The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has handed down a major ruling that will likely shock many dog owners. Judge Eric Clay wrote the opinion that police can legally shoot and kill any dog that is barking at them during a raid. Since this is a common response to intruders, it would mean that police have virtually complete discretion to kill dogs during raids. The case is Brown v. Battle Creek Police Dep’t, 2016 FED App. 0293P (6th Cir.).
Category: Criminal law
We have previously discussed the total meltdown in the Philippine’s with the election of Rodrigo Duterte, a man whose hostility toward civil liberties is match only by the uncertainty over his sanity. 
We have previously discussed Duterte’s foul-mouthed tenure in office, including profanities directed at the Pope, President Obama, and anyone else objecting to his evisceration of human rights and the rule of law. Recently Duterte bragged about how he personally murdered suspects as an example for police who were a bit more reluctant to engage in extrajudicial murders. Now, Duterte has bragged that he personally threw suspect to his death from a helicopter. Duterte continues to brag about his extrajudicial murders but there remains no action taken against him.
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There are certain signature seasonal crimes and the alleged crimes of Karen Elaine Harrelson, 52, in Red Lion, Pa would certainly qualify. Harrelson is accused of assaulting Kayla Renne Still with the family Christmas tree. In light of our recent discussion of the trend of prosecutors to tack on terrorism charges, this appears another such case.
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One of the most disturbing crimes before Christmas has resulted in criminal charges. Gary Holmes, 33, has been charged with capital murder after he killed a three-year-old Arkansas boy, Acen King, out Christmas shopping with his grandmother in a senseless road rage incident. The murder charge is well founded but the case raises again the growing trend of prosecutors adding “terrorism” charges to such cases.
We have been discussing how Dubai is trying to lure Westerners to the country while it is continuing to impose the medieval Islamic Sharia system with predictably abusive results, particularly for women. Now, Dubai police have arrest a 30-year-old Ethiopian woman in the Al Qassimi Hospital after she gave birth to a child as an unmarried woman. The hospital called police that that newborn baby was illegitimate and she is an illegal maid.
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I have long been critical of our professions bottom-feeders: firms that do little but sue citizens over copyright or trademarks violations and collect small settlements through threatening letters. In what is remarkably good news, lawyers Paul Hansmeier (above) and John Steele (left) are facing criminal charges over their abusive scheme to acquire millions from copyright claims over porn movies as well as fraudulent disability litigation. Two more worthy felons would be hard to find in the country. A third attorney Paul Duffy (right) died at age 55 during the investigation into these activities.
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On the heels of the hoax by a Muslim college students who claimed to have been attacked by Trump supporters, Mississippi police have arrested Andrew McClinton, 45, an African American man who allegedly spray painted “Vote Trump” on his own church and then burned it down.
Yasmin Seweid, 18, a Baruch College student, raised a national controversy after she reported being harassed on the New York City subway by supporters of President-elect Donald Trump. She has now been arrested for fabricating the story and filing a false report as well as obstructing governmental administration.
Hint: Edward Moya, 45, is a slow learner and fast driver.
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We have previously discussed the disgraceful reign of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, a foul-mouthed, patently unstable leader who relishes extrajudicial killings. Duterte who has unleashed profanities at the Pope, President Obama, and anyone else objecting to his evisceration of human rights and the rule of law. Now, Duterte, undeterred by global condemnations and withholding of aid programs, he is now publicly bragging about how he personally murdered suspects as an example for police who were a bit more reluctant to engage in extrajudicial murders. The question now is whether the Filipino government contains enough sane and honorable leaders to finally move to remove this unhinged, tyrannical figure. While China clearly loves what it sees in this murderous authoritarian, most Filipinos were raised in a nation that has struggled to create true democratic institutions based on the rule of law.
Continue reading “Duterte: I Personally Killed Suspects To Show The Police How It Is Done”
In Columbia, South Carolina, Nathan Martinez, 37, fulfills the stereotype of a man who represents himself and has a fool for a client. Martinez was accused of a myriad of crimes, including rape, burglary, and kidnapping. He insisted on representing himself and secure convictions on all counts and a sentence of life in prison plus 30 years.
Stefano Brizzi, 50, clearly loved the series “Breaking Bad” — a taste shared with many of us. His other tastes however were a bit more exotic and lethal. Brizzi strangled to death police officer Gordon Semple, 59, in a sex game after meeting him on the gay cruising app. Brizzi seemed to model his life on the rather unfortunate model of Jesse Pinkman, including his ill-fated initial effort at body disposal.
There is an interesting criminal investigation that seems to fulfill the Washington DC adage “One week on the cover of Time, next week doing time.” The point is that sometimes press is not a good thing. That would seem the case of Special Forces Maj. Matthew Golsteyn who went on Fox News for an interview. In the course of the interview, Golsteyn appears to admit to murdering a suspect in his custody in Afghanistan. Army investigators also watch television and immediately reopened the investigation into the death of the accused Taliban bombmaker.
There is a tragic reminder of the different levels of scrutiny and qualifications for pilots — airplane versus hot-air balloons. Alfred “Skip” Nichols, a pilot of a hot-air balloon, crashed last summer in Texas, killing himself and 15 sight-seeing passengers. It now appears that Nichols was taking a mix of different drugs, including the opiate pain-killer oxycodone. The result is a likely push for new regulation and a potential tort lawsuit, particularly after families learned that Nichols, 49, was convicted five times for driving while intoxicated and three times for drug offenses.
Continue reading “Pilot In Hot Air Balloon Crash That Killed 16 Found To Have History of DUIs and A Mix Of Drugs In His Body”
Look again. What would this Florida man want so bad that he allegedly was prepared to steal for it?
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