Subject: Appellate Trials

• Fuck You, Sam Brownback

  June 7, 2007

• Daily Briefs: Where can we find enough fists to punch Ohio with?

  October 15, 2008

• Appeals court reaches for slang dictionary

  A Missouri court of appeals has determined that threatening to "put the shammy" on someone is not a felony.In 2006, a Kansas City man named William Heather was charged with harassment after he left disturbing messages on a woman's phone. In a voice message, Heather said, in part, "you can get this straight if you're someone I think I know, right, and you can go to prison for the rest of your f---ing lives and never see your children again." The message continued: "I'm getting ready to put the sh

  January 23, 2009

• Downtown wig shop loses court appeal

  Luke EchterlingThe owners of Gigi's Wigs and Beauty Supplies -- one of the few small businesses in downtown Kansas City's South Loop to avoid the wrecking ball -- have lost an appeal of the city's decision to condemn their building. The Kansas City Tax-Increment Financing Commission offered the shop's owners, Chung Hoe Ku and his wife, Myong Suk Ku, $335,000 for their land in 2004. The TIF Commission sought the property in order to accommodate Copaken White & Blitt, a company that manages To

  February 20, 2009

• Doctor's Orders

  September 30, 2004

• Hispanic contractors lose appeal

  Photo by Jaimie WarrenArmando DiazArmando Diaz, a Latino stone mason, found damning evidence that J.E. Dunn Construction Co. made a sham of minority-hiring goals when it subcontracted work on the H&R Block headquarters. But an appeals court says Diaz has no recourse.In an opinion filed yesterday, the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling against Diaz Construction Co. and the Kansas City Hispanic Association Contractors Enterprise. Diaz and KCHACE had sued the city, J.E. Dunn

  March 25, 2009

• Pitch Wins Court Battle

  March 8, 2007

• Be extra-nice to your Starbucks' barista today

  There's a good chance your Starbucks' barista just lost out on his or her share of $100 million. That was the fine a Californian judge issued to Starbucks for pooling tips for baristas and shift supervisors. Yesterday, an appeals court reversed that ruling saying that supervisors and baristas are essentially the same thing.The case was brought by a former barista named Jou Chau and ended up encompassing 120,000 former or current baristas who had their tips pooled. Breaking down the numbers,

  June 3, 2009

• Drunken Pushing: It seems like you don't have to actually be driving to get a DUI

  August 21, 2008

• Judge’s Ruling Forbids the Pitch From Publishing BPU Article

  The rare decision forced the Pitch and The Kansas City Star to remove articles about the utility.

  March 1, 2007

• Wreck Broker

  "Hi, Folks" Bob has a secret under his hood.

  May 4, 2006

• Queer Justice

  A Kansas judge pushes for a population explosion.

  February 12, 2004

• Born Again

  When Bryan J. Brown gave up his picket sign for a law degree, that just made him a stronger activist- and perfect candidate for a job in Kansas state government.

  May 15, 2003

• Head Cases

  A man who had sex at Shawnee Mission Park and patrons at a St. Louis porn house carry the baton for gays and lesbians in Kansas and Missouri.

  January 2, 2003

• A Woman Scorned

  J'Noel Gardiner used to be a man. When her millionaire husband died without a will, she had a point to make.

  November 29, 2001

• Pat Roberts just says 'no' to Sotomayor

  Pat RobertsPat Roberts called "first!" today. Roberts is the first senator to pledge a "no" vote to Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Earlier today, Roberts told KCMO Talk Radio 710's Chris Stigall that no way, no how would he vote for her:"I voted no in 1998. I did not feel she was appropriate on the appeals court. Since that time, she has made statements on the role of the appeals court I think is improper and incorrect."I think that we should be judging people not on race and 

  May 28, 2009

• Dennis Skillicorn's widow reacts to the halting of Missouri executions

  Just a little over a month after the state ended the life of Dennis Skillicorn by lethal injection, executions are again on hold in Missouri. Incoming Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice William Ray Price Jr. told the The Associated Press yesterday that he didn't expect the Court to schedule any executions while the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals weighs an appeal on behalf of death row inmate Reginald Clemons that questions the constitutionality of Missouri's lethal injection protocol.The st

  June 25, 2009

• The curious case of bean patents

  ​You wouldn't think that one man could corner the market on a widely grown staple -- but then again you're probably not that familiar with U.S. patent law and its impact on the import market. This is a tale of what is termed "biopiracy," using patents to lay claim to items from the developing world. Larry Proctor returned from Mexico in 1994 with a package of multi-colored beans. The beans, similar to a pinto bean, are known as Phaseolus vulgaris, or the Mayocoba bean. He selected a yellow var

  August 20, 2009

• Potential hotel site has churned with litigation

  This week's Martin column notes the similarities in the arguments for a new convention hotel and past discussions that led to unprofitable investments in Bartle Hall and other tourism bubbles.The oft-contested surface lot near 12th and Broadway​One of the sites that's being contemplated for a new hotel sits west of Bartle Hall and south of 12th Street. The property is not much to look at -- surface parking lots rarely are -- but it has a tumultuous history.A California-based investor named All

  October 16, 2009

• Appeals court ponders nature of the Whizzinator

  ​A Missouri appeals court recently took up an interesting question: Does the use of a Whizzinator constitute forgery?Robert Smothers of Moberly, Missouri, was subject to drug testing as a condition of his bond. Smothers was submitting a sample when a police officer administering the test heard a snapping noise. Asked about the suspicious ruckus, Smith allegedly admitted to using a Whizzinator device.Randolph County charged Smothers with forgery and possession of forging instrumentality. Bogus,

  November 18, 2009