Court decisions
Split verdict conviction tossed for ex-NFL star's killer

By Kevin Mcgill Jan. 12, 2021 01:11 PM EST
The U.S. Supreme Court has thrown out the manslaughter conviction for the man who shot former New Orleans Saints star Will Smith to death in 2016. ...

FILE - This undated booking file photo provided by the Santa Clara County District Attorney shows former NFL football player Dana Stubblefield. Stubblefield was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, for raping a prospective babysitter at his Morgan Hill home five years earlier. (Santa Clara County District Attorney via AP, File)
Ex-49er Dana Stubblefield sentenced to 15 years to life

Oct. 22, 2020 07:31 PM EDT

Florida decision likely clears Pats owner of solicitation

By Terry Spencer Sep. 21, 2020 05:53 PM EDT
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida prosecutors said Monday that they will not appeal a court ruling throwing out video recordings allegedly showing New...

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2015, file photo, former professional wrestler Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka leaves Lehigh County Courthouse in Allentown, Pa. A federal appeals court on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, dismissed a lawsuit filed by 50 former professional wrestlers, including Snuka, who claimed World Wrestling Entertainment failed to protect them from repeated head trauma including concussions that led to long-term brain damage. (Michael Kubel/The Morning Call via AP, File)
Former WWE wrestlers' lawsuit over brain damage is dismissed

By Dave Collins Sep. 09, 2020 12:59 PM EDT

Court: Secret videos can't be used in Kraft massage case

By Terry Spencer And Curt Anderson Aug. 19, 2020 11:23 AM EDT
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida appeals court ruled Wednesday that police violated the rights of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and others when...

FILE - This 2013 file photo shows New York Jets running back Joe McKnight. An appeals court granted a Louisiana man a new trial because he was convicted by a split jury of fatally shooting McKnight during a road rage incident. Ronald Glasser's 30-year sentence and manslaughter conviction were vacated Wednesday, July 15, 2020, by the Louisiana 5th Circuit Court of Appeal, news outlets reported. (AP Photo/File)
Court drops split-jury verdict in killing of NFL's McKnight

Jul. 16, 2020 08:13 AM EDT

FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2017, file photo, New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson sits on the sideline with his wife, Gayle Benson, before an NFL football game in New Orleans. An Associated Press review of public tax documents found that the Bensons' foundation has given at least $62 million to the Archdiocese of New Orleans and other Catholic causes over the past dozen years, including gifts to schools, universities, charities and individual parishes. (AP Photo/Bill Feig, File)
Judge denies media request to unseal files on Saints owner

By Jim Mustian Jul. 15, 2020 12:03 PM EDT

The supporter's entrance of the Signal Iduna Park, Germany's biggest stadium of Borussia Dortmund, is closed in Dortmund, Germany, Thursday, May 14, 2020. Bundesliga will now restart on May 16, 2020 when Borussia Dortmund will play the derby against FC Schalke 04 at home without spectators due to the coronavirus outbreak. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
The Latest: Aussie rules football to kick off on June 11

By The Associated Press May. 14, 2020 01:04 PM EDT

FILE - In this July 18, 2014, file photo, lawyer Craig Mitnick speaks as he stands in front of a photograph that lists some of the approximately 1,400 players in NFL concussion litigation he represented, in Haddonfield, N.J. After several years of infighting over $112 million in legal fees in the NFL concussion case, a federal appeals court has approved a plan to give nearly half the money to New York-based Seeger Weiss. The decision Thursday, May 7, 2020, grants New York-based Seeger Weiss firm over $51 million, more than 10 times the amount of any other firm, including the lawyers who filed the first cases in 2012. Mitnick, whose split of the legal fees was left at about $675,000, felt the appeals court did not sufficiently explain its reasoning. Oral arguments in the case were cancelled amid the COVID-19 courthouse shutdown, he said. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
1 law firm gets lion's share of $112M in NFL concussion fees

By Maryclaire Dale May. 08, 2020 03:46 PM EDT

FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2012, file photo, New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith appears before an NFL football game against the New York Giants in East Rutherford, N.J. The man convicted of killing former New Orleans Saints star Will Smith has asked for a new trial because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that split verdicts are unconstitutional in state criminal cases. Appeal attorney Eric Santana filed a request Wednesday, April 22, 2020, asking for a new trial for Cardell Hayes based on the 6-3 decision handed down Monday, news outlets reported. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)
New trial sought in Saints star's death over split verdict

Apr. 23, 2020 01:09 PM EDT

FILE - In this March 27, 2019, file photo, New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond talks with NOLA.com | The Times Picayune at the archdiocese office in New Orleans, La. Aymond has been spotted on the field at New Orleans Saints games and inside the team's Superdome box and has flown on the owner’s private jet. He is known for celebrating stirring pregame Masses. (David Grunfeld/NOLA.com/The Advocate via AP, File)
Judge orders open hearing on NFL team's emails with church

By Kevin Mcgill Feb. 13, 2020 01:10 AM EST

The Latest: Kellen Winslow Jr. takes plea deal in rape case

Nov. 04, 2019 05:24 PM EST
VISTA, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on the rape case against former NFL player Kellen Winslow Jr. (all times local): 2:19 p.m. ...

FILE - In this July 11, 2018 file photo, former NFL football player Kellen Winslow Jr. attends a preliminary court hearing in San Diego, Calif. Winslow pleaded guilty Monday, Nov. 4, 2019, to raping an unconscious teen and sexual battery involving a 54-year-old hitchhiker. (John Gibbins/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP, File)
Ex-NFL player Kellen Winslow Jr pleads guilty to rape

By Julie Watson Nov. 03, 2019 11:14 PM EST

FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2016, file photo, championship banners are removed from the Edward Jones Dome, former home of the St. Louis Rams football team, in St. Louis. The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that a lawsuit filed over the Rams' departure from St. Louis will be heard in a St. Louis courtroom, a defeat for the NFL team's owner who sought to send the case to arbitration. The court issued its ruling Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019, in a lawsuit filed by St. Louis city and county and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority, which owns the domed stadium where the Rams formerly played. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
Court rules Rams lawsuit can be heard in St. Louis courtroom

By Jim Salter Sep. 04, 2019 12:24 PM EDT

FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2019, file photo, Los Angeles Rams' Nickell Robey-Coleman breaks up a pass intended for New Orleans Saints' Tommylee Lewis during the second half of the NFL football NFC championship game in New Orleans. They were badly burned by the “Nola no-call,” but the New Orleans Saints have joined the NFL in opposing a fan’s lawsuit seeking damages over the missed penalty that helped the Los Angeles Rams beat the Saints in a January playoff game and move on to the Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
A time-out for the NFL in 'NOLA no-call' lawsuit

By Kevin Mcgill Aug. 14, 2019 07:23 PM EDT

FILE - In this May 22, 2019 file photo NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks to the media during the NFL football owners meeting in Key Biscayne, Fla. A Louisiana judge has ordered that Goodell and three officials from January’s NFC title game be questioned under oath in September about an infamous “no-call” that helped the Los Angeles Rams beat the New Orleans Saints in January’s NFC title game, an attorney said Monday, July 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, file)
Goodell, title game officials to face questions on 'no-call'

By Kevin Mcgill Jul. 29, 2019 04:36 PM EDT

FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2016 file photo, former New England Patriots NFL football player Aaron Hernandez listens during a status conference before his double murder trial at Suffolk Superior Court in Boston. A wrongful death suit by the families of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, the two men Hernandez had been accused of killing in 2012, was settled on Tuesday, July 23, 2019. Hernandez was acquitted in the criminal murder trial in 2017, but hanged himself in prison just days later while serving a life sentence for for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd. (John Blanding/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool, File)
Aaron Hernandez estate settles wrongful death lawsuit

Jul. 26, 2019 12:12 PM EDT

FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2019, file photo, Los Angeles Rams' Nickell Robey-Coleman breaks up a pass intended for New Orleans Saints' Tommylee Lewis during the second half of the NFL football NFC championship game in New Orleans. A Louisiana judge won't stop a lawsuit against the NFL over the playoff "no-call" that led to the Rams defeating the Saints and advancing to the 2019 Super Bowl. State Civil District Court Judge Nicole Sheppard ruled Thursday, July 18, 2019 in the damage suit filed by attorney Antonio LeMon. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
State court suit over 'no-call' can proceed against NFL

By Kevin Mcgill Jul. 18, 2019 06:00 PM EDT

Jury awards $6M in Drew Brees diamond-fraud lawsuit

Jun. 21, 2019 10:24 PM EDT
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A jury has awarded more than $6 million to New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees in a lawsuit that claimed a San Diego County jeweler sold him...

FILE - In this May 20, 2019 file photo Former NFL football player Kellen Winslow Jr. looks at attorney Marc Carlos during his rape trial in Vista, Calif. Prosecutors are expected to announce, Friday, June 14, whether they will retry Winslow Jr. on eight criminal charges left undecided by the jury that convicted the former NFL player of rape. Winslow was convicted Monday of raping a 58-year-old homeless woman and two counts of lewd conduct involving two other women. The jury deadlocked on remaining charges, including two counts of rape involving a hitchhiker and an unconscious teenage girl. (John Gibbins/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP, Pool,File)
The Latest: Ex-NFL player will face new rape trial

Jun. 14, 2019 02:25 PM EDT