We previously discussed the case of Fire Chief Don Payne in Jericho, Arkansas where he went to court for a second time in one day to complain about the police use of abusive speed traps in the small town. An argument erupted in front of Judge Tonya Alexander and Payne was shot from behind by one of the officers. Now, a local prosecutor has decided that Payne should be criminally charged but no officer will face a charge in the case. West Memphis City Prosecutor Lindsey Fairley appears to believe that shooting an unarmed man surrounded by officers is an appropriate use of force.
Continue reading “Fairley Certain: Prosecutor Decides that No Charges Are Appropriate for Officer Who Shot an Unarmed Fire Chief in Courtroom — But Fire Chief Should be Charged”
Category: Bizarre
The video below shows what would be considered rude and brutish conduct in every culture from the American society to the Klingon society. But was it actionable?
Continue reading “Legal Question of the Day: Can Kanye West Face Legal Action For His MTV Conduct?”
This is an amazing story. This video went viral and shows an attractive Danish woman who used YouTube (and other sites) to look for the father of her baby boy (“August”) after a drunken one-night stand in Denmark. It now appears that she is actually an actress named Ditte Arnth Jorgensen and the video was a publicity stunt to get people to come to Denmark – apparently by highlighting the availability of drunken one-night stands with beautiful blond Danish girls.
In a rare rebuke to prosecutors, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings has criticized the decision of the United States Attorneys office to drop charges against well-known blogger Andrew M. Sullivan, who was arrested by park rangers on a Cape Cod national beach for possession of marijuana on July 13th. A conviction would have caused problems for Sullivan — a British citizen — in remaining in the United States.
Continue reading “Federal Judge Blasts Lenient Treatment of Blogger Andrew M. Sullivan in Drug Case”
Bike shop owner Mark Howard prides himself on running a green business with virtually no trash. It is a bit too green for English authorities, who hit him with a citation. The reason? Not enough trash.
Continue reading “Waste Not Want Not: Green Bike Shop Owner Given Citation for Not Having Enough Trash”
Police in Raymore, Missouri have a curious way to recovering missing pets. When 19-year-old Tobey disappeared on Labor Day, she was eventually found by a police officer. However, since it did not have a tag, the dispatcher ordered the officer to take the cat directly to a field and “put him down.”
Continue reading “Police Officer Finds Missing Cat, Takes It To a Field, Shoots It In the Head, and Throws It In the Trash”
Most of us when faced with a stuck lug nut on a flat tire will look for some leverage. A man in South Kitsap, Washington, however, looked for something with a bit more firepower. He was injured when he tried to loosen the nut with a 12-gauge shotgun.
Continue reading “Minnesota Man Shoots Himself While Trying to Loosen Lug Nut on Tire With Shotgun”
Fawziya Abdullah Youssef, 12, is the latest victim of the tradition of child-bride under Sharia law in some Muslim countries. She died after three-days of labor trying to give birth to a child that was the result of her marriage to a 24-year-old man in Yemen. She was eleven at the time. The baby also reportedly died.
Continue reading “Twelve-Year-Old “Child-Bride” in Yemen Dies in Labor”
In an act of utter cowardice, United States distributors appear to be caving into a creationist campaign to bar the movie Creation on the life of Charles Darwin. The film explores his loss of faith following the death of his beloved 10-year-old daughter, Annie.
Continue reading “Movie Selection of the Fittest: Creationists Block Internationally Acclaimed Movie on Darwin From Being Shown in U.S.”
Newt Gingrich’s selection for “Entrepreneur of the Year” came not only as a surprise to executive Allison Vivas but Gingrich’s supporters. You see, Vivas is the president of adult entertainment studio Pink Visual, a porn operation. It has now turned out to be little more than a one-night stand, as the group rushed to rescind the award.
Continue reading “Pressing the Flesh: Newt Gingrich’s Group Awards Porn Executive with “Entrepreneur of the Year Award””
Now, here’s a novel legal question. If someone is a hermaphrodite, can they choose to run in either male or female races? That is a question that may face international sporting events after a report that an examination of Caster Semenya, 18, discovered that she has both male and female sexual organs. This one may be a slightly tougher question than our bicycle debate.
Continue reading “Media Report: Caster Semenya is a Hermaphrodite”
There is an interesting case out of England on the limits of self-defense, a question that we often discuss in class. Munir Hussain, 52, has been convicted for attacking an armed robber who broke into his house and held him and his family hostage — while reportedly promising to kill them all. They were eventually able to free themselves and turn the tables on the three robbers. Walid Salem, 56, was beaten in the aftermath with bats. He can only sue the family for tort damages for the assault and battery. Hussain’s brother Tokeer was also convicted.
Continue reading “Homeowner Convicted for Beating Armed Robber — Faces Tort Liability”
Dave VonTesmar of Phoenix has a novel defense to a series of speeding tickets: I am not the monkey in that picture and you cannot prove that I am.
Continue reading “Monkey Business: Arizona Man Hit with Dozens of Tickets as Mysterious Speeding Monkey”
When will this country wake up to the cat menace? After following cases of cats framing humans (here and here), we have yet another example of the feline Fifth Column. Robert Taylor fell victim to a classic cat trap. He returned home to find that his cat had used his bed as a litter box. When he took the cat to the barage to fire a gun to scare it, he was promptly arrested and the cat given the run of the house.
Rep. Joe Wilson has gone on the offensive with the release of this fund-raising video calling for contributions to prevent critics from “muzzling” him. This follows a \flood of contributions to his opponent Rob Miller in the immediate aftermath of his outburst on the floor of the House of Representatives during the President’s address — when he called President Obama a liar. For the original video, click here.