AZ Couple Allegedly Points Shotgun at Process Server

Sheriff's deputies questioned a Prescott couple after a woman allegedly pointed a shotgun at a process server Thursday.

According to Yavapai County Sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn, the official went to the home on L Bar L Road to serve foreclosure papers to the homeowner.

Read more here.

Whitler Receives Life + 48 Years for Killing CO Process Server

James Whitler knew before his sentencing hearing Monday he'd be spending the rest of his life in prison for murdering Stephen Allen, but Judge Dan Kaup made sure the Loveland father's violent actions toward his children also carried significance through punishment.

The judge sentenced Whitler to an additional 48 years in prison to be served consecutively to the murder sentence for trying to strangle his children to death May 28, 2008.

Read more here.

Million Dollar Connecticut Marshal

John T. Fiorillo is the million-dollar marshal.

Boosted by his ties to the state's two major foreclosure firms, Fiorillo, a Hartford County marshal, reported a net income of more than $1 million for delivering court papers in 2008, according to disclosure forms filed with the Office of State Ethics.

Law firms paid Fiorillo more than $3 million to serve legal papers last year. But he reported spending nearly two-thirds of that on employee and office expenses, leaving him with a bottom line of $1,119,706. Fiorillo's take was more than double the next-highest-earning marshal.

Read more here.

Court Case With Unserved Summons in MN

Imagine opening up the mail and finding out you're in default—a judge issuing a judgment against you that could lead to your financial ruin.

It’s happened to up to 200 people in Hennepin County, all by mistake. Authorities say one man is to blame and he could go to prison.

Angus Mceachern, 23, had one key job: Serve people with papers saying they're being sued for owing money. But investigators say he never did that and now 1,000 cases are under review.

Read more here.

Britney's Ex to Stand Trial for Hitting Process Server with Car

While he's out of Britney Spears' (non pink) hair these days, paparazzo Adnan Ghalib is still finding ways to stir up trouble. Brit's sometime ex-boyfriend will appear for a preliminary hearing May 18 to set a trial date in the case involving a process server he allegedly hit with his car, TMZ reports.

Read more here.

Man Who Killed Process Server Testifies

Jurors in James Whitler's murder trial saw a video recording Tuesday of Whitler telling authorities he began beating Stephen Allen, the man he's accused of murdering, after he came to view the process server as the object of his marriage's lost hope.

Whitler also told investigators he was praying to God to take care of his two children while he strangled them after beating Allen.

If sheriff's deputies hadn't stopped him, he said he probably would have killed his children and then himself.

Read more here.

Head of American Legal Process Arrested for Alleged "Sewer Service"

One process server claimed to have made 13 round-trips in one day to serve legal papers between Brooklyn and upstate Cattaraugus County - a nearly 800-mile distance supposedly made more than a dozen times within 24 hours.

That was one of the many egregious examples of fraud cited by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who Tuesday announced the arrest of Long Islander William Singler, head of one of the largest process-serving firms in the state. Singler is charged with running a massive fraud scheme in which his employees claimed to serve legal papers that allegedly were never delivered.

As a result of the actions by Singler, the head of American Legal Process in Lynbrook, and the process servers he employed, thousands from Long Island and around the state never had notice of pending legal actions against them by creditors, and never had a chance to contest them, Cuomo said. Consequently, many had their finances frozen or wages garnished, without being present for a court hearing, the attorney general said.

Read more here.

Cuomo Launches Probe Into Process Servers

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has launched a wide-ranging investigation of possible fraud in the process-serving industry, in which thousands of people may have had their financial accounts frozen or wages garnished without any knowledge of court proceedings against them, according to officials.

A spokesman for Cuomo, Richard Bamberger, confirmed the existence of the probe and said it's an important issue in a time of increasing economic hardship. He declined to elaborate on the scope of the investigation or on firms under scrutiny.

Read more here.

TX Process Servers Comment on Accusations Against Sheriff

Ruben Dominguez made strong accusations against the Ector County Sheriff's Office Friday as he was still questioning whether a deputy was in his right to come inside his yard, knock on his door and then shoot his rottweiler after she started chasing the deputy through his yard.

"He (deputy Bobby Hodges) saw the dog, the dog didn't seem like a threat, he decided to get down (out of his car and in the yard)," Dominguez said. "He decided he wanted to kill that dog."

Meanwhile, Sheriff Mark Donaldson gave more details to how the Monday morning shooting unfolded as he stood by deputy Hodges' actions.

Donaldson contended the gates to Dominguez's fence was left open that day, meaning anyone including the deputy had a right to approach his front door. He further said Hodges never actually had the man's phone number before the shooting, contradicting Dominguez's claim.

Read more here.

New Zealand Judge Allows Papers Served Via Facebook

Earlier today, New Zealand High Court Associate Justice David Glendall approved the delivery of court papers via Facebook to a man being sued over business dealings, Craig Axe. Axe reportedly took US$241,000 from his family's "market garden company account".

Axe was believed to be in Great Britain, though his exact whereabouts were unknown. It was known, however, that he had and maintained a social presence on the Facebook website. Because of this, Daniel Vincent, the plaintiff's lawyer, requested that Facebook be used as the means to serve papers to Axe, as there would be difficulty serving him using conventional methods.

Read more here.

Chrysler Subpoenas Deceased Man at His Own Funeral

The Chrysler company sent a process server to the funeral of Harold St. John of New Jersey last week, demanding that Mr. St. John’s body undergo further testing to prove that he did in fact die as a result of mesothelioma cancer.

A lawsuit filed by Mr. St. John, a retired airline worker, named Chrysler and Honeywell as responsible for his asbestos exposure, and a trial was scheduled to begin today. Mr. St. John alleged that he was exposed to asbestos while installing automobile brakes in his father’s automobile shop in the late fifties and sixties. A number of cases of asbestos cancer as a result of exposure to asbestos-laden automobile brakes have been reported, as asbestos usage was not regulated until the late seventies. Asbestos was widely used in brake linings and brake pads due to its ability to withstand high temperatures.

Following his death on February 28th, the trial was postponed.

Chrysler secured a court order on the day of Mr. St. John’s funeral, which mandated that his body be accessible for further tissue testing, and a process server was sent to the funeral home where the funeral director was served with court documents. Mr. St. John’s body was not buried.

Read more here.

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.

Australia Says Some Documents Can Be Served via Facebook

The big question about Facebook is does it have any valuable commercial application? Well it seems that the courts have found one.

Today in what appears to be a first in Australia and perhaps the world, Master Harper of the ACT Supreme Court ordered that a default judgement could be served on defendants by notification on Facebook.

Arizona Photo Enforcement Ticket Not Valid Until Served

People ask us all the time: What can I do about that nasty photo radar ticket I got in the mail?

The answer: Nothing.

Literally. Chuck it in the trash.

It's perfectly ethical -- just look at the ticket's fine print. You see, for photo enforcement citations to be valid, the state Supreme Court rules say it has to be properly served to you. And the U.S. Mail won't cut it. So, the ticket asks you to sign a waiver of your right to proper service and mail it back to the authorities.

Grand Jury Indicts Man Shot Twice By Process Server

A Putnam County grand jury has indicted a man who was shot twice last year in his Putnam Valley driveway by a process server.

The grand jury, however, did not indict the process server, a former Kent town police officer and ex-Kent councilman.

The grand jury returned a four-count indictment against shooting victim Douglas Greenwich, 53, but did not indict Dennis Illuminate, 67.

Ex-Helmshore Councillor Fined for Attacking Process Server

A former councillor being served with an injunction banning him from town hall meetings swatted a legal representative with the court papers, magistrates heard.

Process server Steven Baldwin, of Burnley, had been hired by Rossendale Council last May to serve a court order prohibiting Noel O’Brien from attending council meetings or going into council offices.

But while Mr Baldwin tried to serve the injunction on 57-year-old O’Brien, at his home in Mercer Crescent, Helmshore, he tried to slam the door in his face, Preston Magistrates Court heard.

Woman Being Served Chases Down Family, Process Server in Hummer

A Mequon woman is facing three counts of first-degree reckless endangerment after she chased her estranged husband and their 9-year-old daughter around his Mequon house in a Hummer because he wanted to evict her from her home, a criminal complaint filed in Ozaukee County Circuit Court says.Lawrence Hayes, 29, of Jackson was arraigned Thursday on charges of domestic violence and possession with intent to deliver cocaine.

Judge Bans Process Server Stokes and Levin

A process server accused of falsifying documents has been shut down for all practical purposes.

Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office announced that it had convinced Suffolk Superior Court Judge Bruce R. Henry to prohibit Stokes & Levin from acting as a process server, advertising legal process services, accepting money for serving legal papers, and forming another legal process business or operating under a different name.

Peekaboo Plaintiff Hard on Process Servers

A defendant in a local covenant lawsuit is playing hard to get.

David Dias, property owner at 3350 Tea Rose Drive, is in court over an unapproved retaining wall and commercial-vehicle parking.

Or rather, he isn’t.

Dias was a no-show at an Oct. 16 court hearing.

“We’ve had trouble serving him,” said Wayne Lowery, district general manager. “He’s not answering his door.”

Dias’ case-management hearing Oct. 16 was continued until Dec. 17.

“The court continued it 60 days to give us time to serve him, and for him to respond to the service,” Lowery said.

In January 2007, the district first notified Dias of the covenant violations.

“You are hereby required to stop work immediately,” the CSD letter said of the retaining wall project. “You are also required to submit a Property Improvement Application to the Design Review Committee.”