Category: Criminal law

B.C. Law Student Resumes Classes After Leave To Serve Time For Manslaughter

The University of British Columbia law school is experiencing an intense debate over the expected return of one of its students, who took a leave of absence five years ago. Such leaves are not uncommon, but the reason is. Sasan Ansari, 32, served two years in jail for the killing of Josh Goos in November 2008 after stabbing Goos 33 times outside the upscale club.

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Indelible Ruling: Federal Judge Allows Case of Free Speech Protester To Go Forward Against TSA

Aaron Tobey attained a degree of fame in carrying out a rather novel form of protest for civil liberties at an airport security point. Tobey stripped down and used a black marker to display a quote from of the Fourth Amendment on his bare chest reading “The right of the people to be secure … against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated.” He was arrested for his conduct, but now federal District Judge Henry Hudson had ruled that part of his lawsuit against the TSA can go forward to trial.
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D.C. Police Officer Who Attacked Transgender Citizens Had Prior Alcohol Related Offenses

D.C. police officer Kenneth Furr was recently arrested having shot transgender citizens in a drunken rage. It now appears that the D.C. Metropolitan Police was aware of prior alcohol-related incidents by Furr. We previously followed a detective who brandished his gun to threaten people who hit his private Hummer with a snowball. In that incident, Assistant Chief Peter Newsham told the media that the gun in his hand (and clearly shown on videotape) was really just a cellphone.
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Ninth Circuit Holds Firefighter Can Sue Detectives After Arrest Based on False Allegations of Child Pornography

The Ninth Circuit has handed down a major ruling that a firefighter can sue detectives who accused him falsely of creating two child-pornography websites. The Ninth Circuit panel ruled in an opinion written by Judge Richard Paez that Washington State Police officers Rachel Gardner and John Sager had shown a “reckless disregard for the truth” when they arrested Spokane firefighter Todd Chism in 2008.

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Leading Republican Indiana Legislator Refuses To Resign After Arranging Meeting With Alleged Male Prostitute on Craigslist

State Rep. Phil Hinkle , R-Indianapolis, is in a rather curious position. He admits that he paid a young man $80 to come to his hotel room for a good time but insists that he is neither gay nor guilty of any criminal act. He has refused to resign after being stripped of his committee chairmanships. Hinkle is viewed as an anti-homosexual legislator and has been outspoken in his opposition to same-sex marriage.

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Ninth Circuit Rules Family Can Sue California Officer Who Shot Handcuffed Son In Back of Cruiser

We previously followed the case of Madera (Ca.) officer Marcy Noriega, who shot and killed a handcuffed suspect, Everardo Torres, in the back of a cruiser — after mistaking her semiautomatic pistol for her Taser. Now, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that Torres’ family can bring a lawsuit against the officer. Previously, Chief U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii ruled that the officer had complete immunity from lawsuit in such a circumstance.
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Obama Administration Pressures Prosecutors To Drop Criminal Investigations Of Banks Over Mortgage Fraud

The last few years have been replete with stories of fraudulent and possibly criminal acts for banks in the mortgage crisis. Thousands have lost their homes and faced financial ruin. The Administration is yielding to demands from lobbyists for the banks and particularly targeting Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York, in demanding support for a deal that would offer just civil fines rather than criminal penalties.

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Proposed Libyan Constitution Would Make Sharia The Governing Law

For months, critics have observed that the rebels in Libya contains worrisome elements of religious extremists and that the rebel forces have been accused of war crimes (as have the government forces). The concern is that, like our work in Afghanistan (ultimately helping Al Qaeda and the Taliban), we have little understanding of who we are bringing to power in Libya in our intervention into that civil war. That concern is magnified this week by the release of the draft constitution, which (unless changed) would make Sharia law the governing law of Libya.

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Jury Awards Chicago Family $300,000 For Abusive Police Raid Leading To Shooting Of Family Dog

The family of Thomas Russell III has been awarded $300,000 by a federal jury this week for an abusive raid that led to the police shooting the family dog. We have been following a long line of cases where family dogs are shot by police.

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Auditors Conclude That $6.6 Billion Simply Disappeared From Planes Filled With Cash To Iraq

For years, the media has reported billions of dollars stolen or missing in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Karzai family in particular has been singled out in allegations of such pilfering as well as an array of other crimes such as drug dealing. Now, auditors have found that $6.6 billion has simply disappeared — cash sent by the plane load to Iraq.
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Spanish Police Attack Young People On Street In Preparation For Arrival Of Pope

Judging from this video, the Spanish have retained a Francoesque approach to dealing with the public and the concept of free assembly. The attacks on these young people appear entirely unprovoked. The police are preparing for the arrival of the Pope.
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Citibank Accused Of Killing Indonesian Man in Harsh Interrogation

The death of Irzen Octa in interrogation in Jakarta has raised an outcry internationally. What is a bit surprising is that his interrogators were not Indonesian police but Citibank employees. The company who proclaims “your Citi never sleeps” appears to harshly interrogated the man for hours in a tiny room over just $5,700 on his Citibank credit card.

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Actor Gérard Depardieu Forces Flight To Return To Terminal After Urinating In Aisle

It is getting to the point that you have to wear waders on flights these days. We just saw a recent case of Robert “Sandy” Vietze, 18, (a member of the U.S. Olympic ski Team) peeing on the leg of an 11-year-old girl. Now, famed actor Gerard Depardieu forced a plane to return to the airport after he relieved himself in the middle of the plane aisle in first class. The actor from Green Card and such masterpieces as Cyrano de Bergerac appears not to have been charged in contrast with other cases.

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