ON LEGAL

August 2023

South Florida lawyer sues Donald Trump, argues former president is ineligible for office due to indictment in Capitol attack – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather,

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) — A South Florida lawyer has filed a civil lawsuit against Donald Trump in which he argues that the former president is ineligible for office.

When asked why he is suing, Boynton Beach-based attorney Lawrence Caplan said on Friday it’s all laid out in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Caplan added other lawsuits may follow.

“I’m not political. I’ve voted for both Democratic and Republican presidents,” he said.

He may not be overly political, but Caplan said he has concerns if Trump becomes president of the United States again.

“I think we’ll be looking at the end of American democracy as we’ve come to know it,” he said. “There’s no hard and fast rule that says that a democracy has to last forever.”

Which is why the attorney said he filed a lawsuit to prevent Trump from running. His reasoning? Trump’s federal indictment following the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Caplan calls upon the 14th Amendment. The lawsuit states in part, “Section 3 of the 14th Amendment automatically excludes from future office and position of power in the U.S. government … any individual who has previously taken an oath to support and defend our Constitution and after which acts so as to rebel against that charter.”

“It’s really common sense, based upon the facts that we know them today, regarding specifically the January 6th indictment, that Donald Trump was very much involved in the planning,” he said.

Caplan claims Trump doesn’t even need to be convicted of the crime.

“But the fact that he was indicted by a federal court for these crimes that are specifically listed in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, it’s what’s called in the law self-executing,” he said.

Regarding that section of the 14th Amendment, Caplan

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August 28, 2023 by LAW

Palm Beach County lawyer files legal challenge to disqualify Trump from 2024 presidential race

A lawyer from Palm Beach County has filed one of the first legal challenges to disqualify Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential race under a clause in the U.S. Constitution‘s 14th Amendment.

Boynton Beach tax attorney Lawrence Caplan filed the challenge in federal court in the Southern District of Florida citing the amendment’s “disqualification clause” for those who engage in insurrections and rebellion against the United States. The amendment was ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, during Reconstruction, and also addressed the citizenship status of freed slaves and the re-integration of the defeated Confederate states back into the Union.

Applying the 14th Amendment’s disqualification rule to Trump has been a rising talking point this month. Legal scholars, including from conservative corners, have advocated for it. And state elections officials have conceded they are having discussions about how they would respond if a challenge is lodged.

But constitutional scholar Kevin Wagner said invoking the amendment to kick Trump off the ballot is an endeavor that faces significant legal, constitutional and political hurdles.

“There’s a legitimate argument that one can make surrounding the plain wording of the 14th Amendment and the accusations of what the president did on Jan. 6,” said Wagner, a professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University. “But I think it’s a harder lift than people think and at the end of the day you have to find someone that’s willing to enforce it.”

Reconstruction era 14th Amendment punished insurrections, rebellions

The amendment’s Section 3 addresses the disqualification of any U.S. citizen from holding office if “having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution

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August 27, 2023 by LAW

‘he looks like a Batman villain’

Former White House lawyer Ty Cobb on Friday commented on former President Trump’s historic mug shot, saying he looks like “a Batman villain.”

“This is the first time that a former president and his colleagues have been charged with a heinous crime like this, this is the first presidential former presidential mugshot, you know we’ve ever seen,” Cobb told CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Friday. “And while he looks like a Batman villain in his mugshot, he’s still entitled to all the rights and privileges of a criminal defendant.”

Pressed by Keilar on when the Georgia election case will wrap up, Cobb suggested the appeals process could slow it down — especially as several of Trump’s 18 co-defendants have asked for either a speedier trial or for their case to be moved to a different court.

“There’s a good chance they could still be arguing about what court this would be tried in federal or state court a year from now after, after appeals,” Cobb said on Friday. “I think this is an appealable issue.”

Asked about Trump’s self-reported height and weight during his booking — and rumors he misrepresented them — Cobb said it wouldn’t provide any material value to the case.

“It’s just another insight into Trump’s psyche and how driven he is by whatever facts that he can get out that he thinks will make him more appealable to others,” he said.

Cobb’s comments come a day after Trump turned himself in to Fulton County jail over charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. The former president and his 18 co-defendants were given until noon on Friday to surrender.

Kenneth Chesebro, the lawyer who drafted the fake electors memo, pushed for a quick trial and was granted an Oct.

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August 26, 2023 by LAW

UK Police Question Ousted Myanmar Ambassador Over Residence Row: Lawyer

In 2021, diplomats close to the junta seized the embassy in central London and refused access to Kyaw Zwar Minn


Ben STANSALL

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British police have questioned Myanmar’s ex-ambassador to London, stripped of his post by the military junta after a 2021 coup, over his refusal to leave a diplomatic residence, his lawyer said Saturday.

“On 15 August, my client was interviewed by the police about an allegation that he trespassed on diplomatic premises, namely the ambassadorial residence in which he has lived since he became ambassador to the UK in 2013,” said Neil Swift, lawyer for Kyaw Zwar Minn.

In April 2021, diplomats close to the junta seized the embassy in central London and refused access to Kyaw Zwar Minn, a supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government which was overthrown by a coup in February that year.

At the time, the British government indicated that it would offer its protection to the ousted ambassador.

The British foreign minister at the time, Dominic Raab, condemned “the bullying actions of the Myanmar military regime in London” and paid tribute to Kyaw Zwar Minn for his “courage”.

The former envoy has not left the ambassador’s residence since. He has refused to give it back to his country’s representatives whose legitimacy he does not recognise.

The official residency “remains the property of the Union of Myanmar, and my client has always maintained that he is more than happy to hand over the keys to a representative of the democratically elected government of Myanmar”, Swift said in a statement sent to AFP.

Kyaw Zwar Minn has faced no criminal charges, he said, adding that the British attorney general would first have to decide “whether there is sufficient evidence of any offence at all”.

Neither the British foreign office nor the police

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August 23, 2023 by LAW

AJ Armstrong family lawyer brings forth additional evidence in lawsuit against City of Houston

New claims in AJ Armstrong’s lawsuit

The attorney for AJ Armstrong’s lawsuit against the City of Houston claims the prosecution withheld a complaint filed against an expert witness, which alleges evidence has been planted in the past.

HOUSTON – Gathered outside the Houston Police property building, the friends and family of AJ Armstrong Jr. say they’re not giving up, adamant that Armstrong is innocent in the murder of his parents in 2016.

“I want you to know if I had an inkling of a thought that AJ Armstrong, my grandson, killed my son and my beautiful daughter-in-law, we wouldn’t be supporting him,” said Antonio Armstrong Sr.’s mother, Kay Winston.

SUGGESTED: AJ Armstrong found guilty of Capital Murder, sentenced to life in prison

A lawsuit has already been filed against the City of Houston alleging planted evidence, centered around a spot of blood found on Armstrong’s shirt that matched his father which was admitted only before the third trial was set to begin.

“And the only difference between the second trial and the third trial was DNA evidence that was miraculously found seven years after this tragedy,” said the family’s civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen. 

FOX 26 Houston is now on the FOX LOCAL app available through Apple TV, Amazon FireTV, Roku and Google Android TV!

They claim more proof has since come up that questions the legitimacy of the evidence.

Kallinen says Robert Collins, a reputable DNA expert, reached out and handed over a previous complaint he made to the Texas Forensic Science Commission in 2019 alleging Celestina Rossi, who analyzed Armstrong’s shirt before the trial, may have planted evidence in the past.

“He says their expert planted evidence in another murder case,” Kallinen said. “Is it true? I don’t know. This is a very respectable person, but at the

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August 22, 2023 by LAW

Hollywood Lawyer Ken Kleinberg on His Crusade for Kidney Research

Ken Kleinberg noticed something was wrong during a work trip to the South of France in the late 1990s. The veteran talent lawyer cut his trip short to seek medical treatment, with no clue that his diagnosis would be the beginning of a decades-long journey to eradicate kidney disease. “I had taken on a lot of weight and my body was sort of pudgy,” Kleinberg recalls. “Each day that went by, I was getting more bloated and I could tell that I was retaining fluid. So, I returned to Los Angeles as rapidly as I could.”

His doctor recommended seeing a kidney specialist, but didn’t say much more than that. Then came a kidney biopsy and a series of other tests. The diagnosis was minimal change disease, a condition that impacts kidney function. As the illness progressed, Kleinberg was facing renal failure and underwent dialysis three times a week for six years before receiving a kidney transplant in 2007.

More from The Hollywood Reporter

During his time in the hospital he met Dr. Vito Campese, then the head of the nephrology department at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. The two discussed the lack of information available and general dearth of kidney-related research, and it struck a chord in Kleinberg. In 2002, they launched the University Kidney Research Organization. Through a partnership with USC, the USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center opened in September 2015.

Fast-forward to 2022 and researchers, led by Zhongwei Li and Andy McMahon, are developing a synthetic kidney thanks to a grant from the National Institutes of Health. They’ve successfully transplanted kidneys built with stem cells into mice and, if they can secure the funding, the next step is to begin human clinical trials.

For THR‘s annual philanthropy spotlight, Kleinberg spoke about his goal to “make kidney disease

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August 21, 2023 by LAW

Brazil’s Bolsonaro accused by ex-aide’s lawyer of ordering sale of jewelry given as official gift

BRASILIA, Brazil — Then Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro ordered an aide to sell undeclared luxury jewelry received as a gift and funnel the money to him, a lawyer for the aide charged Friday.

Cezar Bittencourt, who represents Bolsonaro’s former right-hand man, Lt. Col. Mauro Cid, said his client had recounted receiving those orders from Bolsonaro shortly before the president left office at the end of last year.

The claim was initially reported in an interview published Friday by the Brazilian magazine Veja, and Bittencourt confirmed his comments in a phone call with The Associated Press.

Bittencourt said that in December 2022, Cid asked about a Rolex watch the president was given by government of Saudi Arabia in 2019. Bolsonaro replied that Cid should “deal with it,” which eventually led to the aide selling two watches in the U.S. and handing the money to Bolsonaro, the attorney said.

A week ago, Brazil’s Federal Police charged that Bolsonaro received cash from the nearly $70,000 sale of the two watches. They were part of a total of three sets of jewelry given to the then president by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Officials from Bolsonaro’s office brought the jewelry into Brazil without declaring them, which sparked suspicions of money laundering and illegal personal possession of government items. That investigation became public in March.

Brazil requires citizens arriving by plane from abroad to declare goods worth more than $1,000 and pay a tax of 50% of the value above that threshold. The jewelry would be exempt from tax if it was an official gift to Brazil, but would not have been Bolsonaro’s to keep.

Bolsonaro and his lawyers contend the sets of jewelry were personal gifts and therefore can be sold as he wishes. Investigators say he did not register the jewelry

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August 20, 2023 by LAW

Ted Humphrey Discusses A Possible Third Season Of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’

It’s certainly not the job of every TV show to make its viewers feel good, but Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer leaves fans feeling hopeful and uplifted.

It’s a combination of Manuel Garcia-Rulfo’s glass-half-full, root-for-the-underdog public defender, Mickey Haller, and the world in which he lives. In this version of Los Angeles, everyone gets justice and second chances.

The show is based on the series of bestselling novels by Michael Connelly. The series was created for TV by David E. Kelley and Ted Humphrey, who serves as co-showrunner and executive producer alongside Dailyn Rodriguez. The fabulous cast includes Neve Campbell, Becki Newton, Jazz Raycole, and Angus Sampson.

Humphrey, well known for his work on The Good Wife, sums it up best when asked about the behind-the-scenes of it all. “We love making this show.”

The viewer has felt the love since Season One premiered on May 13, 2022. The ten-episode first season, based on the second book in Connelly’s beloved book series, “The Brass Verdict,” was an immediate fan favorite.

Within the first two weeks, the show topped the English TV list with more than 108 million hours watched, making it the most-viewed title during its second week on the platform. In addition, the legal thriller made the Top 10 in 90 countries.

The ten-episode second season was released in two five-episode parts. Part One premiered on July 6, and Part Two was released on August 3. This season is based on the fourth book in the series, “The Fifth Witness.”

Since Season Two premiered, The Lincoln Lawyer has been on Netflix’s U.S. Top 10 chart for five weeks. It’s currently sitting atop the list in the No. 1 spot, with its second season garnering 6.7

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August 16, 2023 by LAW

Lawyer Suing Lizzo Reveals More ‘Actionable’ Allegations Could Be Coming

The news keeps getting worse for Lizzo, as the singer could find herself facing new allegations of fostering a toxic workplace. Ron Zambrano, a lawyer representing the three former dancers suing the Grammy winner for sexual harassment, told NBC News that his firm is reviewing new allegations from six other people who worked on the “About Damn Time” singer’s tour and Prime Video series, Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.

The lawyer said that the allegations include the “Good as Hell” singer creating a “‘sexually charged environment’ and failure to pay employees.” He went on to explain that, “Some of the claims we are reviewing may be actionable, but it is too soon to say.”

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The entertainment industry was shocked on Aug. 1 when Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez filed a lawsuit against the “Juice” artist, her production company Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc., and dance team captain Shirlene Quigley, accusing them of “sexual, religious and racial harassment, disability discrimination, assault and false imprisonment.”

Lizzo built her success off of her body positive and self-confident lyrics. For fans who considered her a role model, the body-shaming allegations are particularly hard to hear. She’s spent a lot of time telling us that we’re “Special” just as we are, so it’s disheartening to read that she may have been ridiculing her dancers for their weight. The whole point of Watch Out For the Big Grrrls was to give an opportunity for plus-sized women to shine. On Thursday, the singer broke her silence and responded to the lawsuit on Instagram.

“I am not here to be looked at as a victim, but I also know that I am not the villain that people and the media have portrayed me to be these last few days,”

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August 15, 2023 by LAW

Lawyer for Alleged O’Shae Sibley Killer Claims Client is a “Good Christian Boy”

The lawyer for the teen accused of killing O’Shae Sibley at a gas station last month because the Brooklyn dancer’s voguing offended his Muslim religion claimed his client is actually “a good Christian boy” with many Black friends. Much of the attack was caught on surveillance video.

Dmitry Popov, 17, has been charged as an adult with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the death of 28-year-old O’Shae Sibley on Saturday, July 28. Popov is accused of stabbing Sibley after he and a group of friends used antigay and anti-Black slurs as they objected to the Brooklyn dancer’s vogueing, allegedly saying it offended their Muslim faith.

Popov pleaded not guilty to the charges at a court appearance in New York City on Monday. In a series of interviews with the media, his lawyer, Mark Pollard, denied the accusations his client used antigay and racist language during the incident.

Pollard instead described Popov as “a good Christain boy” to local Fox affiliate WPIX when responding to accusations his client is a Muslim or uttered the offensive language.

“I can tell you unequivocally, my client denies that,” Pollard told the NY Daily News. “He’s not Muslim.”

“He has many Black friends, and his brother is married to a Black woman,” Pollard also told the NY Daily News. “Nothing in his background makes me think he hates Black people or the LGBTQ people, and he denies that.”

At a press conference on Saturday, NYPD assistant chief Joe Kenny disputed those claims, instead alleging Popov taunted Sibley and his friend with anti-gay and anti-Black words.

“As the group began to yell at Mr. Sibley and his friends, they began to call them derogatory names and used homophobic slurs against him,” Kenny said at a press conference. “They also

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August 13, 2023 by LAW
August 2023
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