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Lawyer says beaten St. Louis teen Kaylee Gain has limited speech, difficulty walking after viral fight

A Missouri teenager who suffered a serious brain injury in a viral fight outside a St. Louis high school earlier this month has recovered enough to leave the hospital’s ICU, but has limited speech and trouble walking on her own, a lawyer representing her family confirmed.

Kaylee Gain, a 16-year-old student at Hazelwood East High School, has been hospitalized since March 8 with a fractured skull that resulted in brain bleeding and swelling after she was thrown to the ground and had her head repeatedly bashed against the concrete by a fellow student. The brawl was recorded and shared widely on social media.

As can be seen in the video, other teens continued fighting around Gain as she lay limp in the street before EMTs could arrive on the scene.

She remained unconscious up until last week, attorney Bryan M. Kaemmerer said in a statement shared with the Daily News.

On Friday, Kaemmerer revealed Gain is awake and now “able to engage in limited verbal conversations.”

“Kaylee also recently began speech therapy, and has gone on a few short walks with the assistance of hospital staff as she is still unable to ambulate on her own,” he said, adding that the teen has no recollection of the fight that landed her in the hospital.

Gain’s alleged assailant, 15-year-old Maurnice DeClue, was arrested in connection to the brutal beating. Gain’s parents are pushing for her to be tried as an adult.

“The family believes trying the accused as an adult is the most appropriate way to provide the justice that Kaylee deserves,” Kaemmerer said in his Friday statement.

The DeClue family shared a statement of their own on Thursday with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “to address the misconceptions surrounding Maurnice’s character,” they wrote. They described the 15-year-old as

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April 4, 2024 by LAW

Latino teens prepare cases for their future at summer ‘Lawyer Camp’ in St. Paul

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, 17 rising ninth-graders embarked on a field trip for summer camp. But instead of going to a park or zoo, these kids headed to a lesser-known spot for summer fun: the St. Paul Police Department headquarters. It was their first day of Latino Lawyer Camp, and the kids appeared eager to discover the legal system in action.

The camp aims to introduce different aspects of the legal profession to Latino kids before they start high school — and also show what the path to becoming a lawyer could look like.

Enrique Estrada, a community engagement specialist with the St. Paul Police Department, told them about his years working with Latino kids who needed help navigating the court system. One problem he noticed: very few Latino lawyers.

“If everybody here graduates and becomes a lawyer, you’re going to make my job really easy,” Estrada said.

Nineteen percent of the U.S. population is Latino, but only 5% of lawyers are, according to the American Bar Association. This camp aims to change those statistics, one high school freshman at a time.

The St. Paul–based camp is the brainchild of Jorge Saavedra F., an assistant Ramsey County attorney. In the summer, he is the camp director. He first ran the camp in 2016. After a six-year hiatus, it returned this year. Saavedra hopes it will become an annual event. The camp is funded primarily by the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association endowment fund; students pay $20 for the weeklong camp.

Saavedra’s goal: to reach Latino kids at the beginning of high school so they understand how to begin preparing themselves for college, whether they become a lawyer or choose a different career path. The camp recruits students through teachers and counselors, aiming to find students with potential who

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July 21, 2023 by LAW

Wisconsin lawyer, 67, faces up to 90 days for spitting on BLM protestor

A white lawyer was convicted for spitting on a Black high school student during a 2020 anti-racism march in a Milwaukee suburb.

A jury reached the verdict Wednesday in the trial of Stephanie Rapkin, 67, of Shorewood, Wisconsin, finding her guilty of misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

Rapkin faces sentencing for the misdemeanor charge later this week and is charged separately with a felony assault on a police officer who arrested her at her home the day after the spitting incident.

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In June of 2020, Rapkin showed up at the protest in Shorewood and parked her car in the street, blocking the anti-racism march that was one of thousands held around the U.S. in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by a police officer.

When protesters approached her to urge her to move her car, video shows Rapkin spitting on Eric Lucas, then a 17-year-old junior at Shorewood High School. Lucas had helped organize and lead the march.

According to the criminal complaint, Rapkin told an investigating officer she was a cancer survivor and felt threatened because she was surrounded by protesters who were not wearing coronavirus protective masks.

Wisconsin Fox News graphic

A Wisconsin woman has been convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct for spitting on a 17-year-old George Floyd protestor in 2020.

Video shows Rapkin did not wear a mask.

In court on Tuesday, Rapkin said that she spit toward Lucas, but not on him, according to WDJT-TV.

Defense attorney Anthony Cotton told reporters following the trial that Rapkin is remorseful and that her career has been ruined.

“She definitely has regret over what happened,” Cotton said.

MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO SETTING FIRE TO PENNSYLVANIA COFFEE SHOP DURING 2020 GEORGE FLOYD PROTEST

Rapkin faces up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up

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April 22, 2023 by LAW

Attorney spoke out on potential legal action to prevent trans teachers from wearing Z-cup breasts to class

Parents at Oakville Trafalgar High School in Canada are considering pursuing legal action to stop transgender teacher Kayla Lemieux from wearing Z-cup prosthetic breasts to class.

Rishi Bandhu, an attorney and parent of a child at the school, spoke out about the issue, saying teachers should be required to adhere to the same dress code as students.

Bandhu said parents asked the Halton District School Board to apply the same dress code for students to teachers, state explicitly any exceptions to the code and allow parents to discuss matters at school council meetings.

Kayla Lemieux wears <a href=prosthetic breasts to class. “/

Kayla Lemieux wears prosthetic breasts to class.
(Screengrab/ Tucker Carlson Tonight)

He added the school board has “interfered with the rights of parents” by reportedly denying them the opportunity to bring up the issue at meetings.

“In our view, it’s just illogical and absurd to suggest that the teachers would be held to a lower standard than the students in terms of their attitude,” he said.

The school board initiated an investigation into the legality of a required dress code for teachers in September 2022 before stating in a report it could be exposed to “considerable liability” if it implemented a dress code because of possible discrimination.

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“Even if a dress code is implemented for non-discriminatory reasons, it would likely be found to be discriminatory where it adversely affects an employee or group of employees on the basis of their code-protected grounds,” the report read.

It was concluded by arguing even if an employer “desires to foster a culture of professionalism, respect, equity and inclusion, a truly reasonable and non-discriminatory dress code or grooming standards would most likely fail to yield the intended results.”

Bandhu said he believes the school is taking

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January 6, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Progress in St. Louis circuit attorney’s office to the right turn at Success

A couple of miles south of the Missouri border in Arkansas, a small traffic sign on Highway 67 indicates that Success lies to the left while St. Louis is straight ahead.

What is an ambitious person supposed to do?

Presumably, that sign, or its predecessor, has been tempting travelers ever since Success was established in the late 19th century. The town was officially incorporated in 1903. By then, it already had a post office.

In contemporary terms, that’s like having a Dairy Queen. It is a signal that you have attained a certain level of urbanity. Bear in mind that Highway 67 was a major turnpike for the Great Migration of the early and mid-20th century, in which African Americans left the Jim Crow south and headed north. Thousands upon thousands traded what they had known for what they had heard of.

In this Great Migration was a family of three — William “Big Bill” Teer, his wife, Minnie, and their 5-year-old son, Marvin. They left Mississippi and headed north in 1917. One of Big Bill’s brothers had been lynched. Imagine that.

People are also reading…

The year the Teers came north happened to coincide with a boom in Success. The population in 1910 had been 379. By 1920, it was 436. It has dropped slowly but steadily every since. The 2020 census reported a population of 98.

Admittedly, 436 is not a metropolis, but small towns used to punch above their weight. They were centers for much larger areas. On its heyday, when there was a timber industry and a railroad to haul that timber, Success had a sawmill, two banks, three doctors and two cotton gins.

A man who was willing to work might settle there. Of course, just about everybody heading north had relatives or friends

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December 5, 2022 by ATTORNEY

Dan Rodricks: Mosby off base with cheap criticism of ‘Serial’ victim’s family lawyer

“I think it’s unfortunate that, you know, you have certain attorneys that try to exploit families,” Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said, clearly a swipe at the lawyer representing the relatives of the late Hae Min Lee, the teenager who for 23 years was the affirmed victim of Adnan Syed, but now no longer.

It apparently wasn’t enough for Mosby to enjoy the national spotlight again, this time for her lead role in Syed’s “Serial” release from prison. Baltimore’s outgoing (and federally indicted) chief prosecutor could not resist a cheap shot at Steve Kelly, the attorney for Lee’s relatives, who feel they were treated as an afterthought once Mosby decided that Syed’s 1999 murder conviction should be vacated.

Mosby dismissed claims that her office had neglected Lee’s family by failing to give Lee’s brother, for one, enough time to get from California to Baltimore for the September hearing that led to Syed’s release. Kelly is taking the Lee family’s grievances to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. Though that effort is probably futile at this point, if you were his client — given teres and short notice that the man convicted of killing your sister was suddenly having his conviction vacated — you’d probably claim foul as well.

But, back to Mosby’s cheap shot: “I think it’s unfortunate that … you have certain attorneys that try to exploit families.”

In fact, Kelly is a longtime victims rights advocate, going back to his days at C. Milton Wright High School in Bel Air, where he established a program in crime prevention and victims rights and helped start a crime victim’s support organization for Harford County residents . He learned as much as he could about the victim’s rights. As an attorney, he’s represented, pro bono, for years. He’s trained other

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October 18, 2022 by LAW

Kennedy’s attorney fees in prayer case could run into the millions
Joe Kennedy, obscured at center in blue, is surrounded by Centralia High School football players as they kneel and pray with him on the field after their game against Bremerton on Oct. 16, 2015.

Joe Kennedy, obscured at center in blue, is surrounded by Centralia High School football players as they kneel and pray with him on the field after their game against Bremerton on Oct. 16, 2015.

It’s all over now except for the shouting about who is going to pay Joe Kennedy’s lawyer bills.

That would be the Bremerton School District, according to Kennedy’s lawyers who at the US Supreme Court kennedy-reacts-supreme-court-decision-prayer-ban-case/7746195001/” data-ylk=”slk:scored a nationwide victory Monday in a local controversy over the assistant varsity football coach’s right to pray on the field after games” class=”link “scored a nationwide victory Monday in a local controversy over the assistant varsity football coach’s right to pray on the field after games.

The district is not on the hook for damages, as Kennedy asked only to be reinstated as a Bremerton High School coach and to be allowed to hold a private prayer on the field after games.

However, the case racked up a huge tab as it bounced back and forth between the trial court, an appellate court and the US Supreme Court.

Hiram Sasser, executive general counsel for First Liberty, said Wednesday afternoon that the organization has not made a final tally, but he estimated the bill would run into the millions of dollars.

“I sure hope it’s not eight figures,” Sasser said Wednesday in a phone interview with the Kitsap Sun, meaning $10 million or more. “Any government entity, when they are defending themselves in a constitutional law case, they really have to make sure they are right.”

For its part, the district took issue with the decision’s focus on the three prayers Kennedy performed in October 2015, not the public prayers leading up to that, some of which others included and spanned seven years. Further, the district understands

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July 2, 2022 by LAW
May 2024
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