We have an interesting case here in my backyard in Fairfax County, Virginia. A Fairfax County jury deliberated only 10 minutes before acquitting Sean Lanigan, 43, a popular schoolteacher and coach of aggravated sexual battery and abduction. The jury’s reaction and the paucity of evidence in the case has led some to question why prosecutors brought the case in the first place. They were back within 47 minutes to find him innocent on all charges.
Continue reading “Jury Votes to Acquit Fairfax Coach of Molestation in Ten Minutes”
Category: Criminal law
Oregon parents are saying that Luke Kishpaugh, 33, of Salem (Oregon) is someone you do not want around your kids, your parks, your pets . . . well, you just don’t want him around. Kishpaugh was in a city park when he saw children watching a rabbit play in the grass. Kishpaugh reportedly smirked and released his Doberman Pinscher to catch and kill the rabbit — in front of the terrified children.
Former President George W. Bush proudly proclaimed this week “Yeah, we water-boarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed . . I’d do it again to save lives.” Fortunately, he will not be given another chance but, due to the actions of President Obama and Attorney General Holder to bar any investigation or prosecution of torture, future presidents may well indeed to do it again.
Continue reading “Bush: “I’d Do It Again””
Now this is an interesting case for statutory interpretation. Police were called this weekend to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware after a group of transgender males exposed their “acquired breasts” — leading to complaints. This must have been the missing episode from Bay Watch.
Continue reading “Bay Watch: Transgender Males Trigger Topless Debate on Rehoboth Beach”
Bruce Walston, 21, was playing a video game when his girlfriend, Bessie Hess’s kitten stepped on the computer cord and shut off the game. Walston allegedly proceeded to kill the kitten by throwing it against a wall in their apartment. He killed the kitten in front of Hess’s children.
Continue reading “Virginia Man Kills Kitten For Turning Off Computer Game”
Ruben Hernandez, 34, was convicted this week of fraud in a house buying scheme but not before he tried some extra-judicial remedies of his own. Hernandez was found to have performed a voodoo ritual to place a hex on the prosecutors. They survived and Hernandez was convicted.
Continue reading “California Man Convicted After Voodoo Curse Inexplicably Fails in Fraud Case”
The Saudi religious police have cracked down on a popular reality show on MTV that follows the lives of three Saudi youths. Saudi officials have alleged that the three are guilty of the crime of “openly declaring sin” by criticizing Saudi restrictions over the segregation of the men and women and other complaints.
Continue reading “All Too Real: Saudi Religious Police Crackdown on MTV Reality Show”
Just in case stroke, high blood pressure, and addiction were not enough for cocaine users, doctors are now warning that some cocaine is causing rotting flesh. That hardly fits with the perception of coke as the glamorous drug of the partying set.
Continue reading “Report: Cocaine Users Experiencing Flesh Rot”
We have seen diplomats fired for milking virtual cows (here) and virtual affairs leading to divorces (here). Now, Finnish police are investigating the theft of virtual furniture from a social networking site.
Continue reading “Virtually Criminal: Finnish Police Investigate Theft of Virtual Furniture”
International outcry over the commando raid on a flotilla bringing food and medicine to Gaza continues to grow. Israel insists that its soldiers were merely defending themselves in the shootings that left 9 people dead. Human rights activists insist that the troops opened fire on civilians onboard the ships. Whatever the final facts, the tragedy has brought even greater scrutiny of the long-condemned blockade in Gaza that has led to a humanitarian crisis.
Continue reading “Gaza Raid Triggers International Outcry and Question of International Law”
Kenyatta Sheffield, a part-time officer with Lawtey Police Department allegedly had his own pay-as-you-go program for speeders. Sheffied is accused of letting speeders pay fines in cash to avoid any court appearance — calling it a “roadside fee.”
Jarrod Wyatt, a U.S. cage fighter, is charged with a horrific crime of removing the beating heart of his training partner Taylor Powell and ripping him apart. He insists that he snapped after drinking tea spiked with hallucinogenic mushrooms — causing him to believe that the partner was possessed by the devil.
Continue reading “U.S. Cage Fighter Arrested After Ripping Out Beating Heart of Trainer”
Former Trooper Shawn C. Houston is seeking reinstatement in his job after he trapped Rowdy, his neighbor’s cat and then shot it.
Continue reading “Getting Rowdy: N.C. Officer Traps and Shoots Neighbor’s Five Month Kitten . . . Seeks To Be Reinstated as Police Officer”
An arrest in New Hampshire has revealed a shocking story of a 15-year-old girl who was raped and impregnated by a leading church member at the Trinity Baptist Church in 1997. She was allegedly forced by the church to stand before the congregation and apologize before being taken out of state — and out of the reach of police investigating the rape.
Continue reading “Fifteen-Year-Old Girl Raped By Leading Church Member — Then Forced To Apologize to Congregation and Shipped Out of State”
We have been following how police in the United States and abroad have started to arrest people filming them in public, including today’s story out of California (here). Maryland police continue (in my view wrongly) to claim that recording them in public is a crime in that state as shown in this video from the Preakness.
Continue reading “Maryland Police Again Threaten Citizens With Arrest for Filming Them in Public”