Trials

"Harlem Shake" Video Goes Horribly Wrong at Palm Beach Subway

Fuck you, Jared. The Subway chain has a new advertising campaign -- the "Harlem Shake." But unlike the unremitting charm of the Jared Campaign, the sandwich king just can't seem to get this one right. (Or at least a recent lawsuit alleges.)

New Details on Alleged Sexual Harassment by Craig Ferguson, Former Thompson Academy Director

The former director of boys' lockup Thompson Academy, Renza "Craig" Ferguson, resigned under a cloud of suspicion in March. Staff members had made allegations that he was transporting young male inmates off campus and bringing them home to shower. See also: - Our cover story on abuse at Thompson A ... More >>

Banking on the Disabled: Serial Filer of Lawsuits Saves the Disabled... and Makes Some Bucks

Steak 954 Owners Sued in Class-Action Lawsuit

A class-action federal lawsuit filed on Friday alleges that Starr Restaurants Hotel Group stiffed employees on overtime wages. Starr Restaurants, according to its website, is the parent company of Steak 954 in Fort Lauderdale and Makoto in Bal Harbour. The suit was filed by a man named Jean Valsin, ... More >>

South Florida Earns a Spot on the List of "Judicial Hellholes" for the Ninth Year in a Row

​Another year has just about gone by, which means it's time for South Florida to appear once again on the American Tort Reform Association's list of "judicial hellholes."Now every year since 2003 -- when they actually just picked Miami-Dade County -- South Florida has maintained its spot among ... More >>

Occupy Fort Lauderdale Granted Temporary Injunction Over City's New Rules

​Yesterday, a new rule introduced to Fort Lauderdale's policy and standards manual was posted in a courtyard in front of City Hall -- where the Occupy camp has set up shop.Check out a slide show of the Occupy camp here.The rule bans tents from the area and bans people from being in the public spac ... More >>

Ramon Rosario, Member of the "Head Shot Committee," Gets 270 Years Up the River

Palm Beach County Sheriff's OfficeRamon Rosario​Ramon Rosario, a 19-year-old member of a racketeering enterprise known as the "Head Shot Committee," was sentenced yesterday to 270 years in prison for what the State Attorney's Office calls a string of crimes that "terrorized the northern end of Pal ... More >>

Hack-a-Shaq: The Former Basketball Superstar Wages Digital War Against an Ex-Con Computer Geek

RaceTrac Hit With Another Personal Injury Suit

Bad gas... station? ​RaceTrac, an Atlanta-based gas behemoth known for its gut-busting soda fountains, has gotten slammed with another slip-and-fall lawsuit, some two months after a local couple filed suit against the 320-store petroleum conglomerate. Isaura Velez walked into a Hollywood RaceTrac ... More >>

Dalia Dippolito Lawyer Files for Retrial -- Not Going for Reality TV Defense This Time

Dalia Dippolito​The lawyer for Dalia Dippolito -- the escort who was found guilty of trying to hire an undercover cop to kill her husband -- has filed for a new trial, this time not to focus on the reality TV defense he tried last time around.Her attorney, Michael Salnick, filed a request for a ne ... More >>

Dalia Dippolito Guilty Verdict Comes After a Reality-TV Defense Not Based on Actual Reality

When Dalia Dippolito's trial began on charges that she tried to have her husband killed, her defense attorney dropped a bombshell. Attorney Michael Salnick claimed in opening statements that Dalia's husband, Michael, had planned the whole thing in an attempt to get on reality TV. It was a crazy defe ... More >>

Thompson Academy Calls Alleged Sex Assault of Teenager Consensual

Defendants allege the sex was consensual.​The 14-year-old boy who filed a lawsuit alleging he was twice sexually assaulted by a counselor at the Thompson Academy juvenile detention center last year was a willing participant in the encounters, lawyers for the Pembroke Pines center allege.In court d ... More >>

Kids Claim Abuse and Violence at Juvenile Lockup Thompson Academy

Eddie Santana Makes Six Figures by Suing Restaurants From the Inside

New York Hedge Funds Strike Back In Rothstein Suit

We've heard all about how the Centurion and Platinum hedge funds in New York sank hundreds of millions of dollars into Scott Rothstein's Ponzi scheme.  Fort Lauderdale attorney Bill Scherer is suing them, claiming they were privy to the fraud and now must cough up ... More >>

Video: Debra Villegas Tells of Rothstein's Affair With Melissa Lewis

On Sunday, we brought you the news of Scott Rothstein's alleged affair with his slain employee, Melissa Britt Lewis. Here's the sworn interview where Debra Villegas, Lewis' best friend and Rothstein's right-hand woman at his now-defunct law firm, tells a Plantation police officer about the affair.N ... More >>

Thompson Academy's Owner Faced Similar Abuse Allegations in Other States

Youth Services InternationalA snapshot from a recent morale-boosting event at Thompson.​Allegations that teenaged inmates were sexually assaulted, malnourished, and physically abused at the Thompson Academy juvenile detention center in Pembroke Pines echo similar accusations the center's owner ha ... More >>

Report on Racial Discrimination in Jury Selection Finds Florida Ahead of Southern Neighbors

​Good luck getting onto a jury in the South if you're black. And if you're a black defendant, good luck challenging the fact that the prosecutor eliminated potential jurors just because of the color of their skin. Unless you live in Florida.The Sunshine State's laws aimed at protecting jurors from ... More >>

Juice Obtains Civil Suit Filing Against Chiquita Listing 242 Plaintiffs

Today's suit alleges Chiquita funded AUC terrorists​The Juice has obtained the 110-page civil suit filed yesterday in West Palm Beach Federal District Court on behalf of 242 Colombian plaintiffs against Chiquita Brands International. The suit, brought by Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, which ha ... More >>

Morning Juice: Court Battle Brewing Between South Florida's Wealthiest Disgraces

Here's what's happening in South Florida this Tuesday morning:Disgraced Palm Beach mega-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein has filed suit against disgraced Broward mega-millionaire Scott Rothstein based on reports the latter attracted investment dollars by fraudulently claiming to have reached a cash settl ... More >>

Are Animal Rights Activists -- and Local Multimillionaire -- Behind the McDonald's-Causes-Cancer lawsuit?

flickr user: nukeit1​Today, newswires were abuzz with the information that a Washington-based nonprofit group called the Cancer Project, on behalf of two plantiffs in Connecticut, filed a class-action lawsuit against Burger King, McDonald's, and Friendly's.  The lawsuit alleges that chicken s ... More >>

Chinese Drywall Leaves Florida Homeowners Looking for Someone to Blame

Jurors and Prosecutors Sink a Federal Case Against Internet Pharmacies

Broward Man at Center of National Scandal in Philippines

Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada would have been "pleased" by the murder of a journalist, an affidavit taken in Florida claims.This February, 47-year-old Cezar Mancao went to the Philippine consulate in Fort Lauderdale to give a sworn affidavit. When the contents of his testimony were l ... More >>

The Infamous Holland Correction

Okay, I say a couple nice things about departed Sun-Sentinel reporter John Holland and the knives start flying. The Holland haters bring up an eight-year-old correction which one commenter calls "the longest and most embarrassing front-page retraction in the Sun-Sentinel's history." I remember that ... More >>

Madoff Plea Deal Coming?

That's what the AP is reporting, citing a motion filed by prosecutors in his case.

Sunday Reading: The Wayne Huizenga Story

I just happened on this classic written by Steve Almond in 1994 about South Florida's hard-driven, complicated, and sometimes brutal mogul.  Uh, it jumps.   Citizen Wayne - The Unauthorized Biography A college dropout and the product of a broken home, H. Wayne Huizenga rose ... More >>

Fool Me Thrice

A South Florida company caught stealing twice surfaces under a new name and gets a lucrative government franchise.

Crist's Secrecy Prompts Suit

Judging Ana

Broward Judge Gardiner's alleged relationships with defense lawyers and prosecutors raises troubling questions

Hilly Moldof Gets Off

Trial by Fire

Amanda Alley died a horrible, fiery death, and the cops had her Iranian boyfriend nailed

Trump Team Ordered To Name Reporter

West Palm Heat

Is sheriff's candidate Ric Bradshaw Dirty Harry or Mr. Clean? Voters want to know.

Indian War

A Hollywood man has spent the past decade trying to pry open the Seminoles' accounting books -- without much success

Felon Follies

A problem that marred the 2000 ballot is back

The Double Cross

Two years ago, Ken Eggleston was Palm Beach County Sheriff Ed Bieluch's heir apparent. Now, they are implacable foes. What happened?

The Enforcer

John Garon may be a partial quadriplegic, but he wields federal civil-rights lawsuits with consummate skill

Call Me Now! ...And Pay Me Later

With all the millions Miss Cleo brings in, her Broward-based bosses have little trouble paying their way out of those pesky lawsuits

Police Beat

More than four years after a Delray Beach cop gave him a body full of bruises and a face full of pepper spray, a local doctor is still seeking justice

A Single Hair

After a severely flawed trial, Michael Rivera was convicted of killing a little girl. New DNA evidence may help him.

A Devilish Deal

A high-profile judge long ago made a deal that freed the area's most heinous killer

The Sex Empire Strikes Back

Adult businesses in Broward put the heat on the heat by investigating local vice cops, but their evidence is slim

A Pugilist in Pinstripes

The 4th District Court of Appeals says Broward County prosecutor Alberto Milian is a menace in the courtroom. But he's just doing his job.

Secrets and Crimes

Four years after hed been convicted of murder in Belgium, Jean-FranCois Buslik was a pilot and a family man living quietly in North Palm Beach. Then justice came calling.

Hit or Mrs.?

According to the courts, Joyce Cohen hired three men to murder her wealthy husband. Now the entire case may be unraveling.

A Vehicle For Racism

Isn't selling cars for Republic Industries hard enough without your boss cracking racist jokes all the time?

These Are the Times That Try Victims' Souls

Take a number and wait. That, in essence, is what the Broward County courts are telling crime victims even those who get shot at.

Robert Lockwood's Hush Money

Broward's Clerk of Courts wants a million of your dollars to kill a racial bias suit before he faces questions under oath. Here's why.

Witness for the Persecution

Kim Mascola's life reads like a made-for-TV movie script. In fact, it nearly became one. Then the lawsuits started to fly.