There is a horrific story out of Michigan where a couple, Scott and Jennifer Petkov, are accused of a cruel campaign targeting a seven-year-old girl, Kathleen Edwards who is dying from Huntington’s disease. The Petkov’s allegedly posted pictures showing Kathleen’s mother (Laura Edwards, who died of the disease last year at the age of 24) in the arms of the grim reaper and photo shopped a picture of Kathleen with her face above a set of crossed bones. The story (which has gone viral internationally) raises questions over the possible civil and criminal liability for such actions.
Continue reading “Can The Petkovs Be Charged or Sued in Their Alleged Harassment of a Dying Seven-Year-Old Girl?”
Category: Criminal law
Erwin Arnada, 47, former editor-in-chief of Playboy Indonesia, has begun a two-year sentence for publishing pictures of women in undergarments — photos that are less revealing than the standard ads found in the Subway.
Continue reading “Indonesia Court Sentences Playboy Executive To Two Years in Jail for Indecency”
We have been following cases where public employees have been disciplined or fired for activities in their private lives from teachers to coaches to lunch ladies (and here and here) to prison guards to city officials to police officers. There have also been such cases involving private employers as well as international cases (here). Now, Portland police Capt. Mark Kruger has been disciplined for his actions celebrating the exploits of German soldiers — actions that have labeled him a “Nazi sympathizer.”
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Philadelphia police officers Sean Alivera, 31, and Christopher Luciano, 23, have been charged with an impressive list of crimes, including criminal conspiracy, robbery, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, theft, and other related charges. These alleged crimes culminated in what police say was Alivera and Luciano robbing an undercover police officer. In the meantime, 129 police officers in Puerto Rico have been arrested in a widespread federal corruption investigation.
Continue reading “Philadelphia Police Officers Arrested After Allegedly Robbing Fellow Officer”
In Pittsburgh, Allegheny County Judge Joseph Williams has caused a controversy by rejecting a plea bargain on the ground that it is the type of deal that “only goes to white boys.” The plea agreement involved three months probation for a man accused of fighting with police during a traffic stop.
Continue reading “Pittsburgh Judge Rejects Plea Agreement As Something That Prosecutor Only Gives “To White Boys””
San Diego police officer Robert Acosta and his wife Monique were allegedly not happy with the foreclosure on their million-dollar home. According to witnesses, they trashed the home, tore up the garden, and stole items before leaving the property. They now have been arrested and face a claim for over $200,000 in damages.
Continue reading “San Diego Police Officer Accused of Trashing Million Dollar Home After Foreclosure”
Mississippi Chancery Judge Talmadge Littlejohn means it when he asks everyone to stand and say the pledge of allegiance. When attorney Danny Lampley of Oxford stood but did not recite, Littlejohn threw him in jail.
Littlejohn was just honored by the Mississippi bar for 50 years in public service.
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As has been the practice on this blog, I wanted to disclose my representation of the Brown family, who are the subjects of the new series “Sister Wives” on TLC. As in the past, any comments on the case by me will be limited. However, various people have suggested the reported criminal investigation as a subject for this blog and I wanted to explain why I have not posted anything on the controversy.
Continue reading “Representation in “Sister Wives” Case”
We have seen a steady stream of criminal cases involving Arab princes and princesses accused of beating or killing their servants (here and here). Now, one prince, Saud Bin Abdulaziz Bin Nasir al Saud, 34 (grandson of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah) is accused of strangling his male servant Bandar Abdulaziz (left) after sexually assaulting him in their luxury London hotel suite.
Continue reading “Saudi Prince on Trial For Sexually Assaulting and Murdering Servant”
This girl gained international infamy by throwing puppies into a fast-moving river while being videotaped. They then put the videotape on YouTube. Now, the Bosnian police have decided that she will face no punishment of any kind due to her age.
Continue reading “Bosnian Police Announce That They Will Not Press Charges Against Girl Who Threw Puppies Into River”
Senior U.S. District Judge Jack T. Camp Jr. has been arrested on charges that he purchased drugs on several occasions from an Atlanta club stripper with whom he was having a sexual relationship.
Continue reading “Federal Judge Arrested For Alleged Drug Use With Relationship With Stripper”
This is a curious story. West Seneca Police Chief Edward F. Gehen called in the FBI to investigate an officer, Sean P. Kelley, who had a long line of disciplinary problems, but was rumored to be too well-connected to fire.
Continue reading “Report: Buffalo Police Officer With Political Connection Reportedly Racks Up Disciplinary Charges”
Steve Ewing, 35, may be involved in drugs but he has a unique concept of a drive-by shooting. Reportedly unhappy with a neighbor in a dispute over drug money, Ewing loaded a squirt gun with poison and drove by killing his neighbor’s plants. It was a scene that left horticulturists in shock and horror at the garden carnage and lingering smell of Roundup weed killer.
Continue reading “Garden-Variety Crime: Florida Man Does Drive-By Shooting To Kill His Alleged Drug Associate’s Garden”
Today, Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders went on trial for alleged hate speech for his anti-Muslim and anti-immigrants comments. While I strongly disagree with those comments, I believe the trial is a threat to free speech and part of a growing crackdown in the West on critics of religion.
Continue reading “Dutch Politician Geert Wilders Goes On Trial For Hate Speech”
A Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy responded to a robbery call at a Hollywood liquor store and fired eight times at a man spotted leaving the store. It turned out to be the clerk who reported the robbery who was unarmed. Fortunately, the officer did not hit the clerk with any of the eight rounds.
Continue reading “Police Officer Responds To Robbery and Fires Eight Times At The Victim”