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Riders stuck on snow-trapped train sue NY agency
State Law Issues |
2011/12/27 10:36
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Subway riders stuck all night in a train trapped by snow after a blizzard sued a transportation agency on Tuesday, saying officials told them it was simply an act of God.
In court papers describing last year's ordeal, they said they had no heat, food, water or bathroom facilities while the Metropolitan Transportation Authority kept promising help.
The city was all but paralyzed when the storm hit on Dec. 26, 2010, with 2 feet of snow piled around an A train on elevated tracks in Queens. Inside were about 500 passengers who spent eight hours there in freezing temperatures.
The conductor refused to allow passengers off the train, resulting in a deplorable imprisonment, said 22 of them named in the suit, which was filed in Queens state Supreme Court.
They are seeking unspecified damages from the New York City Transit Authority, part of the MTA, which runs the nation's largest mass transit system. The subway alone has a daily ridership of more than 5 million.
Manhattan attorney Aymen Aboushi said the stranded passengers decided to sue after a year of meetings with transit officials convinced them that suing was the only way to get the MTA to pay attention. He said he's handling the case pro bono in hopes of forcing changes in the emergency response system to avert a similar nightmare. |
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Supreme Court rejects Hessler appeal
Law Firm News |
2011/12/26 16:36
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The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday rejected a death-row inmate’s claim that his lawyer failed to properly represent the convicted kidnapper, rapist and murderer at his sentencing.
Jeffrey Hessler had argued that his trial-court lawyer should have demanded a competency hearing when Hessler moved to represent himself at his sentencing. The state Supreme Court rejected that argument, saying allowing someone to serve as their own attorney did not constitute ineffective counsel and Hessler failed to show he couldn’t adequately represent himself at sentencing.
Hessler was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault of a child and use of a firearm to commit a felony in December 2004. He was sentenced to die for the 2003 kidnapping, rape and shooting death of 15-year-old Heather Guerrero. She was delivering newspapers on her morning route just blocks from her home when Hessler grabbed her and forced her into his car.
A jury found that Hessler took her to an abandoned house at nearby Lake Minatare, raped her and then shot her in the head on Feb. 11, 2003. Guerrero’s body was found the next day at the house, about 12 miles from where she disappeared.
Hessler claimed in his appeal that his trial lawyer was ineffective and failed to tell the court that he suffered from mental health problems, including hallucinations.
Scotts Bluff County District Judge Randall Lippstreu dismissed that claim earlier this year, saying Hessler and his attorneys seemed to have had philosophical differences between the time of Hessler’s conviction and sentencing hearing. But, the judge said, that did not constitute ineffective counsel. |
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Supreme Court says Manchester property tax data private
State Law Issues |
2011/12/25 16:36
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The Vermont Supreme Court says information used by towns to calculate adjustments to residents' property taxes should remain private.
In an entry order published Friday, the court reversed a Bennington County Superior Court ruling that said the town of Manchester should provide the tax information to someone who requested it.
The issue involves the amount Vermont property tax payers may have deducted from their bills based on their income, school property tax burden and if they to use a portion of their tax refund to reduce property taxes.
The state Department of Taxes calculates that amount and sends it to towns to reduce a property owner's taxes.
The Supreme Court says the law governing the deductions is covered by the state's privacy laws. Property tax bills are, however, public.
The court decision is posted on the town website, http://www.manchester-vt.gov |
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The Paul Brunner and Doug Otte Story
Law Firm News |
2011/12/24 16:35
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WATCH: http://www.insiderexclusive.com/show-content/410-dream-vacations-gone-bad--the-paul-brunner-and-doug-otte-story.html
A Dream Big Game Hunting Vacation.... to the Arctic Circle goes horribly wrong.... in the flash of anbsp; moment .....On August 26, 2001.....for experienced big game bow hunters, Paul Brunner from Montana and Doug Otte from Nebraska...who were two of six hunters on a musk ox expedition north of the Arctic Circle in Nunavut, Canada. They went on a trip to the Cambridge Bay area of Nunavut Province, north of the Arctic Circle that was sold to them by Canada North, a foreign based company, to include the housing, food, a cook and other provisions during this 10 day hunt for musk ox. nbsp;
An explosion turned their cabin into an inferno, burning and trapping Brunner, Hampson and Otte. In this TV Special, nbsp; The Insider Exclusive presentsnbsp; Dream Vacations Gone Bad - The Paul Brunner and Doug Otte Story nbsp; nbsp; ...... and the legal challenges Americans face when you purchase your exotic vacations from a foreign-based company.
Litigating on behalf of travelers who have been seriously injured in exotic and distant locations can be challenging.... indeed.nbsp; Where and who, for example, are the viable and liable defendants in real life vacation disasters?
This INSIDER EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL discusses the Rights of Americans while traveling to exotic locations and liability of tour operators and air carriers for the tour participant's injuries sustained in foreign destinations.nbsp; Foreign companies cannot solicit U.S. Citizens for adventure trips and not be responsible for their negligent operations on those trips which result in serious, deforming injuries to their U.S. customers. A tour operator may be held liable for the consumer's physical injuries if the tour operator promised.... either expressly or implicitly.... that the tour would be delivered in a safe and careful manner.
Consumers, especially the parents of students, rely upon promises of close supervision in purchasing such a tour. Consumer injuries caused by the negligence of the tour guide may support claims against the tour operator for negligent selection and supervision of tour guides and misrepresentation of their training, expertise and knowledge of the tour locale. |
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