Word: neal
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Kristy McNichol and Tatum O'Neal, the stars of Little Darlings, have been among the best child actors of their generation, but now they are growing up. Like the Shirley Temples and Margaret O'Briens before them, they have a difficult passage ahead. For some child actors, aging can be a positive process: youthful skills blossom into full-fledged creative maturity. Others are not so fortunate. Aging can also rob child actors of their spontaneity and innocence; yesterday's young performers can all too easily become the mannered actors of tomorrow...
...could expose the firm to untold millions of dollars in punitive damages-a penalty above and beyond a plaintiffs actual losses-in the nearly 40 Pinto cases still pending. Little wonder, then, that Ford was reportedly willing to budget $1 million for its defense, which was headed by James Neal, 50, the gravel-voiced Tennessean who was chief prosecutor in the Watergate trials...
...state's case was hobbled early in the trial when Judge Harold Staffeldt ruled that the prosecution could submit only evidence involving Pintos manufactured in 1973; as a result, Cosentino could not present much of his evidence. Neal showed jurors exhibits and portions of nine miles of test-crash films demonstrating that the Pinto was at least as safe as rival subcompacts. Then he sprang a surprise: he produced two witnesses who testified that Judy Ann had told them just before she died that her car was stopped when it was struck by the van. Thus, argued Neal...
...seven men and five women began their deliberations, only four of them seemed convinced by the state's case. As time wore on, three more moved over into the Ford column, and finally, after 25 hours, the last holdout, James A. Yurgilas, made it unanimous. A relieved Neal said he hoped the verdict would "discourage prosecutions like this in the future." But some legal experts doubt that it will. They believe that the publicity may encourage prosecutors elsewhere to bring similar cases. Said Cosentino: "I would hope that the fact that Ford Motor Co. had to come to Winamac...
...Neal defended the association, saying, "Our objective is to conduct hearings informally and give youngsters every opportunity to present their grievances to us informally...