John Frost allegedly bagged himself in setting up a snare gun to shoot a bear in Loveland, Colorado. The bear had recently knocked over Frost’s beehive and stolen some of his honey. Police believe Frost set up a shotgun with a tripwire and then tripped the wire.
Category: Criminal law
Kristina Ross, 37, is the kind of person city officials love to hate. Determined, driven, and passionate about her desire to do something good for women’s bodies in spite of red tape, Ross now sits in a Boise, Idaho jail for undertaking a task usually reserved for men in their twenty’s. Ross, it seems, has taken the health care crisis into her own hands and decided to bring medical exams to the masses. The only problem is that her impromptu breast exams in local bars were not sanctioned by the Idaho Department of Health which has this archaic requirement that healthcare professionals actually be licensed to do what they do. As a result Ross is charged with two Continue reading “Bar Medical Clinic Shutdown: “Doctor” Has a Lot To Get Off Chest”
A Florida dance troupe is learning the cultural ways of the Big Apple after they ditched their cars in the Lincoln Tunnel and dashed away on foot wearing camo. Seems our tiny dancers were late for a TV appearance on BET’s “106 & Park” show. Those lovers of dance, the Port Authority police and the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force gave chase. The Tunnel was shut-down for 45 minutes during rush hour. Even with the rousing police escort, the dancers were late and headed back to Jacksonville still undiscovered but famous nonetheless.
Continue reading “(Below) River Dance Closes Lincoln Tunnel”
Hooters Restaurants likes to promote their orange-hotpanted waitresses with the provocative tied-up teeshirts as, “delightfully tacky yet unrefined.” The slogan might be applied to its security guards too, if a fiesty grandma gets her way. After disputing an errant appetizer on her bill from a Chicagoland Hooter’s, 54-year-old Livier Torres was manhandled by off-duty Oak Lawn Police Officer Joseph Schmidt as she tried to pay. Part-enforcer, part-social engineer (Schmidt reportedly told Torres daughter, “All you people are the same” in an apparent reference to their Mexican heritage.), the fearless crime fighter called for back-up against the marauding grandma — when a headlock and pinning her to the ground wouldn’t suffice. Despite a paucity of video Continue reading “Delightfully Tacky Yet Unrefined: Hooter’s Security Roughs Up Granny Over Bill”
Boris Johnson, the conservative Mayor of London, has declared George Bush a persona non grata — asking him to stay out of London with his new torture-touting memoir. The question is whether such international shunning will become actual effort to prosecute Bush, who just confessed to war crimes. I discussed the controversy on Countdown.
There is a fascinating case out of England where an officer has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after a woman died following a road-rage argument. Christine Roche, 64, had a heart attack at the wheel after being confronted by the unnamed off-duty officer who was yelling at her for clipping his car mirror. The yelling reportedly induced the heart attack and led to the manslaughter charge.
Continue reading “London Police Officer Charged With Manslaughter After Yelling At Driver Caused Heart Attack”
The trial of alleged Al Qaeda accomplice Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani has resulted in an acquittal on all major terrorism charges in New York. Ghailani was charged with crimes related to the 1998 suicide bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. I will be discussing the verdict tonight on Hardball.
A Montgomery County police officer Jason Cokinos is back walking the beat after hitting and paralyzing 14-year-old Luis Jovel Jr. Cokinos was speeding to his off-duty job when he hit Jovel and received only a $185 speeding ticket. The county paid $400,000 in damages.
Continue reading “Montgomery Police Officer Given $185 Ticket After Paralyzing 14-Year-Old Boy”
An independent prosecutor has found Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas had no basis for their public-corruption charges against critics and judges who sought to curtail their abuse of their offices. Navajo County Attorney Brad Carlyon reached the same conclusion as virtually all outside observers, including this blog. In the meantime, Arpaio continues his use of this office to pander to public sentiments and legitimize vigilantism. He announced this week that he had added “Hulk” star Lou Ferrigno and actor Steven Seagal to his anti-immigration posse.
New York Police swept into a park in bulletproof vests to arrest men trying to kill royals including two kings, two queens, four knights and even four bishops. The men had set up chess boards in a park that was empty at the time. It turns out that they were sitting in an area restricted to children or adults with children. They were given summons to appear to answer for their crimes in court and not allow to “castle” laterally to a nearby park.
Continue reading “New York Police Nab Chess Felons in Park”
Bristol Palin has been implicated in a rampage in Dane County, Wisconsin. Her latest alleged victim from her appearance on Dancing with the Stars is Steven N. Cowan, 66. Cowan shared the view of millions that Palin was not much of a star and even less of a dancer. So, when she again escaped being voted off the show, Cowan snapped. He grabbed his shotgun and shot his own television. His wife fled after he demanded his handgun (presumably for a tradition coup de grâce she ran and returned with the police.
Continue reading “Bristol Palin Triggers Rampage in Wisconsin”
The city of Roselle, New Jersey has passed a new law criminalizing the act of sleeping in public. Police Chief Paul Morrison insists that he is only going to use it against homeless people but that may be a statement that city lawyers will come to regret in court.
Continue reading “Constitutional Nightmare: New Jersey Town Bars Sleeping in Public”
We have long followed trend toward “Make My Day” and “Make My Day Better” laws (also known as “Castle Doctrine” laws) allowing homeowners to kill anyone who invades their homes (here). Some of us have been very critical of these laws as unnecessary and based on a misrepresentation of both the criminal and common law. Citizens are being told that they could be sued for defending their homes from invaders. Now politicians in Pennsylvania have latched on a new gimmick: a law called “stand your ground” that allows people to use lethal force to defend their homes from the outside.
Continue reading “Pennsylvania Passes New Castle Doctrine Law”
In England, four prison officers were injured after discovering Charles Bronson naked in a gym and covered in butter. Ok, this might need a bit of explanation. Bronson, it turns out, is England’s most violent prisoner — a man who has spent nearly all of the last 36 years in prison for one violent crime or another. On this effort, he decided to butter himself to make it more difficult for guards to grab him — it worked. It took 12 guards to finally subdue the greased con.
Continue reading “Do You Want Butter With That Bronson?”
In Manchester, New Hampshire, a woman has learned the costs of vanity . . . well at least vanity plates. Bonnie Usher, 43, allegedly was careful to hide her face in a hooded sweatshirt when she robbed a Rite Aid. The problem was the getaway car: her car boasted vanity plates reading “B-USHER.” It did not take long for the police to arrive at her house and recover the cash.