Paul Manafort is in the process of being transferred to Virginia’s Alexandria Detention Center to allow greater communication with his counsel. The transfer was accompanied with a new mugshot and transcripts of communications by Manafort on monitored prison telephones. This all occurs as an appellate court has turned down Manafort’s bid for an immediate release.
Continue reading “Manafort’s Mugshot Released With Prison Phone Transcripts”
It could be one of the most curious criminal charges of the year. Jonathan Crenshaw, 46, is an artist in Miami Beach who is accused of stabbing a tourist. However, Crenshaw paints with his feet because he has no arms. Continue reading “Armless Man Accused Of Stabbing In Miami”
The arrest of Stormy Daniels at an Ohio strip club in Columbus raises a credible question of selective enforcement of a 2007 state law called the Community Defense Act. The law prohibits dancers from touching customers and vice versa. It is a law honored mainly in the breach in strip clubs. However, the police appeared ready to pounce on any touch by Daniels and she was taken to the Franklin County Ohio Sheriff’s Office and charged with misdemeanor sex offenses. Update: Charges have now been dropped, though without an explanation of why the string operation and original charges.
Continue reading “Stormy Daniels Arrested Under Rarely Enforced Ohio Law [Updated]”
Earle Stevens Jr., 69, had a novel defense in Florida when he was stopped by an officer on suspicion of drunk driving. According to the driver, Stevens insisted that that he had only been drinking at red lights and stop signs. The officer was not impressed by the claim that he was drinking then driving then drinking but never at the same time.
Christopher John Czarnik, 45, is the focus of a novel criminal charge. The prisoner at Oaks Correctional in Michigan is serving time on a 2014 plea for the possession and distribution of sexually explicit images of children. He was then charged again with child porn in prison. The source? Czarnik himself. Guards found a drawing of a young girl engaged in sexual acts with an adult male. The drawings were upheld by the Michigan Supreme Court.
Travaile Speller has a curious case against Mecklenburg County Jail for depriving him of lunch. Speller is Muslim and was put on the traditional meal plan for Ramadan of two meals a day. Speller has sued for major damages for “intentionally eliminating one whole meal (lunch) which is cruel and unusual punishment directed towards all Muslims.” The problem is that Speller reportedly signed up to participate in the Ramadan schedule, including the skipping of lunches. He now wants a jury trial and $250,000 in damages. Continue reading “North Carolina Prisoner Signs Up For Fasting During Ramadan . . . Then Sues Jail For Withholding Lunch”
Attorneys for former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort have asked a federal judge for a venue change on the rather dubious grounds that Alexandria Virginia is simply too liberal. Manafort wants a jury in Roanoke where there are more Republicans. It is an exceptionally weak motion and would be unprecedented to shift jurisdiction based on the political views of the local electorate as opposed to using voir dire to spot bias. Attorneys Kevin Downing, Thomas Zehnle and Jay Nanavati told the “It is not a stretch to expect that voters who supported Secretary Clinton would be predisposed against Mr. Manafort or that voters who supported President Donald Trump would be less inclined toward the Special Counsel.” If it is “not a stretch” politically, it is a stretch legally. In fairness to the defense time, however, it was Judge T.S. Ellis III who raised the possibility of a venue change to Roanoke or Richmond. Ellis however has a reputation for making controversial statements from the bench. In most courts, I would expect this motion to be denied fairly quickly.
Continue reading “Manafort Moves For Venue Change From Liberal Alexandria”
Kristoffer Welch, 19, allegedly made his first mistake in tearing up a corn field with his silver Ford truck in Maine. The second mistake was posting the act on Facebook.
Continue reading “Maine Teen Arrested After His Joyride Through A Corn Field Is Posted on Facebook”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the latest rationale for opposing any nominee of President Donald Trump: that any nomination or confirmation must wait until the completion of the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. It is a claim being voiced by both politicians and academics despite the absence of constitutional or historical support.
Here is the column:
Raphael A. Sanchez held a high position as chief counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Seattle that paid $162,000 a year. However, Sanchez was not happy with that high salary and used his authority to augment his income by stealing the identities of undocumented immigrants. With all of of the perils of facing these people, they were victimized by the lead lawyer representing the United States government. He is now facing four years in prison which strikes me as rather low for this abuse of authority.
Continue reading “ICE Lawyer Sentenced To Four Years For Stealing The Identities of Immigrants”
Former Attorney General Eric Holder remains a controversial figure for civil libertarians and other groups after his tenure in the Clinton and Obama Administrations. He is one of the principle authors of the “Kill List” policy under which President Barack Obama claimed the right to kill any American without a charge or trial if he unilaterally determined that they are a national security risk. Despite the view of some of us that Holder deserved to be fired over his abusive investigation of journalists, he will now be given the prestigious Thurgood Marshall Award from the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice on Aug. 4 during the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Continue reading “Eric Holder To Receive ABA Award In August”
Below is my column in the Washington Post on the implications of the resignation of Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy and his own decisions setting aside prior precedent. Indeed, Kennedy’s last week before announcing his resignation reenforced the very arguments that could be used by a new conservative majority to strip away his legacy. Indeed, Kennedy spent the last week eagerly sawing away on the branch on which he and his legacy rests.
Below is the column: Continue reading ““Correcting The Error”: Did Kennedy Cut His Own Tow Line In His Final Decisions?”
When Che Abdul Karim Che Abdul Hamid decided to marry his third wife in Thailand, he chose an 11-year-old girl who was handed over by her Malaysian family. The problem however was that this particular marriage to a child of eleven is that it was not approved by the local Shariah court. Besides being a rubber scrap dealer, Che Abdul Karim is an imam. The girl’s father works for him as poor rubber tappers. His third wife will not attend school now that she is an 11-year-old bride.
Continue reading “41-Year-Old Man Marries 11-Year-Old Girl And The Problem Is . . .”
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the recent reports of how Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was angry over his treatment by the Trump White House and wants Mueller to “vindicate” him. I have said for over a year that Rosenstein should recuse himself if Mueller is seriously investigating the firing of former FBI Director James Comey as an act of obstruction or some other crime. These reports magnify, in my view, those conflict concerns.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Summer Shakespeare: Rosenstein Plays Hamlet On The Potomac”
Police say that Ryan Felton Sauter, 39, was engaged in “rattlesnake revenge” when he took a rattlesnake, bit off its rattle, and then threw it into the RV of his neighbor Keith Monroe with whom he had had an argument. The now silent (and irate) snake did not bite his rival but it did land Sauter in jail with some interesting charges. Continue reading “Man Bites Snake: Texas Man Allegedly Bites Off Rattle and Throws Snake Into Neighbor’s RV”