Category: Criminal law

Criminal law, Politics, Society

Gallup Poll: 58% Of Americans Want Marijuana Legalized

It is a common lament these days that we seem a hopelessly divided country on virtual every major issue from immigration to health care to climate change. The exception appears to be marijuana. Not only are record numbers of citizens reporting that they use pot, but a new Gallup poll puts support for legalization at 58%. That is up seven points from just one year ago. In addition to the public support, there appears increasing investments and tax revenues associated with marijuana sales. That combination could make it difficult for Congress or the next Administration to reverse this trend toward legalization.

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Criminal law, Media, Society

Atlantic City Man Arrested After Video Show Him Taunting And Assaulting Homeless Woman

Screen Shot 2015-10-20 at 8.56.54 PMIbn Hunter, 25, is one person that Atlantic City could do without. Hunter was arrested after he starred in a vicious video posted on YouTube where he taunts and then knocks out a 45-year-old homeless woman. The videotape below is disgusting and all the more disturbing by the utter lack of reaction of people around them.

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Criminal law, Society

Chicago Former Gang Member Arrested After His 6-Year-Old Son Kills His Brother With Loaded Gun Left In Kitchen

562400f51400002a00c7a30bMichael Santiago, 25, is under arrest for felony child endangerment after his 6-year-old son accidentally shot and killed his 3-year-old brother. Santiago kept the .32-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver fully loaded on top of the refrigerator.

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Criminal law, Lawyering, Uncategorized

Massachusetts Lawyer Accused Of Being Prostitute

UnknownMassachusetts attorney Karen J. Andrade, 51, may be an example of the over-use of social media. Southampton police say that Andrade had thae standard lawyer links like LinkedIn but also links as “Rose,” a prostitute. Andrade, who was suspended from practice in 2014, is accused of running a escort business out of her home.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Ohio Body Mistaken for Halloween Decoration and Left Hanging On Fence

635803670417387129-Donnie-Cochenour-Jr-1013As we head to Halloween, there is a chilling case out of Ohio where Chillicothe police say that Donnie Cochenour Jr., 27, got a seasonal break (at least temporarily) on detecting his alleged murder of Rebecca J. Cade, 31. Cade’s body was left hanging on a fence and was mistaken by neighbors as a Halloween decoration.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Religion, Society

Sick 74-Year-Old Brit Faces 350 Lashes For Possessing Homemade Wine In Saudi Arabia

P-6e3039b7-72e8-4f94-8b30-e3b30803464e.thumbSaudi Arabia is about to add another victim to its adherence to the medieval Sharia law system imposed by the Kingdom. Karl Andree, 74, is a sick asthmatic Englishman who has survived three periods of cancer treatment. He has already been held in prison for a year but will now face 350 lashes . . . for having homemade wine. He has been held for a year despite that fact that his wife Verity is dying of Alzheimer’s — all under the Kingdom’s insistence on carrying out the tenets of Islamic morality codes.
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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law

American Sentenced In Canada For Possession Of Child Pornography . . . Of Cartoon Characters

200px-Dora_and_BootsThere is an interesting criminal case in Canada where American Peter Hasler, 25, of Murrells Inlet, S.C., is under arrest for possession of child pornography. However, the images were not of human beings but cartoon characters. Canada treats sexual cartoon images as pornography – a view widely rejected in the United States as inimical to free speech protections.

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Criminal law, International, Religion

“I Am Too Young To Die”: Pregnant Syrian Rape Victim Allegedly Murdered By Father And Brothers in Muslim “Honor Killing”

2D28C45D00000578-3262990-image-m-18_1444205953837We have another alleged “honor killing” in Europe. Rokstan M. is a woman who was gang raped by three Syrian soldiers and fled for freedom in the West. Her family however treated her as unclean and guilty for being gang raped. She reportedly feared being killed by her father and brothers. The young pregnant woman was found stabbed to death and her Syrian father is believed to have fled back to Syria. Police are also seeking her brothers who are believed to have participated in the savage murder. Rokstan wrote on social media shortly before her death that “I am awaiting death. But I am too young to die.”
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Animals, Criminal law, Environment, International

Elephants Found To Hold Possible Cure To Cancer While Humans Continue To Poison Herds To Feed Chinese Ivory Market

220px-African_Bush_ElephantThe irony is truly crushing. Elephants may be the key to eradicating cancer in humans, according to new research. Yet, humans continue to wipe out elephants to fuel Chinese ivory and herbal medicine markets. More elephants were poisoned this week and four rangers protecting them were murdered. These same criminals like the recently arrested Chinese “Ivory Queen” could well benefit from the cancer key found in elephants . . . assuming they leave any alive for study.

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Animals, Criminal law, Environment, International

Ivory Poachers In Zimbabwe Reportedly Using Cyanide Laced Food As Bait

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

african-elephantIn another low in the animal poaching world poachers are reportedly starting to utilize cyanide in hunting protected elephants.

Rangers for the Hwange National Park stated they discovered six elephant carcasses having their tusks removed. A week later, four more died but had not yet suffered the harvesting of their ivory. Necropsies and pathology tests of the animals’ kidneys and livers revealed the presence of cyanide. Matusadona National Park later lost three elephants to the same fate. Historically, cyanide is used in poaching of exotic fish.

The effect of cyanide often leads to deaths involving convulsions and considerable suffering if death is not immediate, adding to the cruel ordeal poachers exact upon the elephants.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Saudi Housewife Faces Possible Prosecution For Posting Picture of Husband Assaulting Housekeeper

__SaudiWomanCatche_3467063bThe plight of servants in Saudi Arabia is well-documented as foreign workers particularly are beaten and sexual assaulted with little apparent repercussions from the Kingdom. Women generally are denied basic rights and freedoms in the country which follows the medieval Sharia legal system. Now a wife is facing imprisonment because she filmed her husband sexually assaulting a maid and posted it. Such filming is viewed as defamation and subject to imprisonment in the draconian legal system in Saudi Arabia.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Politics, Religion

Saudi Arabia Remains Adamant On The Beheading and Crucifixion Of Political Dissident

ali-mohammed-al-nimrWe previously discussed the truly bizarre scene of having Saudi Arabia sit on the UN Human Rights Council despite being one of the most infamous violators of human rights. As if to remind the world of the crushing irony, Saudi Arabia has issued a statement telling the world that it has no business objecting to the planned execution of a religious dissent. The Saudi Arabian embassy in the UK has denounced “any form of interference in its internal affairs” regarding the case of 21-year-old dissident Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, who has been sentenced to death by beheading for engaging in pro-democracy protests.

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Animals, Criminal law, Environment

“Ivory Queen” Nabbed In Tanzania After Years Of Feeding Chinese Market With Elephant and Rhino Horn

220px-African_Bush_ElephantPolice have finally nabbed one of the most infamous environmental criminals in the world. Chinese national Yang Feng Glan (known as the “Ivory Queen”) was arrested in Tanzania on charges of poaching and smuggling ring. Glan is responsible for countless kills of elephants for their ivory. Glan, 66, would travel between China and the killing fields in open defiance of international and environmental laws. Despite her notoriety and serving an insatiable Chinese market for ivory, Chinese officials never arrested Glan.

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Academia, Bizarre, Criminal law, International

University of London Diversity Officer Charged With Threatening Communications After Racist and Sexist Comments

TwitterBahar Mustafa, of the University of London is facing criminal charges for sending a threatening communication. Mustafa attracted international condemnation for her use of a Twitter hashtag #killallwhitemen and asked for white men not to come to certain university events. Despite her unmitigated racism and sexism, an effort to remove her failed after only 165 people signed a petition for her removal. The retention of Mustafa at the university is a disgrace for both the university and academia as a whole.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Religion, Society

New Jersey Priest Arrested, Charged With Aggravated Assault For Allegedly Pretending That He Would Shoot Boy For Wearing Cowboys Jersey To His Church

njpriestpic2St. Margaret of Cortona Church in Little Ferry, N.J. this week is dealing with the arrest of its pastor, The Rev. Kevin Carter, 54. Even more shocking is the charge: aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child. However, on closer examination, the arrest and charge seems wildly out of place according to published reports. What was a gag based on football rivalry has turned into a full fledged criminal case due to the refusal of the police or prosecutors to show a modicum of discretion or logic.

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