In Stockton, California, Kenneth Wright was at home with his three young children ages 3, 7, and 11 when a SWAT team burst into his home at 6 a.m., dragged him out on the lawn, threw him to the ground, and put the family (including the kids) in squad cars. His alleged crime: default on student loans. On top of the overkill in using SWAT teams to target defaulting students, the city got it wrong. They were looking for Wright’s estranged wife. The D.O.E. now insists that it was not just about loans but part of a criminal investigation that it was carrying out.
Continue reading “California Family Hit With SWAT Raid . . . Ordered By The Department of Education”
Category: Criminal law
Ryan LeVin, 36, will be able to actually live in “a prison of his own making.’ The scion of a wealthy Chicago-area family, LeVin killed British businessmen Craig Elford, 39, and Kenneth Watkinson, 48, while driving his $120,000 Porsche 911 Turbo. He then lied to police, left the scene of the accident, and blamed the accident on a friend. Yet, Broward Circuit Judge Barbara McCarthy decided no jail time was needed because the wealthy LeVin offered to pay the families of the dead men. Instead of 45 years in prison, McCarthy gave him two years home incarceration in his luxury home.
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has issued a decree to ban men working in lingerie shops. Saudi clerics previously opposed women working in lingerie shops and even issued a fatwa banning such jobs.
Continue reading “Does This Bustier Make Me Look Fatwa? Saudi Arabia Bans Male Lingerie Salesmen”
There is a sharp disconnect between two prank stories this morning. When Tyrell Morton put an inflatable girl in the girl’s bathroom at his high school, he ended up with a felony charge and a potential jail sentence of eight years. However, when three eighth-grade girls from Dunbar Middle school in Florida tackled an 11-year-old boy and stripped him naked (and proceeded to videotape him and taunt him), they were let go as a simple prank in bad taste.
Continue reading “Florida Boy Attacked, Stripped Naked in Public, and Videotaped By Three Girls — Resulting In No Charges”
We have been following the trend of criminalization of every aspect of American society from charging or investigating students to parents to teachers. Police in Rushville, Indiana have given us the latest disturbing example. Rushville High school Senior Tyell Morton, 18, simply tried to carry out a prank at his school — and ended up facing a felony charge.
Continue reading “Indiana Teen Pulls Prank in School And Is Charged With Felony”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
The California Supreme Court has ruled on a case involving California’s pimp law. Jomo Zambia was in his car at a “notorious intersection,” known for its plethora of prostitutes. He offered his pimp services to a woman he believed to be a prostitute. These services “included providing housing and clothing, if she turned over all of her money to him.”
The prostitute turned out to be an LAPD Officer working undercover. Zambia was arrested and later convicted of the crime of pandering, as one who “induces, persuades or encourages another person to become a prostitute.”
In an apparent rejection of a plea bargain, former senator and 2008 presidential candidate John Edwards has been indicted on six counts of conspiracy, campaign contribution violations, and false statements. If he goes to trial, he is obviously risking a jail term. However, the case of the Justice Department is no slam dunk and presents novel legal theories that will offer strong appellate arguments if allowed by the trial court. This will make the pre-trial motions even more important than usual for the defendant. The two-year investigation has now led to a warrant (below) for his arrest.
Continue reading “Edwards Indicted . . . But How Strong Is The Case?”
Attorney Reema N. Bajaj, 25, has been charged with three counts of prostitution and has admitted that she was a prostitute but gave up the occupation after graduating law school. She is not alone in allegedly the combination of two of the oldest professions.
Continue reading “Corpus Delicti: Illinois Lawyer Charged With Prostitution”
Former prosecutor Stephen Lopresti will keep his law license after jurors acquitted him of fixing tickets. Lopresti was charged with felony DWI after a 2006 accident in the Bronx. Despite the testimony of two corrupt officers, the jury found Lopresti not guilty.
In the latest outrage from China’s burgeoning organ black market, a teenager in China known only as Little Zhern, 17, sold one of his kidneys in arrange to buy an iPad 2.
Continue reading “Now If I Can Only Find a Dialysis App: Chinese Teen Sells Kidney For iPad”
In Laconia, New Hampshire there is an interesting case that may give some of our clients pause before accepting a plea bargain. Jonathan E. Lord, 25, had accepted a plea bargain to spend one year in jail for trying to run over Police officer Michael Finogle. However, Judge James O’Neill III rejected the plea (because he felt the plea was too lenient) so the case went to trial . . . and Lord was acquitted of one felony charge of reckless conduct and two misdemeanor charges of disobeying an officer and reckless operation.
Continue reading “Good Lord: Judge Rejects Plea As Too Lenient, Jury Then Acquits Defendant”
We have been following cases of police detaining or arresting people who either photograph them or photograph public scenes in this country and other countries like England. The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) has been repeated criticized for stopping citizens engaged in entirely lawful photography. The latest such victim is Christopher Fussell who kept the camera running (below) during the confrontation where officers displayed a complete lack of knowledge of the existing laws — and rights of citizens.
Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah is the spiritual mentor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and he is not exactly a kid person. After telling the faithful that suicide bombings are required for Muslims in fighting Israel, he declined to make an exception for children.
There is a bizarre case in Italy where Italian prosecutors have charged the country’s top seismologist with manslaughter for failing to predict a natural disaster that struck Italy in 2009. The massive earthquake killed 308 people and they blame Enzo Boschi, the president of Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology. Six other scientists and technicians are also charged.
Continue reading “Seismic Charge: Italian Prosecutors Charge Seismologists With Manslaughter For Failing To Predict 2009 Quake”
I pledge not to use The Jerk in the following story. Steve Martin has been named as one of the victims in an impressive international forgery scheme. Martin paid $850,000 in July 2004 for Landschaft mit Pferden (Landscape With Horses). Later he sold it at a loss of 200,000 euros to a Swiss businesswoman. It was then found to be a fake.
Continue reading “Real Men Don’t Buy Campendonk: Steven Martin Named As Victim in Massive Forgery Scheme”