Juror Misconduct During Trial

Last week it was reported that a juror in the federal trial in Virginia deliberating the fate of Zacarias Moussaui may have inadvertently caused a major problem with the trial by consulting a child’s dictionary during a recess from deliberations. The trial judge determined the juror’s actions were not misconduct affecting the deliberations. There are a number of Maryland cases …

Latex Allergy and Discrimination

As a result of the American’s With Disabilities Act (ADA) and related laws adopted by the States and many counties, the Courts are frequently called upon to decide cases involving claims of discrimination as the alleged result of a disability. Such cases involve balancing the rights of individuals with those of the public at large as well as businesses to …

Lemon Law Burden of Proof

Maryland for some years has had a statute called the Maryland Automotive Warranty Enforcement Act, known as the Lemon Law. It is designed to provide additional relief to consumers, when repeated efforts to repair a defect fail. Maryland’s intermediate appellate court last week explained just what a consumer needs to prove in an automotive defect claim, in the case of …

Liquor Laws

The Supreme Court recently made news by ruling in a 5-4 decision that State laws banning mail or internet wine sales from out of state (but not local) wineries were unconstitutional. In several related cases, the Court held that the 21st amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which ended Prohibition and gave the States control over the sale of alcoholic beverages, …