Category: Criminal law

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Uncategorized

Massachusetts Teenager Charged With Manslaughter For Encouraging Suicide

michelle-carter-conrad-roy-iii-charged-with-manslaughter-for-urging-teen-boys-suicide-leadmichelle-carter-conrad-roy-iii-charged-with-manslaughter-for-urging-teen-boys-suicide-leadThere is a deeply troubling case out of Massachusetts where prosecutors have charged Michelle Carter, 18, with the death of Conrad Roy, 18. What is different about the case is that there is no dispute that Roy killed himself. Carter is being charged for text messages encouraging Roy to go through with the suicide. If true, Carter played a despicable role in this death but the question is whether it should be treated as a crime when it was Roy who made the decision and took the action to take his own life. I have previously written how such cases should be handled by civil litigation as a general rule.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Environment, Society

Vandals Rescued From Cliff After Allegedly Trying To Flee From Historic Site In San Francisco

20150227_100243_cliff1_200Louis Murrillo and Zane Johnides were able to distinguish themselves this week in both their lack of values and intellect. The two men were busy vandalizing a historical military structure at Battery Yates, a historic military building along the water at Fort Baker, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge when they were spotted by park officers. The two attempted to escape by climbing over the cliff where they promptly got stuck — triggering a massive rescue effort including the lifting of one of the men of the cliff face with a helicopter.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

American Blogger in Bangladesh Hacked To Death By Islamic Extremists

Avijit_RoyAnother blogger has fallen victim to Islamic extremists. Avijit Roy, a Bangladesh-born U.S. citizen, was hacked to death during a walk with his wife in Dhaka as both were returning from a book fair at Dhaka University. How did he insult Islam? No, it wasn’t a cartoon or a satirical poem. He wrote about religious intolerance so they hacked him to death.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Lawyering, Society

Disbarred or Rebarred? Defendant Arrested After Posing As Attorney While Waiting For His Own Plea Agreement

ArnoldKyle Arnold, 42, knows a thing or two about multitasking. Arnold was waiting to finalize his plea bargain for misdemeanor simple assault and reckless endangerment. He allegedly spotted the girlfriend of another defendant and decided to pose as an attorney and bilk her out of $1,300.

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Animals, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Society

Pet Shop Owner Accused Of Arson Involving Puppies Convicted
Gloria Eun Hye Lee
Gloria Eun Hye Lee

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

There are crimes where a defendant’s depraved actions almost beg for a strong sentence. Torching a pet store and pouring kerosene on puppies certainly qualifies.

Just over a year ago we reported the case of Gloria Eun Hye Lee who, along with codefendant Kirk Bills were accused of conspiracy, insurance fraud, arson, and animal cruelty for an outrageous event where the two set fire to Gloria’s Las Vegas Prince and Princess Pet Botique.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Politics, Society

House of Representatives Files Defense Of Historic Challenge To Obamacare In Federal Court

Congressional SealSeal_of_the_President_of_the_United_States.svgThe Obama Administration previously filed its Motion to Dismiss in the challenge by the United States House of Representatives v. Burwell. As many of you know, I am lead counsel in the action. The Obama Administration is seeking to block the court from hearing the merits of our Complaint and below is our filing today in defense of the right of the House of Representatives to be heard in the federal court. The case is before Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

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Criminal law, International, Religion

Jihadi John Unmasked

jihadi-john-split-without-credit-1-762x428Jihadi_JohnWe finally have a face to go with the name of the infamous Islamic State murderer known as “Jihadi John.” He is Mohammed Emwazi and is shown here in a Pittsburgh Pirates hat from his time at the University of Westminster. He turns out to another militant from a well-off family and someone who seemed successful in society as we have seen in other cases. This will make it easier for the United States which, according to Attorney General Eric Holder, has made capturing or killing Jihadi John a priority.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Georgia Execution of First Woman In 70 Years Is Postponed Due To Weather

ht_kelly_renee_gissendaner_death_row_float_jc_150219_16x9_992The execution of Kelly Renee Gissendaner, 46, had a rare interruption this week. The first female prisoner to be executed by the state of Georgia in 70 years was halted not by an order of the governor or the Supreme Court. It was delayed on account of “inclimate weather.” I have not seen such a “called for weather” delay in an execution, which is generally set by order or statute as occurring on a set day.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Justice, Politics, Society

Justice Department: Zimmerman Will Not Be Charged With Federal Crimes

department-of-justice-logo1Zimmermanx-inset-communityYesterday, the Justice Department closed the book on the George Zimmerman case with the announcement that it will not file federal civil rights charges. When Attorney General Eric Holder ordered in federal investigators soon after the shooting of Trayvon Martin, some (including myself) questioned the legal basis for entering the case based on the still developing evidence. The Justice Department usually allows state or city prosecutors and police to finish their investigation before entry into a case. Holder was viewed as responding to political pressure in ordering the premature entry in the case. That investigation will now end shortly before Holder leaves his very controversial tenure as Attorney General.

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Criminal law, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Indonesia Under Fire For Executing Mentally Ill Man As He Begged For Last Rites

images-2125px-Flag_of_Indonesia.svgAn execution in Indonesia had led to the withdrawal of ambassadors after an international outcry over the treatment of Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, a Brazilian man who was a paranoid schizophrenic accused of drug dealing. Moreira was reportedly dragged from this cell and denied last rites with a priest. He soiled himself and was quickly hosed down before being thrown in front of a firing squad.

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Criminal law, Environment, Society

New Jersey Tuna Fisherman Arrested For Killing Whale With World War II Russian Rifle

B9316360548Z.1_20150223160837_000_GGIA1RELN.1-0There is an amazing story about of New Jersey involving a dead pilot whale with a bullet wound on a beach, a World War II rifle, and some very determined federal investigators. It was a murder mystery that would eventually led investigators to a tuna fisherman Daniel Archibald who has been charged with shooting the whale from a fishing boat. While Archibald may have thought that the whale would simply sink in the middle of the ocean, it survived for a month with the bullet lodged in its jaw. The resulting would caused the whale to starve to death and the 740-pound whale later washed up on a beach in Allenhurst. The obvious gunshot wound triggered an investigation. The fact that they were able to build such a case is a great accomplishment for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents and other associated police departments.

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Academia, Bizarre, Criminal law

Foustian Bargain: Elementary Principal Arrested For Alleged Heroin Dealing

Heroin Principal-1Mark Twain’s hometown usually brings up images of lazy summer evenings or tales of a mischievous Huck Finn. This month however the talk is about Hannibal elementary school principal Joshua Foust. A local success story of a boy who graduated from the Hannibal High and came back to his home town to run the elementary school, Foust has been arrested for possession of heroin as part of a drug sale conspiracy.

 

 

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Bad Hair Day Made Worse: Connecticut Man Allegedly Trashes Hair Salon Over Bad Cut

hc-stamford-bad-haircut-arrest-0221-20150220-001This may be a case where the mugshot is admissible as core evidence in a case. Alan Becker, 47, reportedly objected to a haircut at the Loft Salon in Stamford and became even more irate when he was told it would cost $50. What happened next may guarantee an institutional cut for some time to come for Becker.

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

The Crime Of “Shameful Movements”: Saudi Vice Police Raid Birthday Party And Arrest Men For Dancing

220px-Juliana_Tea_Party170px-Ministry_of_Interior_Saudi_Arabia.svgIn Saudi Arabia, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is a religious police force that has been a constant presence in the Kingdom arresting woman having coffee with colleagues or forcing young girls to burn to death in fire rather than run out without their scarves. Then there was the time that the religious police in Dammam marched into a popular dinosaur exhibit and shut it down without any explanation of why the dinosaurs threatened the virtue of good Muslims. Then there was the flogging of a women who insulted them. Then there are the round ups of religious people for simply praying at home. Then there is the arrest of a man for standing in line with his wife at a grocery store. The list goes on and on. The latest entry is the arrest of young men for simply dancing at a birthday party. Birthday parties have been denounced by Saudi clerics as unIslamic, but this the first such arrest that many can recall that did not involve dancing with women.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Environment, Society

Hawaii Diver Pleads Guilty In Controversial Scuba Attack On Conservationist

Screen Shot 2015-02-20 at 3.36.32 PM

There is an interesting criminal case out of Hawaii where Jay Lowell, a diver who pulled off the breathing apparatus (regulator) of a conservationist, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. The case itself is different in a response to the filming by a coral reef conservation group For the Fishes, but also the specific charge: Terroristic threatening.

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