Res ipsa loquitur ("The thing itself speaks")
SUBMITTED BY LAWRENCE RAFFERTY, GUEST BLOGGER
Now that the end of the year is just hours away, I thought it would be nice to put into writing some of the New Years resolutions that I have for 2011. This year has been a year of highs and lows for myself and for the country. These resolutions are my hopes and dreams for myself, the country and the world in the coming year.
Boy, New Mexico governors really stick together . . . even after 130 years. On his last day in office, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico refused to pardon Billy the Kid for the killing of Sheriff William Brady in Lincoln County, New Mexico despite his conclusion that William H. Bonney was indeed promised such a pardon by then Governor Lew Wallace.
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
I decided to dust off another old case that I found in my Fairy Tale Crimebusters File. You may remember my previous post about a wolf, a hunter, and a little lass who wore a red riding hood–Crime & Punishment: Cross-Dressing Criminal Meets His Maker!
Today, I have a tale in verse of a poor fatherless boy who disobeyed his mother and later robbed a man of gigantic proportions…three times!
About the thief who robbed the sleeping giant:
It was Jack, a boy who’s self-reliant.
He climbed the beanstalk near his shack
And stole some gold coins in a sack.
He raced back home and spent the money
On chocolate cookies, milk, and honey.
Happy New Year’s Eve to all of our blog family. We will be spending New Year’s Eve at home this year — preparing for our annual New Year’s party on January 1st. I will be toasting to everyone on our extended blog family.
I saw this story on Reddit and it raises a lot of unanswered questions. The Examiner below reports that the video was taken by the wife of Gary Grana, 33, who was arrested for firing a crossbow in his yard at a target. Grana ends up under a pile of officers after a rather large number of officers respond to the call.
Continue reading ‘Lincoln Nebraska Police Shown Arresting Man For Firing Crossbow at Target in Backyard’
The video below has resulted in the arrest of a Brooksville Florida police officer, Detention Sgt. David Dixon, after he was shown punching an inmate in the face for no apparent reason. The sheriff said that man was just “running his mouth” and did not deserve to be punched at the Hernando County Jail.
Continue reading ‘Florida Officer Arrested After Video Shows Him Punching Inmate’
Christopher Blackstone, 25, seems intent to make the worst people of 2010 year before time runs out. Upset that his girlfriend, Talitha Peterson-Hooks, 25, left their apartment during an argument and then refused to take his calls, he proceeded to stomp her puppy to death and sent her a text message saying “If you would have answered your phone, your dog would still be alive.”
It is becoming abundantly clear why Kelsey Grammer did not play a lawyer on television. The Frasier star is about to divorce his third wife, Camille Donatacci, who reportedly refused a $30 million settlement because it did not include child support or alimony. He did not have a prenup. However, Grammer, 55, wants to hurry along the divorce so he can marry his fourth wife, 29-year-old Kayte Walsh. However, he is again refusing to do a pre-nup because he is certain this time that they are meant for each other. The case is a textbook account of the limits on lawyers being able to protect clients from themselves.
Continue reading ‘Hope Over Experience: Kelsey Grammer Preparing for $50 Million Divorce Payout To Third Wife While Refusing Pre-Nup With Fourth Wife To Be’
The Innocence Project is reporting that Robert Stinson is eligible for only $25,000 of compensation in Wisconsin after serving 23 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit. The outrageously low compensation is the result of a statutory compensation level that has not been changed since 1913.
Continue reading ‘Wisconsin Man Given Only $25,000 For 23 Years in Jail for Murder That He Did Not Commit’
Dr. Michelle Ferrari-Gegerson, 37, has died in a bizarre case with product liability implications. Police say that Ferrari-Gegerson was accidentally strangled by a electronic neck massager on Christmas Eve when her necklace got caught in the massager.
Continue reading ‘Florida Doctor Allegedly Strangled By Neck Massager’
In one of the most high-profile rape convictions in history, a three-judge panel of the Tel Aviv district court found former Israeli president Moshe Katsav guilty of multiple charges of rape and sexual harassment yesterday. While obviously painful for any country, the conviction does show a commitment to blind justice in Israel where high-ranking officials are not given effective immunity seen on other countries in the region.
Continue reading ‘Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav Convicted of Rape’
Arthur Sedille has a difficult criminal defense to prove at trial. Sedille admits that he shot to death his wife in Oklahoma City. However, he insists that he was merely engaging in fantasy sex play with a gun that he thought was unloaded. It wasn’t.
Continue reading ‘Oklahoma Man Attempts Fetish Defense to Murder’
Andrew John Bornen, 16, was killed while lying in the middle of the road of a busy street outside of Ipswich, Australia. Bornen was not engaging in some high school prank. He was lying face down in the middle of street with his hands cuffed behind him at the insistence of the police. The prosecutors have decided that no charges will be filed against the Queensland officers.
Continue reading ‘Prosecutors Refuse to Bring Charges of Any Kind After Police Leave 16-Year-Old Boy Handcuffed and Lying Facedown in Street . . . Only To Be Run Over’
Rev. Sandra McGriff, head of The Church of the Living God and one of the members of a powerful political family in Dallas, has been accused of breaking into the home of a parishioner on Christmas Eve to steal more than $10,000 worth of property, including fur coats, designer purses and electronics. She denies the allegations.
Continue reading ‘Leading Evangelist Preacher in Dallas Arrested For Allegedly Breaking Into Parishioner’s Home to Steal Furs and Designer Purses’
Newspapers are reporting that the United States State Department under Hillary Clinton made the extraordinary decision to refuse assistance requested by the United Arab Emirates into the assassination of a top Hamas commander. Israel’s Mossad is widely viewed as responsible for the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhoh, which broke a host of international and domestic laws. The reports are based on Wikileaks documents and again suggests that the Administration misled the public in its position on the assassination.
A court in Saudi Arabia has ruled that an angry text message sent by a husband to his wife proclaiming himself divorced is binding. The man said he was just mad and did not mean it but the wife was thrilled and insisted that she was now free. The Court agreed that the SMS is a binding divorce in the Kingdom.
Continue reading ‘OMG We’re Divorced: Saudi Court Allows Divorce By Text Message’
I have the very sad duty of reporting that Eric Fatla, one of my first-year evening law students has died in Chicago. Eric was 26 years old. I have been informed that Eric died today shortly after 1 p.m. from the severe injuries that he sustained in his fall at the Union League Club in Chicago shortly before Christmas. I cannot express the profound sadness over the loss of Eric who was a brilliant young man with an extraordinary background and an even brighter future. As shown by the outpouring of comments on this blog and other messages sent directly to the family, Eric’s tragedy has left many in shock and disbelief. We have lost a good friend and a wonderful person at George Washington and he will be long missed by those who knew him.
Continue reading ‘The Passing of Eric Fatla’
Submitted by Guest Blogger, Lawrence Rafferty
After a wonderful Christmas weekend spent with my family and my two Grandsons, and after celebrating the Bears victory over the Jets, it is time to get back to work. I was not surprised to read that the Republican minority in the United States Senate have been trying to prevent President Obama’s nominations for the Federal Judiciary from receiving a vote on the Senate floor. However, I was shocked to see the extent of the intentional obstruction. The Obama Administration has the lowest judicial confirmation record since before the Carter administration. Almost one of every nine judicial judgeships is currently without a Federal judge on the bench. How could a minority in the Senate derail the nominations of so many judges to the Federal bench?
President Barack Obama has finally received praise for his terror policies . . . from Bush officials. Two of the officials commonly named as responsible for allegedly criminal acts during the Bush Administration, former National Intelligence Director retired Vice Admiral Michael McConnel and former Central Intelligence Agency Director Michael Hayden, are heaping praise on Obama for going even farther than George Bush in his policies. Now, there is an ignoble accomplishment.
Continue reading ‘Bush Officials Praise Obama For Going Further Than Bush in Terror Crackdown’
We have often followed torts and criminal cases alleging different forms of professional practice without a license. This one, however, is a bit of a surprise. Chikayoshi Hishiki, 55, and two associates were arrested for violating Japan’s Medical Practitioners Law by providing coffee enemas without a license.
Continue reading ‘Japanese Police Arrest Three Men For Unlicensed Provision of Coffee Enemas’
In West Hartford, Connecticut, Francheska Terrero, 19, is accused of a truly seasonal crime: assault with a Christmas tree. Terrero is accused to using the tree as a weapon (as well as a cellphone) against her parents.
Continue reading ‘Fir Flying: Daughter Attacks Parents With Christmas Tree’
In Rochester Hills, Michigan, prosecutors have brought a highly controversial case — criminally charging a man for reading his ex-wife’s emails without her permission. Leon Walker, 33, could receive five years for the common act of logging on to his wife’s email, an act of snooping that disclosed that she was having an affair with another man. This is the first known time where a spouse or ex-spouse has been prosecuted under the law without any evidence of commercial theft. Yet, the office of Jessica Cooper (left) appears to want to create new precedent that would radically expand the reach of the law.
Continue reading ‘Michigan Man Criminally Charged After Reading Wife’s Email’
The Chinese government has cut off access of lawyers to leading human rights advocate, Liu Xianbin, 42. He was charged in June for subversion for “incitement to subvert state power” for his articles that included his reflections on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and the arrest of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.
Continue reading ‘China Cuts Off Access Of Lawyers to Leading Human Rights Advocate’
A survey conducted of people in England established this year that, for the first time, the majority of that nation are not religious. Fifty-one percent of those polled reported that they have no religion — a sharp contrast to the same poll conducted in 1985 when 67% said that they were Christians.
Continue reading ‘For God and Country: England Now Non-Religious Nation For First Time in History’
One of the most unique beauty competitions was held this week. About 20,000 camels are competing in the Mazayin Camel beauty competition as part of the Al Dhafrah Festival. You can pick up a looker for prices reaching millions of dirhams or just watching the curvaceous Camelus.
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
FAIR and its legal arm, Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), have been busy. FAIR and IRLI have been hopping state-to-state helping local governments craft anti-immigration ordinances, like Arizona’s infamous SB 1070. Arizona’s legal fees have already exceeded $1 million.
Desperately needed tax payer funds are being used by local governments to fight legal challenges to the ordinances drafted with the assistance of IRLI.
Continue reading ‘Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)’
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
For your listening pleasure, we have The Ronettes in glorious STEREO!
Best wishes to everyone celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah. Continue reading ‘Merry Christmas To All’
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Here’s a poem I wrote and some information about the candy cane:
CANDY CANE
Stuffed
in my green felt stocking
I find
a striped stick of sweetness,
red as Rudolph’s nose,
white as Santa’s beard.
I crinkle open my peppermint present…
let my tongue celebrate
the wintry taste of Christmas.
I am afraid that I have some devastating news for the George Washington community. Late last night, shortly before leaving for midnight mass in Chicago, I learned that evening law student Eric Fatla had a horrible accident while visiting with his family in Chicago. He reportedly fell four stories and suffered traumatic brain injury. The family is reaching out to his friends and asking for prayers. He is given less than a five percent chance of survival and the next two days are critical.
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
University of Oklahoma researchers are conducting DNA testing on bone fragments found on
a remote and deserted Pacific Island to determine if they belong to Amelia Earhart. Earhart and navigator, Fred Noonan, were lost on July 2, 1937, attempting a trans-global fight aboard the Electra. A massive search involving the U.S. Navy revealed nothing but weak or unintelligible signals presumably from the Electra were received. Now we may know why.
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Continue reading ‘Merry Christmas from the Birds, Beasts, & Bugs’
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
With the new year comes the beginning of the 2012 presidential race. Outgoing Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty is making his move. He’s written a book, and he’s written a recent op-ed article for the Wall Street Journal. That article is so devoid of facts that Pawlenty has been awarded the “Pants on Fire” rating on PolitiFact’s Truth-o-meter.
This should make him a shoo-in for the Republican nomination.
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Presented for your listening enjoyment, Darlene Love in glorious STEREO! Hope Santa brought you headphones/earbuds.
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Season’s Greetings from Jack & Rudy: A Holiday Poem
(Jack is my daughter’s yellow Lab and Rudy is the cat she got two Christmases ago.)
Jack loves Christmas. Woof! Woof! Woof!
Rudy loves it too. Mew! Mew! Mew!
Can’t wait to get their presents—
Some biscuits and a bone,
Some catnip and a ball of yarn,
Some meat-scented cologne.
Jack and Rudy love their tree—
Its ornaments and lights,
The gold star at its tippy-top
Glistening and bright.
Some judges are lionized for their record of moving cases along. Nevada judge Valerie Vega, however, is being ridiculed when she pushed jurors to work through the night in a murder case so that the trial would not interfere with her vacation plans. It appears that things that happen with Vegas do not stay with Vega.
Continue reading ‘Justice Delayed is a Judicial Vacation Denied: Judge Orders All-Nighter For Jury in Murder Case To Accomodate Her Vacation Plans’
In what could be one of the most significant regulatory changes since its founding, the EPA has moved toward imposing limits on greenhouse gases with a finding that such gases now present a “serious problem . . . for future generations.” The move could have widespread environmental benefits apart from climate change in forcing more fuel efficient cars and greater limitations on power plants and industrial sources.
Continue reading ‘EPA Moves Toward Limits on Greenhouse Gases’
Televangelist and one-time Republican presidential candidate Pat Robertson came out on his show “The 700 Club” in opposing the criminalization of marijuana. As someone who has historically preached about bringing down fire and brimstone on sinners, the concern over tokers came as something of a surprise and sent his handlers into a wild spin with the media.
Continue reading ‘Reefer Madness: Rev. Pat Robertson Speaks Out Against Criminalization of Possession of Pot’
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Texas Civil Rights Project attorney James C. Harrington has filed a lawsuit in United States District Court against the Kilgore [TX] Independent School District and softball coaches Rhonda Fletcher and Cassandra Newell. The suit was brought on behalf of the mother of the minor daughter, referred to as S.W. The suit alleges that the coaches violated the daughter’s fourteenth amendment right to privacy by disclosing the girl’s sexual orientation to her mother.
The KISD claims their policy mandates that teachers reveal students’ sexual orientation to their parents.
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Rep. Barney Frank pwns CNSNews reporter Nicholas Ballasy.
H/T: Media Matters.
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Today we have The Ronnettes in glorious STEREO!
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Passing through Colerain Township just north of Cincinnati, 41-year-old plumber Scott Lane, saw his nightmare unfold. His springtime cross-country trip was uneventful up to this point, but now he faced the fear that awakens motorcyclists from their sleep – a careening car crossing into his lane and heading straight for him. At the wheel, 24-year-old Amber Schwartz, her blood infused with morphine and oxymorphine, was feeling neither pain nor anxiety. Despite laying the bike down, the crash was unavoidable.
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Police in Lancashire, England, have been investigating a series of strange home burglaries. It appears the perpetrators of the burglaries like to target homes with hot tubs. The burglars sneak onto people’s property, soak in the spas, and then enter the homes and steal from their victims.
To date, there have been four such burglaries. The “hot tub gang” has allegedly stolen thousands of pounds worth of cash and goods—including a 42-inch plasma television, a laptop computer, and a Nintendo Wii games console.
Continue reading ‘“Hot Tub Gang” in England Avoids Getting into Hot Water with Police’
A federal lawsuit has been filed against Hamilton County (Ohio) Sheriff deputies by John Harmon, a diabetic who was suffering from dangerously low sugar levels when he was allegedly tasered and “violently dragged from the vehicle, thrown on the ground, kicked in the head by a boot, and stomped mercilessly while lying on his back.”
A 13-year-old boy in Oklahoma City was arrested in class in possession of a . . . wait for it . . . here it comes . . . a permanent marker. That’s right, Roosevelt Middle School teacher DeLynn Woodside, 50, had the boy arrested when finding him with a permanent marker in violation of a city ordinance.
Continue reading ‘Indelible Education: Teacher Has Middle School Student Arrested for Use of Marker’
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Following the worst economy in a generation, Americans this year are poised to hand away $48 billion to the needy. In what must have pure capitalists scratching their heads, charitable donations are up more than 30% over last year. In fact, 74% of Americans are participating in the benevolence according to Convio Inc.’s annual year-end giving report.
Continue reading ‘“Greedy” Americans Donate $48B This Holiday Season’
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Disappointed that the remastered Beatles box set had She Loves You in mono? We offer The Beatles in glorious STEREO!
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
2010 could have been the last Christmas for two-year-old Nathan Saavedra of Carpenterville, Illinois. Suffering from a rare birth defect known as “Prune Belly Syndrome,” the toddler faced months of dialysis to stave off the deleterious effects of a failing urinary tract and an uncertain future. Reading about the child’s sad prognosis in the Elgin Courier-News, prompted 38-year-old Chris Doing into “doing” something. Inspired by his own grandmother’s posthumous gift of her organs, Doing contacted the local hospital to volunteer his kidney for the child.
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