Quick Hits

I haven't felt the urge to blog much this week (as you might have noticed), but here's a few quick and dirty things on my mind today:

* Troy Anthony Davis lost his appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday. The Court ruled in a 2-1 decision that Davis had not met the high threshhold necessary to establish an actual innocence claim. I'm so angry and demoralized by this development that I don't even have the heart to analyze the decision. The important point is that he lost.

Davis essentially has two options right now: he can petition the entire 11th circuit to rehear the case en banc (which is discretionary, and rarely granted) in the hopes that he can get a different ruling from the entire panel, and he can petition the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari on his appeal. Chances are good that he will do both, and be denied both. The 11th circuit's stay of execution last 30 more days while he works out his appellate options, and then we will see an execution date if none of these legal maneuvers work out. I wonder if Thurbert Baker's decision to run for governor might influence his decision to take action or not take action in connection with this case...

* Starwood Hotels is suing Hilton Hotels in a very interesting corporate espionage case. It's not interesting merely because it alleges corporate espionage, but because of how Starwood learned of the espionage. Apparently some well-meaning Hilton lawyers found some Starwood documents in boxes while reviewing Hilton records in a completely unconnected case, and returned them to Starwood in an "abundance of caution." Turns out those Starwood documents were stolen from Starwood, and the best of intentions led to a lawsuit. I suspect we will see a legal malpractice lawsuit against Hilton's attorneys as well.

This makes me wonder what I would do if, while reviewing a client's documents for potentially discoverable material, I came across stolen documents from another company. Would I report it? Woudl I tell the client they had to report it or return them? Would I insist that I couldn't work for the client anymore? Would I pretend I had never seen them and hope nobody else ever noticed? It would present a huge ethical dilemma. This makes me wonder if maybe those Hilton lawyers chose the faux-mistaken return route as the best way to save their own asses while upholding their ethical obligations.

* By now you have heard of Susan Boyle, unless you have been living under a rock for the last week. For you rock-dwellers, or for those who want to relive the amazing moment when this dowdy strange woman shocked the world...here it is. And here is Susan singing Ella Fitzgerald's "Cry Me a River" for a charity CD in 1999. What a voice. What a story! I love it when people make us all challenge our preconceived biases and assumptions.

* Last night I ate at Alfredo's for the first time, and it was delicious. The restaurant's decor is straight out of "Goodfellas" but the food and service were both excellent. (Except for the waiter who asked everyone in the restaurant at least twice if they were driving a certain Toyota outside...that was annoying.)

* And finally, congratulations are in order for local blogger Garrett Vonk and his wife Heather, who are currently in the midst of having their first baby. No word yet on whether sympathetic lactation has occurred, but we all wait on pins and needles to hear both the official birth announcement and word about the state of Garrett's breasts.