In Rochester Hills, Michigan, prosecutors have brought a highly controversial case — criminally charging a man for reading his ex-wife’s emails without her permission. Leon Walker, 33, could receive five years for the common act of logging on to his wife’s email, an act of snooping that disclosed that she was having an affair with another man. This is the first known time where a spouse or ex-spouse has been prosecuted under the law without any evidence of commercial theft. Yet, the office of Jessica Cooper (left) appears to want to create new precedent that would radically expand the reach of the law.
Continue reading “Michigan Man Criminally Charged After Reading Wife’s Email”
Category: Bizarre
One of the most unique beauty competitions was held this week. About 20,000 camels are competing in the Mazayin Camel beauty competition as part of the Al Dhafrah Festival. You can pick up a looker for prices reaching millions of dirhams or just watching the curvaceous Camelus.
Some judges are lionized for their record of moving cases along. Nevada judge Valerie Vega, however, is being ridiculed when she pushed jurors to work through the night in a murder case so that the trial would not interfere with her vacation plans. It appears that things that happen with Vegas do not stay with Vega.
Continue reading “Justice Delayed is a Judicial Vacation Denied: Judge Orders All-Nighter For Jury in Murder Case To Accomodate Her Vacation Plans”
Televangelist and one-time Republican presidential candidate Pat Robertson came out on his show “The 700 Club” in opposing the criminalization of marijuana. As someone who has historically preached about bringing down fire and brimstone on sinners, the concern over tokers came as something of a surprise and sent his handlers into a wild spin with the media.
Continue reading “Reefer Madness: Rev. Pat Robertson Speaks Out Against Criminalization of Possession of Pot”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Police in Lancashire, England, have been investigating a series of strange home burglaries. It appears the perpetrators of the burglaries like to target homes with hot tubs. The burglars sneak onto people’s property, soak in the spas, and then enter the homes and steal from their victims.
To date, there have been four such burglaries. The “hot tub gang” has allegedly stolen thousands of pounds worth of cash and goods—including a 42-inch plasma television, a laptop computer, and a Nintendo Wii games console.
Continue reading ““Hot Tub Gang” in England Avoids Getting into Hot Water with Police”
A 13-year-old boy in Oklahoma City was arrested in class in possession of a . . . wait for it . . . here it comes . . . a permanent marker. That’s right, Roosevelt Middle School teacher DeLynn Woodside, 50, had the boy arrested when finding him with a permanent marker in violation of a city ordinance.
Continue reading “Indelible Education: Teacher Has Middle School Student Arrested for Use of Marker”
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Following the worst economy in a generation, Americans this year are poised to hand away $48 billion to the needy. In what must have pure capitalists scratching their heads, charitable donations are up more than 30% over last year. In fact, 74% of Americans are participating in the benevolence according to Convio Inc.’s annual year-end giving report.
Continue reading ““Greedy” Americans Donate $48B This Holiday Season”
The New York Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of a golfer who failed to yell “Fore” and blinding another golfer in one eye. Dr. Anoop Kapoor and Dr. Azad Anand were playing on a nine-hole Long Island course in October 2002 when Kapoor took the swing without the warning. Anand was hit in the head and sued. However, the court found that he had assumed the risk by going on the golf course — even with a “shanked shot.”
Continue reading “Legal Mulligan: New York Court Rules Against Golfer Blinded By Fore-Less “Shanked Shot””
Many of us have questioned some of the response targeting Wikileaks and the dangers that they pose to journalists and free speech on the Internet. The CIA, it appears, agrees: naming its effort the “Wikileaks Task Force” or WTF.
Continue reading “WTF on the Wikileaks Crackdown? The CIA Agrees”
The Arizona state supreme court has suspended attorney Cynthia Leyh over a conflict of interest and other misconduct in her representation of her convicted boyfriend, Walter Stringer.
Well, our friend Lottakatz has certainly stirred up a hornet’s nest. Various posters on the blog have contacted me about the sudden surge of over 100 votes on Legal Satyricon to take it from just 15 votes to the lead in the ABA competition. There was a surge of over 100 votes in less than an hour. I have discouraged (and even deleted) a few postings on the issue to keep the matter civil. After all, this is just a fun distraction for bloggers and we tend to have more fun than most. However, with some sleuthing, Lottakatz appears to have found a campaign of misinformation on pro-gun sites where an alleged regular on LS claims that I am a leading anti-gun advocate. The false representation promptly made opposition to our blog as cause celebre for gun rights advocates. Given the emails from our regulars, I wanted to address the controversy.
Continue reading “Misinformation Campaign Alleged in ABA Journal Competition”
Afshan Azad, 22, is a talented and beautiful actress who played Padma Patil, a classmate of Harry Potter in the Harry Potter series. She is now achieving equal notoriety in court after she sought protection from her father and brother who allegedly threatened her life over a association with a male Hindu. Her family is Muslim and allegedly wanted her to accept an arranged marriage. Her father — Abul Azad, 53– allegedly threatened her life and called her a “slag” and a “prostitute.” She also accused her brother — Ashraf, 28 — of making threats against her life. However, she then refused to give testimony in court as if the entire incident were wiped away with a memory charm.
Continue reading “Harry Potter Star in Court After Father and Brother Allegedly Threaten Her Life and Demand Arranged Muslim Marriage”
Law professors David Rudovsky of the University of Pennsylvania and Leonard Sosnov of Widener University have won an extraordinary verdict: $5.2 million in compensatory and punitive damages for defamation by West Publishing. At issue was a shoddy 2008 pocket part issued under their names. Rudovsky (left) called the update a “poorly researched ‘sham’ pocket part.”
Sufia Begum, 50, has become the latest victim of Sharia justice. The Bangladeshi woman died after being publicly caned for an alleged extramarital affair with her stepson.
Continue reading “Bangladeshi Woman Dies After Caning For Adultery”
We often discuss jury nullification in class, but usually such a controversial decision to refuse to convict someone on clear evidence of guilt comes at the end of a trial. Not in Montana this month when potential jurors announced that they would not convict a person of possession of a small amount of marijuana regardless of the evidence. In polling the potential jurors, District Judge Dusty Deschamps found only 5 of 27 were willing to convict someone on a small possession of pot.
Continue reading “Pre-Trial Jury Nullification? Potential Jurors in Montana Excused After They State That They Would Not Convict On Possession of Small Amount of Marijuana”