BACK IN THE SADDLE

Haven't had the time to post since returning from vacation a couple of weeks ago for a variety of reasons. First, had a mountain of work upon my return and had to attend to that. Secondly, my secretary recently quit, so everyday I was bogged down in administrative/secretarial crap that takes way too much time. Finally, after a couple of weeks of putting out fires and typing my own Notices for hearings, I'm reasonably caught up.

So I have lots of new Illinois Appellate decisions to discuss, as well as some interesting developments in the Illinois Tort Deform wars, Illinois politics(how about that Alan Keyes - God, the Republic Party must be proud) and the Presidential race - heard noted scholar Sean Hannity tearing into John Edward today for being a trial lawyer. Hannity took some shots at Edwards and accused him of being largely responsible for the current "medical malpractice crisis" in North Carolina. Probably similar to that one in Illinois where the tort deformers swear doctors are fleeing the state, even though the actual statistics show they are not. But the right wingers are never terribly concerned with the truth. [For a great example of blatant disregard for fact, read Al Franken's book Rush Limbaugh Is a Big, Fat Liar. Franken does a great job, showing how Rush just says things that are flat-out wrong. And the passage about how Rush avoided Viet Nam due to a cyst on his ass is priceless].

But I'm not going to jump into any of that today. That would be way too boring for my first post-vacation post. Why do that when one can talk about Scott Petersen. I thought the guy was gonna walk until our gal Amber took the stand. Then the jury hears how this guy is talking about their future together - when his wife has just been reported missing and he's been assisting with the searches! This Geragos guy may be good, but I don't know if Atticus Finch could neutralize that testimony. And then their tape-recorded discussion about favorite movies - and he says "The Shining"! That movie with Jack Nicholson where he ah...oh, yeah, kills his wife. All the movies in the world, and he comes up with that one. My prediction? Quick quilty verdict.

Another prediction - prosecution drops case against Kobe Bryant. If there is any truth to the suggestions she had additional sexual activity immediately after the alleged incident, and prior to a rape exam, she isn't looking like much of a victim anymore. And the decision to file a civil lawsuit is mind-boggling. She had six years to do so under the Colorado statute of limitations. Why the rush? Now the defense can argue she is just out for a payday. Now the civil suit does make reference to other women, which would make things interesting. But certainly none of them have ever claimed rape. If however there was some sort of financial payoff, well, then things get stickier for Bryant. But I doubt those women, if they exist, would be very credible. I think she loses the civil case as well.