The Travis County Constable’s Office has released the dashcam video of the tasering of 72-year-old Kathryn Winkfein by Deputy Chris Bieze. We previously discussed this story but the video is highly disturbing in the decision to shoot the 4’11” great grandmother. Before he fires the weapon, Winkfein responds to Bieze’s threat to taser with an “I dare you.” He didn’t need a double dare.
Continue reading “Video: Officer Tasers 72-Year-Old Great-Grandmother After a Dare”
Month: July 2009
Lubna Hussein, a former journalist and current United Nations worker, is facing 40 lashes for the crime of wearing pants in a public place — an act of unspeakable “indecency” under Sharia law in Sudan. She says that 10 other women arrested at a restaurant in Khartoum, including some non-Muslims, were already flogged.
Former Pennsylvania lawyer Ralph Mirarchi appears to have as bad marital as legal problems these days. Under a plea bargain, Marachi was supposed to have his sentence reduced once his wife sold their New Jersey home to help repay his victims. Instead, Mirachi, 69, was sentenced to up to 8 1/2 years after his wife of forty years Dorothy “Dot” Mirachi decided to keep the home and allegedly used money from another real estate sale to pay off her Lexus rather than her husband’s victims.
Continue reading “Dot Con: Wife Refuses to Turn Over Money to Victims to Reduce Husband’s Sentence”
The City of Clearwater, Florida has decided to throw one back. We have been following the story of bait shop owners Herb and Lori Quintero in Clearwater, Florida who challenged a fine for having a fish mural painted on the outside of their business — later covered up by a copy of the first amendment. The controversy was a combination of remarkably bad lawyering and judgment by the city. It has now concluded after two adverse rulings against the city and a $55,000 settlement paid to the Quinteros.
Continue reading “The One That Got Away: Florida Fish Shop Wins Case Against Clearwater”
When Antonio Love failed to heed orders to come out of a bathroom at a Dollar General store, Mobile police used pepper spray and a Taser on him — ultimately arresting him for resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and failure to obey a police officer. The problem is that Love, 37, is deaf and mentally disabled.
Continue reading “Shocking Love: Police Taser and Pepper Spray Deaf, Mentally Disabled Man for Not Complying With Orders”
The debate continues to rage this week over the push by Vice President Dick Cheney and others to have former President George Bush deploy active military units in a suburb of Buffalo to arrest a small group of men who were suspected of supporting terrorism (here). Nor surprising, Bush officials went to Berkeley law professor John Yoo to tell them that (surprise!) the President was not bound by the Fourth Amendment or federal law if he unilaterally declared the operation to be a national security matter. Yoo and his former colleague conclude that “the president has the legal and constitutional authority to use military force within the United States to respond to and combat future acts of terrorism, and that the Posse Comitatus Act does not bar deployment.” I discussed the controversy on this segment of Countdown.
Continue reading “Yoo Must Be Kidding: Professor Argues That Bush Could Negate Both The Fourth Amendment and The Posse Comitatus Act By Simply Declaring Deployment To Be A National Security Matter”
The British army took a remarkable and commendable step this month by featuring Trooper James Wharton, an openly gay soldier. While U.S. military officers continue to fret over gays in the military and discharge decorated heroes for their private relations, the British has shown that tough guys can be gay guys.
Amanda Bonnen thought that she was merely expressing herself when she posted a public tweet on Twitter on May 12th complaining about mold in her Chicago apartment. The Horizon Group Management company has responded by suing her for defamation in a rare tweet tort by a business. However, tortious tweets are finding their way into court as the basis for liability claims.
Continue reading “Tweety Tort: Chicago Tenant Sued for Defamation After Sending Moldy Tweet”
The State Bar of California will allow a remarkable graduate of UC Davis School of Law to sit for the bar exam after the intervention of the California Supreme Court. Sara Granda is a quadriplegic who was barred from sitting on the exam due to a technical glitch on her online application.
Continue reading “California Supreme Court Orders Bar to Allow Quadriplegic To Take Exam”
Stephen L. Thompson, 58, a courthouse janitor in Clark County, Indiana had a curious response to a court reporter who rebuffed his expressions of affection. Hell hath no fury like a janitor scorned.
Continue reading “Urine a Lot of Trouble, Mr. Thompson: Janitor Filmed Relieving Himself on Court Reporter’s Chair”
Despite continuing controversies associated with the expanding use of tasers, Taser International has concluded that the problem is that officers cannot taser enough people before facing the hassle of reloading. Before an enthusiastic crowd of hundreds of law enforcement officers, the company unveiled its new triple action taser X3-20.
Continue reading “Triple Your Pleasure: Taser To Introduce New Weapon That Allows Officers To Taser Three People Without Reloading”
Ah, those long summer nights at Camp Hamas. Who can forget them? A recent media report has shown pictures of kids reenacting the June 2006 abduction of Schalit in front of a beaming Osama Mazini, a senior Hamas political leader leading negotiations with Israel over his release.
Continue reading “Camp Hamas: Cooking, Camping . . . Kidnapping”
Alexandria (Va.) Police Chief David P. Baker, 58, has been put on administrative leave after crashing his unmarked city car and then blowing 0.19 on a sobriety check — twice the legal limit. Deputy Police Chief Earl Cook has replaced him as acting chief.
Continue reading “Baker Replaced By Cook: Alexandria Police Chief Arrested for Drunk Driving”
Former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin left office with a signature attack on the media in which she accused of making up stories against the military and persecuting her family. There was no mention of the various Republicans describing her as an embarrassment or former McCain staffers describing her as a living nightmare. It comes down to the media and their war on America.
Continue reading “Palin: The American Media is an Anti-Military, Anti-Family Group of Liars”
There is a bizarre story out of China where dozens of Chinese students have seen their future wiped out by the disappearance of the manila folders containing their records. In China, these paper folders follow a student throughout his or her career with every achievement, score, and prospect for a college education. While Chinese officials say that the folders were lost in a move of an office to a floor above, reformers believe that corrupt officials sold the folders to the parents of underachieving students, who then use their records to secure valuable jobs and college entrance.