There is an interesting case out of England on the limits of self-defense, a question that we often discuss in class. Munir Hussain, 52, has been convicted for attacking an armed robber who broke into his house and held him and his family hostage — while reportedly promising to kill them all. They were eventually able to free themselves and turn the tables on the three robbers. Walid Salem, 56, was beaten in the aftermath with bats. He can only sue the family for tort damages for the assault and battery. Hussain’s brother Tokeer was also convicted.
Continue reading “Homeowner Convicted for Beating Armed Robber — Faces Tort Liability”
Category: Criminal law
Dave VonTesmar of Phoenix has a novel defense to a series of speeding tickets: I am not the monkey in that picture and you cannot prove that I am.
Continue reading “Monkey Business: Arizona Man Hit with Dozens of Tickets as Mysterious Speeding Monkey”
When will this country wake up to the cat menace? After following cases of cats framing humans (here and here), we have yet another example of the feline Fifth Column. Robert Taylor fell victim to a classic cat trap. He returned home to find that his cat had used his bed as a litter box. When he took the cat to the barage to fire a gun to scare it, he was promptly arrested and the cat given the run of the house.
James Tyler Markle, 19, has been arrested in another prank case. In this case, his prank at a Wendy’s in Texas cost over $20,000 and resulted in charges of one count of terrorizing and one count of felony criminal damage to property.
Continue reading “Texas Teenager Arrested in Wendy’s Prank Posted on YouTube”
I am pretty sure that this is a unique crime. Keith Edward Marriott, 41, is charged with repeatedly pretending to drown in Madeira Beach, Florida and then throwing jellyfish at people who came to help him.
Minnesota prosecutors have charged Hamline University professor Robin Magee with 11 felony counts for failing to file tax returns and filing false returns. In addition to criminal law, tax law is one of Magee’s specialties and she also practices as a tax lawyer.
Continue reading “Law Professor Charged With Tax Violations and Claims an A.D.D. Defense”
Jeffie Dewitt Morris, 36, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida is not your typical addict looking for a fix. Morris came up with the idea of shoplifting flea and tick medication to pay for crack.
Continue reading “Getting Scratch For Crack: Florida Man Arrested in Alleged Flea-to-Crack Scheme”
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Virga improperly influenced a jury to find a defendant guilty in a sexual assault case. The actions of the former prosecutor have resulted in a new trial being ordered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Continue reading “Ninth Circuit: California Judge Improperly Influenced Jury to Convict Defendant”
Former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney Dennis Fisher has been barred from practicing law for another year as punishment for stealing two knives. He was accused of not only stealing the knives but resisting employees who tried to stop him.
Continue reading “Former Prosecutor Suspended for Shoplifting”
If Stephfon Bennett, 20, thought that “Hey, I’m the guy who robbed you, wanna go out?” is a good pick up line, he was right. The Columbia police picked him up after Bennett allegedly returned to the home of a woman he robbed to ask her on a date.
Continue reading “The Ultimate Pick Up Line: Robber Allegedly Returns to Ask Victim Out on a Date”
Wal-Mart in China appears to take shoplifting pretty seriously. Wal-Mart employees found a woman shoplifting and, despite efforts of witnesses to stop them, beat her to death. The matter is now being handled as a murder rather than shoplifting case.
Continue reading “Putting Customers in the Big Box: Wal-Mart Employees Beat Shoplifter to Death”
Reed Ashton Hair, 20, has achieved something of a feat. He escaped in handcuffs wearing only boxer shorts. Yet, he remains at large.
Continue reading “Bad Hair Day: Florida Prisoner Escapes in Boxers and Eludes Police”
The murder of John Colman is not exactly a cold case, it is positively glacial. New York detectives have taken up the case 400 years after the English seaman was found murdered and buried in a shallow grave. No weapon, no motive. The culprit, however, is believed to be out of the New York jurisdiction and even Interpol.
School officials in at Atlantic High School (“Home of the Trojans & Trojanns“) in Des Moines, Iowa are facing questions of why five teenage girls were forced to take off their clothing for a search after a classmate reported $100 missing from her purse. No money was found. The Supreme Court just ruled in June 2009 that strip searches were unconstitutional in Safford Unified School District v. Redding. As in the Iowa search for money, no drugs were found in the Arizona middle school search.
Continue reading “Iowa School Accused of Strip Searching Teenage Girls in Search of Stolen Money”
The University of Illinois College of Law has already had a bad year with allegations of less qualified students being given entrance into the school as favors for politicians. Now, Dean Ming Liu Bengtsson, 38, the assistant business dean at the law school has been arrested for allegedly stealing $20,000 at her previous job working for Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs. She recently resigned her position.
Continue reading “Former Business Dean at Illinois College of Law Charged With Theft and Forgery”