East St. Louis nightclub after claiming to have suffered injuries during a no-holds-barred melee made infamous last April after video footage emerged and circulated across YouTube. The fracas, which lasted several minutes, included pistol whippings, body ... More >>

Post-Dispatch Subject of New Lawsuit

Retirees of the cash-strapped Post-Dispatch say they were misled about health benefits​A dozen former employees of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch are suing the local daily for fraudulent inducement and negligent misrepresentation, claiming that the paper's top brass pulled out of a 2007 agreement ... More >>

St. Louis Production Crew StarStrukk Sues Andy Samberg; The Lonely Island

Phenomenal Multimedia​Saturday Night Live star Andy Samberg and his Lonely Island group are at the center of a copyright and royalty lawsuit filed by the St. Louis-based production group StarStrukk.The lawsuit filed in federal court in New York by Aleric "Rick Tha Ruler" Banks and Monique Hine ... More >>

Cigarette Mistrial Boiled Down to Smokers v. Nonsmokers on Jury

Smokers in the jury stood apart from the non-smoking colleagues.​A lawsuit that finally went to trial last month after wending its way though court for 11 years ended yesterday in a mistrial when the jury failed to deliver a verdict. The class-action lawsuit accused tobacco giant Phillip Morris of ... More >>

Plastic Surgeon Posted Nude Pics Online, Patients Claim in Lawsuits

If this was your body, would you feel violated?​Five women who hired St. Louis physician Dr. Michele Koo to perform plastic surgery on them say they got a nasty surprise -- pictures of their naked torsos were posted on Dr. Koo's website.And that's not all. The pictures came up in an Internet searc ... More >>

Facebook Seeks to Dismiss Illinois Class-Action; Mothers Claim Children Exploited

​Facebook has asked a federal judge in southern Illinois to dismiss a class-action lawsuit filed in June on behalf of two Granite City moms. The suit filed on behalf of the children of Melissa Dawes and Jennifer DeYoung alleges that Facebook inappropriately uses its "like" feature to monitor the ... More >>

LaRon Williams: St. Louis Man Guilty of Kidnapping, Terrorizing Girlfriend

courtesy of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police DepartmentLaRon Wiliams: Previously convicted of bribery, he was found guilty of kidnapping in a trial last week.​At St. Louis jury found LaRon Williams, 33, guilty last week of kidnapping, domestic assault and armed criminal action after a brutal atta ... More >>

Man Sues Bar After Getting Nailed in Face by Underage Boozer

Is this the man who hit a Belleville man in the face with a bottle of vodka?​An underage guy walks into a bar. He somehow gets his hands on a bottle of vodka and takes a few swills. Eventually, he gets a little tipsy. In an uncontrolled moment of gesticulation, he swings his arm around wildly ... More >>

$60 Million A.G. Edwards Settlement Gets Appeals Court OK

It's $21 million for the lawyers who steered a lawsuit against A.G. Edwards, alleging unjust enrichment.​A $60 million class-action settlement agreement between A.G. Edwards and a group of account holders who accused the company of a conflict of interest and unjust enrichment has been permitted to ... More >>

Taxicab Commission Sued Over Lambert Fees

Two St. Louis cabbies say they've been unfairly assessed $1 each time they leave Lambert.​A pair of cabbies has filed a lawsuit against the Metropolitan Taxicab Commission, arguing that the $1 fee they're required to pay for each trip through Lambert St. Louis International Airport constitutes an ... More >>

Black Sheriff Deputies Once Again Dicked Over by the Man

troycardona.comTroy Cardona administers a little Jeff-Co street justice in the STL.​A Jefferson County judge yesterday drastically reduced the damages that two black St. Louis sheriff deputies won in a September trial alleging racial discrimination. Saying the $350,000 in punitive damages awarded ... More >>

Grinding Justice: Operation Streamline costs millions, tramples the Constitution and doesn't work

Ronald Little: Racks Up a Lot of Sex Charges -- 116 of Them to Be Precise

He may be Little, but his case file ain't.​Last month Daily RFT reported on the arrest of 63-year-old Ronald Little on charges that for years he'd sexually assaulted a female relative who's now just 14 years old. At the time, police suspected that there may have been other victims as well. Yesterd ... More >>

Darryl Burton: Wrongfully Convicted Ex-Prisoner Sues St. Louis, Police Board

Photo: Jennifer SilverbergDarryl Burton photographed last year.​Updated 4:06 p.m. with comments from Burton's attorney.Darryl Burton served 24 years in prison for a St. Louis murder he didn't commit. In 2008, Cole County Judge Richard Callahan (now the U.S. Attorney for Eastern Missouri) released ... More >>

PartyLite Smackdown: So-Called Barbecue Leads to $2 Million Lawsuit

​If you thought Tupperware-style direct sales parties were all fun and games, guess again. A lawsuit filed in federal court this week argues that a St. Louis woman should pay $2 million for damages incurred by a barbecue she held in her home -- claiming she invited colleagues from one direct- ... More >>

Jive & Wail in Maplewood Sued for Copyright Infringement by BMI

jiveandwail.com​Performance-rights giant BMI and several other copyright-owners have sued the Maplewood outpost of the Jive & Wail for copyright infringement In documents filed yesterday in U.S. District Court, multiple plaintiffs accused the Jive & Wail piano bar in Maplewood of nineteen in ... More >>

Witnesses Testify to Seeing Kevin Sanders Jr. Shot to Death, But Which to Believe?

Two stories, one stand.​Which eye witness to believe? The father of a murdered child or a neighbor subpoenaed to appear before the court to provide testimony? That's what a St. Louis jury will be weighing as early as today as it deliberates in the trial of 18-year-old Darryl Moore, charged with ki ... More >>

Class-Action Suit Calls YTB a Pyramid Scheme

​A class-action lawsuit first filed in federal court in Illinois has been re-filed in Madison County accusing the Wood River-based YTB of being a "pyramid scheme." The lawsuit follows years of allegations that YTB -- which sells home-based travel companies -- operates as a Ponzi scheme. In 2009, t ... More >>

Mother Sues Soulard Haunted House; Claims Daughter Poisoned By Artificial Fog

Thrill seekers gather outside The Darkness in October 2008.​A fifteen-year-old from Belleville got the fright of her life last Halloween at the popular Soulard haunted house, The Darkness. Only the scare didn't come from the advanced animatronics and dozens of costumed goons that have made the St. ... More >>

North Side Rancor: A quartet of legal eagles aim to shoot down Paul McKee's grandiose vision to regenerate St. Louis

Dog's Bark Prompts Officer's Bite: Suit Claims Cop Aimed for Canine, Shot Woman Instead

Officer Donald Williams Knotts​Poor, poor Linda Hicks of Washington Park, Illinois. She was only trying to do the right thing last year when she called the police to remove her disruptive son from her home. In a lawsuit filed in St. Clair County, Hicks alleges that Washington Park police officer D ... More >>

St. Louis Jailer Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Drugs into City Justice Center

St. Louis Justice Center on Tucker Boulevard​James Lamont Moore has pleaded guilty to charges of attempted distribution of heroin to inmates at the St. Louis City Justice Center.Moore was one of three jailers indicted back in June in a plot to funnel drugs into the justice center. Between January ... More >>

Trial Alleging Business Fraud Should Be Lively, Even If Much is Off Limits

healthcareeragents.com Brian Marchant-CalsynAn interesting civil trial gets under way today in St. Louis County Court. Gary Schwarz, a New Jersey resident, is suing Town & Country business Health Career Agents Inc., alleging that its owner, Brian Marchant-Calsyn, fraudently withheld infor ... More >>

Law and Anarchy

St. Louis Police Chief Joe Mokwa and his officers may stand trial for violating the civil rights of “anarchists” in 2003.

Back to the Bolozone

The "anarchists" finally get their day in court.

A Shot in the Arm

A federal appeals court says Darryl Burton might very well be innocent of the 1984 murder of Donald Ball. But there's nothing they can do about it.

The Price of Innocence

Larry Johnson wants big bucks for a crime he never committed

Debt Comes to the Archbishop

A sad chapter in the church's history is far from over

The Case of the Vanishing Videotape

A workhouse inmate claims he was wrongly beaten, and city officials scramble to get their stories straight

Gone A-Courtin'

Enterprise Rent-A-Car, recovering from one legal loss, looks to the next lawsuit

Time Bomb

Asbestos still takes its toll, but the lawsuits and victims are changing

You Don't Know Dick

He's for tort reform but takes trial lawyers' money and sues docs

Slaphappy

The mayor of tony Creve Coeur and her husband found a novel way of handling political disputes -- they sue critics

For the Defense

Terry Niehoff, one of the city's top criminal-defense lawyers, makes his money the old-fashioned way -- he earns it, one client at a time

Lead Counsel

These lawyers could cash in big, but who hired them?

Venue's on the Menu

For lawyers trying to take a bite of Doe Run, St. Louis is the place to be

Unsettled

The only person likely to pay for killing LaTanya Mickles-Hamlin is the guy who named the alleged triggerman

The Lead Menace

In its lawsuit, St. Louis is eager to blame the lead industry for making the area one of the most contaminated in the nation. But the city itself is guilty of doing little to prevent the poisoning of thousands of children like "Little Al" Evans.

WHITE NOISE

The appointment of a senior executive of the discrimination-claim-plagued Adam's Mark chain to a leadership position in the St. Louis County NAACP stirs outrage

ON THE HOT SEAT

A former prosecutor and a former police investigator explain their actions in the Ellen Reasonover case 16 years ago. Their accounts don't square.