Law Times

Page 16 June 25, 2018 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story "Perhaps we should revise our argument that any request for joint custody of the family dog is a manifestly absurd triviality and a waste of the court's time." FREE SPEECH TEXAS STYLE VEGA, Tex. — Apparently, the state of Texas has outlawed Liberals — according to a billboard anyway. The billboard made waves on social media on June 19 after its message was posted online, Fox News reports. "Liberals," the billboard reads. "Please con- tinue on I-40 until you have left our GREAT STATE OF TEXAS." A photo of the sign was posted to Facebook by Kyle Mccallie, of Fritch. He wrote that the billboard was about 10 kilometres east of Vega, a city roughly 56 km west of Amarillo, on the eastbound side of the highway. Mccallie's post, which was uploaded June 19, had more than 8,000 shares as of that night. 'ALCOHOL YOU LATER' BLAINE, Minn. — A 34-year-old woman wearing a shirt reading "Alcohol you later" was charged with two counts of driving while im- paired after police say she crashed her vehicle on June 15, reports ABC News. According to court documents, Katharine Marie Luedtke's preliminary breath test posted a 0.175, more than double the legal limit. Offi- cers also noted that she was not wearing shoes when they arrived on the scene at 10 p.m. Luedtke initially told officers she was not driving, but she later said she was driving to pick up a relative at the time of the crash, the crimi- nal complaint reports. Her car was located in a ditch. Officers report she appeared impaired and admitted to drinking alcohol. She was arrested for suspected drunk driving and tried to kick the arresting officer, according to court docu- ments. Luedtke asked to consult with a lawyer and, after some calls, she declined to submit to a breath test, stating her lawyer "doesn't advo- cate for breath tests," the criminal complaint reports. She has three previous DWI convictions. Luedtke is charged with refusing a breatha- lyzer in addition to DWI. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years and a fine of up to US$14,000. DON'T MESS WITH HER NAILS VALPARAISO, Ind. — A mental health thera- pist is accused of dragging a nail salon employee with her car because she was unhappy with the job they did, reports Fox News. Charley Fowler faces criminal recklessness and theft charges after the alleged incident. The scene unfolded June 15 when the 28-year-old said she was unhappy with the nails done at Diamond Nails & Spa in Valparaiso, the Times of Northwest Indiana reported. Despite being unhappy, Fowler also refused the salon's offer to redo the nails. The employ- ees called police as Fowler left the salon without paying the US$30 fee. She then allegedly got in her BMW and began backing out of the park- ing lot. Fowler told police she was planning to wait in her car while police were heading to the nail salon when the employees began beating on her window. She added that she slowly drove to the nearby restaurant, according to the newspaper. Fowler's lawyer, Robert Harper, told Fox News his client "should've never been arrested and charged." "The people in the business had no right to try to keep her there physically and the police had no right to arrest her over a civil matter," Harper said. Police initially said surveillance video showed Fowler backing out of the parking lot before the employees reached her car. One male employee was then dragged across the lot by Fowler. Fowler told the Times of Northwest Indi- ana that she hoped to get the case dismissed. Prosecutors are reviewing surveillance video. LT LAWYER TO RECEIVE REPRIMAND Ontario personal injury lawyer Brian Goldfinger will receive a reprimand from the Law Soci- ety of Ontario after complaints about his advertising tactics in London, Ont. Goldfinger said the outcome, which the law society tribunal accepted on June 20, is a lenient resolution in an issue that's murky for many young lawyers. "Up-and-coming practitio- ners have to advertise their ser- vices in order to reach new clients in a highly competitive environ- ment," Goldfinger said in a state- ment. The rules around legal advertising, Goldfinger said, are "frequently updated," "sometimes ambiguous" and "leave room for interpretation." Goldfinger's spat with a group of London lawyers centred around advertisements that said Goldfinger was "London's personal injury lawyer," after he expanded his Toronto-based firm to satellite offices in the area. In particular, tribunal documents said the ads allegedly left an im- pression that Goldfinger's firm was "larger than it is" and that he was "a local lawyer in multiple cities." Gerald Chan, one of Goldfinger's counsel and a partner at Stockwoods LLP, says that, to his recol- lection, the outcome acknowledged that Goldfinger had co-operated and made best efforts to comply with the rules. Chan said more infor- mation about the resolution will be revealed by forthcoming docu- mentation from the tribunal. CHARTER RULING A judge with the Ontario Su- perior Court of Justice has ordered that evidence obtained by border officers at Pearson International Airport cannot be used in a case against a Tanza- nian man, because it violated his Charter rights. In a pretrial application in R. v. Juma, counsel for Issa Juma successfully argued that evidence collected by officers should not be included in a trial scheduled for September, over Juma's alleged role in importing heroin into Canada. The ruling states that Juma was carrying nearly 1.5 kilo- grams of heroin within his body when he arrived at the airport. However, the legal arguments around Juma's case rested on whether Juma was legally de- tained when a border officer asked him if he had swallowed drugs and he replied that he had. Craig Zeeh, an associate with Lockyer Campbell Pos- ner LLP, says an acquittal has since been entered on the charge against Juma, with the right re- served to appeal. ARTICLING OPEN HOUSE The City of Toronto will be having an open house for law stu- dents regarding the municipal- ity's articling program, and it is accepting applications for those who are interested in the role. An open house will happen on June 25, at Metro Hall, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and applications for articling are due by July 6. More informa- tion is available at toronto.ca. YES, I AGREE 29 % 71 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE LAW TIMES POLL A report has been released that revealed statistics about com- position of juries in two Eastern Ontario regions. Readers were asked if they believed Ontario juries are representative of all the people who come before the court. About 29 per cent said yes, they believe that overall, Ontario juries are representative of the general population. About 71 per cent said no, they believe that the way juries are selected in Ontario is fundamentally unfair and f lawed. LT How the legal community in Ontario gets its news @lawtimes Canlawyer.lawtimes@thomsonreuters.com | 416.609.3800 | 1.800.387.5164 Online www.lawtimesnews.com/subscribe Free preview bitly.com/LT-FreePreview-17 SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND RECEIVE: • 40 issues a year covering Ontario's legal landscape • FREE digital edition and unlimited online access to past issues • FREE Canadian Legal Newswire, a weekly e-newsletter from the editors of Law Times and Canadian Lawyer Subscribe to Law Times today! Untitled-3 1 2018-06-15 2:16 PM Brian Goldfinger says rules around legal advertising are 'sometimes ambiguous.'

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