Category: Criminal law

Moore Charges As The Alabama Candidate Threatens To Sue Washington Post

DOidoaVU8AAzpNJFormer 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.

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The Roy Moore Scandal: Someone’s Lying But No One Is Suing [UPDATED]

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.

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A Senator’s Privilege: How Menendez Declared His Own Conduct To Be Corrupt In A 2010 Senate Trial

220px-Robert_Menendez,_official_Senate_photoBelow 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:

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Defendant Appears In Court on Drug Charge When Cocaine Drops From His Hat

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.

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Chipotle Worker Recognizes Customer As Man Who Allegedly Burglarized Her Home

1510490955070.jpgThis 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.

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You Have The Right To Remain Silent: Man’s Flatulence Forces Police To End Interrogation

15383038_GDefense 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.”

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Alabama Auditor Defends Roy Moore: “Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.”

Jim-Zeigler-228x300Murillo_immaculate_conceptionAlabama 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.

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D.C. City Council Moves To Honor Marion Barry With Prominent Statue In Front Of City Hall

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Graswald Gets Only Four Years In Infamous Kayak Murder Case

kayakpicWe have been following the case of Angelika Graswald who is accused of murdering her fiancé Vincent Viafore by sabotaging his kayak on a river outing on the Hudson. Indeed, we previously heard that she had confessed and said “it felt good” to see Viafore die. Now there is a report that Graswald confessed , saying “All right, I’ll give you a f–king statement . . . I wanted him dead and now he’s gone . . . And I’m OK with it.” The fact that Graswald was sent to prison this week is hardly a surprise, but what was surprising was the term of incarceration. Graswald was given a plea bargain for negligent homicide and given the maximum one-and-a third to 4 years in state prison.

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Racist Incidents At The Air Force Academy And Kansas State University Prove To Be Hoaxes

images-1download-2Two universities this month were embroiled in alleged racist incidents that led to campus alerts and national controversy.  It turns out however that the “victims” at both the Air Force Academy and Kent State were actually the aggressors in the creation of racist hoaxes.  The incident at the Air Force Academy led to an angry speech by Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria, who ordered all 4000 cadets to stand at attention as he railed on the racist or racists in their ranks.

 

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“The Laws All Being Flat”: Clinton Supporters Search For Legal Shelter After Months Of Lowering Standards To Target Trump

Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziBelow is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the allegations against Hillary Clinton and her campaign.  Yesterday, the controversy surrounding the Russian dossier deepened after it was disclosed that the co-founder of Fusion GPS (the company hired by the Clinton campaign to do the dossier) met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya before she met with Donald Trump Jr. Indeed, she met with the Fusion officials shortly before and shortly after she met with Trump Jr. in Trump Tower.  Just hours before on June 9, 2016, Fusion co-founder and ex-Wall Street Journal reporter Glenn Simpson was with Veselnitskaya in a Manhattan federal courtroom.  Simpson and Fusion GPS were hired by BakerHostetler, which represented Russian firm Prevezon through Veselnitskaya.

Here is the column:

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Menendez Case Goes To Jury . . . Jurors Sends Out Question “What Is A Senator?”

220px-The_Jury_by_John_MorganOk, maybe counsel over shot the jury a bit in the trial of Senator Robert Menendez. The Senator is facing allegations of bribes from Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen ranging from luxury vacations to luxury flights to campaign contributions.   After presenting a fairly complex case of gifts, influence peddling, and nuanced criminal standards, a question can back from the jury.  The juror asked the judge “what is a senator?”

 

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Laying Hands Upon The Messiah: Police Search For Jesus After Attack On Jedi

Sacred-Heart-of-Jesus561623It may seem like the nightmare for some over the secularization of England, but police are hunting down Jesus this week.  It appears that a man dressed as Jesus for Halloween and attacked another man dressed as a “Jedi Knight” — leaving the second man with a broken ankle.

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Breaking Big Scones Into Little Scones: Saudi Arabia Arrests Dozens of Princes and Officials For Corruption . . . Confines Them To The Ritz-Carlton

A stretch in confinement is never fun. Whether it is a chain gang or breaking “big stones into little stones,” time in jail can be endless. . . . unless you are a Saudi prince or official.  After a surprising crackdown on corruption and the arrest of princes and senior officials, the accused were ordered to be held in home confinement at the ultra-luxury Ritz Carlton in Riyadh.  The accused will be guaranteed “three squares a day” on a prison menu at various top restaurants that includes “Squid ink, mixed pan-seared seafood” and “Ossobuco alla Milanese, saffron risotto, and pecorino foam” at hundreds of dollars a pop.  While there is no prison yard with a weight set, there is the spa with the “Royal Groom of Arabia treatment.”

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Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks