Court approves $56M deal with former IBC exec 
People walk outside Interstate Bakeries Corp.’s operations center in Kansas City on Monday. A federal court recently approved a $56 million settlement that stemmed from the company’s bankruptcy proceedings.
Nurse gets work comp for trip while on-the-job
An appeals court quietly explained last week why it gave an employee a rare win under the state’s revised workers’ compensation laws.
The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District issued an opinion Tuesday that a Kansas City nurse could receive workers’ compensation after she injured her ankle while wearing work-related shoes.
“Accepting that she did not wear [...]
Former Ballwin prosecutor pleads guilty in child porn case
A municipal law attorney and former Ballwin city prosecutor pleaded guilty on Monday to possessing child pornography.
George Richard Fox is facing a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. Fox, 67, was an attorney with Curtis, Heinz, Garrett & O’Keefe until he resigned in August. Fox resigned as Ballwin’s [...]
Criminal Law: Self Defense - Witnesses - Fifth Amendment
Johnson v. Minor (Case No. 08-3207 - 9 pages)
Where a defendant in a second-degree murder case sought habeas relief, claiming the district court’s ruling prohibiting testimony from self-defense witnesses until the issue of self defense was injected by the defendant gave an impression that the defendant must testify as the first witness, and the defendant [...]
Family reaches settlement with highway department
The family of a wife and mother who died in June 2008 when her van careened off a highway and over a cliff has reached a more than $900,000 settlement with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission.
The husband filed suit in July 2009, with his two minor children, in St. Louis Circuit Court, and the [...]
Price address recognizes ‘economic realities’
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, members of the General Assembly: It is my honor to deliver this 37th State of the Judiciary Address.
I am completing my 17th year as a judge of the Missouri Supreme Court. In that time I have seen governors come and go, speakers of the House, lieutenant governors, president pro tems of [...]
Jury delivers split verdict in real estate loan dispute
A federal jury in Kansas City awarded $200,000 to a woman who accused her building contractor of paying a kickback to her loan officer to ensure the financing.
A real estate appraiser named in the suit received a defense verdict, while the jury ordered the mortgage company to pay $95,400 in punitive damages and $4,600 in [...]
Jury not convinced doctor was at fault
A St. Louis County jury concluded that a doctor could not have known a woman under his care had sustained injury to her colon during surgery.
Holly Thornton was a patient of Dr. David Gearhart at New Ballas OB-GYN Inc. On May 22, 2006, she received a laparoscopic adhesiolysis procedure at the office to separate bands [...]
Auto manufacturers settle suit over seat belt design
A Saline County woman, already suffering from cerebral palsy when she was severely injured in a crash after her seat belt failed, received confidential settlements from Ford, Kia, Mazda and the seat belt manufacturer.
Tammy Smith was driving home from a Wal-Mart on Dec. 29, 2006, when her 1995 Aspire was involved in a head-on collision [...]
Thrust of State of Judiciary was all business
Missouri’s chief justice cited evolutionary theory, the Bible, John Updike and his uncle the Iowa farmer to set the tone for his State of the Judiciary speech.
But when he really wanted to make a point, Chief Justice William Ray Price Jr. - a conservative jurist addressing a Republican-led Legislature - used the language of business.
Price, [...]