There is a very disturbing videotape out today that left me stunned and frankly irate. While I have sometimes questioned the evidence of police abuse in some high-profile cases where there is a gun present or extenuating circumstances, I can see no such circumstances in the shooting of Charles Kinsey in North Miami. Kinsey is a dedicated caretaker at an assisted living facility who went outside to calm down a young autistic man. Neither was armed and, at the time of the shooting, Kinsey had his hands up as he tried to get the troubled young man to lay on his stomach. Police fired three rounds, hitting Kinsey.
Category: Criminal law
Some of us have been critical of the changes brought by State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby in the death of Freddie Gray. As we have seen in past high-profile cases, the prosecutors over charged the case against various defendants with very little evidence. The result has been a series of acquittals. Now, my GWU colleague Professor John Banzhaf III has taken that controversy to a new level with the filing of complaints seeking disbarment with the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission against Mosby, Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow and Deputy State’s Attorney Janice Bledsoe. He alleges that these prosecutors knowingly brought charges without a sufficient evidentiary basis.
Continue reading “GWU Law Professor Files Ethics Charges Against Prosecutors In Freddie Gray Case”
Connor Lloyd, 20, is someone who has as little judgment as he does self-control. That would explain first taking police on a high speed chase in Cambridge and then, after he escaped, he posted his route and bragged on social media. He is now going to jail.
Continue reading “Englishman Takes Police On 100MPH Chase and Then Posts Route On Social Media”
This is Daniel Reinsvold, 44, who was charged with breaking into a home and other charges. Most people get a dog to stop break ins, but this family said that it was the dog that Reinsvold was after. The daughter of the family reported finding Reinsvold with his pants down and trying to have sex with Cooper, their Golden retriever. If you guessed that, you need to get help. Seriously.
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Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is made a highly disturbing proposal that people who visit sites that are deemed as favoring terrorist groups. As articulated by Gingrich in his Fox News interview, the proposal would eviscerate the first amendment and leave that government in a position to regulate speech and association based on an ill-defined standard. Gingrich also attracted criticism for his proposal to test Muslims to allow for deportation of anyone who “believes in Sharia” — a proposal that would sanction peoplr for their religious and political views.
There is a tragic case out of Chicopee, Massachusetts where a 15-year-old boy was shot after he appeared to go to the wrong house after a night of drinking. 42-year-old Jeffrey Lovell is accused of shooting through the door and killing teenager Dylan Francisco. Lowell is facing a murder charge.
IF you guess soaking marijuana in a jar with a stolen human brain, you are a twisted genius. Joshua Long, 26, was arrested in Pennsylvania for a string of burglaries. He was later charged with using the stolen human brain to make a potent form of marijuana.
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The latest Islamic “honor killing” has claimed a feminist and YouTube star in Pakistan. Qandeel Baloch who challenged many religious and cultural norms for women in Pakistan was strangled to death by her brother, who has now admitted to the murder. Waseem Azeem told police that he was tired of ridicule by other Muslims for his nonconforming sisters and “I was determined either to kill myself or kill her.” Despite the universal view that the former option would have been far better than the latter, he decided to choke the life out of his own sister to uphold his view of Islamic morality.
A lawyer who specializes in wrongful death cases and car accidents has found himself at the center of such a case . . . as a criminal defendant. Scott A. Bailey, 44, allegedly crashed his Mustang into a woman’s SUV during a drag race. Kathleen “Kay” Koutroubis, 73, was fatally injured. The other man is Haven A. Sooter, 39, was driving a BMW who suffered a broken arm and a concussion in the crash.
Continue reading “Missouri Car Accident Lawyer Accused In Alleged Fatal Drag Race Accident”
If you guessed, assault with a prosthetic arm, you are a detective first class. If you guessed that he is a recidivist for this particular crime, you are a genius. That’s right, Joshua Stockinger is charged with hitting a woman with his prosthetic arm — the same act that he allegedly committed in an assault on a police officer just last May.
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We have been discussing the effort of protesters to strip universities of references and images connected to segregation or slavery, including the names of Framers. Now, a dishwasher has taken it upon himself to smash a stained-glass window at Yale University because it depicted what he considered a racist scene. What is interesting is that, even though Corey Menafee was fired, Yale was already planning to remove the windows as part of a new initiative to remove such images.
Continue reading “Yale Dishwasher Destroys Stained-Glass Window Depicting Slaves”
Fresh from declaring her support of Oberlin students in claiming the serving of sushi is cultural appropriation, actress Lena Dunham (creator of HBO’s “Girls,” is supporting producer Tami Sagher’s effort to get people to deface the posters for the Jason Bourne movie. The objection is to the inclusion of a gun. So Dunham and Sagher are calling for the work of other artists to be defaced because they disagree with the content. They are doing so without a hint of recognized hypocrisy. Despite the attack on free speech, the response has been muted from HBO and Hollywood figures to an actress and a producer calling for the vandalization of the work of other artists.
Continue reading “Lena Dunham Encourages People To Tear Apart The Movie Posters Of Other Artists”
Ruqiyyah Abdur-Raqeeb-Sadiq, 28,had a curious defense after she ran her car into the side of the home of Mary Ester in Florida. She said that she was praying at the time . . . with her eyes closed. It appears that faith alone was not enough for Abdur-Raqeeb-Sadiq and, while God may be her co-pilot, he cannot be charged with the offense.
Continue reading “God Was My Co-Pilot: Woman Crashes Into Home While Praying With Eyes Closed”
Isaiah Nathaniel Sais appears to be the latest hapless man undone by the “erratic behavior” of Jack Sparrow. In this case, Jack Sparrow is a Chihuahua who was exhibiting strange behavior so his owner Sais took him to the veterinarian. Jack Sparrow tested positive for methamphetamine and the police were alerted and Sais eventually was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty.
Continue reading “The Chihuahua Did It: California Man Charged After Pet Tests Positive For Meth”
If you guessed murdering the woman mentioned in his neck tattoo, “Melanie”, you could join the Connecticut police department as a detective. Adam Plaeger, 38, is accused of strangling to death his girlfriend, Melanie Heuberger.
Continue reading “Can You Guess What This Person Was Charged With?”