Category: Bizarre

Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law

Call of Crazy: Gamer Attackes Teen Who Killed His Character

Submited by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

We’ve known for years that exposure to violence makes humans more likely to commit violence themselves. TV violence is especially pernicious and can have effects lasting decades. Now that applies to participatory virtual violence as well.

Mark Bradford, a 46-year-old resident of Plymouth, England attacked a 13-year-old boy who had just “killed” his virtual fighter in the wildly successful computer game, Call of Duty:Black Ops. The two were playing the game over the Internet when Bradford’s character was shot during a battle scene.  The enraged father of two promptly raced over to the boy’s nearby home and grabbed the young man by the throat using both hands. The child’s mother fought him off and called police.

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Animals, Bizarre, Criminal law

The Bear Necessities of Murder: New York Man Planned Murder of Ex-Girlfriend While Wearing Bear Pelt

In New York, Clyde Gardner, 57, hatched a unique plan to kill his ex-girlfriend that involved skinning a bear, hiding among garbage cans, and walking on all fours. After the plan proved a bit too complex, he returned to that old favorite: the car crash. It all ended without an injury when Gardner was accused by the would-be hit man. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced this week.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Society

Georgia Woman Reportedly Detained For Taking Photo Of Ground Zero

Earlier today, I posted another case out of Illinois where an officer arrested a citizen for recording him in public — only to have the charges later dropped without any disciplining of the officer. Now in New York city we have another alleged case where an officer detains a citizen over public videotaping — not of him, mind you, but of ground zero. Meredith Dodson of Georgia says that Officer Mark DeSimone not only detained her but became threatening with her and other citizens who objected to his arbitrary action over her taking a photo of the famous site.
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Bizarre, Media, Society, Torts

Does Al Qaeda Have A Case For Defamation Against Ahmadinejad?

When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expressed doubt over the official account of the 911 attacks and accused the U.S. government, he has been condemned by other leaders and countries. However, it turns out that the most aggrieved party may be . . . al Qaeda and its allies and sympathizers. Inspire Magazine, a publication founded by Anwar al-Awlaki and often tied by the U.S. to Al Qaeda figures, has come out with a cover story attacking Ahmadinejad for suggesting that al Qaeda was not responsible or someone used in the attacks by U.S. intelligence. It appears that al Qaeda views this “truther” account as nothing short of defamation or at least product disparagement.

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Academia, Bizarre, Criminal law

New York Police Arrest Seven In Alleged SAT Cheating Ring

In the high-pressure competition to ranking colleges, Sam Eshaghoff, 19, was a solution for those who long for high scores but lack of the ability or time to secure them. Eshaghoff and six students were arrested on criminal charges for a scheme in which Eshaghoff pretended to be other people to take the SAT exam for them — at the cost of $1,500 to $2,500.
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Academia, Bizarre, International, Politics

Germany Calls U.S. Plan To Save Euro “Stupid”

German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble left little question about his view of the wisdom of the economic policies of the Obama Administration. Schauble called the U.S. plan to pour trillions of dollars into the bailout fund “stupid” and said it would destroy the AAA ratings for the members — precisely what occurred to the U.S. this year. There is rising criticism of the economic views of Timothy Geithner, who some view as steering the U.S. into massive and unproductive spending.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International

De Jesus Loves You: Hit Man Stages Killing After Falling In Love With Target

Let no one say that criminal lawyers and their clients are not romantic. This picture is a staged death scene by a hired killer, Carlos Roberto de Jesus, who fell in love with his target in Brazil. Presumably, Sylvester Stallone is taking Spanish in preparation for the film.
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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Society

Massachusetts Supreme Court Upholds Right To Charge Citizens For Challenging Tickets — Win or Lose

There has long been an reasonable expectation among citizens that, if they are falsely accused of an offense, they will not have to pay either the fine or the cost of a hearing. Indeed, even if found guilty, there is generally not a charge for seeking justice in a court. Not in Salem, Massachusetts. The state supreme court ruled last week that motorists must pay the state even if they win their cases in court. The cost of fighting a ticket is $75, which can be roughly the cost of the ticket itself. It is a system that makes a mockery of the right to challenge a charge. No wonder so many witches were burned in the town . . . most could not afford the cost of an appeal.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media

U R BdBy: Kuwait Jails Blogger For Tweet Critical of Shiites

A Kuwaiti court on Sunday sentenced a Sunni Islamist activist to three months in jail for tweeting comments that were deemed derogatory to Shiite Muslims. I have previously written about the increase in such blasphemy prosecutions, including a trend in the West, as well as President Obama’s decision to support a U.N. resolution embracing the concept of blasphemy prosecutions – an abandonment of our long opposition to such laws. As previously discussed in a column and a line of blog stories (here and here and here and here), various Western governments have been curtailing free speech by prosecuting blasphemy and speech against various groups. In this case, Mubarak al-Bathali was convicted over his use of Twitter. It appears that you can blaspheme in 140 words or less.
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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Religion, Society

Alabama Courts Give The Convicted The Choice Between Jail and Church

In Bay Minette, Alabama, felons are being given the opportunity to climb the wall. Not the prison wall, mind you. The Alabama court and local police are helping felons over the wall of separation of church and state by giving convicted citizens an opportunity to avoid jail if they volunteer — so long as it is with a church.
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Academia, Bizarre, Free Speech, Politics, Society

A Pinch of Satire: Bake Sale Causes Uproar at Berkeley

Campus Republicans at the University of California Berkeley have reportedly received threats after creating a novel form of protests against California schools considering race in admissions. The students created a sale of baked goods priced according to their race: white men for $2.00, Asian men for $1.50, Latino men for $1.00, black men for $0.75 and Native American men for $0.25. All women will get $0.25 off those prices.
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Bizarre, Criminal law, Science, Torts

Irish Coroner Finds Death Was Case Of “Spontaneous Combustion”

In my torts class, we often discuss accounts of “spontaneous combustion” particularly after discussing the case of spontaneous combustion of a hay rick in Vaughn v. Menlove. Such cases have occasionally been reported with people, albeit to skeptical police. The latest comes from Ireland where Michael Faherty, 76, seemed to spontaneously combust.
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