Brent Frasier, an eight-year veteran of the Mesa, Arizona police department, is facing remarkably light charges after he crashed his car into a public fountain, fled the scene of the accident and left his car with his badge, Glock handgun, and a clip for an AR15 rifle. He later lied to police about the incident. There has been controversy over the fact that he will be charged with only public damage and false statements in the case.
Month: January 2009
One of the items in the stimulus bill that has been overlooked is $100 million in grants for faith-based organizations. As I discussed this week in my column, Obama has pledged to not only continue but massively expand President Bush’s faith-based initiatives.
Continue reading “Obama Starts To Fulfill Faith-Based Promise With $100 Million in Stimulus Package”
A California appellate court has ruled that the Riverside County-based California Lutheran High School was permitted to expelled two 16-year-old girls for having “a bond of intimacy” that was “characteristic of a lesbian relationship.” It is a major ruling in favor of free exercise, finding that the religious mission of the school trumped the state’s anti-discrimination laws. Continue reading “California Court Rules That Lutheran School May Expel Students as Suspected Lesbians”
The former CIA station chief in Algeria is under investigation by the State and Justice departments for the drugging and raping of two women in his home. Reports indicate that videotapes were recovered showing the officer having sex with what appeared to be drugged women.
Continue reading “Former CIA Station Chief in Algeria Accused of Rape of Two Women”
With lawyers and law students getting pink slips in the recession, Cristina Warthen, a Stanford law graduate, had a novel idea to support herself: she ran a high-priced call girl service. Warthen has now pleaded guilty and avoided jail time, agreeing to pay $313,000 in unpaid taxes as a prostitute who went by the name “Brazil.” She will serve a one year sentence of home detention and three years probation. She ran a website featuring her business named TouchofBrazil.net. She has said that the work as a call girl was done to pay off her student loans.
Continue reading “Debt Service: California Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Work as Call Girl”
These are the types of dangers that law school simply does not prepare you for. Weusi McGowan, 37, wanted San Diego Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser to replace his public defender Deputy Alternate Public Defender Jeffrey Martin. Fraser refused, so after a break McGowan returned to court and promptly produced a plastic baggie with fecal matter and smeared in on the face and hair of Martin. He then tossed the waste at the jury. The home-invasion robbery suspect got a new trial, a new lawyer, and presumably a new assault charge.
Continue reading “In Fecal Delicto : Californian Man Assaults Lawyer and Jury With Feces in Court”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that cheerleading is a contact sport like footballs and therefore participants cannot be sued for accidentally causing injuries. Brittany Noffke, a former varsity cheerleader at Holmen High School in Wisconsin, sued her spotter after she was allowed to fall backwards off the shoulders of a team member, causing a serious head injury. Continue reading “Give Me An Ache, Give Me a Bruise . . . : Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Cheerleading is Contact Sport”
Roy Brown, 54, is a homeless man who said that he was hungry and needed a place to live when he walked the Capitol One bank in Shreveport, Louisiana in December 2007 and stole a single $100 bill. The next day, he turned himself into police, apologized, and said that he was not raised to do such things. After he pleaded guilty, the Shreveport judge then sentenced him to 15 years in prison. In the meantime, former AIG executive Christian Milton defrauded customers of more tha $500 million and was just sentenced to 4 years.
Internal documents from the Peanut Corporation of America reportedly show that the company knew that peanut butter was contaminated with salmonella 12 times in the last two years, but shipped out the contaminated peanut butter to customers. The revelation will most certainly increase the liability facing the company from both the government and civil litigants after the death of eight people and the injury to hundreds across the country. Indeed, it would appear that criminal charges may now be warranted.
The United States is facing a worsening recession, an expanding war in Afghanistan, and global warming. Yet, New York Republican Rep. Peter King believes that one of the more pressing matters for Congress should be to require that all cell phones make a click or sound when taking a picture. It is the basis for his “Camera Phone Predator Alert Act” to protect the unwary from the unscrupulous.
Continue reading “Snapped: Rep. Peter King Introduces Bill To Require That Mobile Phones Make a Sound When Taking Pictures”
Now, this is a tort that can only be found in Japan. Yes (if you are wondering) there appears to be “good” and “bad’ blowfish testicles. Seven people have been hospitalized after eating the testicles prepared in the Japanese city of Tsuruoka by an unlicensed Fugu chef.
Continue reading “Fun With Fugu: Seven Hospitalized For Eating Bad Blowfish Testicles”
For those who cannot tire of Sarah Palin, relief is at hand. SarahPac is a new political action committee that will be seeking to elect officials around the country who are mavericky enough to be allies of the Alaskan governor. This Palinites will be funded around the country, according th the new website.
This week, I testified again in opposition to the current legislation to create a new form of non-state voting member in the House of Representative for the District of Columbia. The hearing before the House Judiciary hearing was quite lively and it appears that the bill has the votes to pass. My testimony is linked below.
Continue reading “Congress Re-Considers D.C. Vote Legislation”
John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has subpoenaed Karl Rove to testify about the Bush administration’s firing of United States attorneys. The subpoena could force an interesting constitutional fight since President Obama would now be in a position to waive executive privilege and Attorney General nominee Eric Holder could allow the matter to go to a grand jury. I discussed this issue last night on Countdown in this segment.
Continue reading “House Judiciary Committee Subpoenas Karl Rove in Critical Constitutional Showdown”
Jason Stinson, the football coach of Pleasure Ridge High School in Kentucky, has been charged with reckless homicide in the death of a teenage player, Max Gilpin, 15. Gilpin collapsed from heat exhaustion on August 20, 2008 during a practice and died three days later. Gilpin died during a “gasser” where students sprint up and down the field.
Continue reading “Fatal “Gasser” at Pleasure Ridge High: Football Coach Charged With Reckless Homicide”