James Kottak, the drummer for the rock band Scorpions, has been sentenced to one month in jail in the United Arab Emirates for conduct offensive to Islam. This reportedly included raising his middle finger and insulting the faith.
Category: Criminal law
For death penalty advocates, Oklahoma was featuring a type of macabre double header tonight: two executions to be held within hours of each other. That objective however failed in a most disturbing possible way after the first execution of Clayton Lockett left him in obvious agony for over 25 minutes. He eventually died from a heart attack and the second execution was postponed.
Former Illinois State Rep. Keith Farnham, 66, was the co-sponsor of two bills to increase the punishment for child pornography may soon regret the effort. He has been charged with child pornography crimes related to hundreds of images and videos on his personal and state-owned computers as well as graphic online chats. In one such chat, he allegedly wrote that “12 is about as old as i can handle . . . i love them at 6 7 8.” In another chat, he allegedly bragged about sexually molesting a 6-year-old girl. He is not charged with that rape. In the sick and bizarre world of child porn, such a claim may have been a form of bragging than a true admission of a rape. Farnham resigned from office shortly after his state office was raided. He said that he needed to resign due to health concerns.
There is a highly disturbing story and photos out of Tennessee where a police officer is shown choking a college student, Jarod Dotson, 22, who does not appear to be resisting. The police had been called to a party at the University of Tennessee and police reported that bottles were thrown at officers. However, in this picture, there appears no risk or resistance for the officer, Deputy Sheriff Frank Phillips.
Continue reading “Tennessee Officer Shown Choking An Unresisting Student Into Unconsciousness”
There is a truly shocking lawsuit that has been filed in Toronto in which Sharlene Simon, 42, is suing Brandon Majewski, 17, (left) despite the fact that he died in a terrible accident that also seriously injured his friend, Richard McLean, 16, and hurt Jake Roberts, 16. Simon struck the boys from behind in her SUV and she is now claiming emotional damages stemming from the fact that the boys were “incompetent bicyclists.” She is suing the boys, their families, the city, and even the brother of one of the boys in seeking $1.35 million. While we have seen a couple of truly despicable lawsuits, this one just may set a new low among bottom feeders.
While the government continues to arrest those who protest its policies, Iran has been faced with a novel form of protest by citizens who are shaving their heads in solidarity with prisoners being killed and brutalized in the nation’s prison complex. These include political detainees at the infamous Evin Prison who were shown on a recent video being beaten by Revolutionary Guards. At the center of the controversy is Gholam Hossein Esmaili, a true fanatic who went on television to deny all such allegations, say that his guards have been uniformly “polite” to detainees, and that the videotape is a conspiracy of the West to overthrow the government. While most countries would investigate him for possible criminal acts and certainly fire him for abuse, the Islamic Republic promoted him to head Tehran Province’s courts. That’s right, the mullahs felt that he was perfect to be put into the court system. In the meantime, the government shut down the Ebtekar Newspaper , which reported on aspects of the controversy. By the way, Evin Prison (left) under the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi held a reported 1,500 detainees. Under Iran’s Islamic government, it hold a reportedly 15,000. While it holds conventional prisoners, it holds so many dissident intellectuals and professors that it is now nicknamed “Evin University.”
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty-(rafflaw)- Weekend Contributor
If you were like me, you may never have heard the term “Communications Management Units” before. They are basically a section of a prison where certain prisoners are housed with limited or no access to communications or family visitations. The reason very little was known about the CMU’s is that when they first were initiated at prisons in Indiana and Illinois, their existence was kept from the public.
“The units opened almost in secret in 2006 and 2008. Critics say they flouted federal law by not publishing the proposed rule and opening up a period for public comment.” Readers Supported News If a lawsuit filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights had not been filed in 2010, we may never have known much about these abusive tactics in our domestic prison system. Maybe the harshest aspect of being sent to the CMU was the realization that you may never know why you were sent there or how you could get out of it. Continue reading “Communications Management Units and Prisoners Rights”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
We previously discussed a disturbing report of a family pet shot by Rains County Sheriff’s Deputy Jerrod Dooley, HERE. The incident stemmed when homeowner Cole Middleton arrived home about 11:00 AM and discovered his residence had been burglarized and several items, including all his firearms were stolen. Several hours later, while Cole was working in a field harvesting grass, Deputy Dooley arrived. The deputy then claimed he was threatened by Cole Middleton’s cow dog Candy when she darted out from a pickup truck and was shot. Despite being begged by Cole to put down Candy to end her suffering, Deputy Dooley instead calls for help and pulls back in his patrol car to wait for “backup”. Cole, having no firearms to perform a coup de grâce, suffered the terror of having to drown Candy in a bucket to end it for her.
Newly released dash cam video capturing much of the incident shows Deputy Dooley arriving at the residence and pulling behind a pickup truck. Candy is lying down in the bed of the truck and when the patrol vehicle pulls up she stands and begins barking with tail wagging. Candy continues to bark and then jumps out of the bed and is subsequently shot by Deputy Dooley. Shortly thereafter, Cole walks up and Deputy Dooley informs him that he had to shoot his dog. Cole is understandably distressed yet the deputy calls for backup saying he needs “help” and is shown backing out of the driveway.
Sheriff David Traylor fired Deputy Dooley and later stated to a KLTV reporter that it was for Dooley’s safety because of numerous threats made against him and the department. He added that it is the safest move for the department and the deputy.
Continue reading “Sheriff Fires Texas Deputy Who Shot Dog During Burglary Call”
Ontario police have made an arrest in the grave robbing case in Ohio discussed earlier. The police had succeeded in capturing the image of a woman stealing a toy off the grave of a dead infant. A number of such toys had been stolen off the grave of Hayden “Tank” Cole Sheridan. As expected, various people came forward and identified Frieda Kay Shade, 54, of Mansfield. She turned herself into police.
We have recently discussed attacks on lawyers for simply doing their jobs in representing accused individuals. It is truly vile and McCarthyist trend that seeks to punish professional working within our criminal justice system. It is particularly offensive therefore when a large, presumably respectable organization unleashed such an attack. However, that is precisely what the Republican Governors Association has done in the attack ad below against State Senator Vincent Sheheen (left) who is being opposed because he represented people accused of crimes. To its credit, the South Carolina Bar Association has stepped forward to denounce the ad as containing “uncivil, misleading political rhetoric.” It is a shameful and shocking ad that attacks the very notion of due process guaranteed by our Constitution. The ad is designed to help Gov. Nikki Haley in her reelection campaign.
The police in Ontario, Ohio have succeeded in capturing the image of a criminal who may stand unrivaled among the felon class. This picture was released with others of a woman who has been stealing toys off the grave of a dead infant. That’s right. Not just a grave robber but an infant grave robber. The police decided to set up a hidden camera and nailed these images. They are now seeking any leads on the culprit and, given the quality of the photographs, it would seem likely that the woman (shown here stealing a stuffed duck from the grave of Hayden “Tank” Cole Sheridan) will be identified.
Two former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies have been charged with planting guns at a medical marijuana dispensary when they were on the force in 2011. Julio Cesar Martinez, 39, and Anthony Manuel Paez, 32, were charged with one felony count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice and altering evidence as a peace officer. The charges could result in seven year stints. The two officers allegedly turned off the electricity and a security camera system inside the dispensary as they planted guns later cited as the basis for the arrests.
Continue reading “Two Former LA Sheriff Deputies Charged With Planting Guns At Marijuana Dispensary”
Pennsylvania lawyer Andrew H. Gaber, 52, has committed suicide shortly before he was due to be tried in an insurance fraud case that now involves dozens of alleged runners and false “slip-and-fall” claimants. Gaber reportedly shot himself on April 15th.
Two American doctors — a father and a son — were killed by an Afghan security guard at a Kabul hospital this week as well as a third doctor. The guard also wounded two others, including an American nurse. The Taliban and extreme Muslim clerics have called for attacks on foreigners, including those who are in the country to feed and heal Afghan citizens. What is most striking about this story is that, after gunning down innocent doctors and nurses, the life of the guard was then saved in surgery at the very same hospital by doctors that he did not shoot.
We previously discussed the case of Doyle Randall Paroline, who pleaded guilty in Texas in 2009 to possessing child pornography. He downloaded hundreds of images and two were found to be child pornography dedicating the abuse of Amy. After pleading guilty, Paroline was hit by $3.4 million in restitution damages for Amy even though he had no role in her victimization nine years earlier or any role in the production or distribution of the two photos. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that the federal restitution law does not require “proximate causation” — a critical limitation in torts and criminal law that ensures that liability is confined to those parties immediately responsible for injuries. I have criticized the expansion of restitution in this area for years and I spoke with NPR’s On The Media on the case. The Court has now ruled and reversed the Fifth Circuit in a 5-4 decision. As discussed with regard to yesterday’s decision in the Michigan affirmative action case, my Supreme Court class votes on the merits and predicted outcome of the major cases of the term before the Supreme Court. On this occasion, the vote was 8 to affirm and 6 to reverse. The latter “reversal” is closest to the outcome in the case. On prediction, the vote was 11 to 2 in favor of affirming so we were way off on the prediction on this one.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Vacates Jane Doe Child Pornography Restitution Case”