Category: Criminal law

Swat Team Raids Home With Armored Car, Kills Unarmed Occupant, and Costs Millions In Damages But Lead Officer Given Award For His Role In The Raid

220px-Members_of_the_60th_Security_Police_Squadron's_Base_Swat_Team628x471-1Five Connecticut towns will pay $3.5 million in a bizarre raid by heavily armed SWAT team members after a report of drugs in the house of a Norwalk man. The team hit the home with flash grenades while snipers and officers surrounded the property. The owner, Ronald Terebesi, was dragged from the home and another man, Gonzalo Guizan (right), shot and killed. Neither was armed and a small amount of recreational drugs were found. The towns however still fought the case for years until a court issued a key ruling against them. They still deny any negligence or fault and proceeded to give the officer leading the raid an award for his role in the disastrous raid. (Swat members shown here were not involved in this raid)

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15,000,000

This morning, our blog passed our 15,000,000 viewers. Since just a few weeks ago that we passed the 14,000,000 mark, it is obvious that the blog continues to grow at an impressive rate. We continue to rank in the top ten most viewed legal blogs in the world and I would like to think that our civility policy adds to the appeal of the blog for new viewers.

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Florida Police Officer Kills Elderly Woman In 100 MPH Crash But Charges Dropped After Another Officer Fails To Appear At Hearing

article-2280582-17A9AB94000005DC-489_306x423article-2280582-17A9B53F000005DC-277_634x416Florida trooper Detrick McClellan (left) was on-duty when he sped at more than 100 mph without emergency lights down a county road and slammed into a Mitsubishi Galant driven by Michelle Campbell, 51. Campbell died in the crash and her granddaughter, 12, flew through the windshield. Her adult niece was also injured. McClellan was found at fault and given three traffic citations even though he said he was responding to a call about someone throwing rocks off an overpass. He was facing citations for careless driving, speeding, and failure to use his emergency lights. Yet, when McClellan came up for his hearing, the ticketing officer was no where to be found and the judge therefore dismissed the case. A video shows officers and McClellan laughing after the dismissal.

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Missouri Republican Proposes Bill To Make It A Crime To Introduce A Gun Control Bill

thumb_weapon_gun_smith_and_wesson_hand_ejectorMemberPhoto.aspxMissouri Rep. Mike Leara has a curious concept of democracy, let alone free speech. Leara has proposed a law that would make it a crime for any of his colleagues to introduce gun control legislation.

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Laying Hands On The Faithful: Alleged Serial Rapist Used ChristianMingle To Arrange Dates

Sean+Patrick+BanksWe previously discussed the legal issues raised by ChristianMingle promising the faithful to help find “God’s Choice” for them. It seems unlikely that Sean Patrick Banks, 37, was God’s Choice for an ideal Christian date. He is now accused of raping women that he met through ChristianMingle.com across the country.

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Slap Suit? Executive Fired After Allegedly Slapping Baby On Flight And Using Racial Slur

article-2279328-179D27D3000005DC-94_306x423article-2279328-179D27CF000005DC-847_306x423Meet Joe Rickey Hundley, 60, of Hayden, Idaho who allegedly responded to an irritable flight by getting himself arrested and later fired from his job as a company executive at a defense contractor. Hundley was on a Delta flight when he allegedly slapped a 19-month-old boy who was crying.

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Two Brothers Win Lottery And Proceed To Torch House And Trigger Arrests In Celebratory Drug Use

220px-Lottery_ticket_posterPrisonCellTwo Wichita brothers may have won not only the lottery but the top spot for the most dim-witted felons this week. The brother won a $75,000 winning lottery ticket and celebrated by buying pot and meth . . . and proceeded to burn down their house, securing their own arrests.

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“I Chase Him, I Bite Him”: English Officers Under Investigation For Dog Witness Statement

Westmidlandspolicenew-recruits-three-tnIt appears that police supervisors in the West Midlands Police department have a certain lack of humor. Officers were frustrated by the demands of prosecutors for an account of an arrest involving a dog capture. The account lacked a witness statement. Finally, the officers completed a witness statement (below) on behalf of “PC Peach” and then posted a copy at the station. I personally thought it was a scream but supervisors told the officers that they are not amused.

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Tennessee Police Stop Elderly Couple For Having Ohio State Decal On Car Because It Looked Like A Marijuana Leaf

SMG503Bonnie Jonas-Boggioni, 65, and her husband were driving home to Plano, Texas, when they were pulled over under suspicion of being drug mules. The elderly couple would not seem to fit a profile for a cartel member, but the Tennessee police felt that they had made a critical mistake in their drug conspiracy. Their car had a picture of a marijuana leaf — apparently a common marking for drug mules. It turned out to be a Buckeye leaf decal. After being detained, the police reportedly told the Ohio State football fans that they needed to be more careful in the future and take off the decal. It appears to be the view of the Tennessee police that a picture of something looking like pot is enough for reasonable suspicion.

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Florida Police Officer Unleashes Torrent Of Abuse On Man and Threatens To Kill Him . . . Given Written Reprimand and Returned To Service

bso-tiradeA new videotape is causing a stir in Florida after Broward Sheriff’s Officer Deputy Alan Dubinski unleashed a torrent of obscenities on a suspect, Jessie Merchant. Duinski threatens to threw the man to alligators. Yet, he was given only a written reprimand and returned to active duty. Ironically, Merchant was being investigated for causing a disturbance. The video is below.

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The Connecticut Effect

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

In the weeks since the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the call for more action in controlling military style guns and large capacity magazines has increased, but as of yet, nothing concrete has been done on the national level.  In fact, the NRA was recently quoted as suggesting that nothing will be done, once the country gets over the “Connecticut Effect”!  “The National Rifle Association will wait until the “Connecticut effect” has subsided to resume its push to weaken the nation’s gun laws, according to a top NRA lobbyist speaking at the NRA’s Wisconsin State Convention this weekend.” Think Progress  Continue reading “The Connecticut Effect”

Tea Party: A Phony Movement Mantled as Legitimate

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

9.12_tea_party_in_DCIn August 2011 I wrote a guest blog titled: Tea Party and the Myth of a Grassroots Movement”.  Using various newspaper and internet sources I showed that the meme created about the “Tea Party” that it was a “grassroots uprising” of ordinary citizens to take back their country from the out of control liberals, was simply not true. The “Tea Party” is a movement fabricated by certain plutocratic corporate interests to maintain themselves as relatively tax free and maintain control over the fiscal state of our country. I’m revisiting it today because of the guest blog I’ve just submitted about CNN and the rest of the news media, in light of a post by Al Gore at Huffington Post, publicizing his new book which deals with the back-story of the creation of the “Tea Party” and its negative influence upon our country. Some of Al Gores’ evidence and that forming the basis of my original guest blog overlap, but the important difference is he’s Al Gore, former Vice President and a centrist. I on the other hand am merely an aging ex-hippy, who remains a political radical. The truth of the “Tea Party’s” inception is not hidden from view and the facts are blatantly out there. What is important though is that the cable news media, press and the Washington punditry continue to describe the “Tea Party” in terms of its meme and myth as a grassroots entity and thus are complacent in a deception of the American people.

Daily we see stories about these “Tea Party” legislators elected to office on all levels of our government. They are falsely portrayed as populists, who are “fed up” and ran for office to “change things” and return to our Constitution. Large percentages of “Tea Party people in polls still believe that Barack Obama was born in Africa and is a Muslim intent on destroying Christianity and America. They see him as a communist, socialist and fascist simultaneously intent on dismantling our capitalist way of life and crushing American exceptionalism. I understand that one can be a reasonable person an oppose Barack Obama’s activity as President. I oppose some of his positions strongly and I voted for him. However, if you believe the “birthers” and those who call him radical names, then I must say in my opinion you are delusional. He is a slightly right of center Democrat, hawkish on foreign policy and deferential to the Corporate Plutocracy. He may be a Constitutional Scholar, but he certainly hasn’t done enough to protect our Constitutional Freedoms. Yet we see this ultra right wing faction of the Republican Party thinking Obama as the anti-Christ and believing they are part of a spontaneous revolution performed in the interests of “protecting” America. Here’s why that isn’t true. Continue reading “Tea Party: A Phony Movement Mantled as Legitimate”

A Deal For Junior? Justice Department Will Reportedly Reduce Charges To Single Count For Jesse Jackson, Jr.

160px-Jesse_Jackson,_Jr.,_official_photo_portraitWe have been following the disgraceful tenure of Jesse Jackson Jr. who disappeared for months as federal investigators closed in on his corrupt practices. He then was inexplicably reelected despite not running or offering any demonstrable evidence of any effort beyond self-dealing for himself and his family. He then resigned costing Chicago millions to replace him. It was, as noted earlier, just the latest scandal involving the family of Jesse Jackson in Chicago. It will now apparently get worse. Jackson will take a plea that reportedly implicates his wife, Sandi, in criminal conduct. However, for those concerned about the Administration giving a sweet deal to the powerful family of Jesse Jackson, the plea will raise some legitimate concerns if public reports are accurate. [Update: As expected, both Jacksons were charged on one count each. He was charged with misuse of campaign funds and she was charged with tax fraud).

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