In the latest twist to the case involving Tyler Clementi, prosecutors have announced that they are considering hate crime charges against Clementi’s roommate, Dharun Ravi, of Plainsboro, N.J., and another student, and Molly Wei. We previously discussed the case on this blog. I have reservations over the addition of such charges based on the evidence that is currently known about the case.
Continue reading “Prosecutors Consider Hate Crime Charges in Clementi Case”
Year: 2010
Raymond Stanley Roberts may go down in history as the ultimate example of the legal advice “deny everything.” When Manatee County deputies removed bags of marijuana and cocaine from his buttocks in a search, Roberts denied the cocaine was his.
Continue reading “Getting to the Bottom of the Matter: Florida Man Denies Possession of Cocaine Between Buttocks”
Each year, I speak to the first-year law students in my class about depression and mental illness — and the need to seek help. Law students often assume that problems like depression are rare when they are quite common among lawyers and are not barriers to professional development. Now, a study has concluded that roughly one in ten Americans suffer from depression and one in 30 suffer from major or manic depression.
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Oakland Police officers are facing criticism after shooting an 11-year-old arthritic yellow Labrador three times in responding to a burglar alarm. Owner Kate Hallock says her dog Gloria was shot three times with a 40-caliber Glock handgun in the family’s backyard.
Continue reading “Oakland Police Criticized After Shooting 11-Year-Old Arthritic Lab”
The problems continue to mount for earlier this month for former St. John’s University dean, Cecilia Chang. Earlier this month, Chang was accused of embezzling over $1 million in donations from the college. Now the FBI is also alleging that she essentially used students as slave laborers around her house.
Continue reading “St. John’s Dean Arrested For Allegedly Using Students As Laborers”
Here is free advice for anyone allegedly drinking and driving: leave the “I Have A Drinking Problem” tee-shirt at home. Due to such lack of forethought, James Johnson, 50, took a mug shot that is likely to remain on the wall of the local police station coffee room for years.
Continue reading “DUI Dress Code Don’ts: Leave the “I Have A Drinking Problem” Tee-Shirt At Home”
Manhattan lawyer Raphael Golb has been convicted of 30 counts of identity theft and impersonating a law professor in a bizarre case that we previously discussed, Golb assumed the identity of the rival of his father, Norman Golb (right), and began sending out false emails under the name of NYU Professor Lawrence Schiffman (left).
Continue reading “New York Lawyer Convicted of Impersonating NYU Professor”
Germany is finally in the black. On Sunday, Germany paid off the last of the reparations set 92 years ago after the end of World War I. The final £60 million installment of the £22 billion debt was paid off pursuant to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles.
Continue reading “It’s Over, Over There: World War I Ends With The Payment of Final Reparations By Germany”
This is a curious crime report. Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, Jr. in Zapata County Texas is dealing with “lake pirates.” Falcon Lake sits on the Texas/Mexican border and a Texas couple was attacked while jetskiing by a boat of “pirates” who shot David Michael Hartley, 30. The wife had to speed off, leaving her husband in the water.
Continue reading “Lake Pirates? Texan Killed on Border Lake By Mexican Pirates”
New Jersey officials are dealing with a tragic suicide of a freshman from Rutgers University after Tyler Clementi was allegedly filmed illegally in a sexual encounter by fellow freshman students Dharun Ravi, 18, and Molly Wei, 18. In an example of the merging of tort and criminal law, the two students have been criminally charged with invasion of privacy.
Continue reading “Rutgers Student Commits Suicide After Two Other Students Secretly Film Sexual Encounter”
There is an interesting ruling out of Canada where Justice Susan Himel of Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice has struck down Canada’s prostitution laws as violating the basic rights of prostitutes and their clients. It is a position that many libertarians and some civil liberties advocates have long advocated — objecting to the criminalizing of such agreements between consenting adults absent some injury to a third-party or cognizable crime.
Continue reading “Canadian Court Strikes Down Prostitution Law”
In Chicago, police and prosecutors are dealing with a shooting in an unexpected way. Margaret Matthews, 68, had long complained about a 12-year-old who has been “terrorizing” her. When the boy joined friends in throwing bricks through her windows, she shot him. Police, however, did not charge her — instead charging the boy.
Continue reading “Elderly Lady Shoots 12-Year-Old After He Threw Brick Through Window — Only The Child Is Charged”
University of Chicago Professor Todd Henderson has found himself in the curious position of being the focus of a national debate over tax rates — and his family’s finances. The corporate law professor wanted to show that people making more than $250,000 a year are not super rich and indeed can be struggling in this economy like other families. The response to this argument on his blog was fast and furious — leading Henderson to shutdown his blog and decline further commentary.
Continue reading “Does This Man Deserve a Tax Break? Blog Triggers Bizarre Debate Over a Law Professor’s Finances Swirls”
A former partner with the California law firm of Bisnar Chase is suing the firm for sexual harassment and breach of contract. Stephen Eggleston claims that he was forced out of the firm after he refused to attend an office retreat where male attorneys were expected to strip naked and engage in an exercise with a Phallus.
Continue reading “Lawyer Sues California Law Firm After Refusing To Attend Retreat With Alleged Male Nudity”
While there are hundreds of thousands of probate cases each year in the United States, the Supreme Court has decided to take up the case of Anna Nicole Smith for the second time to determine if her estate should get part of the fortune from her late Texas oil baron husband.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Accepts Case Involving Anna Nicole Smith’s Probate Claim — For The Second Time”