Law and Magic Blog

Magic and the Jury Verdict

From blogger Matt McClusker at Deliberations, a post on the settlement between the Psychic Readers Network and the Federal Trade Commission launches musings on whether consultants can really predict jury verdicts. Says Mr. McClusker in part:

In an end to an illustrious career, Miss Cleo and her Psychic Readers Network came to a landmark settlement with the Federal Trade Commission where the company sacrificed $500 million dollars in fees and paid a $5 million fine for deceptive business practices.  This result brought three questions to my mind:

1. A $500 million settlement! How much money was Miss Cleo Making?  How much did she “psychically predict” a jury would award?
2. This is just one example in a sea of settlements based on predictions of trial outcomes, I must ask: How accurate are these predictions?
3. If I wore a turban and spoke in Jamaican accent, could I be a successful psychic litigation consultant? (Seriously. I cannot get over that $500,000,000 figure for a psychic hotline.)

He wonders, if consultants don't work, what about bumper stickers? I wonder about mentalists.

Lightning, Well, Outside a Bottle--Twice

From the Chicago Tribune, via NPR: photographer Chris Sweda's remarkable shot of lightning striking both the Willis Tower and the Trump Tower during Wednesday's thunderstorm. That day, a jury was hearing a tape on which former governor Rod Blagojevich noted that since he could name newly elected President Obama's Senate replacement, he [Blago] might become an Ambassador. Lightning in the courtroom, lightning in the sky? No, no, just the prescience of the Trib's editors, thanks.

"Trial? Trial? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Trial!"

Drew McAdam, a well-known mentalist in the UK, who appears regularly on The Trisha Goddard Show as "The Interrogator," is a good citizen. When he got a summons for jury duty, he showed up. But the court took a good look at him and excused him. As someone close to court sources noted, "Could you imagine being the accused and turning up to find yourself facing The Interrogator? Instead of holding a full trial, they could simply have put the person in a room with Mr McAdam for five minutes and known the truth."

Three Arizona Sweat Lodge Deaths Ruled Accidental

The deaths of three people at an Arizona sweat lodge last August were accidental, says a judge after examining autopsy results. James Arthur Ray, who led the event at the lodge, has pled not guilty to manslaughter charges in the deaths of Lizbeth Neuman, James Shore and Kirby Brown. Mr. Ray, who is currently out on bail, is due to go to trial on those charges on August 31.

Law & Magic: A Collection of Essays Now Available

The book Law & Magic: A Collection of Essays made its debut at the AALS meeting in New Orleans. It's available at CAP's website (discount!) and also via amazon.com and bn.com.

Magician David Copperfield Asks For Delay In Civil Case

Magician David Copperfield has asked for a six month stay of proceedings in the lawsuit filed against him by a woman who alleges that two years ago he raped her. After two years, criminal charges still have not been filed in the case, and Mr. Copperfield is concerned that any admissions he might make could be held against him in a criminal proceeding. The woman, a model and former beauty pageant contestant, is claiming IIED, misrepresentation (I think it's not "false misrepresentation" as the Seattle Times has it--I don't know what that is) and false imprisonment.

Dog Scent Lineups and Their Accuracy

CNN covers the story of a former police officer initially questioned and suspected in the murder of his friend and neighbor; another man was eventually arrested and charged. The former officer, Michael Buchanek, says dog-scent evidence was the factor that weighed heaviest in the minds of his former colleagues and chief accusers. The use of dogs to track and sniff out suspects and related evidence has been controversial for some time. Defenders say such dogs, well trained, are reliable. Those who don't trust such evidence say dog handlers who know in advance what suspect is being sought can guide the dogs toward a particular individual. Read more about the issue here, here, here, here (from the ForensicEvidence.com site), and here, the report that people are talking about, the Innocence Project's analysis of dog-scent evidence, its uses and reliability.

Desperately Seeking Radovan

In today's New York Times Magazine, a story about Radovan Karadzic, who used the alias Dragan Dabic, attempting to hide from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. During his period in hiding, Mr. Karadzic professed interest in alternative energy fields and alternative medicine and attained a certain celebrity, probably not a good idea for someone who wanted to avoid the attention of war crimes tribunals and investigative journalists. Read more here in Jack Hitt's article.

I Don't Dream of Jeannie

A Saudi court may soon have to contend with a genie as defendant. A family living in Mahd Al Dahab says a genie, or jinn, is harassing it, throwing stones, stealing cell phones, and generally making itself annoying. Actually, there might be more than one spirit involved. The father of the family says, "A woman spoke to me first, and then a man. They said we should get out of the house." He also says these things have been going on, at increasing levels, for a couple of years.

Authorities are naturally trying to verify the claims in order to proceed, but are encountering problems. How does one track down the truth in such paranormal allegations? And if they are true, how does one sue a genie, or hold a genie criminally accountable? After all, the family is claiming "theft and harassment." And if so, what remedy would be available?

Noted Science Writer Loses Preliminary Ruling in Defamation Case; Plans Appeal

Author Simon Singh, a well-known science writer (Fermat's Enigma, Trick or Treatment) has lost a preliminary ruling in his battle with the British Chiropractic Association over an article he published with the Guardian newspaper last year. The article criticized overreaching claims made in the practice of chiropractic medicine and included this offending sentence: "The British Chiropractic Association claims that their members can help treat children with colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections, asthma and prolonged crying, even though there is not a jot of evidence. This organisation is the respectable face of the chiropractic profession and yet it happily promotes bogus treatments."

The judge found that the word "bogus" "implied" that the Association was "being consciously dishonest." This, said Mr. Justice Eady, is defamatory.

Mr. Singh and his lawyers plan to appeal the ruling through the English courts, and if necessary, through the European courts. The UK is a member of the European Union, so litigants have access to those courts.

The ruling has caused an uproar and much comment, among skeptics, scientists, and free speech advocates. Here is a sampling of reaction.

From Jack of Kent's Blog; from Holford Watch (this post from August of 2008); Gimpy's Blog (ditto; includes the original article, which has been removed from the Guardian's website); Gimpy's Blog (June 4, 2009); Science-Based Medicine; Skeptic.org; Counterknowledge.com; Badscienceblogs; Ministry of Truth.

I looked for reaction online from chiropractic associations and related groups, and from chiropractors who blog and people who go to chiropractors. I didn't find anything, but maybe I don't know where to look.