MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – A judge removed a juror from a trial in suburban Detroit after the young woman wrote on Facebook that the defendant was guilty. The problem? The trial wasn’t over. Hadley Jons, of Warren just north of Detroit, could be found in contempt when she returns to the Macomb County circuit court Thursday.

Jons, 20, was a juror in a case of resisting arrest. On Aug. 11, a day off from the trial and before the prosecution finished its case, she wrote on Facebook that it was “gonna be fun to tell the defendant they’re guilty.”

The post was discovered by defense lawyer Saleema Sheikh’s son.

Circuit Judge Diane Druzinski confronted Jons the next day and replaced her with an alternate.

“You don’t know how disturbing this is,” Druzinski said, according to The Macomb Daily.

A message seeking comment was left for Jons on Monday.

“I would like to see her get some jail time, nothing major, a few hours or overnight,” Sheikh said. “This is the jury system. People need to know how important it is.”

Sheikh’s son, Jaxon Goodman, discovered the comment while checking jurors’ names on the Internet. He works in his mother’s law office. Read More »

The 20-year-old Casco man who was driving his mother’s car when it crashed and two of his friends died had been hosting a party to celebrate his move to a new home.

Investigators with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office say alcohol and speed contributed to the crash just after 1 a.m. Sunday on a short stretch of Route 11 where nine people have died in the past decade.

The driver, Nicholas Sparrow, was partially ejected from the car but survived. He was in fair condition Monday at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

Thomas St. Saviour, 29, of Hiram was wearing a seat belt and stayed in the 1993 Infiniti. Michael Daye, 14, of Baldwin was thrown from the car. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Despite the age difference, Daye and his 17-year-old brother were longtime friends of Sparrow’s, authorities said.

Sparrow had just moved into a mobile home on Rosewood Road and had seven friends visit, several of whom were younger than 21, said Chief Deputy Kevin Joyce at a news conference Monday.

Sparrow, St. Saviour and Daye decided to drive to the Big Apple in Naples to buy more alcohol, but St. Saviour was turned down because it was after 1 a.m., Joyce said.

The three were going back up Route 11 when they passed a sheriff’s deputy at the American Legion Post parking lot in Naples. Deputy Andrew Feeney heard the Infiniti before he saw it, he said, because the car’s headlights were off… Read More »

Four people were taken to the hospital Monday morning following a two-car accident on Interstate 30 westbound.

The accident happened shortly before 8 a.m. near the 5-mile marker in Texarkana, Ark.

Cpl. Kittiele Stewart, Texarkana, Ark., Police Department spokeswoman, said an Oldsmobile carrying two adults and two young children was rear ended by a Toyota on I-30.

The Oldsmobile had a flat tire and was “halfway on the shoulder and halfway on the road” when the Toyota hit it from behind causing it to spin into the median. The Toyota then burst into flames… Read More »

The socialite was arrested with her boyfriend Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada. Police found 0.8 grams of cocaine in her purse. She is expected to be charged with felony drug possession.

Paris Hilton denied that a purse she was carrying that contained drugs was hers but said other items inside, including asthma medication, credit cards and $1,300 in cash, were hers, according to a police report.

Hilton was arrested Saturday evening with her boyfriend, Las Vegas nightclub operator Cy Waits, who was driving the black SUV stopped by police at 11:22 p.m. Friday after they smelled marijuana. Read More »

The type of insurance a motorcyclist has – or his or her failure to purchase insurance – will impact his or her financial recovery in the event of a motorcycle accident. The attorneys of Bowman & Associates are knowledgeable about the types of coverage available, including liability, collision, comprehensive, and uninsured motorist coverage. We will advise you as to the best course of action according to your insurance plan.

Liability Coverage

Liability insurance covers bodily injury and property damage a motorcyclist causes to others involved in the accident (possibly including passengers riding with the motorcyclist). Liability insurance does not cover the motorcyclist, himself.

Collision Coverage

Collision insurance covers damage to the motorcyclist’s motorcycle caused by a crash. Damages are usually limited to the book value of the motorcycle at the time of the collision. Read More »

An Austell sports bar has agreed to pay $1 million to the widow of a 36-year-old man killed by a patron who drove while intoxicated. The Sports Grill agreed to a settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit after a Cobb County judge sanctioned the bar for destroying four hours of videotape that showed the patron, William Paul Davis IV, drinking.

Cuneyt Erturk, a Turkish immigrant, was driving home from a local Domino’s Pizza where he worked as a night manager on Oct. 25, 2008 when he was struck and killed by a car driven by Davis. His widow, Truvilla Erturk, filed a lawsuit claiming that staff members over served Davis when they should have known he would drive home. The Sports Grill denied the allegation in Court documents. The parties reached a settlement on July 15, an attorney for the widow announced Tuesday. “While the drunk driver has accepted responsibility for his conduct, The Sports Grill has yet to acknowledge its role in causing Mr. Erturk’s death, or to even offer an apology,” said attorney Lloyd Bell, who represented Erturk’s widow. “Hopefully, this result will encourage other bar and restaurant owners to act responsibly and to think twice before over-serving alcohol to their customers.”

Cobb County State Court Judge Toby Prodgers in May sanctioned the bar for destroying over four hours of videotape that might have proved the plaintiff’s case. Judge Prodgers also found evidence that The Sports Grill destroyed the tabs for two customers who were with Davis and the “spill sheet” that recorded complimentary drinks to patrons that night. “It is particularly disturbing that The Sports Bar would permit the destruction of the subject evidence after it became aware that a patron to whom it had been serving alcohol was involved in a fatal crash after leaving its premises,” Prodgers wrote in his decision. He sanctioned The Sports Grill by restricting its lawyers from introducing any evidence to contradict the claim that bartenders served alcohol to Davis while he was already drunk. The ruling would have severely handicapped the defense if the case had gone to trial. Read More »

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the husband of a woman who was killed in a crosswalk at the Salt Lake City International Airport is suing city and airport administration, claiming leaders ignored an airport employee who warned them of the dangers of the crosswalks.

Patricia Jordan was walking toward the car rental area when she was struck and killed by Evelini Kinikini. The lawsuit is claiming wrongful death not only because of Kinikini’s “negligent driving” but also because airport officials ignored a dangerous traffic situation.

“Salt Lake City and Salt Lake City International Airport were expressly warned of this danger before Jordan’s accident and chose to ignore this warning,” the lawsuit states. Read More »

A Minnesota man is grateful for his new found freedom after three years in prison for a fatal car crash he says wasn’t his fault. But Koua Fong Lee said on CNN’s “American Morning” on Monday that he can’t forget the tragic repercussions of the 2006 incident, which he says was caused by faulty Toyota brakes.

“Today, I’m free now. So, I feel really good to reunion with my family and to be with my family, but it’s still in my mind this accident’s cost to life. And even through I’m returned to my family, I’m free, but three people that died on that day cannot return to their families,” Lee said.

On Thursday, Ramsey County, Minnesota, District Judge Joanne Smith ordered Lee’s release from prison, pending a new trial related to the sudden-acceleration crash of his Toyota Camry that killed three people.

Ramsey County Prosecutor Susan Gaertner immediately said she would drop the charges and wouldn’t retry Lee.

“Mr. Lee will be a free man,” Gaertner said in a written statement. Read More »

The family of a Chicago woman who was hit by a train and killed has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against two northern railroad companies. Katie Ann Lunn died in the accident earlier this year when her SUV was struck by an Amtrack train as she was stopped on the tracks in heavy traffic. The lawsuit contends that the Illinois Central Railroad Co. and the Wisconsin Central LTD. failed “to ensure crossing-protection systems were functioning properly,” among other things, which would have prevented the accident. The suit seeks unspecified damages. Read More »

In Kentucky, a woman has filed suit against a Lexington gated community after her daughter died in a fatal shooting last year. The lawsuit alleges that officials at the complex failed to protect Amanda Ross from the shooter, former State Representative Steve Nunn, who killed her last September inside the Opera House Square I LTD complex. Ross and Nunn were formerly engaged, but Ross had secured an order of protection against Nunn after the two had broken up. The personal injury lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, claims that Opera House Square officials were aware of the danger that Nunn posed to Ross, but allowed him entrance into the complex. Read More »