Court Spares Infomercial Pitchman From Jail
May 20, 2010 by admin
Filed under KT In The News
May 20, 2010
ABCNews.go.com
An appeals court in Chicago has ruled that an infomercial pitchman won’t have to serve a 30-day jail sentence for getting his supporters to flood a federal judge’s e-mail inbox.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Kevin Trudeau’s contempt of court conviction on Thursday. It says a judge cannot find a defendant in contempt on the spot and without a hearing unless the offending action occurred in the presence of the judge.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman found Trudeau in contempt after his computer and BlackBerry were jammed with e-mails from Trudeau’s supporters. Gettleman argued that a contempt ruling was appropriate because his computer was part of his court.
The judge has overseen a long-running legal battle between Trudeau and the Federal Trade Commission.
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Info Pitchman Trudeau Avoids Jail
May 20, 2010 by admin
Filed under KT In The News
May 20, 2010
SouthtownStar.com
An appeals court in Chicago says infomercial pitchman and author Kevin Trudeau won’t have to serve a 30-day jail sentence for getting his supporters to flood a federal judge’s computer with e-mails.
The appeals court Thursday dismissed Trudeau’s contempt of court conviction, saying an act of contempt must occur in the presence of the judge.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman had found Trudeau in contempt after his computer and BlackBerry were both jammed with e-mails from Trudeau’s supporters.
The appeals court disagreed with Gettleman’s finding that Trudeau had in effect committed contempt in the presence of the judge because the computer was a part of his court.
Trudeau has been fighting a battle with the Federal Trade Commission before Gettleman.
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Infomercial Pitchman Avoids Jail
May 20, 2010 by admin
Filed under KT In The News
May 20, 2010
KWQC.com
An appeals court in Chicago says infomercial pitchman and author Kevin Trudeau won’t have to serve a 30-day jail sentence for getting his supporters to flood a federal judge’s computer with e-mails.
The appeals court on Thursday dismissed Trudeau’s contempt of court conviction, saying an act of contempt must occur in the presence of the judge.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman had found Trudeau in contempt after his computer and BlackBerry were both jammed with e-mails from Trudeau’s supporters.
The appeals court disagreed with Gettleman’s finding that Trudeau had in effect committed contempt in the presence of the judge because the computer was a part of his court.
Trudeau has been fighting a battle with the Federal Trade Commission before Gettleman.
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Kevin Trudeau Off The Hook For Contempt Citation
May 20, 2010 by admin
Filed under KT In The News
May 20, 2010
SunTimes.com
Infomerical King Kevin Trudeau is off the hook.
An appeals court Thursday morning threw out a federal judge’s contempt of court citation against the TV pitchman.
Author and infomercial king Kevin Trudeau was sentenced to 30 days in prison Wednesday after a federal judge last week found him in criminal contempt.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman ordered Trudeau to spend 30 days in jail for urging his followers to deluge Gettleman with e-mails as the judge prepared to make a key decision in a case against Trudeau.
The shenanigans shut down the judge’s BlackBerry and clogged his e-mail inbox.
But the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals — which stayed Trudeau’s sentence pending the appeal — vacated Gettleman’s penalty.
When they heard the appeal last month, appellate court judges questioned whether Gettleman stepped out of bounds by ordering Trudeau to spend 30 days in jail.
In arguments before the appellate judges, Trudeau’s lawyer, Kimball Anderson, said even when the president is sent an e-mail threat, the person accused of sending the threat gets a hearing.
After making a criminal contempt finding in February, Gettleman sentenced Trudeau on his own power.
“There’s nothing that says judges get more power than the president of the United States,” Anderson said last month.
Appellate Judge Ilana Rovner looked around in mock surprise last month. “Do you realize where you are?” she said, to laughter in the courtroom.
The three-judge panel hearing the argument seemed interested in whether Trudeau’s actions could be defined as criminal contempt of court because they happened outside of the court’s presence.
Anderson argued that such a finding could come only when the misbehavior occurs inside the courtroom.
In February Trudeau urged his supporters to e-mail Gettleman to influence him on an upcoming decision in a civil case against Trudeau over deceptive ads.
Gary Feinerman, appointed to argue on behalf of the judge’s order, said Trudeau intentionally stirred up his followers to send angry e-mails and that with today’s technology, a computer is considered part of the judge’s courtroom.
“The court, at that point, was under attack,” he said.
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Infomercial Pitchman Avoids Jail
May 20, 2010 by admin
Filed under KT In The News
May 20, 2010
WREX.com
An appeals court in Chicago says infomercial pitchman and author Kevin Trudeau won’t have to serve a 30-day jail sentence for getting his supporters to flood a federal judge’s computer with e-mails.
The appeals court on Thursday dismissed Trudeau’s contempt of court conviction, saying an act of contempt must occur in the presence of the judge.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman had found Trudeau in contempt after his computer and BlackBerry were both jammed with e-mails from Trudeau’s supporters.
The appeals court disagreed with Gettleman’s finding that Trudeau had in effect committed contempt in the presence of the judge because the computer was a part of his court.
Trudeau has been fighting a battle with the Federal Trade Commission before Gettleman.
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Infomercial Pitchman Trudeau Wins Contempt Appeal
May 20, 2010 by admin
Filed under KT In The News
May 20, 2010
ChicagoBreakingNews.com
by Jeff Cohen
A federal appeals court today overturned a contempt of court ruling against infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau that would have sent him to prison for 30 days.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman had imposed the punishment after Trudeau had supporters flood the judge’s e-mail box with messages as the judge was presiding over a dispute between the Federal Trade Commission and Trudeau over claims Trudea made for various hair and weight loss drugs and treatments.
Gettleman had called the avalanche of e-mails an attempt to “harass, intimidate and influence” him.
In oral argument before the appeals court last month, Trudeau’s lawyer, Kimball Anderson, argued the e-mails were misguided but there had been no intent to disable Gettleman’s computers.
Gettleman’s position was argued by an appointed lawyer, Gary Feinerman, who said Trudeau had deliberately directed the e-mails, keeping the court from doing its job.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion, written by Judge John Daniel Tiner, called Gettleman’s judicial action “an abuse of discretion.”
Direct contempt of court, such as the one issued by Gettleman, is appropriate if the conduct occurs in the presence of the judge and disrupts proceedings in open court, the appeals court said. Gettleman had contended that requirement was satisfied because he could read the messages on the court computer, but the higher court rejected that idea.
The judge and his staff had to do research to determine the e-mails were in fact coming from Trudeau, the court found, which indicated the conduct was not something Gettleman had witnessed. And there was no indication that the contempt finding was needed to restore order, the court said.
“The record in this case is devoid of any suggestion that Trudeau’s summary punishment was necessary to restore the court’s ability to resume its duties,” the opinion states.
The appeals court noted the matter may be referred to the U.S. attorney’s office for prosecution.
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Infomercial Pitchman Avoids Jail
May 20, 2010 by admin
Filed under KT In The News
May 20, 2010
CBS2Chicago.com
An appeals court in Chicago says infomercial pitchman and author Kevin Trudeau won’t have to serve a 30-day jail sentence for getting his supporters to flood a federal judge’s computer with e-mails.
The appeals court on Thursday dismissed Trudeau’s contempt of court conviction, saying an act of contempt must occur in the presence of the judge.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman had found Trudeau in contempt after his computer and BlackBerry were both jammed with e-mails from Trudeau’s supporters.
The appeals court disagreed with Gettleman’s finding that Trudeau had in effect committed contempt in the presence of the judge because the computer was a part of his court.
Trudeau has been fighting a battle with the Federal Trade Commission before Gettleman.
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No Jail, Contempt For TV pitchman Trudeau
May 20, 2010 by admin
Filed under KT In The News
May 20, 2010
TheUSDaily.com
A federal appeals court in Chicago threw out a 30-day jail sentence and contempt citation for television pitchman Kevin Trudeau.
Thursday’s ruling by a unanimous panel of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a February ruling by a federal district judge, who had scolded Trudeau for inciting fans to flood the judge’s e-mail with testimonials.
Trudeau has long battled federal regulators over his marketing of “cures” for such things as disease, memory loss, obesity and financial distress.
The case is Federal Trade Commission v. Trudeau, U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 10-1383.
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No Jail, Contempt For TV Pitchman Trudeau
May 20, 2010 by admin
Filed under KT In The News
May 20, 2010
Reuters.com
by Jon Stempel
Thursday’s ruling by a unanimous panel of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a February ruling by a federal district judge, who had scolded Trudeau for inciting fans to flood the judge’s e-mail with testimonials.
Trudeau has long battled federal regulators over his marketing of “cures” for such things as disease, memory loss, obesity and financial distress.
The case is Federal Trade Commission v. Trudeau, U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 10-1383.
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KT Guilty of Free Speech
May 6, 2010 by admin
Filed under KT In The News
May 6, 2010
OpposingViews.com
Well, the man in America that’s most hated by its government, Kevin Trudeau, is facing criminal charges again, but for what?
For those of you who don’t know Mr. Trudeau, he’s one of the most successful authors, natural living advocates, and consumer reporters in the nation, writing several NY Times bestsellers and now having his own radio show.
However, he recently won an appeal that reversed a $37 million judgment against him, and he’s been virtually unscathed since the bogus charges of fraud and larceny were brought against him, which he pled guilty to under duress and because he knew the government had framed him so well there’s no way the jury would let him walk.
He’s recently been charged with criminal contempt, after doing nothing more than asking for support and testimonials defending his weight loss cure, which so many people have used successfully. The judge tried to cite him for being dishonest because Trudeau said in his book that the system was easy. Of course, something being easy is a matter of opinion, not objective fact, so how can you do that anyway?
So, back to the $37 million judgment he appealed and got reversed. An activist judge has reinstated the fine and is attempting to turn the case into a criminal one. In reality, Kevin Trudeau has done nothing wrong. Well, I guess in the government’s eyes he has: he’s exposed their corruption.
Whether you agree with what Kevin Trudeau says or not, whether you like the guy or hate him (I personally love him to death), free speech is a constitutional right. He has every right to bad-mouth the government and the pharmaceutical companies all he wants. He has the right to call it like he sees it and point out the corruption in the system. He has the right to say all of what he does.
Kevin Trudeau is guilty of nothing more than exercising his right to free speech. Of course, with the extreme leftist liberal government, you’re wrong unless you agree with them, so it would only make sense that they’re trying to silence Kevin. You don’t have to like Kevin to support his right to free speech. Nonetheless, this is evidence that nobody has the right to criticize the government anymore.
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