Apollo and General News

Many of you may not be aware that back in the 90’s, when $200 million dollars was a lot of money, congress caved to special interests and capped damages in train accidents no matter how many people were killed, to $200 million dollars. At least one Chatsworth train crash lawyer is speaking out and challenging this law.

Ever since the September 12, 2008 Chatsworth train crash, public transportation attorney, Michael Ehline, has been questioning the constitutional validity and fairness of the $200,000,000 single train crash damages cap ever since the Metrolink spokeswoman accepted fault.

After all says Ehline, “this was the deadliest train crash in Metrolink’s short history”. Readers will recall that this federal damages cap was passed into law back in the 90’s and there has never been any consideration as to inflation, or costs of living increases.

Ehline said that: “All this does is give train companies a chance to weight whether or not to spend the money to make things safe, or rest comforted and assured that if they do nothing, all they have to pay is $200 million dollars, no matter how many people are killed”

And since this recent Chatsworth train crash will likely be the costliest and deadliest and most avoidable train crash in recent memory, Ehline said he will challenge legality of a $200 million cap Congress imposed on a railroad’s liability for single train collisions.

Metrolink accident lawyers representing victims and families alleging negligence in the Chatsworth Metrolink crash are warning that the general, special and punitive damagesarising from this current crash, will more likely than not, exhaust the small pittance of $200 million dollars.

This is especially true when considering that many people aboard the train were professionals who lived in the Valley with incomes that exceeded six figures. This means those well to do people who suffered wrongful death could have come close to or exceeded that figure over their lifetimes in expected contributions to their families left behind.

Typical awards for wrongful death and catastrophic injuries would include economic support of the decedents. Ehlne believes that this may be one instance in which greedy insurance companies and special interest bought and paid for congressmen and senators will have to reverse themselves in the face of the public outcry in the avoidable Chatsworth train crash of September 12, 2008. “It may be the only time in U.S. history where a damages cap would be increased, or at least be made to conform with the costs of living and inflation, unlike medical malpractice damages caps which make it much easier for unscrupulous doctors to get away with malpractice today” Ehline said.

In all events, a constitutional challenge to the damages cap will be likely challenged.

New Lap Top technology by OLPC has been recieving a lot of attention lately. It is becoming very popular in the program that was recently featured on the 60 Minutes television program and is trying to get a laptop computer for virtually every single kid in the entire globe. These machines are going for around a hundred dollars or so.This machine is also suggested for kids by Nicholas Negroponte, a MIT professor. The kids can carry this one outside, use it in the direct sunlight, while still being able to view the screen. In addition, it is waterproof and produced in such a way so that sand and dirt have virtually no way of getting into it. Even if the kid leaves it out in the rain the laptop will not be destroyed, believe it or not. Furthermore, it has a plethera of additional features like a built in camera. The camera in this particular laptop will take still photographs as well as video. The kids can use this feature to learn camera as well as video related skills. This childproof laptop also features an antenna on it which allows it to recieve some three times the Wi Fi reception that a regular laptop that is made for grown-ups can get. The battery life on this model is up to twelve hours also. And in other laptop related news, a new technology that is being used by ASUS is all about appealing to all your senses, the sense of smell included. The Taiwanese Company and maker of Asus laptops is coming out with a new one that has been designed to affect the mood of the user by releasing 4 different scents. You don’t really scratch and sniff this laptop. It lets off it’s own fragrance by the use of cologne. They have somehow come up with a type of heat transfer that releases the scent from the laptop. This is made possible by the use of a plastic film which has been scented and then put on the laptop computer in question. Asus says the scent can last between a minimum of three months up to about 6 months of scented release. All in all, when the weather is cold the scent lasts longer and when it’s hot or it is in a windy place, the scent will fade more quickly.

Recent statistics are showing that motorcycle accidents resulting in brain injuries are on the rise in Orange County cities like Anaheim, and LA cities like Santa Monica. With the recent increase in gasoline prices, many people are deciding to commute via motorcycle instead of automobiles, SUV’s or trucks.

Orange County and Los Angeles Motorcycle Accident Attorneys are finding they are receiving an increasing number of calls for information on motorcycle accidents and brain injury lawsuits. This may be because more motorcycles are on the roadways. It is a well-known fact that there is a substantial risk for brain injury when a collision with a car or truck and motorcycle is involved. Even though California has a mandatory helmet law, motorcycle riders are still experiencing head injuries and brain injuries when they are involved in an accident.

Any motorcycle accident carries with it the inherent risk of a fatal or traumatic brain injury resulting from an accident. Unfortunately, many of the fatalities will leave the family members in a state of confusion and grief. They may not know that they could be compensated for wrongful deaths caused by negligent drivers. There is always the option to contact an experienced Motorcycle Accident attorney for much needed advice and direction. Anaheim personal injury lawyers can be located in the phone book or can be found on the Internet and provide a much-needed service in Orange County or LA County.

Every year there are many people that are injured in motorcycle accidents that can leave the victim with amputated limbs or TBI’s. Spinal cord injuries are also common, leaving the victim in a state of life long paralysis. These accidents can lead to an unalterable lifestyle change for the victim and the family. Anaheim residents who ride motorcycles are really at the disadvantage when it comes collisions with other vehicles, they have little protection from impact and the size and weight of a car or truck. Even what would be a small fender bender for two automobiles could be a major cause of damage if a motorcycle is one of the vehicles involved.

Motorcycle riders are notoriously at risk of injury when riding a motorcycle. They have little bodily protection. A leather jacket and chaps may help stave off road rash but will be of absolutely no value against another vehicle or light pole, fence, concrete wall, etc. Broken limbs, severed spinal cords and damaged brains can leave devastation in more ways than the physical element. Untold emotional suffering may be the consequence for the duration of the victims’ life also. Seeking lifetime compensation might not help emotionally but will go a long way to relieve the costs of medical care and lost wages. Always seek out legal representation in these matters and always remember that any motorcycle accident carries with it the inherent risk of a fatal or traumatic brain injury resulting from an accident.

A man who is known as the “Spam King: aka Robert Soloway was sentenced for the millions of unsolicited emails sent to world wide web users was sentenced in a Seattle court to approximately four years in prison. Authorities in question had asked for more than 2 times the amount of years he was ultimately sentenced to under the Can-Spam Act because of his high profile criminal activities, but his lawyer had reduced the sentencing.
He is only the second person to be convicted under the Can-Spam Act and he stated in court he did this to afford a luxury apartment and expensive clothing.
Investigators found that he used a program named Dark Mailer to get into a network of botnets that sent bulk emails anonymously. Soloway had sent for commercial clients and used the addresses of real people without their knowledge.
By using the programs that Soloway used that switched the emails to appear the person had sent it to themselves rather than it coming from Soloway it was argued that this violated the Can-Spam Act.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Cohen asked for a nine year sentence in the case and Judge Pechman who presided over the sentencing after Soloways guilty plea also heard from Soloway and chose sentencing years less than the Assistant U.S. Attorney asked for.
Soloway claimed that he had ”earned’ around $120,000 during 2005 and then became accustomed to living in a high end lifestyle and while he is now ashamed of his criminal actions at the time of the events he was worried with keeping this life style. He also stated the funds that he made in 2005 was not enough to actually keep up with his huge credit card debt.

August 8, 2008 (by Otto Smyth)

According to reports by Los Angeles car accident attorneys, a woman who has now been identified by the Coroner’s Office as Molly Kate Lamers-Wolfgang age 34 a resident of Manhattan Beach who was reported missing was found in her car after an apparent accident.

While the accident is still under investigation by the California Highway Patrol it is known that Lamers-Wolfgang was driving to her families Lake Arrowhead home when she was reported missing.

The vehicle she was driving, a silver 2008 Lexus was found after California Highway Patrol officers found broken guardrails and vehicle debris including a license plate on Wednesday evening. Then they found the Lexus that had gone through the guardrail traveling approximately 800 feet below. The vicinity the vehicle and driver were found was Highway 18 in the area of Red Rock Wall and Rimforest in the San Bernardino Mountains. The area the broken guardrail was found is known as a scenic viewing area and also a turnaround point.

According to Sgt. Robert O’Brine of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office, the area is not accessable by vehicle or foot. A medic was lowered by helicopter to the bottom of the cliff where the vehicle was resting and determined Lamer’s-Wolfgang was dead.

The rescue workers were airlifted to a point where they could hike to the vehicle, with the onset of darkness three rescue personel and a sheriff’s deputy stayed with the vehicle and Lamers-Wolfgang who had sustained fatal injuries. Thursday the body of Lamers-Wolfgang was recovered from the scene of the accident.

The California Highway Patrol also planned to airlift the vehicle up to continue their investigation. What they were able to access was that the vehicle was traveling north in the vicinity of Lake Gregory Drive and the weather at the approximate time was clear.

The have also not ruled out foul play in the fatal accident and stated they will not have a cause for the accident until the investigation is completed according to California Highway Patrol Officer Gary Fernandez.

Officer Fernandez also stated that the vehicle was not visible and what gave them a crucial clue was the license plate that was found near the broken guardrail, helping them to identify the driver. The officer also stated that while it is early in the investigation there has been tire marks found on a stretch of the road leading to where the guardrails are located. The marks show that Lamers-Wolfgang was traveling around a curve and veered off her lane onto the shoulder where she went off the cliff.

Sgt. Fernandez also stated that the investigation is going to be very thorough and will include talking to friends and family that would have seen or spoken to the victim the days prior to the accident. 

 A San Bernardino County Sheriff’s helicopter spotted the broken guardrails and the vehicle. Rescue workers at the scene of the accident were aided by members of the U.S. Forest Service in the recovery of Lamers-Wolfgang’s body.  

Lamers-Wolfgang was reported missing Monday evening when she did not telephone her husband. Her husband Kurt Wolfgang filed a missing persons report with the Manhattan Beach Police Department and Wednesday hired a helicopter to search the mountains. The helicopter did not find anything according to Lamers – Wolfgang’s brother-in-law Andy Bark, he also stated the family has concerns that someone might have driven into her lane on the mountain road causing her to veer out of her lane.

 Bark also stated that Lamers-Wolfgang made the drive to the Lake Arrowhead home several times a week with her children and she was a stay at home mother that occasionally was employed as a massage therapist. 

Lamers- Wolfgang is survived by her children ages 4 and 11, her husband Kurt Wolfgang, father Micheal Lamers. She is also survived by siblings Megan Bark, Stacy and Devin Lamers, brothers Erik and David Lamers.

    In a rather bizarre story coming out of the bay area,  Terry Childs has been accused of locking out authorized network administrators from the system and has even apparently refused to give up passwords for the San Francisco online computer network he helped to construct

   It seems that he has pleaded not guilty to some 4 seperate criminal felony counts of coInjury lawyermputer network tampering plus 1 additional count of causing excessive loss which is reported to be in access of $200,000.

   Currently Childs bail is set at $5 million bucks and he is also supposed to go to another bail hearing next week. When Child’s current bail was set his lawyer on the case argued that the bail for those who do not cause any type of personal injury from a violent act ot acts is most often set at around $1 million dollars or so. This high bail total, which is virtually unpayable from a man in his financial position, may be because his crimes cuts to the bone of the whole municipal online network, which has the potential for a rather crippling effect. Of course it should be noted that the defendent in this case is innocent untill proven guilty beyond a resonable doubt….. Should you need a top drawer San Francisco Personal injury lawyer you should consider the law offices of Scott Righthand. He is absolutely one of the top personal injury attorney in the SF bay area and he additionally covers other nearby localities like Oakland, Santa Rosa, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and other portions of central California into the inland empire. Ha can give you a fast telephone consultation as well.

   According to the Department of Technology there are some sections of this somewhat vast and lumbering network which are still locked at the time of this writing. Some of the records which are located on this network include records and law enforcement documents and fully more than half of San Francisco’s traffic data. Wow that is a lot of important data indeed  Furthermore, Ron Vinson of the Dept. of Technology has said that they have control of the FiberWan network and are working with their forensics team to reclaim total access. He said that while Childs has not been laid off or perhaps fired as it were he does have the authority to fill his position while he is on administrative leave awaiting trial. It should be interesting to see exactly how this case unfolds and you can bet that cyber-security experts will be studying and monitoring this incident very closely for future procedural doctrine.

Well here is some more bay area criminal news for your digestion: In a police raid on Hells Angels locations including the Santa Rosa location of the Hells Angels that included the use of SWAT teams seeking evidence against two men accused of severely beating a man according to statements by Capt. Dave Sears.
The two men Jonathan Nelson from Healdsburg and Mark Anthony Guardado from San Francisco or San Jose are facing criminal charges which basically accuse them of acting in unison with a criminal street gang. If convicted this will obviously add additional time to their sentencing. In the evidence the authorities were seeking in the raid included information that the 2 individuals charged hold high profile positions within the Hells Angels and probably has great attorney representation.
Both of them have been charged with allegedly jumping a man and beating him to the extreme despite the fact that he had earlier lost consciousness. A savage crime indeed. This attack happened several months ago in the area around McNear’s Saloon & Dinning House in the Petaluma locale. By the way if you require a superb
San Jose Criminal Attorney then by all means take a look at the law offices of Ed Ajlouny. He is simply one of he best San Jose criminal attorney working and he also serves surrounding coomunities susch as as mountain View, San Francisco, Sunnyvale and Oakland.
Both men were again charged with allegedly beating the victim in March in the vicinity of Henny Penny’ Restaurant located at the on Petaluma Boulevard.
Both Nelson and Guardado have pleaded not guilty to both allegations according to records from the court. Each of the two have also file five million dollar lawsuits against Sonoma County after Superior Judge Ken Gnoss expelled them from the courtroom because of shirts they were wearing that had Hells Angels insignia on them. Judge Gnoss stated that the shirt insignias are intended to intimidate and threaten others.
During the San Francisco search by two FBI tactical teams Guardado was arrested for alleged drug possession according to statements by Capt. Sears.
Lately there has been a lot of high profile criminal news coming from San Francisco, San Jose and the surrounding area. For instance, a parolee recently pleaded Guilty to killing his instructor in Oakland. Troy Tyrone Thomas(that is touph sounding name for sure) is scheduled to be sentenced on September 5th to life without the possibility of parole.
Thomas, who by the way was on parole at the time of the killing has an extensive criminal history.

July 20th  (Patrice Garby)

 According California Highway Patrol reports, a Diamond Bar woman was killed Saturday morning in a fatal car crash on the Garden Grove Freeway.

 Reports state that the accident happened at 2:50 am Saturday morning and shut down the freeway until 5:55 am while investigations were underway.

 Bagum Muktar, 64, a resident of Diamond Bar, was a riding as a passenger in a 2004 Toyota Sequoia. Muktar’s daughter was driving on the eastbound side west of the Harbor Boulevard exit, when she as rear-ended by a 2005 Chevrolet Malibu. The collision caused the Toyota to roll over several times before coming to a stop. California Highway Patrol reports show that there were seven other passengers in the Toyota at the time of the crash. The other passengers reportedly suffered minor injuries.

 The driver of the Malibu was an unidentified man at the time of the report. He reportedly fled the scene of the accident. As reported elsewhere, the police were able to locate and arrest the unidentified man for felony vehicular manslaughter, gross negligence, felony DUI and felony hit-and-run. The time of his arrest was at 1:50 p.m.

 The initial investigation was unable to state the speed of the Chevrolet at the time of the crash.  If you were injured in a car accident, or SUV rollover, contact Los Angeles SUV rollover lawyers now at 888-400-9721.

Cellular telephone traffickers have found some new angles. They have found that by obtaining fairly cheap prepaid mobile phones and manipulating the software, they can be used to make phone calls on all networks. After they are unlocked, they are then sold all over the globe.

The mobile telephones in question are obtained in retail stores all over in Oregon, Florida, Maryland and some other states. In addition, many individuals have been hired to be runners. They generally into the retail stores and buy up the prepaid phones when the prices are low. The mobile are then hacked into and resold at perhaps fifty or sixt dollars over the regular cost. Hacking into the phones and reconfiguring the software is not actually against the law, surprisingly. But of course it does indeed cause a problem for the mobile phone firms themselves, who are losing huge revenue by not selling the extra air time. The phones are sold in retail stores sometimes at a loss for the phone firm, as they obviously count on making up for it in the new additional minutes they would be selling for the same phone. This is how the prepaid cell phone company makes its profit. Trac Fone Wireless, along with other producers of these mobile phones are suing the cell phone traffickers in federal courts all around the United States…….Trac Fone and other firms like Virgin Mobile and AT&T, contend that Federal Law protects their copyrighted software and trademarks. However, there is a company called Incomtel that feels it is perfectly legal to unlock these phones so they work on any cellular system. They have filed suit against Tac Fone, arguing that Trac Fone buys their phones from Nokia and Motorola. Finland based giant Nokia as well as Motorola use their own software. They claim that Trac Fone has no right to lock the software so others cannot use them and anyone should be able to buy these particular mobile phones for use on any network.

Any Los Angeles injury lawyer will tell you, it can happen suddenly. You are in a bit of a rush to get to work on time. One more late clock in and you know you will be called into the office. Already stressed, the crowded streets in Huntington Beach add fuel to your release of stress hormones. Easy onto the on ramp, your next move is to settle back and try to calm your nerves by listening to some easy jazz. But as you put in your favorite CD, it slips from your fingers and falls to the floor on the passenger side. You manage to pick it up and insert it in the CD player anyway. Just then the traffic in front of you comes to a complete stop. Slamming on the brakes, you need to swerve just a little, to miss the car in front of you. Much to your surprise though, Your SUV suddenly flips and rolls over. You land upside down and you are trapped in the seat. Your head is bleeding and your ankle hurts. Lucky for you though, that is the extent of your damage to your body. Your vehicle is not so lucky. The SUV’s top is completely collapsed and the SUV is not going to be salvageable.

What just happened? After all, you only swerved just a little and you were really going pretty slow when you swerved to miss that car. Why did the vehicle roll over? Well, probably it was the design flaw in the SUV. You should now call your accident lawyer to find out what your rights to being compensation under the law.Huntington Beach Accident and Los Angeles SUV Rollover law firms can help you with all the steps you need to take to win a claim for compensation from the vehicle manufacturer.Steps to SUV Rollover Rights:
First step was seeking help from your Rollover Crash Lawyer.

Second step is to file a claim against the manufacturer under liability laws.

Third step is to file a claim against the government entity that is responsible for highway safety.Fourth step is to determine if a claim can be filed against the driver in front of you. Was he at fault for your rollover?Fifth step is to file a claim with your insurance carrier. As a rollover crash victim, you have the right to compensation from your insurance carrier at the very least.If you have been involved in a rollover accident you need the assistance of an experienced rollover accident attorney who knows how to prepare this type of case and bring the settlement that you need for current medical bills and those in the future. There are Orange County rollover accident attorneys that can be reached at 888-400-9721.Description: It has been proven that SUV’s are more apt to rollover in an accident than most other vehicles and there are steps you can take if you have been involved in a rollover accident. Learn more: Address 633 W. Fifth St., 28th Fl. Los Angeles, CA 90071; 1875 Century Park East Suite 700 Los Angeles, CA 90067; 14003 Palawan Way Marina del Rey, CA 90292; 620 Newport Center Drive Newport Beach, CA 92660. Phone 888-400-9721.