San Bernardino Argues Private Investigator's Claim Lacks Merit

San Bernardino contends that a private investigator has failed to provide clear-cut evidence to support claims in a lawsuit that the city owes him nearly $39,000 for investigating allegations of police misconduct.

Private investigator William Schneid filed the four-page lawsuit July 6, alleging the city breached its oral contract and still owes him $38,815.38 for his services.

The city argued in its three-page response to the lawsuit Aug. 5 that the city entered into a written contract with Schneid that called for a payment of $22,000.

"The parties agreed orally and confirmed in writing that any obligation of the city to plaintiff (Schneid) would be satisfied in full by the city's payment of approximately $22,000 to plaintiff," according to the city's response to Schneid's lawsuit.

Schneid, however, alleges that he investigated allegations of police misconduct for two years, including a police sergeant accused of illegally detaining suspects and stealing department funds. When he submitted billing statements to the city totaling more than $38,0000, the city refused to pay him.

City Attorney James F. Penman said he is unaware of any oral agreement between Schneid and the city that stipulated for more money.

"No one had authority to enter into that kind of agreement anyway. The Mayor and (City) Council would have to approve that, and they did not," Penman said.

The city believes that the allegations in Schneid's complaint are vague and fail to state specific facts and details.



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Chevron's Private Investigation Firm Attempts to Recruit Independent Journalist To Spy in The Amazon

An exposé in the Atlantic magazine reveals how one of the world’s largest private investigation firms, Kroll, hired by oil giant Chevron, tried to recruit an American journalist to undermine a massive $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron brought by the residents of the Ecuadorian Amazon. We speak with the journalist, Mary Cuddehe, and with Han Shan, the coordinator for Amazon Watch’s Clean Up Ecuador campaign.

AMY GOODMAN: We begin today with a new twist in the 17-year legal battle between oil giant Chevron and the residents of the Ecuadorian Amazon, who say decades of reckless oil drilling have taken a deadly toll on their health and their environment. They accuse Texaco, now Chevron, of dumping over 18 billion gallons of toxic waste into the rainforest. Chevron now faces a $27.3 billion lawsuit.

An article in the latest issue of the Atlantic magazine reveals how a private investigation firm, hired by Chevron, tried to recruit an American journalist to undermine the high-profile lawsuit. According to the first-person account of Mary Cuddehe, the investigative firm Kroll flew her to Colombia and offered her $20,000 to spend six weeks in Lago Agrio, the jungle town in Ecuador where the trial is being held. They wanted her to say she was an independent journalist, while spying for Chevron, and find out if the plaintiffs in the lawsuit had "rigged" a health study that found the community suffered abnormally high cancer rates. But Mary Cuddehe said no. She refused the offer to become a corporate spy.

The article is called "A Spy in the Jungle," and Cuddehe writes: "There was a reason they wanted me. With one Google search, anyone could see that I was, in fact, a journalist. If I went to Lago Agrio as myself and pretended to write a story, no one would suspect that the starry-eyed young American poking around was actually shilling for Chevron."

We invited Chevron to come on the program, but they declined. Chevron spokesman Kent Robertson did, however, not directly address Mary Cuddehe’s claims, but acknowledged hiring Kroll. Robertson said in a statement to Democracy Now! that "It should come as no surprise that we have hired an outside investigative firm to help document the fraud being perpetrated by the plaintiffs’ lawyers and their associates in this case. There are now numerous documented examples of falsified expert reports, fraudulent evidence, unsubstantiated health claims and collusion with court experts," he wrote.

Mary Cuddehe is based in Mexico City. She joins me now via Democracy Now! video stream. We welcome you to Democracy Now!, Mary Cuddehe.


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Wife Wins $9 Million From Husband's Alleged Mistress

Cynthia Shackelford's story could have been no different than that of any other aggrieved wife: The North Carolina woman, 60, thought her husband Allan was deeply in love with her. Then came his late nights at the office and suspicious charges on his credit card and cell phone bills. And finally, a private investigator confirmed what she had feared: Her husband, she said, was having an affair.

But Shackelford's story has a $9 million twist. Under centuries-old North Carolina case law, Shackelford sued her husband's alleged mistress, Anne Lundquist, for "alienation of affection," charging that the woman broke up her 33-year marriage.

Last week, Shackelford won. A jury awarded her $5 million in compensatory damages and $4 million in punitive damages to be paid by Lundquist.

"She set her sights on him. ... She knew he was married," Shackelford said of Lundquist. "You don't go after married men and break up families."

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Lawyer Sues Sheriff's Office, Private Investigation Continues

More than 48 hours after a missing woman's body is found a new development in the case. A spokesperson for her family, local attorney Andy Savage is suing the Charleston County Sheriff's Office.

Savage announced late on Monday that he is suing Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon and his department. Savage says one of his private investigators found the body of Katherine Waring on Wadamalaw Island this weekend.

We spoke with Savage this weekend, before the lawsuit and he was already critical of the police department.

"It's hard to swallow arrogance, as a citizen of this community. I don't think my investigators who solved the case were handled decently by the Charleston Police Department," Savage said.

He is suing for unspecified damages, the return of notes and other items taken from the private investigator  including his car.  The case goes to court on Tuesday. Meanwhile there are still more questions than answers in the case of Katherine Waring.

The Charleston Police Department are calling the case a death investigation and not a homicide investigation. Four months of agony ended Saturday for Laura Waring, her cousin. Kate Waring's skeleton was located in the Polly Pointe Subdivision on Wadmalaw Island She had been missing from Downtown Charleston since June 12.

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Woman Sues PI Over Legal Tracking Device

Teej Cummins' outlook on life changed when she stopped at a Shawnee Hills store in September.

When she left the store, a stranger approached her and told her that someone did something to her car.

Cummins said that the stranger told her that a black van drove up. A man with a black box got out and crawled underneath her car, attached the box and then drove off.

It turned out that the person in the van was a private investigator who was looking into Cummins' job injury claim, 10 Investigates' Paul Aker reported.

He used a GPS tracking device. With a magnet, the GPS usually sticks, undetected, to a car's undercarriage. Cummins said that she thought whatever was hiding under car might be a bomb so she called police.

"The officer (asked), 'Do you have any enemies?'" Cummins said. "I remember that moment and the sure panic."

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Florida Eye Institue Founder Felt Threatened

Florida Eye Institute founder Dr. Paul Minotty says he had a security system installed in the three-story building because he believed there was a conspiracy against him, threatening his well-being.

Minotty told jurors on Tuesday he wanted protection fearing that he was going to set up for an arrest for drunken driving following a Christmas party in 2007.

He also told jurors he heard a clinic employee bought a 50-caliber military rifle.

Circuit Judge Robert Hawley cautioned jurors that Minotty's testimony should only be used in judging the defendant's state of mind rather the truth of the assertions.

Minotty is on trial in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit brought by three of the institute's six doctor-owners. The three contend Minotty financially mismanaged the firm, over their objections, and allegedly resorted to having electronic surveillance equipment secretly installed in their private offices in violation of state law.

The plaintiffs are seeking an unspecified amount of damages and want the institute put in a business receivership.

6 Exciting Job Ideas for the Adventurous

You don't have to be an extreme skier or a motocross rider to get paid for pumping adrenaline. In fact, six of the fastest growing careers in America require candidates who love to put themselves in extreme conditions to get their jobs done. Each one of these careers has been rated by government analysts as growing as fast as or faster than the average career over the next decade. While spies handle justice on a global scale and detectives close cases locally, private investigators dig for information that can help settle civil lawsuits. Instead of uncovering clues for mysterious clients, most private investigators scour parking lots and pawn shops for stolen property. Other specialists uncover insurance fraud, locate child support deadbeats, and plug corporate information leaks.