Minnesota Dentist Walter Palmer is already one of the most vilified individuals in the United States. Palmer paid $50,000 to lure a lion with bait, kill him with a bow and arrow, cut off his head and skin him. What Palmer viewed as a good time has turned into a nightmare after he bagged Cecil the Lion, a famous lion in Zimbabwe. Cecil was lured out of the park sanctuary with a dead animal on top of a vehicle. He was wearing a collar and was first wounded and then hunted down the next day for the kill by Palmer. He then left Zimbabwe just in time to avoid arrest. Not so lucky was the head of the safari and the owner of the land upon which Cecil was killed. Now, Palmer has become the prey as Zimbabwe announced that it is seeking his extradition for prosecution.
Category: Criminal law
Yishai Schlissel, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man, stabbed six marchers in the annual Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem. What is equally disturbing is that Schlissel was just released after serving 10 years for stabbing participants in the Gay Pride Parade in 2005. Schlissel immediately demanded a court held in accordance with Jewish law, a request which was denied.
Continue reading “Ultra Orthodox Man Stabs Six At Jerusalem Gay Rights Parade”
We have yet another horrific account of a primitive practice leading to the murder of an innocent person. The latest scandal occurred in Nepal Kodai Harijan, a father, admitted that he lured a poor child with a pack of biscuits and 49 cents. He then murdered the 10-year-old child on the alleged advice of a shaman who told him that the death would heal his ailing son.
Continue reading “Nepalese Father Confesses To Luring Poor Child with Food and then Murdered Him”
There is an tragic road road case out of Florida where two middle aged men that led to a shooting. Robert Eric Doyle, 51, was arrested for the murder of Candelario Gonzalez, 44. What is different about this case if two fold. First, both cars were on the telephone with 911 during the chase and shooting — all of which was recorded. Second, the primary witnesses that could contradict both drivers are the respective wives of the drivers.
Continue reading “Big Catch: Star Of Reality Show Wicked Tuna Indicted For Disability Fraud”
Marilyn Perry, 62, (left) has curious defense for crashing into the car of Pamela Beckham, 50, (right below) and breaking Beckham’s neck and causing her other injuries in Bellevue. Perry was trying to get her grandchildren out of the car so it could have been much much worse when Beckham slammed into her.
There is an interesting story out of Massachusetts where an official at the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission found that the Methuen Police Department admitted that job applicants were given higher scores if they indicated that they would never arrest a fellow officer for drunk driving and other applicants were downgraded for saying that they would apply the law equally to all citizens — officers and non-officers alike.
Despite the determination of investigators at the State Department and intelligence agencies that Hillary Clinton did use her personal email system to handle confirmed classified information (and potentially compromised “hundreds of classified emails”), Clinton dismissed such allegations and assured the public that it is “pretty clear” that there was no classified information on her personal email system — a system that she used rather than the secure State Department system.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Obama Administration is preparing to release one of this country’s most notorious spies in an effort to placate Israel in the aftermath of Iranian agreement. Jonathan Pollard, an Israeli spy, betrayed his country and was arrested as he attempted to flee to the Israeli embassy in 1985. He was not only convicted of espionage but the Justice Department and intelligence agencies have long maintained that he did untold harm to the national security. The question of the release of Pollard has always raised interesting political, social, and legal questions. Thirty years is certainly not an insignificant amount of time and Pollard reportedly has health issues. My greatest concern is one of special treatment, particularly on sentencing policy for other national security cases. (For full disclosure, I have handled and continued to serve as lead counsel in national security cases). Continue reading “Concession or Coincidence? Pollard Reportedly To Be Released In Aftermath Of Iran Deal”
In a major development on the Clinton email scandal, the New York Times is reporting that the inspectors general for the State Department and the intelligence community have asked the Justice Department to open an investigation into whether there was mishandling of classified information by Hillary Clinton using a personal email account while secretary of state. While the newspaper referred to the action as a criminal referral, the Administration quickly moved to counter the story and insist that it is not technically a criminal referral. We have previously discussed this story and the insistence of Clinton that she did nothing wrong in maintaining a private email system and that none of the emails were classified. I disagreed with both premises as well as expressed great skepticism over Clinton’s insistence that she was really not trying to control her emails and insulate them from review but rather simply did not want to carry around two phones. According to the New York Times, investigators believe that Clinton’s email archive contained “hundreds of potentially classified emails.” Nevertheless, the Justice Department appears to be moving to counter any expectation of a criminal investigation against the former Secretary of State under Obama. We have previously discussed the special treatment historically given powerful figures in violating national security rules or practices.
A new video shows 10 officers with the LAPD surrounding Christopher Zareck, 43, who is confined to a wheelchair. In the video below, Zareck appears combative, but the response of the officers is being criticized as excessive and abusive. Zareck was tasered and hit repeatedly by bean-bag rounds.
Continue reading “Video: LAPD Under Fire For Tasering Suspect In Wheelchair”
Things lurking under your bed is the fixation of almost every child growing up, but a New Jersey homeowner spotted a man under the spare bedroom at 9 p.m. It turned out to be Jason Hubbard, who is charged with burglary after allegedly sleeping under the bed for three days.
Continue reading “Ever Wonder What Might Be Under Your Bed? Well Meet Jason Hubbard”
British Prime Minister David Cameron has long been a target of civil libertarians criticizing his dismissive attitude toward basic rights and particularly speech and privacy rights in that country. As if to prove his critics right, Cameron has publicly made comments that can be best described as Orwellian and some have gone as far as describing as fascistic. In calling for new extensive powers, Cameron said “For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens: as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone. It’s often meant we have stood neutral between different values. And that’s helped foster a narrative of extremism and grievance.” It seemed like a scene out of V for Vendetta as Cameron called on citizens to give up their rights to fight the threat of terror.
Police in New York have arrested Zvi Shor, 64, the founder of the National Children’s Leukemia Foundation (NCLF). He is accused of a truly despicable fraud. The New York Attorney General’s office alleges that roughly 83 percent of the nearly $10 million that the NCLF raised from 2009 to 2013 was paid to professional fundraisers and less than one percent— $57,541— went to direct assistance for leukemia patients. Shor, whose son died of leukemia, has previously been accused of fraud. He was convicted of felony bank fraud in the Eastern District of New York in 1999.
We have yet another case of a police or security officer threatening a citizen for recording an encounter. The videotape below was taken by a young man who filmed the putdown of his father at the New Orleans airport. The supervisor warns the young man that he will be arrested for filming the public scene.
Continue reading “Video: TSA Supervisor Threatens Young Man Filming the Patdown Of His Father”