ACC Bank Granted Permission to Serve Legal Papers on Jim Corr

ACC Bank are to bring High Court proceedings against musician Jim Corr and another man arising out of an alleged failure to repay a €1.3 million loan obtained to buy land.

The dispute arises out of loan agreement the Dutch-owned bank claims it entered into with Mr Corr and Mr Liam Marks of the Coach House, Sandymount, Blackrock, Dundalk, Co Louth for the purchase of 91 acres of land at Barrowmount, Goresbridge, Co Kilkenny.

The bank claims that last June it demanded repayment of €1.36 million from both men.

However ACC says that the money has not been repaid, and intends to seek judgment for the full amount against both men. The bank loan was sanctioned in 2004.

Mr Corr (46), along with his three sisters, is a member of the internationally acclaimed Dundalk band the Corrs.

Today, ACC secured an order from the High Court allowing them to serve the musician notice of the proceedings that the bank intends to bring against Mr Corr at his place of residence in Bangor, Co Down by ordinary post.

In documentation put before the court, a lawyer acting for ACC expressed his belief that Mr Corr had been evading being served notice of the bank’s proceedings against him.

Mr Justice John MacMenamin granted ACC an order for substituted service allowing the bank to serve Mr Corr notice of the proceedings by ordinary prepaid post at his normal place of residence at an apartment Sharman House, Old Windmill Road, Crawfordsburn, Bangor, Co Down.

The court further made an order allowing the bank to serve further documentation arising in the course of the proceedings on Mr Corr by ordinary prepaid post. The orders were granted on ex parte basis (one side only.) In seeking the orders, Bernard Dunleavy Bl for ACC told the court that the ACC had been unable to effect service on Mr Corr, who is a well known musician.

Counsel added that it was ACC’s intention to apply to have the proceedings admitted to the commercial Court, the big business division of the High Court.

In an affidavit to the court, solicitor Donnacha O’Donovan for ACC said he believed that Mr Corr was evading being served notice of the proceedings ACC intended to bring.

Mr O’Donovan said that a summons server attempted to serve Mr Corr with the proceedings on four separate dates in late July early August last without success.

Mr O’Donovan said that he also wrote to Mr Corr informing him of the proceedings and asked to meet with him in order to effect service of the proceedings on him.

Those letters were delivered to Mr Corr’s address by both ordinary and registered post. However earlier this month the registered letters were returned to Mr O’Donovan's office marked “Not Called for”. The letters sent by ordinary post were not returned.

Mr O’Donovan said that a solicitor’s firm acting for Mr Corr informed him that they were not in a position to accept service of the proceedings.

However Mr O’Donovan said that a caretaker at the apartment block where Mr Corr resides informed the summons server that the musician continues to reside there.

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Judge Denies 'Hurt Locker' Subpoenas

A federal magistrate judge in South Dakota has denied an attempt by the producers of the Oscar-winning film "The Hurt Locker" to obtain the identities of 143 accused illegal file sharers from their Internet service provider.

The judge's decision last week however likely means only a temporary delay for Voltage Pictures, the independent studio which made "The Hurt Locker."

Voltage is one of more than a dozen indie studios that have hired the Washington, D.C., law firm of Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver to file copyright complaints against as many as 50,000 individuals they accuse of illegally sharing their movies. To file the suits, the law firm first obtains Internet protocol addresses of people sharing files. Then, the firm goes after the identities of those who own the IP addresses by subpoenaing records from Internet service providers.

Last month, Midcontinent Communications said no to Voltage. The ISP, which services areas in South and North Dakota and Minnesota, filed a motion to "quash" the subpoena it received from Voltage requesting information on the Midcontinent customers. The ISP argued that Voltage and Dunlap had not followed proper federal procedure by filing the subpoena with jurisdiction in South Dakota.

On Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge John Simko, for the Southern District of South Dakota, agreed with Midcontinent's argument and granted its motion.

But Thomas Dunlap, one of the attorneys representing Voltage, said today that the holdup was a procedural technicality and his firm plans to obtain a subpoena in South Dakota soon. He said typically an ISP and his firm will talk by phone to work out any issues but Dunlap said Midcontinent didn't do that.

"This seems like an expensive way for [Midcontinent] to handle it but the issue is pretty minor," Dunlap said. "We will reproduce the subpoena in South Dakota and we will end up getting the information."

The litigation that Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver is leading has stunned file sharers all over the country. The practice of filing lawsuits was thought to be dead after the music industry stopped filing such complaints nearly two years ago. Executives from a group of indie studios told CNET this month that they are without a lot of options when it comes to defending their material against piracy and unauthorized file sharing.

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Changes Come to Civil Proccess

With a goal of reducing the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office budget to the best of his abilities, Sheriff Jeff Dawsy is announcing changes in the way his agency will serve civil process, effective Oct. 1.

“Process” is commonly defined as a paper of writing issued by some court in the exercise of its jurisdiction. These documents include divorce papers, liens, restraining orders, evictions, subpoenas, plus other official court documents.

Up until now, deputy sheriffs typically served all enforceable as well as non-enforceable civil process on the intended recipients.

Enforceable civil process includes enforcement of child support, domestic violence injunctions for protection, child custody pickup orders, landlord/tenant actions and seizure of property relating to civil lawsuits. Non-enforceable process includes summonses, complaints and subpoenas.

A recent administrative order signed by Chief Judge Daniel B. Merritt, Sr., of the Fifth Judicial Circuit supplements the service of process by county sheriffs and provides an alternate means of service by private certified civil process servers. An approved list of certified process servers is maintained by the circuit, which includes Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion and Sumter counties.

These individuals are authorized to serve non-enforceable civil process on any person found within the circuit where the process server is certified whenever a civil action has been filed against said person in Florida’s circuit or county courts.

Here in Citrus County, sworn deputies will continue to serve all enforceable process, in addition to any court documents originating from the State Attorney’s and Public Defender’s offices and the Florida Department of Revenue.

Starting Oct. 1, private citizens or attorneys looking to have non-enforceable process served will need to contact a private process server. The approved list of civil process servers in the circuit who are currently certified is viewable on the Sheriff’s Office official Web site at www.sheriffcitrus.org.

Sheriff Dawsy is anticipating these changes will save his agency approximately $140,000. One added advantage is two or three of his civil deputies can be reassigned to positions that are currently vacant.

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Denver Police Department Charges Process Server After Car Hits Him

A Denver process server has been charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief after he was run over and badly injured by a woman he was trying to serve with divorce papers.

Richard Bellizzi, a private investigator and process server told CBS4, "I was in somewhat of a state of shock," after Denver police arrested him and not the driver of the car that hit him following the June 24 incident.

"And I said, 'Process server divorce papers," and she tried to kill me."

Bellizzi was trying to serve divorce papers to Dr. Oksana Bantley, an area anesthesiologist.

Bellizzi said Bantley had avoided another process server and appeared to be trying to avoid him. He spotted her June 24 driving a friend's car. Bellizzi followed her and when she got caught in traffic on Colorado Boulevard Bellizzi jumped out of his car and approached Bantley's car. He held the divorce papers in one hand and a camera in the other hand which recorded what happened next.

The videotape shows Bantley behind the wheel of her car. As Bellizzi stands near the front of her car, he can be heard saying, "Oksana Bantley ... Superior Court …" Bantley shields her face with her hands. But before Bellizzi finishes speaking, she can be seen apparently turning the wheel of her car toward Bellizzi and the car accelerates. The video shows Bellizzi on the hood of the speeding car for a few seconds before the tape cuts off.

"She turned the wheel and gunned the engine, effectively cutting my legs out and forcing me on to the hood of the car," Bellizzi said.

Bellizzi said he hung on for about 260 feet at an estimated 30 to 40 miles per hour before he said Bantley turned sharply, ejecting him from the hood of the car.

"This is not going to end well," Bellizzi remembered thinking as he held on to one of the car's windshield wipers. The incident left him with a broken left ankle and deep bruises and cuts. He hobbled back to his car and drove to the Denver Police Department's District 3 station to report what happened.

"I fully expected to sign a complaint and go to St. Joseph's Hospital and have my injuries attended to," he said.

But Bellizzi said he was immediately met with sarcasm, hostility and aggression by an officer manning the station's front desk. Frustrated by the officer's attitude, Bellizzi asked to speak to a supervisor. He provided Denver police with his videotape of what happened and information on how to track down Bantley, which police did, summoning her to the District 3 station. After several hours he said the same officer who greeted him with hostility and aggression handcuffed him and told him he was being arrested for harassment and criminal mischief.

"I knew I was in the right and not guilty of what they were saying. I knew I was a victim," Bellizzi said. "And I don't often feel I am a victim."

Bellizzi was transported by ambulance to Denver Health Medical Center for treatment and then on to the Denver Jail. He was released 24 hours later. The following day Bellizzi's lawyer, Jennifer Henslee, said she spoke to a sergeant from the Denver Police Department who "apologized for the treatment Mr. Bellizzi received, stated Mr. Bellizzi should never have been charged with a crime."

Henslee has sent a four-page letter to Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman outlining what happened arguing that Bellizzi spent a night in jail "for no justifiable reason whatsoever." She complained of police conduct and wrote, "Given the facts of this incident, the overwhelming amount of evidence establishing at the very least probable cause that Mrs. Bantley committed several felony crimes, it is unbelievable that she has not been charged. The fact that your officers treated Mr. Bellizzi unfairly with hostility and disrespect is outrageous."



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C.A. Upholds Restraining Order Against Attorney

The Court of Appeal has upheld the imposition of an order enjoining Beverly Hills sole practitioner Martin B. Reiner from harassing Los Angeles attorney Susan Kaplan, who was his opposing counsel on a workers’ compensation matter last year.

Div. Three of this district’s Court of Appeal on Thursday rejected as “specious” Reiner’s claim that his conduct was constitutionally protected and chastised the attorney for engaging in behavior that “far exceeded the scope of civility.”

Kaplan, who did not return a call seeking comment, claimed that Reiner and a process server had come to the Graiwer & Kaplan office last September to serve her and her husband with subpoenas after gaining access to the private interior office area by pushing past a secretary as she exited a secured back door.

“Clearly, that laying in wait to commit the crime of trespass in a secured area shows he is capable of criminal activity and is willing to engage in criminal activity in order to intimidate me and others,” Kaplan alleged in her complaint.

She further asserted, under penalty of perjury, that a worker’s compensation judge had granted
a motion for protective order filed by Kaplan’s firm because of “unprofessional behavior during discovery matters,” and that a special master had been appointed to attend discovery to ensure Reiner controlled his behavior.

At the hearing on the motion, Kaplan said Reiner was “threatening” and had “invade[d] my space by getting right up in my face.”

Kaplan described Reiner as “unstable,” and “always agitated, almost as if he is under the influence of something.” He “uses profanity and makes all kinds of wild accusations and threatens our attorneys by stating that he is going to file complaints against them for assault,”

Kaplan said, adding that she was “convinced he will not stop this type of conduct unless he is prohibited from doing so.”

Reiner, however, on Friday reiterated his assertion, reflected in the opinion, that Kaplan’s version of events was “utterly fabricated.”

“Kaplan and her firm concocted false allegations against me…in an effort to try to throw a monkey wrench” in an ongoing workers’ compensation case in which his client is raising a claim of insurance fraud by Kaplan and her firm as an affirmative defense, Reiner claimed.

“There is an animus that exists and drives the present matter,” he insisted.
Reiner had also denied the factual assertions in Kaplan’s complaint at trial, where he represented himself, before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David S. Cunningham III.

According to Reiner’s version of events, Kaplan had noticed a deposition at her offices, and an employee had held the rear door to the offices open for Reiner and the process server to enter. He stated that he had been in Kaplan’s office less than 60 seconds, and that “there was no violence, nor threat of violence, nor profanity, nor confrontation.”

After the hearing, Cunningham granted the restraining order prohibiting Reiner from being within 100 yards of Kaplan, her home, and her vehicle, but did not check off the box that would prohibit Reiner from being within 100 yards of Kaplan’s job or workplace. The order remains in effect until Oct. 8, 2012.

Writing for the appellate court, Justice Richard D. Aldrich noted that some of the alleged instances of harassment occurred in a courthouse during pending litigation, but he explained this was insufficient to protect Reiner’s conduct.

The justice opined that an attorney’s free speech rights are circumscribed during judicial proceedings by his obligation to maintain respect for the court, emphasizing that Reiner’s conduct—following Kaplan around the courthouse, yelling, using profanities, and threatening opposing counsel—was “[b]y no stretch of the imagination…courteous or even civil.”
Aldrich also brushed aside Reiner’s contention that the trial court proceedings had not been fair since he was denied the opportunity to testify.


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Brown to Serve Subpoena on Vernon in Broadened Probe of City Officials' High Salaries

The state attorney general's office announced Wednesday it will serve a subpoena on the city of Vernon, as part of an expanded probe of city salaries and expenses.

The subpoena will seek compensation records for Vernon employees and city officials, state Attorney General Jerry brown said in a statement.

A former Vernon city administrator who now serves as a legal consultant has topped the $1-million mark for each of the last four years, records show.

Eric T. Fresch was paid nearly $1.65 million in salary and hourly billings in 2008, when he held the dual jobs of city administrator and deputy city attorney, according to documents obtained by The Times through the California Public Records Act.

Fresch, described by city officials as an experienced finance attorney, was paid nearly $1.2 million last year, records show. Through July 31 of this year, he has earned about $643,000 as "outside legal counsel."

Other highly compensated employees include Donal O'Callaghan, who was paid nearly $785,000 last year as city administrator and director of Light & Power, overseeing Vernon's city-owned utility. He now earns $384,000 a year overseeing capital projects for the utility after stepping down July 20 as city administrator.

Former City Atty. Jeffrey A. Harrison earned $800,000 last year, and City Treasurer/Finance Director Roirdan Burnett made $570,000, records show. The year before, Harrison was paid $1.04 million. Although Vernon and Bell share a border in southeastern Los Angeles County, they are very different cities. Bell is a working-class, largely immigrant city with 38,000 residents. Vernon has fewer than 100 residents and is largely a business and industrial hub.

Top administrators in Vernon also racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in city-paid expenses on first-class flights, luxury hotels like the Ritz-Carlton and limousine service, according to a records review by The Times.

The records, which cover 2005-2010, detail lavish travel expenses billed to the city by its top executives, including then-city administrators Fresch and Donal O'Callaghan.

Some of the trips occurred as recently as this year, when the city laid off employees and canceled the life and health insurance benefits of city workers' spouses and children because of budget problems.

In one short trip to New York in February 2007, O'Callaghan, Fresch and a financial advisor flew first class to New York for a combined cost of more than $12,700.

O'Callaghan and the financial advisor, Craig Underwood, each stayed one night at the Ritz-Carlton, paying a nightly rate of about $800. Fresch, who stayed four nights, spent more than $7,600 at the Ritz-Carlton.

The bill included services from Paris Limo totaling $2,251 for four separate days. The city also reimbursed Fresch for $485 he spent dining at the Four Seasons New York.

The records show Fresch routinely commuted from his home in the San Francisco Bay Area to L.A. first class for more than $931 per round trip. In a few instances, he spent more than $1,100 for the relatively short air commute. He also incurred a bill of $350 at the United Red Carpet Airport Club, according to one city invoice.

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'Ground Zero Imam' Evades Being Served with Complaint -- Later is Legally Served for Nuisance, Emotional Distress, Assault

NEW YORK, Sept. 15 /Standard Newswire/ -- Larry Klayman, founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch, announced yesterday that the "Ground Zero Imam" and his mosque, the Cordoba House/Park51 Project, were served with the class action complaint filed by First Responder Vincent Forras. The complaint alleges that the building of the planned mosque would be a legal nuisance and that the entire project, to be built in the immediate vicinity of Ground Zero, is a blatant attempt to inflict emotional distress on the inhabitants of New York City; in effect a form of psychological terrorism.

Both the Imam and the mosque have ties to terrorist interests, and a large donor to the Imam's enterprises gave handsomely to the Holy Land Foundation, a convicted terrorist front group. In addition, during an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live" the Imam refused to say where the money was coming from to build the mosque at Ground Zero. There is other considerable evidence connecting the "Ground Zero Imam" and his mosque to persons and entities associated with terrorism.

When Freedom Watch, plaintiffs' counsel, sought to have the complaint served personally upon the defendants, including the Imam, servers were prevented from giving it to them. In this regard, plaintiffs sought to serve the Imam after his speech yesterday at the Council for Foreign Relations in New York City.

Service of process was however made under alternative legal means.

Larry Klayman issued the following statement to the Imam:

"In this country, it is important to obey the law. If the Imam is innocent of the charges, he should have willingly accepted service of the complaint. However, instead he chose to 'run' from the process server. The Imam can try to run but we will not allow him to hide. Justice will be done under the American legal system, not Sharia law. The case is now on its way to achieving justice for the plaintiffs and all of the people of the City of New York."

The class action suit has been brought at the behest of Declaration Alliance, with Freedom Watch, in the Supreme Court of New York in Manhattan, on behalf of Lead Plaintiff Vincent Forras, a courageous First Responder severely injured during his efforts to save innocent lives during September 11, 2001.



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Armed Process Server Threatens Teen

BREA — An argument between a process server and a 17-year old boy is being investigated after the process server is alleged to have pointed a gun at the juvenile, police said.

Process servers typically deliver legal documents to individuals involved in court cases, Sgt. Bill Smyser said.

The argument took place 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the Hollydale Mobile Home Park on Carbon Canyon Road, when the agent was serving papers at a residence there, Smyser.

The process server, who was not a law enforcement official, pointed a handgun at the juvenile and then left. The juvenile called police, Symser said.

Police don't yet know why the agent was serving papers at the location.

"Nobody is in custody at this point," Smyser said. "They are working on it and trying to put the pieces together... I don't know if the papers were ever served or whether he was trying to serve the owner."


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'Subpoena GMA to clarify Saliao testimony'

MANILA, Philippines - The “smoking gun” testimony of a witness before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on Wednesday further strengthened calls to subpoena President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to clarify her relationship with the Ampatuan family.

In an interview with radio DZMM, lawyer Harry Roque, Jr. said the families of the victims would want to be clarified of Arroyo’s links to the Maguindanao massacre case.

Lakmudin Saliao, a former trusted aide of the Ampatuan family, revealed that former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan, Jr. only agreed to surrender his son and namesake to authorities after getting assurances he will be put “under the care” of the then president.

The landmark trial began on Wednesday (September 8), with the prosecution team presenting Saliao as its first witness.

Saliao directly linked Andal Jr. to the planning and execution of the killings last November 23, 2009.

Roque, a private prosecutor representing the families of several of the victims, said: “Bakit sasabihin ng mga Ampatuan ang ganitong mga bagay na seryosong-seryoso? Lumalabas na presidente pa ang gumawa ng paraan para mabaluktot ang mga batas at criminal case procedures.”

(Why would the Ampatuans say something serious as that? It appears that the president herself was willing to bend the laws.)

He said the families have already asked Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes during the pre-trial to subpoena the former president as a “hostile witness.”

Immunity

Roque, however, fears that Arroyo may invoke her immunity to escape responsibility.

In case the court does call for Arroyo, a legal issue may arise, he said.

As the Pampanga 2nd District Representative, Arroyo has parliamentary immunity from arrest, he explained.

“Legal issue ito e, nakaupo na siya sa Kongreso,” Roque said.

He said it would be best however if she testifies in order to debunk rumors that she did have a different relationship with the Ampatuans, albeit suspect.

Saliao testimony strong

He dismissed the defense team’s accusations that Saliao’s testimony was “well-rehearsed.”

He said Saliao would not testify, under oath, if his story is a mere lie.

“Kahit gaano ka ka-loyal, mahirap sikmurain yung nangyari,” he said.

Roque said there are other witnesses who would corroborate Saliao’s statements.

Meanwhile, the lawyer asked public prosecutors to file a petition before the Supreme Court to make Solis-Reyes’ court a special court in order to hasten the procedures.

This way, Solis Reyes will only focus on this one particular case, he said.

It is expected that the trial will take years.

Both the prosecution and defense want to present some 500 witnesses, combined.

Saliao will again take the witness stand on September 15. He will also be cross-examined by the defense team.




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Douglas Bruce Not In Contempt But Must Testify

DENVER (AP) ― A judge ruled Tuesday that anti-tax activist Douglas Bruce won't be held in contempt of court for not testifying in a lawsuit about tax-cutting ballot measures, but he will have to answer questions about them.

Denver District Judge Brian Whitney rejected the Colorado attorney general's request to hold Bruce in contempt after state officials tried and repeatedly failed to serve him with a subpoena.

Government lawyers argued that the author of Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights illegally avoided answering questions about three proposals on the November ballot. Bruce has said he has nothing to do with those measures and was out of state when state officials tried to subpoena him.

Bruce wrote a 1992 constitutional amendment that limits government spending and taxing in Colorado.

Although he wasn't found in contempt of court, Bruce was ordered to appear for a deposition within three weeks to answer questions about his involvement with the initiatives: Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101.

The Denver Post reports that Bruce's attorney, David Lane, said his client will likely fight any attempt to make him testify about his stances on the measures. Lane said inquiring about those activities would violate Bruce's First Amendment right to associate politically with whom he pleases.

"Douglas Bruce is not obligated to set forth any of his political beliefs," Lane said after the court hearing. "His life doesn't become an open book."

The secretary of state's office wanted Bruce to testify earlier this year in an administrative case looking into who is financing the three ballot measures. The initiatives would limit the ability of local and state governments to borrow and spend money.

A Colorado administrative court ruled in June that Bruce helped get the proposals on the ballot and that three other people involved should have disclosed their contributions. Those three people were fined $2,000 each for not reporting their contributions but Bruce wasn't.


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UNC DT Marvin Austin Hit With Subpoena

As UNC football recovers from a thrilling but disappointing debut against LSU and prepares for the upcoming showdown with Georgia Tech, defensive tackle Marvin Austin continues to come under scrutiny for his contact with agents.

Investigators from the office of N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall subpoenaed Austin last week as part of their investigation into the sports agents around the program and potential violations of state laws governing agents. Marshall’s office has not commented other than to say that the investigation is ongoing.

Austin was indefinitely suspended from the UNC football team last week for an unspecified violation of team rules. In a press release from the football program, head coach Butch Davis said that Austin had “neglected his responsibilities to the team.”

The press release stressed that the suspension was not linked to the NCAA investigations into the football program.




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Process Server Undone by Bing Security's Pick and Roll

They say close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

And it certainly doesn't matter when you are trying to serve Mayor Dave Bing with a lawsuit.

Christian Pomroy, the owner of At Your Service Document Delivery, told the City Hall Insider that, after two months of trying to serve Bing a lawsuit from a jilted Bing Group supplier he got close enough today to touch Bing. It happened outside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center on the Randolph side where city officials park.

"I told him, 'Mayor Bing, I am a big fan,' and then I shook his hand," said Pomroy, who then told Bing his name and asked if he could take the lawsuit.

"No, not at this time," Bing replied, according to Pomroy, before security shooed him away in a nifty moving screen that would have made Bing's Piston teammates proud.

Pomroy has tried multiple times at City Hall and the Bing Group's former offices to serve the lawsuit from Parts Finishing Group in Auburn Hills, which sued July 13 alleging nearly $37,000 in unpaid bills.

"I should have just dropped it on him," Pomroy said of the missed opportunity.

But that may have been unwise. Bing's security officers are sure to have a short fuse after one of their vehicles this week was found up on four blocks minus the tires.


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FTC Subpoenas 48 Food Companies Regarding Marketing to Kids

NEW YORK -- The Federal Trade Commission is once again handing out subpoenas to companies who market food to children and teens.

Three years after initially delivering what is technically known as "orders to file special report" to 44 marketers, the FTC last week began sending subpoenas to 48 companies in order to prepare a follow-up to its 120-page report issued in 2008, "Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents: A Review of Industry Expenditures, Activities and Self-Regulation."

"This is a follow-up to measure the effects that self-regulation has had over the last three years," said Carol Jennings, spokeswoman for the FTC's Division of Advertising Practices/Bureau of Consumer Protection. "We are supportive of industry voluntary efforts to limit their marketing to kids and this will see whether more is needed."

Ms. Jennings said the findings will be made available to the public.

A handful of marketers that received subpoenas in 2007 were left off the 2010 list, presumably because they have limited their marketing to children. Twelve companies on this year's list are new, but 36 companies are once again receiving subpoenas -- including Yum Brands, which was called out by FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz in a December 2009 speech in which he said, "Many companies that market heavily to children and teens have yet to join or make a commitment. Why, for instance, hasn't Yum Brands, with its KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut chains, stepped up? Or Chuck E. Cheese and IHOP? Or the marketers of Air Heads and Baby Bottle Pops?"

Calls to Yum Brands were not returned. A spokeswoman for CEC Entertainment Inc., parent company of Chuck E. Cheese, said she could not comment without having seen the subpoena.

Some have speculated that the new round of subpoenas was a prelude to Congressional hearings and possible legislation, but Ms. Jennings refuted that.

"We are not proposing any regulation," she said.

Anthony DiResta, an attorney specializing in advertising, marketing and media at the Washington, D.C.-based firm Manatt Phelps & Phillip, agreed with Ms. Jennings and said he did not see legislation in the future.

"Given the current political climate and the way the polls are suggesting Congress may change after November, I don't see it happening," he said. "In order for Congress to hold hearings or empower the FTC to do anything close to rule-making, that would require a very, very progressive and activist legislative effort. I just don't think right now that's in the winds."

But Mr. DiResta, a former director of the FTC's Southeast Regional Office, did say that marketing food products to children very much remains on the FTC's radar.



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Judge Squashes Cuccinelli Subpoena of U-Va. Records

An Albemarle County Circuit Court judge has set aside a subpoena issued by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to the University of Virginia seeking documents related to the work of climate scientist and former university professor Michael Mann.

Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. ruled that Cuccinelli can investigate whether fraud has occurred in university grants, as the attorney general had contended, but ruled that Cuccinelli's subpoena failed to state a "reason to believe" that Mann had committed fraud.

The ruling is a major blow for Cuccinelli, a global warming skeptic who had maintained that he was investigating whether Mann committed fraud in seeking government money for research that showed that the earth has experienced a rapid, recent warming. Mann, now at Penn State University, worked at U-Va. until 2005.

According to Peatross, the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, under which the civil investigative demand was issued, requires that the attorney general include an "objective basis" to believe that fraud has been committed. Peatross indicates that the attorney general must state the reason so that it can be reviewed by a court, which Cuccinelli failed to do.

Peatross set the subpoena aside without prejudice, meaning Cuccinelli could give the subpoena another try by rewriting the civil demand to better explain the conduct he wishes to investigate. But the judge seemed skeptical of Cuccinelli's underlying claim about Mann, noting that Cuccinelli's deputy maintained in a court hearing that the nature of Mann's fraud was described in subsequent court papers in the case.

"The Court has read with care those pages and understands the controversy regarding Dr. Mann's work on the issue of global warming. However, it is not clear what he did was misleading, false or fraudulent in obtaining funds from the Commonwealth of Virginia," Peatross wrote.

Additionally, the judge said Cuccinelli could only ask about one of five grants issued to Mann that the attorney general has been seeking to investigate. That's because the other four involved the use of federal, not state, funds.

In a statement, Cuccinelli said he will take the judge's ruling into account and rewrite the civil investigative demand. Spokesman Brian Gottstein said Cuccinelli is also examining the ruling to decide whether to appeal.

"While this was not an outright ruling in our favor, I am pleased that the judge has agreed with my office on several key legal points and has given us a framework for issuing a new civil investigative demand to get the information necessary to continue our investigation into whether or not fraud has been committed against the commonwealth," he said.

Mann, meanwhile, said he was pleased with the judge's ruling.

"I'm very pleased that the judge has ruled in our favor," he said in a statement. "It is a victory not just for me and the university, but for all scientists who live in fear that they may be subject to a politically-motivated witch hunt when their research findings prove inconvenient to powerful vested interests.


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Employee of Process-Serving Company Indicted

In a rare action, the office manager of an embattled process serving company was indicted Wednesday on a felony charge of filing a false notary public application with the Nevada secretary of state's office.

The charge is part of a nine-count indictment against Vilisia Coleman in the growing scandal tied to her unlicensed company, On Scene Mediations, which is accused of filing false affidavits of service in Las Vegas Justice Court.

Secretary of State Ross Miller said his notary administrator, Laura Ethridge, has never seen anyone prosecuted criminally for filing a false application during her 21 years overseeing the notary process.

"The fact that we were able to bring forward charges is significant," said Miller whose office has assisted Las Vegas police with their investigation of On Scene Mediations. "I believe that this type of notary fraud is relatively common, but undetected. We largely lack the resources to effectively enforce these statutes."

Miller said his office can seek to revoke Coleman's notary appointment, but won't take action until the criminal case concludes.

The eight other charges against the 46-year-old Coleman, which include perjury and filing false court documents, are the same as those in a criminal complaint filed against her earlier this month. That complaint will be dismissed, and Coleman, who is free on bond, will be arraigned in District Court on the new charges on Sept. 1.

The notary charge follows an Aug. 11 Las Vegas Review-Journal story that questioned whether Coleman lied about her criminal past when she filled out her application with the secretary of state. When asked whether she had ever been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude, she checked the "No" box, officials told the newspaper.

But records show that she was sentenced to three years of probation for felony cocaine possession in 2006 and was ordered to undergo drug treatment.

She also has a gross misdemeanor conviction for attempted grand larceny at a Walmart in 2001. In that case, she was charged with violating her two-year probation in 2003 and ordered to spend eight months behind bars at the Clark County Detention Center.


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Virtual Service of Process

YouTube is going to the Guggenheim, and Twitter and Facebook could be the future avenues for service of process.

Service of process has traditionally been a person to person exchange, a hand delivery of legal documents. Doctors do not make house calls, but lawyers do via sheriffs’ deputies or authorized process servers.

It is not always the easiest job to deliver lawsuits, especially if folks do not want to receive them, even when it is in a person’s best interest to be well-informed. Singapore’s top court is considering use of social media to get the job done. Facebook and Twitter are already serving legal documents in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.

Just as YouTube is trying to grow up into a sophisticated age of arts and culture, social networking sites could become legal avenues of service, finding folks where footwork is less effective.


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Court Server Leaves Gun in Viera Walmart

After falling ill, a 65-year-old Brevard County court process server left his loaded 9-mm handgun at the sink of a Walmart restroom in Viera on Monday, but the sidearm was secured about a half-hour later without injury to anyone.

According to a report by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, Ronald Kostin of Viera, an independent process server, felt sick around 9 a.m. Monday and went into the men’s restroom of the Walmart Supercenter at 8500 N. Wickham Road.


Under a concealed-weapons permit, Kostin carries a silver-and-black Makarov 9-mm, a Hungarian-made weapon most notably used in the former Soviet Union’s military. On Monday, it contained a clip with eight rounds.


“He placed his handgun on the sink in the handicap stall of the men’s restroom,” the case report said. “After he felt better, Mr. Kostin left in a hurry to go serve someone at Kennedy Space Center. He accidentally forgot the gun.”


Kostin drove northward to KSC, where he remembered the weapon and called the Walmart and the sheriff’s office. A manager went into the bathroom and secured the gun more than a half-hour after it was misplaced.


No customers came into contact with the firearm, according to the sheriff’s office.


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Oksana's Lawyers Set To Subpoena Mel Gibson's Ex-Wife

Oksana Grigorieva's lawyers want to question Mel Gibson's ex-wife Robyn about her claims the Braveheart star was not violent during their marriage, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned.
Team Oksana is poised to sensationally subpoena Robyn Moore Gibson to appear before a deposition; Robyn, of course, is the same woman who the actor left for the Russian musician after 28 years of marriage.

As RadarOnline.com was first to report, Oksana has told law enforcement that Mel once admitted hurling a television at his former wife.

The actor's ex-girlfriend also said she personally witnessed him hitting his youngest son, Tommy.

The legal move adds yet another twist in the bitter battle between the Mel and Oksana and could result in Robyn being forced into the witness stand to be questioned.

Oksana's legal advisors want to probe Robyn about the sworn affidavit she submitted to the court stating Mel was not ever abusive to her or his children.

"Mel never engaged in any physical abuse of any kind toward me before, during, or after our marriage," Robyn reportedly told the judge overseeing the case.

Robyn's support of Mel raised eyebrows within Oksana's camp who want to question her motivation for doing so, said a source familiar with the case.

She filed for divorce from the Oscar-winning Braveheart star last year, citing irreconcilable differences.

The decision triggered one of Hollywood's most expensive divorces, because the pair reportedly had no pre-nup and she was able to secure half of the star's $850 million fortune.

Robyn, 54, is the mother of Mel's seven children - six of whom are adults.

Specifically Oksana's lawyers want to investigate what supposedly happened during one allegedly brutal confrontation throughout their marriage.

"Mel was telling several times how he threw a TV into her (Robyn) once when they were arguing," a source has claimed.

"Thank god he missed and the TV fell out a second story window."

Oksana also alleges that Mel hit Tommy in the head while at a hockey game at Los Angele's Staples Center two-and-a-half-years ago.

"Oksana told authorities about Mel's 'angry outbursts' toward his own family and friends," said a source familiar with the Mel Gibson investigation.


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Sheriff Won't Serve Himself Summons

A hearing regarding the validity of Gov. Bob Riley’s appointment for sheriff of Greene County had to be delayed on Tuesday because the man whose qualifications were being questioned didn’t appear.

The plaintiffs contend the reason he was never served a summons to appear was because he didn’t serve himself.

The sheriff’s attorney, however, contends that he never needed to appear in the first place.

George Cook was appointed sheriff of Greene County by the governor on June 18. Three days later, two county residents — current coroner and former interim Sheriff Ronald K. Smith and former County Commissioner Garria Spencer — filed court action to determine whether Riley’s selection complied with state law.

They contend that Riley’s choice was improper because Cook was a Tuscaloosa County resident working as an enforcement agent for the Alabama Beverage Control Board and not a registered Greene County voter at the time of the appointment. That same day, an entire courtroom full of people turned out to agree with them during an organized protest the appointment at the Greene County Courthouse.

Prince Darius Chestnut, who is representing the plaintiffs but also serves as the Greene County Commission’s legal counsel, accused Cook and his legal team on Tuesday of trying to stall the case until at least January 2011, when Cook’s interim role as sheriff ends, and the county’s newly elected sheriff — most likely Jonathan “Joe” Benison, who won the Democratic primary and faces no Republican opposition in the November general election — will take over.


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Johnson and Johnson Discloses More Subpoenas Over Consumer Recalls

TRENTON, N.J. — Johnson and Johnson disclosed Wednesday that the health products giant has now received multiple subpoenas from federal prosecutors related to repeated recalls of Tylenol and other consumer health products.

The grand jury subpoenas request "documents broadly relating to" both the recent recalls of products made by McNeil Consumer Healthcare and inspections of two of the unit's factories.

One of the plants, in the Philadelphia suburb of Fort Washington, Pa., has been shut down since April due to multiple problems and is expected to remain shut until at least next summer.

The other, in Lancaster, Pa., is operated by a joint venture called Johnson & Johnson/Merck Consumer Pharmaceuticals Co. Food and Drug Administration inspectors noted many severe problems after spending a dozen days there, from not following rules for manufacturing quality to poor record-keeping.

Johnson & Johnson mentioned the grand jury subpoenas, filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia, in its quarterly financial filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The disclosure follows one made by a company official on July 20, when J&J reported its second-quarter results, that it had received a single subpoena related to the recalls. J&J gave no details about that subpoena at the time, but said that the recalls and plant closure would cost the company $600 million this year alone.

The maker of Band-Aids, birth control and biotech drugs said it is cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's Office in responding to the subpoenas.

"The company and its subsidiaries are vigorously contesting the allegations asserted against them and otherwise pursuing defenses to maximize the prospect of success," J&J said in the quarterly filing.

Those allegations also include demands for documents from "multiple State Attorneys General Offices relating to the same issues," according to the SEC filing. The filing also noted that multiple lawsuits seeking class-action status have been filed against the company related to the recalls. The company gave no further details.

Company officials declined further comment.

Patricia Hartman, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia, said she could neither confirm nor deny any investigation.

New Brunswick, N.J.-based J&J has been under scrutiny by Congress, FDA officials and others for eight recalls since September covering tens of millions of bottles of pain reliever Tylenol and other popular nonprescription medicines. That includes some liquid medicines for children.

The series of recalls covered products made at the Fort Washington plant and another in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. They have involved problems ranging from contamination with bacteria and a nauseating smell on containers to possible problems with the wrong amount of active ingredient and liquid medicines that may contain tiny metal shavings.

In May, an FDA official told Congress the agency had turned the case over to its Office of Criminal Investigations. No one has been charged.

The Fort Washington factory makes nonprescription pain relievers, allergy medicine, sleeping pills and heartburn tablets. The recalled products include liquid Tylenol for infants and children, Tylenol arthritis caplets, Motrin, Benadryl, Rolaids, St. Joseph's aspirin and Simply Sleep.

The manager of the Fort Washington plant has since been fired, 300 of the 400 workers there will lose their jobs shortly and the fiasco led Johnson & Johnson to sharply reduce its 2010 profit forecast.

Then a July 21 FDA report on inspections at the Lancaster, Pa., factory in the past month indicates a pattern of ignoring rules for manufacturing and quality, failure to investigate problems that could affect the composition of products, carelessness in cleaning and maintaining equipment, and shoddy record-keeping. In some cases, medicine batches made during equipment failures were not checked for quality. That factory makes nonprescription heartburn medicines Mylanta and Pepcid, plus Imodium for diarrhea.

In trading Wednesday, shares fell down 93 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $58.50, as the broader markets also declined.

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Probe to Focus on how Felon Became Notary, Process Server

Vilisia Coleman is a felon, but that didn't stop the second suspect arrested in a growing Clark County court scandal from becoming a state-approved notary public and unlicensed process server.

State regulators are investigating how Coleman slipped under the radar.

Coleman, 46, who police say was a process server and office manager for On Scene Mediations, the unlicensed company at the center of the scandal, was sentenced to three years of probation for felony cocaine possession in 2006 and ordered to undergo drug treatment, records show.

She also has a gross misdemeanor conviction for attempted grand larceny at a local Walmart in 2001, records show.

In that case, she was charged with violating her two-year probation in 2003 and ordered to spend eight months behind bars at the Clark County Detention Center.

Coleman, back in custody Tuesday, is now charged in what authorities call a sweeping scheme to file false court affidavits that allowed payday loan and debt collection companies to get default judgments in Las Vegas Justice Court.

Also charged is Maurice Carroll, 41, a former Las Vegas police officer who owns On Scene Mediations. He is free on $35,000 bond.

Because of her criminal history, Coleman by law cannot receive a notary appointment from the state or be a licensed process server.

But Secretary of State Ross Miller said Coleman obtained a notary appointment from his office in June 2009. When she applied to become a notary, she filled out a form that asked if she had ever been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude. She checked the "No" box, said Miller, who has ordered an investigation.

He would not discuss his investigation further but said state agents have spoken with Las Vegas police, who are spearheading the criminal investigation.

Miller said that in November 2009, several months after Coleman received her notary appointment, she reported to Las Vegas police that her notary stamp had been stolen. He said Coleman got a new stamp from his office in January, and the old stamp never surfaced.

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White House Gate Crashers Served With Court Papers

'Real Housewives of DC' star Michaele Salahi and her husband were presented with court papers from PR firm Brotman-Winter-Fried Communications during their own private party Thursday at EFN nightclub, The Washington Post reports.

The company alleges the White House gate crashers owe more than $15,000 in unpaid fees from a 2008 polo event. "It was an affidavit for debtors interrogatory," Steve Winter, president of BWF, said (via RadarOnline.)

"It means they'll have to appear in court to discuss their financial means -- how they are capable of paying off the debt."According to one BWF employee, when Michaele's husband was handed the documents and dropped them on the floor.

When the process server tried to deliver them again, Tareq dropped the papers a second time and called security.Last week, Salahi accused Whoopi Goldberg of manhandling her during 'The View.'

Goldberg confronted the D.C. housewife backstage, using obscene language to drive home her disgust."I think I started crying," Salahi said on NBC's 'Today' on Thursday, "because now I have someone that I don't even know, I'm a guest of their show, and they're berating me" with expletives.

When Wednesday's broadcast was over, Goldberg said, "I was told that she thought I hit her. So I went up to her and I told her that she KNEW I didn't hit her. And yeah, you know how I said it: choice words."During the ruckus, Salahi's husband began filming the scene with his cell phone.

"Needless to say, I really went off, then. And there was even more, choicer words. I mean, they were so choice you could have cut'em with a knife and eaten them," Goldberg added.

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Subpoena for Toyota Over Defects in Steering

A federal grand jury in New York has subpoenaed Toyota Motor, seeking information on steering-related defects in its vehicles. The move could widen an investigation into the automaker’s handling of a recall in 2005.

In a short filing on Tuesday with the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Toyota said the subpoena, received by subsidiaries in the United States on June 29, had demanded documents about defects in steering relay rods in the company’s cars.

Toyota intended to “cooperate earnestly” with investigations, the filing said. Toyota had already received two subpoenas this year, one from a grand jury in February for documents related to sudden acceleration and braking and one from the Michigan attorney general in March for information on recalls.

It was not immediately clear what defects — or which models or production years — the latest subpoena concerned. Ririko Takeuchi, a spokeswoman for Toyota based in Tokyo, said the automaker was still clarifying details of the subpoena.

Earlier this year, American regulators said they were investigating a 2005 Toyota recall — for a steering-related problem in vehicles including 4Runners — in connection with a possible breach of rules for alerting the authorities about flaws.

The Transportation Department said in May that it was investigating the timing of the September 2005 recall for steering relay rod defects after an October 2004 recall in Japan for the same flaw. Under American law, carmakers have five days to report safety problems to regulators.


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Subpoenas Continue For Terri Horman's Friends

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Another friend of Terri Horman has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury this week as the investigation into 7-year-old Kyron Horman's disappearance reached its 61st day.

Chelsea Aleshire, who identified herself as a close friend to Terri Horman, said she will appear in court Thursday. Aleshire spoke to Terri Horman on the day Kyron disappeared from Skyline School, but at the time they spoke, Aleshire was not aware that Kyron was missing, she said.

She has not spoken to Terri Horman since then, she said.

Aleshire is at least the second of Terri Horman's friends to have been subpoenaed. Eight days ago, DeDe Spicher appeared before the grand jury. Sources have said Spicher did not answer any questions. Kyron's birth parents, Kaine Horman and Desiree Young, have suggested she's not cooperating with the investigators.

Jim McIntyre, a former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney who is not involved in the case, said the grand jury is a tool for investigators to question people under oath.

"In Oregon, you can talk to police officers all day long and as long as you're not providing them with false information about date of birth, you can lie. And it's not a crime," McIntyre said. "But put somebody in front of a grand jury and put them under oath, then if they start to lie, there starts to be some serious consequences."

In Multnomah County, McIntyre said grand juries are comprised of seven people selected from the jury pool. They listen to witness testimony and can issue an indictment if at least five of the seven agree.The grand jury proceedings are secret, and details about the subject of discussion are unknown.

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Arrest Warrant Issued for Process Server

LAS VEGAS -- An arrest warrant has been issued for a process server accused of falsifying paperwork in dozens of cases and potentially hundreds more, in what police called a scheme to defraud the courts.

Former Las Vegas Metro police officer Maurice Carroll is wanted by police for 35 counts of perjury, false filing of paperwork and obtaining money under false pretenses. Metro says he said he served people with legal papers, but didn't.

Carroll runs On Scene Mediations out of a North Las Vegas home. The criminal complaint said he admitted to officers he lied on affidavits and falsified work. That has caused problems in an unknown number of cases at the Regional Justice Center and potentially in District Court.

Defendants lost cases because they had not been notified could try to overturn judgments.

One of those already going through that trouble is Alan Wood. He's racked up $20,000 fighting what amounted to be a $700 charge for a medical bill. All it seems because of improper paperwork.

The fallout even reached his work. "My payroll department called me one day and said, 'Hey, you know, we just got a judgment and a garnishment against you,' and I said, 'That's impossible. I've never been to court,'" he said.

These mistakes can continue until keen-eyed workers at the court sort through the hundreds of old and pending cases trying to see if Carroll's firm had anything to do with them.

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