One of the most basic functions of government should be to require accurate descriptions of products in the market. I am a big believer in the free market and tend to resist government regulation whenever possible. However, the free market functions best when the government enforces the rules to prevent misleading and fraudulent practices. This week is an example of how labeling continues to mislead consumers. While parmesan cheese is often advertised as “100%” pure, it can include wood pulp and cheaper cheeses such as cheddar, Swiss, and mozzarella. One manufacturer, Castle Cheese, supplying Target actually had no parmesan in its “100 percent” parmesan cheese product.
Category: Criminal law
We have previously discussed the disgusting fetish for “crush videos” — films where small animals and birds are crushed under stiletto heels, boots and objects or stabbed to death. Now, Ashley Nichole Richards, 23, and Brent Wayne Justice, 52, have been given long sentences for their roles in making such videos. Richards was sentenced to 10 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to three counts of animal cruelty while Justice, 52, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for cruelty to animals.
Continue reading “Two Texans Given Long Sentences For Production Of Animal Crush Videos”
We have previously discussed the controversy surrounding University of Missouri Assistant Professor of Communication Melissa Click who was caught on videotape obstructing a student journalist and calling for “muscle” to prevent him from covering a protest. She was charged with assault in that case. Now, a new videotape has emerged showing Click yelling profanities at police officers who were trying to clear protestors blocking traffic on campus. The new videotape below will obviously not help the already suspended academic.
We have previously dealt with the issue of judges arrested for DUI and how to address such cases in their continuing on the court (here and here and here and here and here). Another such case has arisen with the arrest in New York of Judge Leticia Astacio. While it was a Saturday morning, police say that Astacio was on her way to work when she had an accident with another car on Interstate 490. She refused to take a Breathalyzer and was arrested for DUI. Astacio is a former assistant district attorney who prosecuted drunk driving cases.
Continue reading “New York Judge Arrested For DUI On Way To Court”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Law Enforcement Officers in Coulee Dam, Washington arrested thirty-seven year old Assistant-Principal Nate Piturachsatit on two counts of possession of child pornography, three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, and one count of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
The case stems from an investigation by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Mr. Piturachsatit is accused of soliciting and sending sexually explicit pictures to of 14-year-old girl residing in Wisconsin. Court documents allege that Mr. Piturachsatit conveyed these images via Instagram using his cell phone. Fortunately, no other minors are presently suspected as being victims.
Continue reading “Assistant School Principal Accused of Sexual Exploitation Of A Minor”
Martin Shkreli may be the worst criminal defendant client since John Gotti, who loved to taunt and flaunt while facing criminal charges. After his cocky performance (just reciting the invocation of the right to remain silent) at the House committee this month, most criminal defense attorneys were cringing. Then came his not-so-silent tweets mocking the committee after his appearance. Now, after the IRS hit him with a massive tax bill for unpaid taxes, the former drug company head has offered $10 million to Kanye West for rights to his album The Life of Pablo. This follows his controversial $2 million deal for Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin amidst condemnations of his bilking AIDS victims through over-pricing of life sustaining drugs. Not since Colin Ferguson has a defendant done more to get the court, potential jurors, or anyone on Earth to truly hate him.
There is a new disturbing video that seems to reaffirm the growing intolerance for free speech on (or in this case near) our campuses. In the confrontation between a preacher named Joshua and University of Texas at Austin police, the preacher was told that, even though he was not on campus, he was still guilty of “offending someone” with this speech and would be given a citation.
I had to sure this picture of Crimewatch presenter Jason Mohammad who was showing the audience the picture of convicted robber Viktor Lakatos. Viewers could be forgiven if they called in to say that they had found Lakatos.
Densibel Calzada, 23, and Eddy Albert, 21, have secured two distinctions in Tennessee. They have not only secured the harshest penalty ever issued by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency but they are generally viewed as this week’s worst human beings in the state or possibly nationwide. The two men have been banned from hunting in Tennessee and 43 other states after they illegally killed as many as 40 deer. They added to that carnage with sickening videos mocking suffering or dead animals.
Joshua James, 23, is charged with one of the most perplexing crimes of the year. James pulled up to a Wendy’s drive-thru window and threw a three and a half foot alligator into the restaurant. His mother told media that it was a prank aimed at a friend who worked at Wendy’s. However, he is now charged with assault with a deadly weapon and illegally capturing an alligator. In addition, because he apparently accepted a soda before tossing the gator, he is charged with petty theft.
The Board of Disciplinary Appeals (appointed by the Texas Supreme Court) has upheld a state licensing board’s decision to disbar former prosecutor Charles Sebesta for his role in convicting an innocent man. Anthony Graves spent 18 years on death row for setting a fire that killed six people. Sebesta’s conduct was shocking but remains a relatively rare example of prosecutors being held accountable in such cases of prosecutorial abuse.
Spanish Puppeteers Alfónso Lázaro de la Torre and Raul García Pérez could be headed to prison after a decision by Judge Ismael Moreno Chamarro. The Court noted that the two men performed for children in a play that included “the hanging of a doll dressed as a judge, the stabbing of policeman, the rape of a nun and her later stabbing with a crucifix”. That is certainly a large measure beyond the Punch and Judy shows that we grew up with. However, the question remains whether such shows, as disgusting as they are, should be turned into criminalized speech or left to civil liability and public pressures.
Continue reading “Spanish Court Orders The Arrest of Puppeteers For Glorifying Terrorism”
Here’s the problem with robbing a photo booth . . . it is a photo booth. That lesson was learned by a thief in Batavia, Illinois who effectively took his own Wanted Poster, which has now been released by police searching for the man.
Continue reading “Criminal Robs Photo Booth . . . Booth Snaps Photo Of Criminal”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Three weeks ago, we featured an article describing the plight of dozens of academics who faced arrest after signing a peace petition. These advocates were declared enemies of the Republic of Turkey. Now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government will put on trial a Turkish professor who placed onto an exam questions referencing PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
Ankara University professor Resat Baris Unlu faces charges for spreading “terrorist propaganda” after presenting his students a question comparing two documents written by the founder of the proscribed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who is currently serving a life sentence.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting a relatively happy ending to a terrorist attack. Officials reportedly believe that the man who died after being sucked out of a Somali passenger jet in midair on Monday was the man who set off the explosion. He succeeded only in blowing himself out of the plane. Problem solved.
Continue reading “Alleged Terrorist “Deplanes” After Blowing Hole Through Side of Airbus in Somalia”