Process Server On Trial for Allegedly Impersonating Cop

A Madison County judge is deciding whether a private detective went too far by identifying himself as a police detective.

Circuit Judge Richard Tognarelli heard the last testimony and closing arguments today of a bench trial for 27-year-old Dustin Dahmer. He is accused of identifying himself as a police detective while he was working for Kelllerman Investigations in Glen Carbon, a private detective agency that also serves court summonses on people.

Dahmer, of Bunker Hill, is accused of identifying himself as a Madison County sheriff's detective in May 2007: once by phone to a Godfrey woman and once in person to a man at his South Roxana home. Both times, Dahmer was trying to find someone who was to be served with court papers.

Read more at bnd.com.

AZ Tickets Thrown Out Because of Process Server

Tucson City Court will throw out more than 100 photo enforcement tickets as it investigates if those people were ever properly served.

When photo enforcement cameras go off, a vendor looks at the pictures and video and sends it all to Tucson Police for approval of mailing a ticket. If the recipient does not respond, they are served in person. But one employee of the company hired to do that duty is accused of not doing the job, and more than 100 of those tickets have been thrown out. The case has photo enforcement critics pointing to the incident as a flaw in the system.

Find out more at KOLD.com

Utah Process Server Discusses Effects of Recession

The economic recession could be driving up court filings and increasing mortgage foreclosures in Park City.

Foreclosures statewide last summer and fall increased 111 percent, according to state court statistics. The largest increases in foreclosures occurred in American Fork, Provo, West Jordan, St. George, Heber and Park City.

"If you go back over the last 15-20 years, whenever there's a downturn you generally see an increase in civil filings" said Daniel Becker, a state courts administrator.

There were 17 filings related to property liens and foreclosures in 3rd District Court at Silver Summit in 2007. In December, 40 related court filings had already occurred in Summit County in 2008, according to the statistics.

Meanwhile, businesses in Park City are also facing belt-tightening.

"We're up there every couple of weeks," process server Bob Reitz said. "We did a very high-end execution up in Park City not long ago, when one of the clothing stores had some problems."

Find out more at The Park Record.

Forder Deputy Gets Deferred Sentence in Threatening Process Server

A former Flathead County sheriff's deputy charged with threatening a process server with a shotgun has signed a deferred prosecution agreement.

A charge of assault with a weapon filed against Patrick B. Ward will be dismissed if he remains law abiding for six months. Prosecutors say Ward threatened to shoot a civil process server who was delivering divorce papers to his house on May 7.

Read the rest at ABCMontana.com.

San Diego County Sheriff's Department Stops Serving Certain Papers

Effective January 2, 2009, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department will discontinue service of all non-enforcement types of civil processes.

Non-enforcement civil process can be served by anyone over the age of 18 who is not a party to the action or by a registered process server. You may locate a San Diego County registered process server by searching for "attorney support services" or "process serving" in a telephone directory or search engine.

Find out more details at the San Diego's Sheriff's Department.

Process Server on Chief Justice: "Definitely a Gentleman"

There was no clandestine surveillance, no hiding behind bushes or in a parked car.

Daniel Portnoy says he walked up the driveway and knocked on the front door. The homeowner opened the door.

Portnoy and the man chatted for a minute and parted ways. Mission accomplished. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. accepted service of a U.S. District Court summons at home, Portnoy says.

“Obviously this guy was outstanding. He could have quoted legal scripture to me for a week and a half,” Portnoy recalls of his trip to the Roberts home in Chevy Chase, Md., the night of Jan. 4 about 8 p.m. “He was very respectful in a situation where he didn’t have to be.”

Read the rest of the story here.

Ed McMahon's Dog Attacks Process Server

OK, "attack" might be too strong of a word. But McMahon's poodle did bite a process server who was serving papers to the McMahons.

Check it out at TMZ.