In affluent Coral Gables, Florida, the city prohibited anyone from parking a truck overnight on a city street — defining these vehicles are “out of character” with the community. A court of appeals has now struck down the measure as discriminatory. This is one case where class discrimination was paramount — a rare criteria for such decision. For the story, click here
Category: Bizarre
In an incredibly sad story. Jonathon Edington a lawyer in Connecticut has been sentenced to 12 in prison for killing a man that he thought molested his 20 year-old daughter. Edinton stabbed Barry James in his bedroom after his wife told him that James had molested their daughter. Ultimately, Edington’s wife, Christina, refused to cooperate with the investigation and a defense expert found that she was suffering from d postpartum depression.
The case left the court with few options and many regrets in sentencingfor first-degree manslaughter.. For the full story, click here
The Marine Mammal Protection Act makes it a crime to injure sea lions and other mammals. Usually this is done with nets, harpoons, guns. However, a 24-year-old fisherman named Hai Nguyen, stabbed a sea lion with a steak knife. Continue reading “Man Charged with Stabbing Sea Lion”
In Sundbury, Pa, a court has ruled that a former owner can continue to demand that a show dog not be neutered and continued to be made available for breeding. At issue is a a 5-year-old French bulldog named Duffy. The breeder gave the dog to a third party with the understanding that Duffy would continue to supply services — valued at $73,000 over the last three years. The case has raised issues of animal health and continuing limitations on ownership. For the full story, click here
It is a classic tort — the slip and fall. Now a woman is suing Oprah for falling during the scramble for a seat on her television program. Continue reading “Oprah Sued for Slip and Fall”
The military has been pouring money into non-lethal weaponry that can break up a crowd or immobilize individuals without bullets or permanent injuries. One is already in production: a truck mounted ray that makes people feel like their skin is on fire. Requests to use the truck in Iraq have been denied. Continue reading “Questions Over Use of New Military “Ray Gun””
Joseph J. Vecchiarelli, 26, is employed in one of the world’s oldest professions: grave robbing. He stripped corposes of jewelry, gold teeth and other valuables, even dumping bodies (including an infant) on the ground in Waterbury, Connecticut. He is a vivid example why grave robbing is one of the oldest torts and crimes.
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A judge in Montana was asked by a defendant to “let it be” after citing “the beetles.” The judge responded with not just a corrective sentence but an opinion correcting the defendant’s understanding of the beatles.
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She was called the Queen of Mean and the probate of her will is likely to confirm that title for some. Late hotel and real estate (and ex-con) Leona Helmsley has left $12 million for her white Maltese, named Trouble, who will also be allowed to continue to live in her mansion and then be buried next to Helmsley in her mausoleum. Two of her grandchildren, however, got nothing in the will.
For the full story, click here
A San Francisco man named Paul Addis, 35, has been charged with arson and illegal possession of fireworks after allegedly starting the Burning Man burning: four days two early. The huge burning man is supposed to be the climax of the counterculture festival in the Black Rock desert in Nevada. Instead, Addis allegedly lit the object and is therefore charged with arson for the premature burning.
For the full story and a picture of the culprit, click here
Reserachers believe that they have finally uncovered who killed Beethoven and the culprit is Andreas Wawruch, his doctor.
Beethoven died in 1827 at the age 57 and there has been long speculation over the cause or even whether he was murdered. Now, it appears that his doctor gave him lethal levels of lead in his treatment.
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Robin Shellow, a Milwaukee criminal defense lawyer, had a rare gift left at her office on Monday: a pink gift bag with a severed goat head inside.
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The corpus delicti, or body of crime, took on a new meaning this week in California when an alleged drunk driver was found with the dead body of a motorcycle driver still lodged in his rear window. Tony Martinez, 54, appears not to have noticed before pulled over by the arresting officers.
For the full story, click here
There now appears to be a rash of corpse abuse cases — one of the oldest offenses in common law.
Johnny Draper (yes a funeral home director named Draper) found Roderick Jones in his Monessen, Pa., funeral home on July 13 with a women’s corpse. This is not a first for Jones who was convicted in 1999 of abuse of a corpse.
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