Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) is going for the nuclear option on his defense: publicly accusing his colleagues of the very same conduct that is the basis for his own ethics charges. He is basically grabbing on to other members like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and saying “If I go over, you are going with me.”
Category: Criminal law
Jason Berry has an amazing account of how a powerful Catholic priest, Father Marcial Maciel, was allowed to not just sexually abuse young seminarians but both father and abuse his own children. These allegations surfaced in a Connecticut lawsuit. Maciel died in 2008.
Continue reading “Report: Powerful Catholic Priest Fathered and Abused Children”
We just saw how a mother bear came to the rescue of her captured cub on video. Loretta Cottey, 53, presents a distinctly human variation of that story after Ohio police arrested her for allegedly attempting to bring drugs to her son in the Warren Correctional Institute.
Continue reading “Mom Arrested Smuggling Drugs to Son in Prison”
While England has backed away from extending anonymity to rape defendants (as with rape victims), Australia has a new false rape case involving two anonymous parties. Notably, however, the woman is not being charged with a false report despite the allegation that she may have tried to destroy evidence that the sex was consensual. The evidence was reportedly found among an IPhone’s deleted messages.
Continue reading “Rape Charges Dropped After IPhone Allegedly Yields “Deleted” Messages Showing Consensual Relations”
The Utah Supreme Court has unanimously overturned the conviction of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. The Court ruled that the trial court erred in its instructions to the jury and specifically the instruction regarding lack of consent. Jeffs was sentenced to two consecutive terms of five years to life (a rather bizarre range for a determinate sentence).
Continue reading “Utah Supreme Court Overturns Jeffs Conviction”
This criminal case in Moldova may be unique. Father Valentin is accused of accidental homicide after he allegedly drowned a baby during a baptism. The video is below ( pictured on left shows standard Orthodox baptism).
Continue reading “Priest Accused of Drowning Baby During Baptism”
Sam Adam Jr. is under a threat of jail from Judge James B. Zagel in the trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Zagel has ruled that Adam cannot refer to witnesses whom the government conspicuously did not call to trial — even though prosecutors referred to non-appearing witnesses. Adam said he was prepared to go to jail over the issue.
Continue reading “Blagojevich’s Lawyer Vows to Go To Jail Over Closing Argument”
The Hawthorne City Council is considering a $300,000 settlement in a case were its police tasered an autistic teenager and then, after the family filed a complaint with the department, returned a week later and arrested the teenager.
There is an amazing story out of Northern Mexico where jailers not only allow prisoners out at night to work as hitmen, but allegedly gave them their own service weapons and vehicles to do the night work.
Continue reading “Night Shift: Prisoners Given Guards’ Guns and Cars To Work As Hitmen During Nights”
In a reversal under pressure, the English Justice Ministry has decided that it will not treat both the accused and the accusing parties in rape cases equally. The Ministry had indicated that it would grant anonymity to those accused of rape just as the alleged victims are given anonymity. Under pressure from both the Labour Party and female MPs, the Ministry has backed down.
Continue reading “England Backs Down From Extending Anonymity To Rape Defendants”
Sometimes it is better for justice to be blind. A Swiss court has lifted a fine against a hiker who insisted on encountering nature Au Naturale. The ruling of the court in Appenzell in Northern Switzerland is being hailed as a victory for human rights — and fueled calls for nudist trails (on the model of nudist beaches). The defendant used the pseudonym Puistola Grottenpoesch (one could come up with some better options in English like Bare Necessities or Trail Mix).
Walter Edmund Bond, 34, is so committed to being a vegan that he tattooed the word across his neck. It was a useful identifying feature when officers arrested him for allegedly burning down a sheepskin factory in Colorado. However, it gets even more bizarre.
Continue reading “Police Arrest Alleged “A.L.F. Lone Wolf””
Chinese officials are very upset at a terrible mistake made by police officers. The officers beat a woman outside of a government office. Nothing strange there. Officers routinely beat Chinese citizens who try to present petitions for relief to the government as a deterrent. It turns out, however, that this was Chen Yulian, the wife of a provincial law enforcement officer. She had come to go out to lunch with her husband. The local Communist Party Chief appeared aghast — not with beating citizens of course but that an elite party member was given the same treatment: “Our police officers never realized that they beat the wife of a senior leader.”
Meet Robert Rizzo, California’s $13 million man. Yesterday, we discussed how, while Rizzo and two of his colleagues have resigned from their positions with the small town of Bell (where Rizzo was pulling in a salary of roughly $800,000 a year), they will still be able to collect millions in pension. In Rizzo’s case, his $650,000 annual pension could yield $13 million in twenty years.
Continue reading “Meet Robert Rizzo, the 13 Million Dollar Man”
Two prisoners in Argentina, Walter Pozo and Cesar Andres, made a less than impressive escape from a prison after they discovered that the towers were guarded by dummies with footballs for heads. Budget cut backs led the prison to replace guards in 13 out of 15 towers with the dummies, who they named “Wilson” after the movie “Cast Away.”
Continue reading “Two Inmates Escape Prison as Dummy Guards Look On”