Posted on April 22, 2018 in Crash Fatalities
News outlets are reporting that two Jenks girls died in a motor vehicle accident in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Article here. According to reports, a truck carrying the girls was attempting to make a lefthand turn when a car broadsided the vehicle killing the two young girls. Motor vehicle accident death In 2016, 683 people died… read more…
Posted on April 16, 2018 in Criminal Law
Reports are suggesting that as many as seven inmates were killed at the Lee Correctional institution in Bishopville, South Carolina. Story here. Multiple death incidents at a correctional facility generally indicate other systemic problems. Facilities that experience these high death totals are typically understaffed, lack adequate training, or have substantial gang problems. These deficiencies are… read more…
Posted on March 31, 2018 in Criminal Law
The Tulsa World is reporting that Stillwater officers shot and killed a man who called in a welfare check on himself. Article here. According to the World, 31 year old William Dominguez called police to conduct a welfare check on himself. He also reported possession of a gun and knife. When officers arrived, they shot… read more…
Posted on March 25, 2018 in Discrimination
Reports from the Silverdale jail in Hamilton County, Tenessee indicate the facility experienced a disturbance resulting in multiple injuries on Saturday, March 24th. Article here. According to officials, several inmates were involved in an incident of inmate-on-inmate violence that resulted in at least two inmates sustaining injuries that required transport for outside medical care. Inmate-on-inmate… read more…
Posted on January 5, 2018 in Civil Rights
On December 28, 2017, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma entered judgment against the City of Westville and two police officers in a case involving a failure to train and unlawful warrantless residential entry in violation of the Fourth Amendment rights of Mr. Brent Walker. The law firm of Bryan… read more…
Posted on January 3, 2018 in Americans With Disabilities,Civil Rights
On January 2, 2018, the Tenth Circuit set Clark v. Colbert for oral argument on February 15 in the ceremonial Bell courtroom at the University of Oklahoma law school. The case raises several important questions regarding the intersection of the Fourth Amendment and the ADA. The issues under consideration by the Tenth Circuit arise from… read more…
Posted on December 28, 2017 in Civil Rights
If police shoot at a fleeing suspect– and miss– does the conduct implicate the Fourth Amendment? Here’s how the Tenth Circuit recently framed the issue in Farrell v. Montoya: Oriana Lee Farrell and her five children claim that Defendant Elias Montoya, while on duty as a New Mexico state police officer, violated their Fourth Amendment… read more…
Posted on December 26, 2017 in Civil Rights
In a recent opinion issued by the Tenth Circuit on December 19, 2017, the court was tasked with determining whether an inmate could pursue a claim against two corrections officers and a case manger for failing to protect him from an attack by members of a rival prison gang. You can access the decision in… read more…
Posted on June 14, 2017 in Civil Rights
A McAlester news outlet is reporting former police officer Jerry “Jay” Lynn Gragg, Jr., 40, of Savanna, OK was arrested for sexually assaulting a motorist during a traffic stop in January 2017. A woman alleges Gragg said if she’d perform sex acts and/or allow him to perform acts, he wouldn’t write her a ticket. After her… read more…
Posted on June 13, 2017 in Negligence
When is a debt collector not collecting a debt? Apparently when the collector has purchased the debt for collection. This week a unanimous Supreme Court held that debt purchasers– companies that buy debt from credit card companies and others, and then try to collect that debt by calling/harassing consumers– do not fall within the definition of a… read more…