An Illinois sheriff this week is seeking to reverse a board decision reinstating three officers in Tazewell county, Illinois despite this shocking video tape. On the video, Sergeant Richard Johnston, and correctional officers Jeffery Bieber and Justin Piro are shown beating Becky Behm after she was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol October 17, 2008.
Category: Criminal law
West Virginia defense lawyer Ed ReBrook had a difficult case in representing Thomas H. Gravely, 31, who was accused of raping Charleston prostitutes. However, critics charge that he made a difficult case worse by calling no witnesses and using highly offensive terms to describe the victims.
Continue reading “West Virginia Lawyer Tells Jury that Raped Prostitutes Were Not Like Their Mothers and Daughters — Nothing More Than “Whores” and “Tramps””
While Memphis is dealing with an officer who allegedly helped run a major cocaine operation (here), Illinois police are dealing with a former Harvey police deputy marshal and an Illinois State Police reserve officer who has been arrested in a drugs and weapons operation. Leroy Grant, 38, is accused of both running drugs and selling weapons for a Chicago drug dealer. Grant reportedly told the drug dealer: “Money’s what … we here for!. And if it’s easy, it’s easy!”
While Memphis officials trying to keep tasers out of the hands of their officers (here), they are also trying to do the same with narcotics. A major bust this week led to the arrest of officer Lowell Duke, 37, who is accused of participating in a large drug operation.
Continue reading “The Thin White Line: Memphis Officer Arrested in Major Cocaine Bust”
In a rare departure from the trend in the expanding use of tasers by law enforcement, the city council of Memphis has refused a request by the Memphis Police Department to add tasers to its arsenal.
Continue reading “Memphis Turns Down Tasers For Its Officers”
Harris County Criminal Court-at-Law judge Donald W. Jackson, 59, has been indicted on a misdemeanor charge of official oppression – allegedly offering to get a DWI defendant help in dismissing her case in exchange for a sexual relationship. Notably, he allegedly insisted that he was not interested in “a one-night stand” in seeking to secure counsel for Ariana M. Venegas. If so, it is a new variation on past judicial pick-up lines that simply offer to trade sex for rulings.
It appears that folks in South Carolina prefer to bag for dragonflies with old-fashioned way: with a hunting rifle. A South Carolina man reportedly decided to use a rifle rather than a net to catch dragonflies at a hunting club in Johnsonville, South Carolina (pop. 1418 and an unknown number of dragonflies). He ended shooting his friend when he walked in front of the gun.
Continue reading “South Carolina Man Goes Dragonfly Hunting with Rifle and Shoots Friend”
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel has played a large role in tax policy — and advocated increasing taxes to pay for the massive spending of this Congress. He is now accused of underreporting his own income by a shocking degree. Republicans have complained that the media and blogs have been relatively muted in covering the story.
Former Altamonte Springs police officer Mark Maupin drove 100-mile-an-hour without siren or lights for no apparent reason. He ended up hitting teenager Erskin Bell who was left paralyzed and his family was left with massive monthly medical bills. Officers at the scene, however, did not give Maupin a sobriety test and now he will not be charged with any crime. He only faces the loss of his license but will keep his $5,000 a month in state retirement.
Lincoln, Nebraska (The Weekly Vice) – Gregory Tyrrell, 45, is a registered sex offender who allegedly came up with what he thought was a brilliantly simple idea. He covered himself with towels from head to toe and repeatedly went into the women’s locker room in a Lincoln, Nebraska health club. The problem was the hairy legs, which women had a hard time missing.
Continue reading “The Trouble With Hairy: Nebraska Man Arrested For Entering Ladies Room at Health Club Covered in Towels”
William Telano Evans committed suicide in Florida this week just minutes before a jury reaching a verdict acquitting him of sexually abusing a girl three decades ago.
Continue reading “Accused Pedophile Commits Suicide Minutes Before Jury Delivers Not Guilty Verdict”
Pastor Steven Anderson has used his position at Faithful World Baptist Church, in Tempe, Arizona to bring just a little more hate into the world. Pastor Anderson is praying for the death of President Obama and an eternity in hell.
Continue reading “Pastor Prays for President Obama’s Death on Eve of His Visit to Arizona”
Novelist Lisa Ann Reardon, 47, has been arrested for shooting her father in . . . well . . . the rear. George Hicks escaped the assault by running into his house when Reardon allegedly fired repeated shots from a 20-gauge shotgun.
Continue reading “Blameless? Novelist Lisa Ann Reardon Arrested for Attempted Murder of Father”
Cincinnati Police Officer Anthony Plummer is accused of tasering the wrong person in the wrong way. First, he allegedly tasered a woman who was on her knees with her hands in the air. Second, it turned out to be Celeste Thomas, 26, daughter of City Councilman Cecil Thomas, a former police officer who heads the council’s law and safety committee.
Continue reading “Cincinnati Police Officer Suspended After Tasering Woman on Her Knees With Her Hands in the Air”
The controversy continues over the District’s alleged destruction of evidence and withholding of documents in the World Bank protest case. The case deals with the mass arrests conducted without probable cause during the World Bank/IMF protests of 2002. Under orders from Judge Sullivan, D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles filed a declaration explaining his actions and that of his staff. It has now been challenged by members of the city council and the litigants.
Continue reading “D.C. Attorney General’s Declaration in Protest Case Challenged by Council Members and Lawyers”