If the suit is purely personal, the defendant may get no deduction at all, and that can extend to attorney fees too.
But Mr. Davis's partner Steven Shapiro testified at the trial as a witness for Def Jam, which had itself named Mr. Gottlieb as a personal co-defendant in its counterclaim against TVT Records -- the same tactic Mr. Davis complained about with respect to Mr. Gottlieb.
Earlier this month, Kathleen McRae told jurors that she ran a department at Tyco that managed the defendants' personal business.
But trials that never seem to end can siphon court resources, cause defendants personal and financial turmoil and try jurors' patience.
"This apartment was really for the personal use of the defendant," Mr. Fernandez said.
Moreover, he said the defendant's personal physician had warned that prison would likely cause Marshall's death.
But there is now much greater flexibility to take into consideration the specific factors in a case, including the defendant's personal background and the impact of the crime.
Judge Chambers, however, citing the evidence of the effects of the war on Mr. Oldani, concluded that "the personal characteristics of the defendant warrant a sentence lower than the guideline range".
In order to hear an ATCA case a court must have personal jurisdiction over the defendant, which means that he or she must live or be present in the United States.
He said that two hours after the shooting, a man calling himself Gerry McGeough and with the same personal details as the defendant was admitted to Monaghan Hospital with a gunshot wound.
