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Posted on Jan 11 2014 4:59PM by Attorney, Jason A. Lee
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Sometimes
I want to bring your attention to other great legal blog commentary on things
that may be of interest to those that are involved in Tennessee litigation. A recent post
by the Sixth Circuit
Appellate Blog discussed recent Sixth Circuit
decisions on arbitration. There is a clear
trend in the Sixth Circuit and in many of the other Federal Circuits of
favoring arbitration and providing great deference to the decisions of
arbitrators. One recent case is
discussed in this blog post is a Sixth Circuit decision supporting the decision
of the arbitrator even though the decision was contrary to Sixth Circuit precedent. The Court supported the decision because it
provided a “colorable” reading of an ERISA statute and therefore the arbitrator’s
decision was upheld.
I
recommend that you read this post (it
can be found here) and these cases if you have any desire to
appeal an arbitration decision in the Sixth Circuit. These recent cases may make you reconsider such
an appeal unless you have rock solid grounds for the appeal.
Follow me on Twitter at @jasonalee for updates from the
Tennessee Defense Litigation blog.
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Posted on Nov 20 2012 2:39PM by Attorney, Jason A. Lee
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Brief Summary: According to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit MRI testing of the brain to show an individual’s truthfulness is not admissible in court. The scientific evidence has not effectively established that this information is reliable enough to be admitted as evidence under the Federal Rules of Evidence.
Analysis: The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decided a very interesting case concerning whether results from a functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test can be admitted to prove the truthfulness of testimony. The decision of United States of America v. Lorne Allan Semrau, 693 F.3d 510 (6th Cir. 2012) considered the appeal of Dr. Lorne Semrau who was convicted of three criminal counts of healthcare fraud. At trial, Dr. Semrau’s counsel attempted to introduce evidence showing that results from MRI testing performed on Dr. Semrau indicated he was telling the truth about pertinent issues in the case. The trial court excluded this evidence. On appeal he asserted this testing should have been admitted into evidence by the trial court. Semrau at 516. The Sixth Circuit noted this was a matter of first impression in any jurisdiction. Semrau at 516.
Dr. Steven J. Laken, Ph.D., is the President and CEO of Cephos Corporation and he performed the MRI testing of Dr. Semrau. Semrau at 516 - 518. Dr. Laken testified that studies show accuracy rates of "between eighty-six percent and ninety-seven percent” for this type of testing. Semrau at 517. However, during cross-examination Dr. Laken “conceded that his 2009 ‘Mock Sabotage Crime’ study produced an ‘unexpected’ accuracy decrease to a rate of seventy-one percent.” Semrau at 517. Dr. Laken also testified that this MRI lie detection method has “a huge false positive problem in which people who are telling the truth are deemed to be lying around sixty to seventy percent of the time.” Semrau at 517, 518.
In 2009, Dr. Semrau's attorney contacted Dr. Laken to perform testing on Dr. Semrau about his alleged healthcare fraud. Semrau at 518....
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