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How much would 24 years behind bars be worth to you? Thomas Lee Goldstein, who was wrongfully imprisoned, got his answer Thursday: $7.95 million. It is the largest California pretrial settlement ever in a wrongful conviction suit, his attorney Barry Litt said. “We don’t believe there was any wrongdoing” by city officials, said Monte Machit, who defended Long Beach in the case. “This is a lot of money, but in light of the potential verdict,” which could have been $24 million to $30 million and lawyers’ fees, he said, reported the New York Times, “we thought it better to get it resolved....

Major League Baseball has dragged its feet for four years on an owners vote on the Oakland Athletics’ proposed move to a new ballpark in San Jose. Now the city has taken matters to federal court. The San Jose lawsuit (attached below) challenges MLB’s exemption from antitrust laws and its right to deny clubs the ability to move without seeking league approval. Specifically, it is going after the territorial rights of the 30 MLB teams....

With the summer movie season upon us, chances are you’ll see some dramatic legal plots unfolding on the big screen. But when it comes to the law, what you see in the movies often doesn’t work in real life. Whether it’s “A Few Good Men” or “Liar Liar,” we love movies about legal defenses and tactics that seem to pull the rug out from under the antagonist just at the right moment....

The rapper DMX was arrested in South Carolina this morning. He was charged with driving without a license. A sheriff’s deputy apparently recognized the rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, at a gas station about 1 a.m., reports South Carolina’s WHNS-TV. The deputy followed the rapper for a short distance before pulling him over. What was the reason for the traffic stop? Simmons was taken into custody and released about five hours later....

A U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday considered a proposal for new vehicle roof crush standards, part of a Transportation Department initiative to reduce vehicle rollover fatalities and injuries. An Upgraded Roof Strength Proposal, released by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in January 2008, would require manufacturers to design vehicle roofs that withstand at least 2.5 times the weight of the vehicle on both sides of the roof. The Associated Press reports that members of the Senate panel on Wednesday voiced concerns that the proposed standards “offered little promise of significantly preventing fatalities from collapsing roofs in rollover accidents,” and some lawmakers “railed against a provision that would limit the ability of plaintiffs to sue automakers in rollover cases....

This news from the depths of Minnesota winter will not provide any warmth to the Recording Industry Association of America. According to the eCommerce Times, the defendant in the well publicized illegal downloading case, Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset Jammie Thomas-Rasset, has decidedly turned down the settlement offer of the RIAA to reduce the court award against her to $25,000.00. Mind you, that’s down from $54,000 and that’s down from the original jury award of $1....

Things are looking grave for Dr. Ryan Stone – now the studio behind her movie is being sued by author Tess Gerritsen. The poor, fictional lady has the worst luck ever. First her daughter falls and dies. Then she goes up in space and gets pelted by rocks. Her studly astronaut buddy drifts off into the black abyss and leaves her stranded and alone in the void. Satellite after satellite poops out on her....

“Lost” actor Matthew Fox was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence. Fox was charged with DUII – driving while under the influence of intoxicants, as it’s called in Oregon – after police pulled him over Friday at 3:23 am in Bend, Oregon. The star was apparently going to a fast food restaurant, TMZ reports. Police noticed he failed to signal properly or stay in his lane. Fox was taken into custody, but was released later the same day....

While most guests on the “Maury Show” save the drama for when the cameras are rolling, a Chicago couple was arrested at their hotel for fighting before taping even began. John Coley, 46, and Shantae McGhee-Brown, 25, were both arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and criminal mischief, though Coley’s mischief charge has since been dropped. McGhee-Brown is also charged with interfering with an officer, according to The Hour. The couple was slated to appear on “Maury” because Coley allegedly slept with McGhee-Brown’s mother....

Two Ohio men sentenced to death for a 1975 murder have been exonerated after 39 years in prison. Ricky Jackson and Wiley Bridgeman were set free after the prosecution’s key witness recanted his testimony during a hearing last week, reports The Plain Dealer. Following the hearing, the prosecution dropped its objections to a new trial for the men, and later dropped the charges against Jackson and Bridgeman, clearing them of any wrongdoing in the case....

Sudden cardiac death has become a growing concern regarding teen athletes. The tragic case of Wes Leonard in Michigan once again brought the issue to the surface. Leonard was 16 when he died of cardiac arrest during a basketball game last week. After an autopsy, it was discovered that he had an enlarged heart. While cardiac arrest cannot be prevented entirely, here are five ways that you can help protect teens:...

When AT&T ditched the unlimited iPad and iPhone data plan this past June, it should have considered just how closely users now have to monitor their data usage. Or at least it seems that way. Patrick Hendricks of California has filed a federal civil class action accusing AT&T of overbilling iPhone users for data–between 7 and 14 percent. Hendricks’ lawyers hired an independent consulting firm to investigate the alleged AT&T overbilling....

Craft beer fans have watched for years as macro beer outfits like Heineken gobbled up all their favorite microbreweries. This time, though, it was one behemoth merging with another, and the ale aficionados came armed with an antitrust lawsuit. Unfortunately for them, a federal appeals court rejected their legal challenge to Anheuser-Busch InBev’s $107 billion purchase of SABMiller in 2016. In the words of the court, the “consumers’ allegations do not belly up to this bar....

Hollywood power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are officially engaged, an act that the pair’s most important fans — their six children — have apparently been waiting for. “Yes, it’’ confirmed,” Pitt’s manager said, according to USA Today. “It is a promise for the future and their kids are very happy.” The pair known as Brangelina had famously vowed not to marry until same-sex marriage became legal nationwide. “But I don’t think we’ll be able to hold out,” Pitt told The Hollywood Reporter in January....

Fernando Flores, once employed as Britney Spears’ bodyguard, may have sued the erratic pop singer back in September 2010, but with newly released court documents, the events leading up to the sexual harassment accusations have come to light. Accusing Spears of summoning him to her room for the sole purpose of showing off her naked body, Flores’ complaint goes on to call his former boss “mentally unstable” with a long list of “obnoxious personal habits....

Americans have the right to a jury trial when accused of serious offenses under the Sixth Amendment, but can you choose to waive those rights? A jury of your peers can be between six and a dozen persons with no guarantee of legal background, while a trial by judge places your fate in the hands of one legally accomplished individual. So when do you get the choice not to have a jury trial, and why would you choose to forgo one?...

If you committed a crime, but no one saw it, did it really happen? To be convicted of a crime, there must be evidence that you committed the crime. In the case of a DUI, such evidence would include results of the blood alcohol test and witnesses seeing you drive erratically. However, the California Supreme Court recently ruled that circumstantial evidence can also be used to prove a DUI. The Case In the case of Coffey v....

There is a new sheriff in town. All Americans consumers now have someone watching their backs. Her name is Elizabeth Warren, aka the Consumer Czar, the head of the new consumer protection agency. Warren says the financial industry is putting up roadblocks. Of course she is speaking in metaphors when she says roadblocks. Warren is referring to the industry’s actions to thwart recent efforts to establish an effective consumer protection agency....

A new U.S. Supreme Court ruling limits the use of prior convictions under federal sentencing enhancements that give felons more prison time for having three or more prior convictions for certain crimes. In Descamps v. U.S., defendant Matthew Descamps had been convicted of burglary in California in 1978, which the federal criminal court and Ninth Circuit had deemed as a “violent” felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). But the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down Descamps’ 15-year sentence enhancement under the ACCA, limiting how courts can view prior convictions....

We’ve been hearing for months about credit card reform slowly making its way to us. As cardholders wait for new rules to protect them from systematically unfair and deceptive practices, card issuers scramble to jack interest rates and fees before new rules go into effect. A study by the Pew Charitable Trusts finds that as of July, 2009, 100% of credit cards from the nations 12 largest banks were using “unfair or deceptive practices” under Federal Reserve guidelines, and that none would meet the requirements which will take effect next year....