In Summation - The Final Word

The wait is over and In Summation - The Final Word is back. At the request of a listener (thanks Ben!), in this episode we tackle a case which has really become THE case that people bring up when discussing how litigious American people are. We've all heard the story of the woman who spilled McDonald's hot coffee on herself and sued the company for millions. But as you'll see, the narrative of what really happened to Stella Liebeck, the plaintiff in that suit, has dramatically changed...

At this point, it's become difficult to keep track of all the different places that former (and possibly future) President Donald Trump has been indicted. To recap: he has been indicted in New York County by District Attorney Alvin Bragg. That case has already gone to trial and he was convicted of nearly three dozen counts of falsifying business records in an attempt to cover up another crime. That is NOT the case we discuss today. He's also been indicted in Fulton County, ...

Welcome Back Listeners! In this episode of In Summation, Paul discusses a horror movie turned real life. Inspired by the 1996 horror classic, Scream, Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik donned ghostface masks, black robes, and hunting knives to murder their high school classmate and friend, Cassie Jo Stoddart. Not only did they stab her 30 times while she was alone, house sitting for relatives, but they filmed themselves talking about the act before, and after, the crime. We look how...

The 1990's were filled with high profile criminal trials for some of the most famous entertainers in the world. Michael Jackson and OJ Simpson headlined a list of extremely public trials, mostly centered in California. One case which seems to be getting lost amidst this glut of criminal prosecutions is the murder charge brought against a young up-and-coming gangster rap artist named Calvin Broadus, who adopted the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg. A few months prior to the release of his f...

Greetings friends of In Summation - The Final Word. Today's episode explores the unusual trial of Jamell Demons, aka YNW Melly, who was charged with the double murder of his close friends in what prosecutors claimed was staged to look like a drive-by shooting. This case has it all: gang members, rap stars, lyrics about murder, unusual crime scene forensics, GPS location evidence, petty thin-skinned lawyers, and a lot of question marks left over at the end. Listen and get a little perspecti...

Greetings and welcome back to In Summation - The Final Word. In this episode, Paul explores one of the select carve outs to the 1st Amendment's guarantee to free speech. With several very high profile cases on this topic in the last few years, it felt worthwhile for Paul to go through what defamation is, how it works, and why this particular brand of speech can be regulated. To really explore this topic, we examine one of the most heartbreaking series of events in recent memory.&...

Greetings one and all! Thank you so much to the fans and supporters of this fine program as we hit the milestone 50th episode. Paul cannot thank you enough for the comments, the engagement, and the interest. It keeps him going. This episode is special to Paul. He wanted to do something a little more robust for the occasion. Here, we are going to be examining a truly remarkable trial. It's interesting not just for the legal issues which came up, and many fa...

What is "fraud?" How does it work? What are the recourses of someone who has been defrauded? Is fraud always criminal? In today's episode, Paul dives into healthcare fraud. Philip Esformes set up an elaborate scheme which triggered federal agencies like Medicare and Medicaid to pay his companies, and so, him, vast amounts of money. But the money wasn't actually going to treatment or services, Esformes was just making up fake billing reports, and then making/taki...