Disgruntled player sues Calif. lottery

Disgruntled playersues Calif. lottery
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California lottery sold millions of dollars worth of scratch-off tickets even after the game's top prizes had already been claimed, according to court papers.
A trial next month aims to end the practice, which a lawyer calls false advertising.
"No one has a clue," said attorney Kevin Roddy, who sued the multibillion-dollar lottery on behalf of a player, Amy Stanley of San Francisco. She claimed she regularly bought Scratcher tickets costing $1, $2 and $3 each, only to learn the grand prizes were already won.
Lottery officials admitted the practice last summer in court, saying 11 Scratcher games since 1996 remained active after grand prizes were awarded. They also said they are doing nothing wrong. In court documents, they argued that state agencies are exempt from false-advertising laws.
Nonetheless, California Lottery spokesman Vince Montane said Friday the lottery has begun gathering unsold tickets when there is only one major prize left, hoping to limit tickets sold after the prize is claimed.
Jury acquits trainerof elephant abuse
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A star Ringling Bros. circus trainer was acquitted Friday of a charge he abused an elephant outside a performance last summer, ending a trial watched closely by animal rights groups.
The jury deliberated for about two hours before clearing Mark Oliver Gebel, 31, whose defense attorney did not call a single witness. Gebel could have faced six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Gebel, the son of legendary Ringling Bros. animal trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams, smiled faintly as the verdict was read.
Outside court, he denied he ever mistreated the elephant.
The case was important to animal rights groups that for years have accused Ringling Bros. and other circuses of using a wholesome front to mask their cruel treatment of animals. Few criminal charges against circus performers have resulted, however.
Court backs judge
PORTLAND, Maine -- The state's highest court has backed a judge who jailed a man for 10 days for wearing an obscene T-shirt into his courtroom.
In a 4-2 decision, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled Wednesday that Thomas Pelletier engaged in "insolent behavior" intended to taunt, test and insult District Judge Douglass Clapp.
Justice Donald Alexander wrote for the majority that Clapp acted appropriately to address a "serious breach of decorum."
Pelletier wore the shirt, which used an obscene word on the back to brag about his sexual prowess, at an April 18 arraignment for driving with a suspended license and drug possession. Pelletier said it was the only clean shirt he had; the judge jailed him for contempt.
Pelletier was released after serving five days while an appeal was filed. Now he must serve the remaining five days.
His lawyer, J. Mitchell Flick, argued Clapp failed to show Pelletier's actions disrupted the court.
The court ruled that the fact that Pelletier's actions didn't cause a disturbance in the courtroom "does not make Mr. Pelletier's acts any less contemptuous."
In their dissent, Justices Susan Calkins and Paul Rudman agreed that the T-shirt was offensive but found the judge did not demonstrate how it diminished the court's authority.
Drug maker settlesin liver-damage suit
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- Hours after losing a $43 million verdict Friday, Pfizer Inc. reached a settlement with lawyers for a woman who said her liver was destroyed by the company's recalled diabetes drug, Rezulin.
The amount of the settlement was not disclosed, but Pfizer general counsel Paul Miller said it was "substantially lower" than the state court jury's verdict. The company did not admit liability.
The deal, which would erase the verdict on compensatory damages, was announced as the jury considered whether to add punitive damages against Pfizer's Warner-Lambert unit.
"The two parties said, 'Let's settle.' It was settled to everybody's mutual satisfaction. Everybody is happy," said Mike Papantonio, one of the lawyers who represented 63-year-old Margarita Sanchez.
On Monday, a Houston jury found the company not liable for a 58-year-old woman's death. It was the first verdict in a Rezulin-related litigation. During the two-week Sanchez trial, the woman's lawyers said Warner-Lambert lied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about Rezulin's dangers.
Associated Press