Jetton’s plan to tell all puzzles white-collar defense lawyers 
Former House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, [center] is planning to answer questions before a grand jury on Wednesday. The move has attorneys scratching their heads.
Mother sues over deadly fire
The mother of three children killed in an apartment fire is suing their father and grandmother, alleging their negligence contributed to the tragedy.
Look up juror histories before trial, Supreme Court says
Attorneys, warm up your laptops.
The Missouri Supreme Court said Tuesday that lawyers must use “reasonable efforts” to research the litigation histories of potential jurors before trial, not after.
U.S. Supreme Court decides local speedy trial case
A St. Louis criminal defense lawyer says the U.S. Supreme Court decision interpreting the Speedy Trial Act is a victory not only for his client but for the rights of criminal defendants throughout the country.
“The Supreme Court made it clear that the Speedy Trial Act means what it says and that the judges are going [...]
New evidence discovered in Clemons case
The capital murder case against Reginald Clemons has taken another surprising twist.
The state attorney general’s office says it has found additional evidence.
Attorney General Chris Koster’s office sent Jackson County Judge Michael Manners a letter Monday asking for a hearing on evidence the state has just learned about. The Supreme Court last summer appointed Manners as [...]
St. Louis County police target unlicensed officers
An announcement last week from St. Louis County Police Chief Timothy Fitch has perked the ears of St. Louis criminal defense attorneys.
Two days after Fitch announced a plan to ferret out any unlicensed police officers working in the county’s 91 municipalities and turn them over to county prosecutors, the chief said his office has its [...]
Lawsuit spanning two states claimed by courts in neither
If the victim had gone by Pat instead of Patricia, a “procedural mess” of a case pending in two states’ court systems might never have begun. As it turns out, the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District is left to decide whether two wrongful death claims that stem from the 2007 shootings at Kansas City’s Ward Parkway Mall can be brought in Missouri courts.
Union president pleads guilty in bribery case
A labor union president pleaded guilty today to bribery after allegedly taking $20,000 from a St. Louis attorney who was helping in a federal investigation.
Edward W. Rodzwicz, the president of the Brotherhood of the Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, pleaded guilty to one felony count of bribery and one felony count of the use of interstate [...]
Driver’s License: DWI - Test Refusal - Second Test
Pruitt v. Director (MLW No. 60306/Case No. WD70414 - 4 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Ellis, J.)
Where a driver agreed to submit to a breathalyzer test that resulted in a valid reading but she then refused to submit to a blood test, a driver may be required to take both tests, so the [...]
Criminal Law: Right To Counsel - Waiver
State v. Jenkins (MLW No. 60302/Case No. SD29362 - 11 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Blankenship, Sp. J.)
Where a defendant claimed error in a trial court’s decision to allow him to proceed pro se, arguing that he wanted representation, just not the particular counsel selected for him, the defendant’s requests to proceed pro [...]