Category: Bizarre

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Uncategorized

New York Informant Caught Planting Crack Before Arrest Of Businessman

FirefoxScreenSnapz073There has long been a controversy over the use of snitches and informants by police who are willing to say or do anything to avoid jail time for their own crimes or simply make some money framing another person. Many cases are built virtually entirely on such testimony of jailhouse confessions or stings using such unreliable individuals. To see just how easy it is to frame someone, look at the video below where an informant is caught planting drugs at a “smoke shop” to allow for the arrest of its owner, Donald Andrews Jr.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Florida Police Shoot Man Who Was Retrieving Cigarettes From His Mother’s Car In Family’s Driveway

282637_353306728075632_1491963889_nLast Saturday, Roy Middleton went out to get a cigarette out of his mother’s car. A short time later, he would end up shot and bleeding on his driveway. Not the victim of a drive by or mugging mind you. The unarmed man was shot by police responding to a call of a man reaching into a car.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics, Society

The Weiner Scandal: The Morality Play Without A Moral Or Redeeming Character

220px-Huma_Abedin220px-AnthonyweinerI must admit to being a bit depressed this day about our country and what has come of principles and ethics among both our politicians and citizens. There seems to be a corruption not just of power but of spirit. The Weiner scandal this morning captures my angst perfectly. There literally does not appear a single redeeming character. You have Anthony Weiner aka Carlos Danger. Then you have the other half of the power couple, Huma Abedin, who assured everyone that she still believes in him while recent reports show a questionable salary arrangement with a Clinton-connected company. Then you have Ms. Leathers, one of the other women, who is actually denouncing Weiner as betraying her when she was helping him betray his wife. Then you have Democratic voters who still have Weiner in a close second place to be elected mayor of New York. If you wonder why our politicians treat us like chumps, just take a look at the Weiner scandal.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

“I Love To Dominate”: Sexual Harassment Lawyer Cleared Of All Charges In Rough Sex Case

gavel2Attorney Robert Michael Hoffman is a free man. Hoffman has been at the center of a bizarre case where multiple women accused him of sexual assaulting them. The complication in the case was that the women had answered his Craigslist invitation for rough sex. He insisted it was merely rougher than they anticipated while they said it was forced sex. The case began to unravel in September 2011 when six of nine counts were tossed by Judge Bruce Chan after a secret tape contradicted the testimony of two of the women. Now the remainder have been dismissed against the San Francisco attorney. Hoffman specializes in sexual harassment cases.

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Bizarre, Society, Torts

The “Eye Candy” Exception: New Jersey Judge Rules Against Discrimination Claim Of “Borgata Babes”

250px-Borgata_acWe have previously discussed difficult cases (here and here and here) where physical appearance is a job criteria — leading to claims of gender discrimination. Now, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Nelson Johnson has ruled that cocktail servers known as the “Borgata Babes” at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa can be required to keep their weight within proscribed limits as part of their job. Johnson ruled against 22 cocktail servers in a decision that found that these positions are part entertainment and part waitress — allowing the company to specify appearance requirements for women described as “eye candy.” The company required women not to gain more than seven percent body weight after their hiring. They wear cleavage-bearing bustiers and high heels at work.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Uncategorized

Corpus Delicti: Tattoo Leads To Conviction of California Gang Member

ht-mugshot-anthony-garcia-jef-110422-wg-1374180035336-447778-ver10-640-480jpg We previously discussed the curious case of Anthony Garcia, 25, who was arrested after police noticed a tattoo on his chest that depicted an unsolved murder. The corpus delicti or body of evidence in this case is the defendant himself who was convicted yesterday for his role in the 2004 shooting at a Pico Rivera liquor store.

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Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Congress Moves To Block Atheist Chaplains

220px-American_Civil_War_ChaplainFor many years, there has been controversy over the funding of military chaplains and the preferences given certain faiths.  The problem is that as much 23 percent of our military list no religious association or preference. While many simply have no religious association with a particular faith, some are agnostics, some are atheists, and some are generally humanists.  It would seem logical to have some chaplains who can relate to those groups. However, members of Congress are irate and insist that chaplains must believe in a deity to be funded. They warm that humanist or secularist chaplains would be traumatizing dying soldiers about being “worm food” and dying without hope.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Media, Politics, Society

Snowden Is A Whistleblower . . . Just Not In The United States

228px-Picture_of_Edward_Snowden220px-Pea_WhistleThese are certain things that you will not easily find in U.S. media like Jimmy Carter declaring that we no longer have a functioning democracy in this country. Another is reading about Snowden as a whistleblower. The White House has been highly successful in telling media not to refer to Snowden as a whistleblower and enlisting various media allies to attack him as a clown and a traitor or mocking his fear of returning home. This week you had to read Moscow Times or other foreign sites (or a link on Reddit) to learn that Snowden has won this year’s Whistleblower Award established by German human rights organizations.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Five Officers Stop Woman For Missing Sticker, Search Car For Drugs, And Then Give Back Phone After Nude Photos Allegedly Transferred By Officer

pamela-held-nude-photos-2215px-NypdpatchWe have been discussing how police are using pretext stops to search for drugs in many jurisdictions. Pamela Held, 27, of Deer Park, Long Island, has an added gripe against a NYPD officer from Queens. She says that she was pulled for a missing sticker and police used that excuse to search her car for drugs. They did not find anything, but they seized her cellphone, searched it, and she claims that NYPD Officer Sean Christian found revealing images of herself and sent them to himself. She is now preparing to sue the city.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Caretaker Charged With Drinking $102,400 of Vintage Whiskey Is Awaiting Trial . . . And A Liver Transplant

250px-Woman's_Christian_Temperance_Union_CartoonThere is an interesting property case out of Pittsburgh this week. Patricia Hill, owner of the South Broadway Manor Bed and Breakfast, has charged that her former tenant drank 52 bottles of vintage whiskey valued that he was supposed to safeguard. Hill found 104 bottles of pre-prohibition Old Farm Pure Rye Whiskey when she bought the historic mansion. She is accusing her caretaker, John Saunders, 62, of drinking the booze but he denied it. However, police say that a DNA test found his DNA on the empty bottles. The consumed whiskey was valued at $102,400 or roughly $2000 a bottle.

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Animals, Bizarre, Criminal law

Florida Gators Linebacker Antonio Morrison Arrested For Barking At Police Dog

Capture_34109Florida starting linebacker Antonio Morrison has been suspended from the team after he was arrested for barking at a police dog. That’s right, the 19-year-old was arrested for walking up to a police dog and barking at him. Gainesville police then added a second, and equally dubious charge, of resisting arrest without violence. Morrison came up with a novel defense: he insisted that the dog barked at him first.

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Bizarre, Society

U.S. Agriculture Department: Marty The Magician Must Submit Disaster Plan And Other Paperwork for Casey The Rabbit

170px-Zan_Zig_performing_with_rabbit_and_roses,_magician_poster,_1899-2Marty the Magician may be able to make a rabbit appear from his hat but he might want to start practicing making it disappear. The magician recently received a letter from the Agriculture Department beginning “Dear Members of Our Regulated Community . . .” It was about his rabbit.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society, Uncategorized

Florida Mom Arrested After Leaving Kids In Car During Lil Wayne Concert

r-BRITTANY-NICOLE-HARRIS-large570220px-Lil_Wayne_in_ConcertBrittany Harris, 25, is the latest parent to be arrested for going to a concert or casino and leaving kids in the car. In this case, Harris went to a Lil Wayne rap concert and left her two children — ages 3 and 5 — in a parking lot with hundreds of strangers milling about, including a large number of drunken people.

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Bizarre, International, Politics, Society

Graham Lands A Double Klutz With A Carter Split: GOP Senator Proposes Olympic Boycott Over Snowden Asylum

01.20Graham-080106-18270- 0035We have previously discussed the rage of powerful politicians embarrassed by the disclosures of Edward Snowden. The President and the Congress suddenly found themselves having to explain years of false statements and an unprecedented attack on privacy in America because of Snowden. Our governing class had long ago adopted a type of dismissive paternalism toward the public as shepherds to so many sheep. Then one sheep goes and spooks the flock. The response has been bipartisan rage that has included demands to cut off aid to entire nations if they grant sanctuary to this whistleblower. As usual, however, Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., will not be outdone. After hearing that Snowden has asked Russia for sanctuary, Graham has suggested boycotting the Olympics. That’s right, he is taking one of Jimmy Carter’s most controversial ideas and suggesting a repeat — thereby ruining the ambitions and tossing out years of preparations for hundreds of athletes. Why? To punish a country for protecting someone most people in the world view as either a hero or a whistleblower.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

Jeantel: “I Told Trayvon, [Zimmerman] Might Have Been A Rapist.”

Screen-Shot-2013-07-15-at-6.09.50-PM-300x198One of the most damaging moments for the prosecution in the trial of George Zimmerman trial was the inexplicable decision to lead with Rachel Jeantel, a friend of Trayvon Martin’s. Jeantel proceeded to admit to previously lying and then gave conflicted and at points unintelligible testimony. Her statement that Martin called Zimmerman a “cracker” further helped the defense in balancing the derogatory statements of Zimmerman. After the verdict, Jeantel has made statements that seem unhinged and again raise the question on why the prosecutors would place her so prominently in their case in chief. The latest controversy is a new allegation from Jeantel that she warned Trayvon that Zimmerman might be a gay rapist. She is not the only person associated with the trial who seems to be courting the press in the case with disastrous results.

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