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A pair of alleged burglars butt-dialed 911, allowing a dispatcher to listen in as they planned and committed a burglary. The bosom buddies now face charges of breaking into a car, possession of stolen property, conspiracy to commit a crime – and several counts of embarrassment. Police in Fresno, California, say that a 911 operator received a call – but no one was on the other end. However, the dispatcher decided to keep listening and then, as KGPE-TV reports, voices were heard....

Josh Brent, a nose tackle for the Dallas Cowboys, has been charged with intoxication manslaughter for a car accident that resulted in the death of teammate, Jerry Brown Jr. Brown was 25 years old and was a linebacker on the Cowboys’ practice squad. The accident happened about 2 a.m. Saturday, shortly before the Cowboys were to board a plane to head to their Sunday afternoon game against the Cincinnati Bengals, reports CBS News....

Schofield v. Superior Court, F058298, concerned a defendants’ petition for writ of mandate challenging the trial court’s grant of plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, in a dispute between the parties over whether a bishop continues to be incumbent Bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin and therefore, president of the trust and president and chair of the foundation. In granting the petition, the court vacated the trial court’s judgment as plaintiff’s first cause of action presents a purely ecclesiastical controversy not justiciable by civil courts....

Vuki v. Superior Court, G043544, concerned plaintiffs’ petition for a writ of mandate, challenging an order of the Superior Court denying their request for a restraining order against HSBC Bank USA (HSBC), seeking a stay of eviction following foreclosure sale of plaintiffs’ home. Sevidal v. Target Corp., D056206, concerned a plaintiff’s class action suit against Target Corporation, claiming fraud and violation of unfair competition and false advertising laws, and seeking injunctive and restitutionary relief, after purchasing clothing items from the company’s website that were misidentified as made in the United States....

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in a case on the patentability of business methods earlier this week. We covered that case, CLS. v. Alice Corp., on our blog, but in the aftermath of the decision, lawyers and corporate counsel are left scratching their heads. The dissent, offered by Judge Sharon Prost, is of particular interest, as she expressed a concise difference of opinion from the majority....

In the ongoing war between parents of special education students and the District of Columbia, the District won a significant battle on Friday. Reversing a ruling by a lower court judge, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that an injunction placed against the District for failing to pay special education services on time should be given another look. The injunction has been in place for 14 years, ever since special education students were forced to attend private schools at public expense because District public schools couldn’t accommodate their needs....

A 17-year-old Amish youth in Conewango, N.Y. has been arrested for leading police on what can only be described as an alcohol-induced buggy chase. New York police spotted the underage Amish in his horse-drawn buggy, reportedly holding a can of beer in his buggy. Given the maximum speed of a horse and buggy, The Buffalo News reports that Hostetler didn’t get far, as cooler head’s prevailed and he decided to end the drunken buggy chase and pull over....

Q: When is a tip not a tip? A: When it is a mandatory gratuity that when you refuse to pay, they haul you off to the pokey. Wagner and Pope explained they did not feel they should have had to tip their server because the service was so bad. Here is a short list of what they endured: Pope had to get up and get the silverware and napkins for the table herself, the group had to wait nearly an hour for their food, Pope had to go to the bar for a refill on her drink – the waitress never returned to do it....

While tensions are about as high as they have ever been between ICE agents and the public, disturbing news out of Kansas City may inflame matters even further. Attorney Andrea Martinez, while assisting a three-year-old boy reunite with his mother who was in the process of being deported, was pushed by ICE agents, and fell to the ground, suffering serious injury. The incident happened in the middle of night, and was captured on camera....

According to the latest news, the Geezer bandit may not be a geezer after all. His wrinkled skin, age spots, and oxygen tank may be only an elaborate disguise. In addition, the “senior” bank robber now has nearly 500 fans on two different Facebook fan pages. But while the Geezer Bandit has found fame and fans on Facebook, authorities are beginning to think the geriatric bank robber has been carrying on a charade, the San Diego Tribune reports....

A D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals case involving a dairy farmer is drawing attention, particularly in light of a concurring judge’s scathing opinion. In a sharply worded concurrence, Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals made the reluctance of her concurrence clear, as she explained that her vote on the three-judge panel was the result of decades of bad Supreme Court precedent. The issue before the case was a 2005 federal law....

What is the price to pay for being caught in a motel room after having sex with a 16-year-old prostitute? For Lawrence Taylor, it will be only probation. Taylor, who was known for making big plays on the gridiron for the New York Giants, defied what looked like long odds to avoid jail time. The alleged Lawrence Taylor rape case ended with him pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges, one count of soliciting a prostitute and a second count of sexual misconduct for having sex with a woman without consent....

Attorney Eric Conn, awaiting his sentence for a $550 million disability fraud scheme, was not about to trade in his pinstripes for prison stripes. Before he got to the courthouse, he cut-off his ankle monitor and kept on driving. He had planned it long before authorities figured out he was cheating the system. “In fairness to the FBI I had a year to plan for this,” he said in a fax two weeks later....

Trial court’s reduction of the Calfornia Department of Health Care Services’ (Department) lien for medical expenses paid to $63,216.69 from $547,680.08 the Department had paid for plaintiff’s medical expenses arising from injuries suffered in a rear-end freeway collision is affirmed as the trial court did not abuse its discretion in acting within the statutory scheme and determined the Department’s lien based on the evidence before it. Read Lopez v. Daimler Chrysler Corp....

Move over OkCupid and eHarmony, teenagers looking for love apparently turn to Xbox. Or at least one teenager did. 13-year-old girl Elizabeth ‘Beth’ Robinson fell head-over-heels for a 12-year-old named Dylan that she met over Xbox. Her parents got nervous about the online romance and told her not to contact him anymore. This didn’t go over well. With all the impulsiveness of a teenager, Robinson decided to go see Dylan anyway....

Derrill Rockwell shot a mohawk. No, really. He did. On one fateful day last October, he grabbed his rifle after seeing a red bird that had been harassing his cats. The bird was about 90 feet away, but he happens to be a good shot. His eyesight, however, may still need some work. Soon after, he heard moans of pain. Once atop the hill, he realized that he did not shoot a bird, but a woman’s red mohawk....

Rafael Nadal has filed a defamation lawsuit against Roselyne Bachelot, France’s former minister for health and sport, claiming that statements she made regarding doping damaged his reputation. Bachelot was on French television last month and said Nadal’s seven-month injury hiatus in 2012 was “probably due to a positive doping test.” Nadal lashed back, saying, “I am tired about these things. I let it go a few times in the past. No more....

The D.C. District Court ruled on Monday that the NSA’s efforts in collecting phone metadata nationwide are most likely unconstitutional. In Klayman v. Obama, the District Court Judge Richard J. Leon laid out a scathing, 68-page opinion outlining the myriad reasons why he believed a preliminary injunction was proper to block the NSA’s phone surveillance – largely because he agreed that Klayman was likely to succeed on the merits of his constitutional claims, reports The Washington Post....

It appears that Oklahoma’s Supreme Court ruled in a split 5-4 decision to lower bar exam standards. Specifically, the state will adjust its acceptable MBE scaled score in response to ever faltering law school admissions rates. Reactions from opponents have been clear from the dissent. We hope this isn’t a new reality for law in this country. According to the ATL, Oklahoma’s law schools have been steadily decreasing their admissions standards in lock step with the state’s decrease in applications and bar pass rates....

In charting a course to climb a mountain, it sometimes helps to turn the map upside down. In other words, start at the top and plan your way down. You may see things you might miss otherwise, like the challenge of a steep grade that would be hard to ascend but impossible to descend. There’s nothing quite like getting stuck at the top of a sheer cliff. When considering the pros and cons of a pre-law program, it may help to see things in retrospect....