Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk

Legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus.

1410 Posts and Counting

14-10

No. 819 The jury in the Orie trial surprised some be reaching a verdict. Third Chair:Pittsburgh was not alone in expecting a hung jury after they announced a deadlock. Apparently, the jurors knew how to compromise. CLT

And Now the Defense . . .

No. 819 From the media accounts it sounds pretty grim for Senator Jane Orie.  A gang of witnesses, including her ex-chief of staff have testified that campaign work was being done in the office on state time. On top of the evidence at the first trial, there is the forgery evidence — although nobody knows […]

Commonwealth v. Orie, Round Two.

No. 702  Please be aware that the Commonwealth has the burden of proof with regard to the new criminal charges, as it does in every criminal case. Don’t underestimate how heavy that burden can be.   Assume, in the words of Judge Manning, that Ray Charles (and everybody else) can see that certain documents are […]

ORIEGATE: The Case of the Annotated Exhibits.

Prosecutors filed a search warrant application on March 8 that indicates their strategy in phase II of this case.

The warrant seeks to obtain a group of defense exhibits presently in custody of the court, containing handwritten notes by Senator Orie. The handwritten comments were exculpatory, in that they indicated that Senator Orie gave instructions such as that employees doing campaign work during regular working hours should do “comp time”.

ORIEGATE: Giving Forgery a Bad Name — Worst Cut and Paste Job Ever?

If you are not tired of the Oriegate scandal yet, here’s a commentary by That’s Church, the relatively new venue of the former famed Pittgirl. Read the comments, too.

Also, here’s a report by WTAE TV about the kind of expert testimony that may soon be playing on a witness stand near you.

Bloodied but Unbowed. Orie Legal Team Prepares to Argue Double Jeopardy.

________________________________________________ PHOTO CREDIT: KDKA TV ________________________________________________ Senator Jane Orie and her attorney, William Costopoulos. ________________________________________________ Everybody is counting them out.  Don’t. CLT No. 591

Copy, Cut, Paste, Copy. The Orie Case Morphs into Two Cases.

_______________________________ Photo: KDKA Television. ______________________________ The dramatic events of the Orie trial, where a mistrial was declared after the jury had begun to deliberate, turned on whether the signature of the key prosecution witness on at least two documents in evidence had been forged.  See the little loop that intersects the top of the P? […]

The Super Bowl Effect.

Judge Jeffrey Manning ordered jury selection in the Orie trial delayed from February 7 to February 8 because the Steelers play in the Super Bowl the night before. The Judge’s stated reason was that there might be celebrations occurring that day. The unstated reason, of course, is that there might be celebrations occurring the night before and it is hard enough to get up on a cold February Monday when you haven’t been drinking and raising hell the night before. That applies to judges and court personnel as well as jurors.

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CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

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