We previously discussed how the parents of Amanda Knox are being sued by police for objecting to their shoddy investigation. It is an absurd case — one of many such defamation cases in Europe where courts allow lawsuits over comments that would be protected from liability in the United States. Now, the judge in the libel case has resigned due to a conflict of interest, but the police are still going forward with the lawsuit — despite the fact that recent disclosures establish clearly shoddy work by the police.
Continue reading “Knox Parents Get New Judge In Defamation Case”
Category: Bizarre
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Officer Thad “Stu” Crisco is under investigation after a supervisor learned that he told the father of a robbery victim that one part of town was a bit dangerous for his 16-year-old daughter to be hanging around after she was robbed. Crisco has an unblemished record, but he is being hammered for the well-intentioned advice. In his comments in the article below,
Mayor Bill Foster does not appear to be concerned about an officer being disciplined for simply informing a parent about a rough area. He stated “I always want to know my officers are representing this city in a very positive light.” Well, how about a positive statement like “hey, you know this area excels in robberies and is second to none in homicides.”
Continue reading “Florida Officer Faces Suspension For Warning Father About His Daughter Hanging Around Dangerous Area”
We have had a spate of woman catching falling babies this year. A Beijing woman outdid a British tourist in Florida by catching a toddler who fell ten stories. Niu Niu, 2, was left unattended by her grandmother and crawled out the window. Wu Juping, 31, her dangling from the window and rushed over to catch her as she fell.
Continue reading “Chinese Woman Catches Baby After Ten-Story Fall”
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
In what can only be described as the most bizarre military recruiting ploy ever, Californian Yupeng Deng is charged with duping Chinese Immigrants into enlisting into his private army. Luring the unsuspecting “recruits” with promises of citizenship, the El Monte native convinced over 200 Chinese nationals to pay initiation fees ranging from $300 – $450. Donning the rank of “Supreme Commander'” Deng paraded his regiment through the streets of L.A., and then led a successful boarding of the U.S.S.  Midway which is now a naval museum in San Diego.
A war of giant Jesuses has entered a new phase. A 36 meter (or 118 feet) Christ was unveiled in Poland last year. Now, President Alan Garcia has responded with Cristo del Pacifico (Christ of the Pacific), on a hill in Lima — standing 37 metres (122 feet). That’s right, four feet more than the Polish Jesus — not doubt now to be known as Jesusito (“little Jesus”) in Peru.
Continue reading “Jesus Envy: How Big Is Your Savior?”
One of the longest standing complaints among criminal defense attorneys is that the government often goes ballistic when a defense attorney makes public statements in support of his or her client. Judges often hammer private counsel under increasingly harsh gag orders. Yet, the government routinely influences cases by leaking information that could only come from the prosecutors or investigators on the case. This problem is even more acute in high-profile cases like that of Richard Jewell and my former client Dr. Thomas Butler, where leaks were used to target innocent men to try to force them to plead. Now, like clockwork, the Justice Department has again started the leak war in the case of alleged mobster James “Whitey” Bulger. However, the judge has simply asked the Justice Department for a “plan” on how to stop the leaks. If this were a private firm, there would be a contempt hearing.
Friend of this blog (and this blogger) Frank Mascagni attended my speech to the Kentucky bar this month and snapped some pictures. One shot at the “Pursuing Justice” conference produced an ironic twist.
John Lennon fans may be a bit surprised to see an interview in the new documentary, Beatles Stories, with Lennon’s long time friend Fred Seaman. Seaman says that Lennon had moved away from his early radicalism and became a fan of . . . wait for it . . . Ronald Reagan.
Continue reading “Imagine: John Lennon As A Reagan Republican”
I just saw this on Reddit and I have just one question: what do you give to a Klingon couple for their wedding?
Continue reading “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something uD ‘ej Hurgh“
In Jacksonville, Florida, a decorated Army combat photographer has been arrested and is facing 10 years in jail for checking a wrong box on a passport application. Elisha Dawkins’ crime was merely checking a box “no” for the question, “Have you ever applied before?”
Continue reading “Decorated Combat Photographer Arrested For Checking Wrong Box On Passport”
This is Mackie, a Boston Terrier who reacts rather oddly to tickling. That is all.
Continue reading “Don’t Tickle The Terrier”
It appears that the insatiable demands of cell phone batteries have claimed another victim. Recently, we saw a Florida lawyer arrested for charging his cellphone in a neighbor’s motor home. Now, in Maine, Shaun Fawster, 23, a homeless man has been arrested because a Bangor police officer spotted him using an outside outlet to charge his phones.
Continue reading “Bangor Police Arrest Homeless Man For Charging Cellphone At Outdoor Outlet”
A French woman has brought charges against the controversial and secretive Catholic society Opus Dei, alleging that she was brainwashed into working as a domestic servant with virtually no pay. This would have been the story line if Silas had simply sued Bishop Aringarosa in The Da Vinci Code.
Continue reading “Opus Dei in Court”
In Maine, Dr. William Phillips was giving a lecture on heart attacks at the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston when he had to respond to a man in the audience having . . . you guessed it . . . a heart attack.
We previously thought that we saw a unique breast milk assault case, but we were wrong. The Delaware County sheriff’s office this weekend arrested Stephanie Robinette, 30, at a wedding banquet hall and charged her with attacking deputies with her breast milk. Robinette is an elementary school teacher at Summit Academy, a school that specializes in dealing with children with autism, ADHD and other disorders.
Continue reading “Got Milk? Delaware Woman Charged With Breast Milk Assault”