Shakes the Clown allegedly added an unwanted scary element to a haunted house this Halloween: groping women. Two women complained to police and, according to a criminal complaint, Brandon Goral, 43, grabbed their breasts as they were waiting to enter a “haunted barn” at a campground in Janesville, Wisconsin.
Continue reading “Shakes The Clown Charged With Sexual Assault”
In celebration of Thanksgiving, I give you our annual Turkey Torts of civil and criminal cases that add liability to libations on this special day (with past cases at the bottom). Many criminal defense attorneys and torts attorneys give special thanks for a holiday that can involve copious amounts of alcohol, strained family relations, over-the-hill amateur football players, “Black Friday” sale stampedes, and novice cooks. Indeed, this year, the Kellem family started early by bagging a 30-pound wild Turkey in Indiana when it went smashing through their rental car window. Indeed, this year saw repeated warnings of aggressive wild turkeys during mating season causing accidents and injuries. The result is a horn of plenty for litigators.
Of course, some accidents have happy endings. For example, the Macy’s parade (as discussed below) has had its share of balloon accidents but last year’s parade featured Miss Piggy saving singing icon Tony Bennett from a potentially disastrous slip and fall.
Likewise, no one was hurt when a wife reportedly varnished her turkey. Her husband decided earlier to put some varnish in a container in the refrigerator. The wife proceeded to baste the turkey with it. The guests remarked on how picture perfect it looked but then discovered that beauty is only skin deep.
Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!
University of California -Riverside student Edith Macias achieved a degree of fame (or infamy) when she was involved in an ugly incident in September with a fellow student wearing a Make America Great Again hat. Macias ripped the hat off the head of student Matthew Vitale and then spouted profanities in a college office. Now Macias is looking at a charge of misdemeanor grand theft with the possibility of jail time.
Yesterday, the Hill posted my column on the hypocritical responses by both Democrats and Republicans to sexual harassment and assault allegations against figures ranging from Harvey Weinstein to Al Franken to Roy Moore. In the last 24 hours, CBS anchor Charlie Rose and Rep. John Conyers have been added to the list. However, the most glaring disconnect in the response to such allegations remains Bill Clinton, who was just accused of additional incidents of sexual harassment and assault after his presidency. Putting aside the veracity of such new claims (which remain based on anonymous sources), Clinton has a long and well-documented history of affairs and allegations ranging from sexual harassment to rape. However, Democrats gathered in Little Rock, Arkansas to hold an adoring tribute to Clinton on the 25th anniversary of his election as president. The event, headed by James Carville, failed to mention a single allegation of his assaulting women even as Democratic politicians and commentators have begun to acknowledge that these women should have been believed and Clinton held more accountable. Indeed, opening the Clinton fest with Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” was rather ominous given the allegations of ongoing misconduct.
We have hit another milestone today with over 33,000,000 views. We are also expected to reach 35,000 followers on Twitter. That hardly makes us competition for the largest sites but it is still an impressive collection of people seeking a place for civil but passionate discourse on legal and policy issues of our time (and perhaps a few wacky stories). We often use these milestones to look at the current profile of the blog and its supporters around the world.
As always, I want to offer special thanks for our weekend contributors: Mike Appleton, Larry Rafferty, Darren Smith, Kimberly Dienes, and Cara Gallagher (particularly Darren who continues help up with periodic technical problems etc).
I particularly want to thank our regular commentators and readers. We try to keep this blog as an open forum with as little interference or monitoring of the comments as possible. Given our free speech orientation, we try not to delete comments and, for that reason, we are deeply appreciative of how most people avoid personal or offensive comments in debating these issues. We have had to delete a handful of comments with personal attacks or profanity but the number remains quite low for a blog of this size. The success of this blog is due to the fact that we offer something more than the all-too-common troll-driven, angry, and insulting commentary of the Internet. Thank you for voluntarily assuming restraint over the tenor and content of your comments. Continue reading “RES IPSA HITS 33,000,000”
I have been critical of the representation afforded by Gloria Allred and her daughter Lisa Bloom in past cases, including the rapid calling of press conferences at the height of news cycles. Bloom has had public squabbles with clients including Harvey Weinstein and Kathy Griffin. While media management is part of zealous representation, there are times when I am left uncertain as to the legal strategy behind press conferences. In the case of Allred’s representation of Roy Moore accuser Beverly Nelson, the press conference has not only resulted in her being nationally ridiculed but she is now accused of falsifying Moore’s signature on a yearbook. Allred’s defense of her client on the charge has been so anemic and uncertain that many have taken it as a concession. As a result, Allred has given Moore just the issue to paint all of these women as liars and made the failure to turn over the yearbook the element of doubt that he was so desperately searching for in this scandal. Just as I was critical of Moore’s counsel, this situation could not be worse for Allred’s client. This was a predictable attack that Allred should have anticipated and had a response (other than we will turn over the yearbook in time) to blunt the attack on her client . . . better parading her in front of cameras.
It appears that crime is so low in Detroit that police are left trying to arrest each other. On the East side of Detroit, the 12th Precinct sent in a team of special ops officers to pretend to be drug dealers. At the same time, the 11th Precinct sent in officers pretending to a drug buyers. The rest will long be the subject of law enforcement legend.
The unfolding disaster surrounding Roy Moore truly gets worse the day. In the last 24 hours, two more women with highly compelling accounts described the same conduct of Moore pursuing very young girls while a prosecutors in his 30s. This includes a girl who Moore allegedly pulled out of her trig class in high school to ask out. She said that she later avoided him after one date where she felt he forced himself on her against her will. Moore has made the situation worse with conflicting and unconvincing statements about his alleged penchant for very young girls. However, if Moore’s self-defense has been wanting, the defense by two of his lawyers has been even worse.
Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore is facing new allegations today from yet another women who says that he pursued her as a young teenage girl. Beverly Young Nelson was 16 when she says that Moore tried to rape her after offering her a car ride home. Moore says that he does not know Nelson but the yearbook page above contains a personal message from him reading “To a sweeter girl I could not say Merry Christmas” — signed “Roy Moore D.A.” The pattern of allegations from so many women have made Moore’s continuance in the campaign untenable. Not only have GOP senators demanded his withdrawal but some are discussing an expulsion vote if he were to be elected. In the meantime, Moore is now threatening a lawsuit against the Washington Post for defamation, but the threat is curious in both its sole target and the specific fact being claimed defamatory. Notably, his wife has now said that she will also sue. There is not however an actual lawsuit at this time and the Moores are unclear on when a complaint will be filed.Continue reading “Moore Charges As The Alabama Candidate Threatens To Sue Washington Post”
Last week on this blog and in television interviews, I noted that in scandals like the one surrounding Roy Moore I often wait to see who sues for defamation first. What is clear in that someone is lying. It is either numerous women who were tracked down by the Washington Post or Roy Moore himself. Moore has called the women liars and “evil” while they have described a man with alleged pedophilic tendencies. As I mentioned on Friday, Moore’s responses are suspiciously labored and narrow for someone accused of deeply disturbing allegations. While I did not agree that Moore should simply withdrawal solely because someone made an accusation, the record is getting worse by the day. If he is innocent, I can understand a refusal to be chased from the race but there are new accounts that are making the situation untenable for Moore to remain in the race. Notably, Moore has been calling these women liars but he has not sued for defamation or announcing his intention to do so. That would put all parties under the bright light of discovery.
Update: Moore has announced that he will sue for defamation. However, he did not mention suing over the allegations of dating young girls but only “being with” a 15-year-old girl. He also mentioned only suing the Washington Post and not the various women who spoke on the record or his former colleague who spoke on the record. As noted below, the lawsuit against the Post would likely face the greatest challenge for Moore to prevail.
Continue reading “The Roy Moore Scandal: Someone’s Lying But No One Is Suing [UPDATED]”
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the ongoing jury deliberations over the alleged crimes of Senator Robert Menendez (D, N.J.). An alternate juror has said that she would have voted to acquit. It is a surprising result given the significant gifts showered on Menendez. The best witness against Menendez might have been Menendez himself.
Here is the column:
Juan Jose Vidrio Bibriesca, 43, was already in a bad position in the Eagle County District Court in Colorado for violating the bond on a drug charge. It became a lot worse when he removed his hat and a packet of cocaine fell on the floor of the courtroom in front of the judge.
Continue reading “Defendant Appears In Court on Drug Charge When Cocaine Drops From His Hat”
This may prove the ultimate take out. A Chipotle employee in New York was serving a man when she realized he was the same guy who broke into her apartment on May 18th with accomplices in a burglary crime. She confronted the man who ran from the restaurant . . . after grabbing his order.
Continue reading “Chipotle Worker Recognizes Customer As Man Who Allegedly Burglarized Her Home”
Defense counsel often struggle with clients who fail to demand a lawyer in interrogation. Sean Sykes Jr. however appears to have shutdown his interrogation without uttering a sound . . . well at least a word. Police say that they were forced to terminate their interrogation by Sykes’ continual flatulence. He is no doubt now in production to star in the sequel series to “Breaking Bad” called “Breaking Wind.”
Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore has long been controversial and I will readily admit to being one of his most vocal critics over his defiance of legal authority and extremist views. However, he is now perfectly radioactive after allegations that he initiated sexual contact with a 14-year-old when he was in his 30s. Perhaps the strangest defense came from Alabama state auditor Jim Ziegler (right) told the Washington Examiner that, if Moore did engage in pedophilia, it was “much ado about nothing.”: “Take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.” In the meantime, Moore has called his multiple accusers as people engaging in “intentional defamation.” What is clear is someone is lying. If Moore is telling the truth, the next step would presumably be a defamation lawsuit. The same can be said for these four women who have now been called liars. This is a time when a little litigation would go a long way.