Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

iJail: Mr. Goodrich Goes to Jail After Threatening to Shoot His IPhone

StoryIt appears that there is an app for quick incarceration. Donald Goodrich, 38, was arrested after making threats against the operating life of his iPhone in an Apple store in Cincinnati.

Goodrich is unlikely to be offered a position as an “Apple Genius.” He told an employee in the store that he was “so mad, I could pop a 9mm at it.” When the employee assured him that that was not necessary (and presumably not an effective way of resolving iPhone problems), Goodrich showed him a gun and said “I’ll do it right now. Look!”

180px-IPhone_3G_S_sidesthumb_weapon_gun_smith_and_wesson_hand_ejectorWhat is interesting is that Goodrich had a concealed weapon permit. So he has been charged with aggravated menacing. It is not, however, menacing the IPhone, which would seem the most obvious victim here. (It was seen vibrating in fear). Rather, it was for causing fear in the employee. He is also accused of failing to tell a deputy that he had a gun, which is also curious since the deputy was responding to the call over his gun.

Goodrich would presumably be allowed to argue that this employee failed to get a joke and that just showing a gun tucked under a shirt cannot be criminal menacing. Either way, I assume the iPhone has been taken to an undisclosed location.

For the full story, click here.

25 thoughts on “iJail: Mr. Goodrich Goes to Jail After Threatening to Shoot His IPhone”

  2. technology shakes
    and trembles in its teeny
    tiny plastic shoes

    Thanks for the laugh! I can actually understand wanting to shoot things electronic. Don’t worry…I don’t own a gun and I’m leaving. Cheers!

  3. AY: “Believe this or not, attorney are schooled to think outside of the box.”

    Sorry, I may be having a dense moment but did you mean “are schooled” or “are NOT schooled”? I’ve met both kinds. Not bashing lawyers here, someones got to come in at the bottom 10% of the class. Also, I know the context of the ‘kill all the lawyers’ quote. What little bit of Federal law I came into contact with I respected greatly for its logic. It pains me deeply that the law no longer seems to me to be s deliberative and logical beast, the last 10-15 years seems to have seen it transformed into a reactionary and entirely politicized creature, more to be feared than respected. Like the old maps say, “here be monsters”.
    —

    AY: “A lot of them could not tell you the attending consequences of a marijuana conviction of a minor.”

    I recall when there was a push for Federal employees convicted of drug use to be penalized with loss of their pension. Srsly, it was a big deal and Federal employee unions had to divert time away from real work to deal with that kind of thing. Don’t get me started…. 🙂

  4. LottaK,

    You see most people cannot think outside the box. They have been limited to think only what is before them. Most people cannot tell you anything about what does not affect them. This is a sad commentary. Believe this or not, attorney are schooled to think outside of the box. A lot of them could not tell you the attending consequences of a marijuana conviction of a minor. In this day and time it affects, school, drivers licenses and many other aspects.

    Ok, I am off of the soapbox now.

  5. AY: In the dictionary.

    Your post on the bear got me to thinking- if we weren’t so limited to the visible spectrum they would glow red- how cool is that? If we saw at the other end of the spectrum they would be, I believe, invisible as their fur is transparent. Awesome.

    Thanks for the S&G vid also. Yesterday after visiting the blawg I went on a Loggins & Mesina (sp?) hunt trying to place a song but didn’t get past Little River Band (my vinyl is alphabetized) and spent some time with them. S & G is digitized so I can open their file and listen to them as I post this. Technology- it is our gift, it is our curse.

  6. lottakatz,

    Are you an attorney answering a question with a statement rather than a direct answer?

    Humm, ok, how about this one.

    When does today come before yesterday and tomorrow?

  8. What is Ursus maritimus?

    Ay do you wear a bow tie? Capable of sending screen shots back to headquarters, now that would be annoying.

    Nal is in the know, ask’im to disable the flash cookies too.

  10. So the left was right all along, only, Goodrich is Bush, the IPhone is the constitution, and the employee is all of us?

  12. Ah, but sir, can you answer this riddle.

    If your house has all southern exposures what color are the bears?

  13. I know for a fact that those little ole camera’s at the intersection that some use for running red lights can identify your drivers licenses a mile and a half away. Yes the same DL that you need your glasses to read.

    Have you noticed the proliferation of those white bubbles on the interstates? Well, friends those are to detect explosives. For some reason or another they can track the chemical compounds at 55. 60, 70 and beyond 100 miles an hour.

    Just remember what Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel had to say:

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od66bhNzBtE&hl=en&fs=1&]

    But if you are David Letterman, the extortion attempts don’t work. I wonder what Chuck Barris would have to say?

  14. Personally, I love that GPS feature. Here in California, it has traffic conditions too, which can be really helpful.

    The news shared by Buddha, regarding remote activation, is worrisome. However, I’m a lot more concerned about the tracking and monitoring of online activities. And, I’m sure, that is beyond compromised at this point.

  15. And I hate to rain on your parade, but I know for a fact due to being involved in telecom that you can turn it off, but it can be overridden and reactivated remotely without your knowledge. The information I have is specific to another network, but I’m guessing any phone with a GPS can rat you out a the flick of a switch. One carrier I know can, on certain phones, even remotely activate the microphone and/or camera as well as the GPS data.

    I have one. I also leave it at home or the office a lot too.

  16. To turn off GPS:

    Go to Settings -> General. There should be a slider for “Location Services.” Turn it off, and that shuts off GPS.

    1. So, NAL, it appears that while getting us to the point to total reliance on your editing services, you have learned how to keep up from tracking you through your iPhone. Clever, Sir, but we can still look for the man with perfect grammar and impeccable writing.

  18. CCD,

    Unfortunately, I think you are correct. This is some scary stuff. It has a lot of features and I am unsure how to turn the GPS off without turning the Internet off. Any suggestions? Or do you work for the NSA?

  20. I hope that that Iphone gets into a really good witness protection program. All too often, the people that get into them cannot abide by the isolation and make a call which reveal their location. I hope this is really a smart phone and does not do such a thing. It would clearly be a wast of the governments resources to relocate this phone only to reveal in a nonchalantly way its location.

    Yesterday, I was using an icon on my phone that said maps. Ok, it said what direction I said where and then it said do you want to use your present location. I was like, WTF and by golly geeze this lil sob satellited into where I was. Now this is some scary stuff.

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