NYPD Sergeant Lesly Charles is the center of a controversy this morning after the release of a video showing him in a tirade where he speaks of the giant size of his penis and says that committing crimes is okay with him. He was just upset that someone double parked their car.
Category: Criminal law
Thomas Parkin, 52, of Brooklyn was sentenced to 13 years and 8 months in prison for a bizarre crime where he dressed up like his dead mother in a red cardigan and lipstick. Breathing through an oxygen tank, he claimed to be Irene Pruskin who died in 2003 at 77. This would seem to take the Oedipus complex to a whole new level.
It appears that there is nothing quite so inspiring for a Sunday morning like a good old-fashioned homicidal homophobic homily. Pastor Charles L. Worley has propelled himself into the national limelight with a hate-filled sermon that lays his faith-based fantasy for homosexuals — concentration camps with electric fences where they would be left to die off. In what could be viewed as a violation of the tax-exempt status of the church, he rails against President Barack Obama and says that it would be impossible to vote for him.
Continue reading “American Taliban: Pastor Worley and How To Solve The “Homosexual Problem””
We have another video raising questions over the rules relating to free speech for students in high school. This video (below) was taken in North Rowan High School in North Carolina where a teacher screams at a student that he can be arrested for disrespecting President Obama. The teacher went ballistic after a student responded to the account of Mitt Romney bullying a student as a teen by noting that President Obama admitted that he had bullied a student in his youth. [Update: the teacher has been suspended pending investigation].
Spencer Freeman Smith, 32, a partner at the San Francisco firm of Smith Patten was arrested this week on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and manslaughter in connection with the death and hit-and-run of Bo Hu, 57, of China, who was bicycling along a road when he was hit by a Mercedes-Benz. Police traced pieces of Smith’s brand new 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 to his home.
The evidence continues to roll in on the Zimmerman case. While the new evidence is not entirely bad for the prosecution, it does contain some evidence that will likely bolster the defense of George Zimmerman in the second degree murder trial over the killing of Trayvon Martin. Regardless of the ultimate impact, the evidence again shows (in my opinion) that prosecutor Angela Corey over-charged the case in Florida.
We have been following the continuing line of cases of police officers shooting pets during raids or investigations. The latest is in Hartford where two police officers shot a family dog in front of a 12-year-old girl after entering the residence of the Harris family without a warrant. They claim the St. Bernard named Seven snarled and charged at them when the entered the yard. Officers John O’Hare and Anthony Pia are defendants in the trial.
Continue reading “Federal Trial Of Officers Accused Of Shooting Family Dog In Unlawful Search”
Broward County Detective Anthony “Zo” Costanzo, 42, has been arrested in a remarkable case involving alleged police misconduct, including witness tampering. Known as “Zo,” Costanzo is accused of harassing a woman who brought charges against other officers in a false imprisonment case. Costanzo was previously featured on the Fox program, “COPS.”
Continue reading “Say It Ain’t So “Zo”: Florida Police Officer Charged With Witness Tampering”
Judge Gustin Reichbach of Brooklyn has written an extraordinary op-ed in the New York Times where he admits to breaking the law by using marijuana to relieve his suffering from Stage 3 pancreatic cancer. New York does not allow such use of marijuana and the Obama Administration has been cracking down with raids and arrests over the use of medical marijuana. Reichbach details how, with cancer treatment, “Nausea and pain are constant companions. ” As a result, “I did not foresee that after having dedicated myself for 40 years to a life of the law, including more than two decades as a New York State judge, my quest for ameliorative and palliative care would lead me to marijuana.” But his admits that he came to rely on the drug and has added his voice to thousands who defend the use of medical marijuana. He is a justice of the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn.
Continue reading “New York Judge Admits To Using Medical Marijuana To Relieve Pain From Cancer”
There is an interesting criminal case out of Stockholm, New York where Shawn Mossow, 25, is charged with shooting a man. Nothing remarkable there, but the victim admits that he begged Mossow to shoot him in the leg to see what it feels like to be shot. That is perfectly legal. Shooting your friend with a .22 caliber rifle is not.
The evidence for the trial of George Zimmerman is slowly taking form. Yesterday, a medical report was disclosed by the family physician of George Zimmerman where the doctor found a “closed fracture” of his nose, a pair of black eyes, two lacerations to the back of his head and a minor back injury the day after he fatally shot Trayvon Martin. While this is the family physician, it would still constitute important evidence in claiming self-defense, particularly when combined with accounts from the paramedics that found injuries to Zimmerman. An autopsy report released today also revealed bruises on Martin’s knuckles, consistent with a fight (though they could be bruises sustained in self-defense). In the meantime, the Justice Department has indicated that it may bring hate crime charges against Zimmerman — charges that would be questionable on the current evidence that has been made public in the case.
Continue reading “Medical Report On Zimmerman Shows Broken Nose, Lacerations, and Back Injury”
Called “the Salman Rushdie of music,” Shahin Najafi, a Germany-based Iranian singer, has been hit with fatwas calling for his killing, including one from a leading Ayatollah, after he released a song with references to Ali al-Hadi al-Naqi, the tenth of the 12 Shia Muslim Imams. The brief reference was enough to call for his death under Sharia law.
This story is so breathtakingly stupid, I had to confirm it a couple times to be sure it was not a hoax. A Detroit groundskeeper, John Chevilott, found a loaded handgun in the weeds while working and waited for the police to drive by to turn it in. When they didn’t show up, Chevilott took the gun home and handed it into his local police station where he was commended for his actions. He did this with the full knowledge and approval of his supervisor. According to news reports, that was then fired by the Department of Public Services for possession of a gun.
Continue reading “Detroit Groundskeeper Finds Loaded Gun, Turns It Into Police . . . And Is Fired For Possession Of A Firearm”
The New York Court of Appeals has released an important decision that viewing online child pornography is not illegal under New York law. The ruling has triggered an outcry and demands for legislative reforms. However, the opinion is worth reading and raises a broader issue on the required level of intent and knowledge for these crimes.
In a case with some similarities to the George Zimmerman case, Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Ashley Moody has denied the use of Florida’s Stand Your Ground law in a shooting in September 2010 where an older man wrestled with a younger man on a basketball court. As with Zimmerman, Trevor Dooley, 69, had a gun permit and insisted that the younger man, David James, started the fight. In this case it was a black man shooting a white man, though the case has not generated the attention or controversy of the Zimmerman. Dooley is charged with manslaughter in James’ death.
Continue reading “Zimmerman Preview? Florida Man Denied Use “Stand Your Ground” Law”