Two police chiefs — Martins Ferry Police Chief Barry Carpenter and Bridgeport Chief Chad Dojack — have reportedly been arrested and booked in a case involving actors Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker — and the surrogate mother who recently gave birth to their twin girls. The police chiefs are accused of illegally breaking into the home of the 26-year-old Michelle Ross to obtain information to be sold to a tabloid.
Category: Criminal law
When Ruth Madoff recently agreed to a deal with prosecutors under which she would retain millions, we expressed outrage and opined on the possibility of a civil “clawback” lawsuit. It has now happened. Court-appointed trustee Irving Picard accuses Madoff of a “life of Splendor” funded by illegally gained funds from her imprisoned husband Bernard Madoff. Ruth was last seen cringing on to a fur coat as she was being thrown out of a Manhattan $7 million penthouse when it was seized by agents.
Broward County prosecutors in Florida have dropped four DUI charges against Alexandra Torrensvilas after this video showed Hollywood police officers making up a false story to pin the blame of an accident on her. The problem is that they did it in front of their dash cameras.
Continue reading “Video: Florida Officers Openly Discuss Falsifying Report to Protect Officer From Blame in Accident By Framing a Citizen”
The Travis County Constable’s Office has released the dashcam video of the tasering of 72-year-old Kathryn Winkfein by Deputy Chris Bieze. We previously discussed this story but the video is highly disturbing in the decision to shoot the 4’11” great grandmother. Before he fires the weapon, Winkfein responds to Bieze’s threat to taser with an “I dare you.” He didn’t need a double dare.
Continue reading “Video: Officer Tasers 72-Year-Old Great-Grandmother After a Dare”
Lubna Hussein, a former journalist and current United Nations worker, is facing 40 lashes for the crime of wearing pants in a public place — an act of unspeakable “indecency” under Sharia law in Sudan. She says that 10 other women arrested at a restaurant in Khartoum, including some non-Muslims, were already flogged.
Former Pennsylvania lawyer Ralph Mirarchi appears to have as bad marital as legal problems these days. Under a plea bargain, Marachi was supposed to have his sentence reduced once his wife sold their New Jersey home to help repay his victims. Instead, Mirachi, 69, was sentenced to up to 8 1/2 years after his wife of forty years Dorothy “Dot” Mirachi decided to keep the home and allegedly used money from another real estate sale to pay off her Lexus rather than her husband’s victims.
Continue reading “Dot Con: Wife Refuses to Turn Over Money to Victims to Reduce Husband’s Sentence”
When Antonio Love failed to heed orders to come out of a bathroom at a Dollar General store, Mobile police used pepper spray and a Taser on him — ultimately arresting him for resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and failure to obey a police officer. The problem is that Love, 37, is deaf and mentally disabled.
Continue reading “Shocking Love: Police Taser and Pepper Spray Deaf, Mentally Disabled Man for Not Complying With Orders”
The debate continues to rage this week over the push by Vice President Dick Cheney and others to have former President George Bush deploy active military units in a suburb of Buffalo to arrest a small group of men who were suspected of supporting terrorism (here). Nor surprising, Bush officials went to Berkeley law professor John Yoo to tell them that (surprise!) the President was not bound by the Fourth Amendment or federal law if he unilaterally declared the operation to be a national security matter. Yoo and his former colleague conclude that “the president has the legal and constitutional authority to use military force within the United States to respond to and combat future acts of terrorism, and that the Posse Comitatus Act does not bar deployment.” I discussed the controversy on this segment of Countdown.
Continue reading “Yoo Must Be Kidding: Professor Argues That Bush Could Negate Both The Fourth Amendment and The Posse Comitatus Act By Simply Declaring Deployment To Be A National Security Matter”
Stephen L. Thompson, 58, a courthouse janitor in Clark County, Indiana had a curious response to a court reporter who rebuffed his expressions of affection. Hell hath no fury like a janitor scorned.
Continue reading “Urine a Lot of Trouble, Mr. Thompson: Janitor Filmed Relieving Himself on Court Reporter’s Chair”
Alexandria (Va.) Police Chief David P. Baker, 58, has been put on administrative leave after crashing his unmarked city car and then blowing 0.19 on a sobriety check — twice the legal limit. Deputy Police Chief Earl Cook has replaced him as acting chief.
Continue reading “Baker Replaced By Cook: Alexandria Police Chief Arrested for Drunk Driving”
Denver police officer Derrick Curtis Saunders, 29, allegedly wants his fast food faster. Saunders is “on leave” to deal with criminal charges after reportedly pulling his weapon at a McDonald’s to speed things up behind the counter.
Continue reading “Denver Police Officer Charged After Allegedly Demanding Fast Service at McDonalds at Gunpoint”
There is another horrific story out of Pakistan in the abuse of women and girls. In this case, Assiya Rafiq, 16, was kidnapped by a group of men who proceeded to beat and rape her for a year. When police accused them of bank robbery, the men agreed to turn over a bribe — and Assiya. The Police Chief and his officers then allegedly proceeded to rape her and accuse her of bank robbery.
Burundi authorities have secured a life sentence for an individual accused of involved in the trafficking of albino body parts for witchcraft. The victims were murdered and then mutilated to sell as parts for witchcraft ceremonies and potions.
Continue reading “Report: Albinos Murdered and Body Parts Sold for Witchcraft”
Rabbi Izhak Levy Rosenbaum of Brooklyn has been arrested for running an international human organ selling ring. Rosenbaum’s role was disclosed to the FBI by an anthropologist, Nancy Scheper-Hughes of the University of California, Berkeley, who has been studying organ markets. She described him as the “main broker” in the international trafficking of human organs — allegedly taken from “vulnerable” people in Moldova, Israel and possibly other countries and sold to wealthy recipients in the United States. Rosenbaum called himself “the matchmaker.”
Continue reading “Matchmaker: New York Rabbi Arrested As Head of International Organ Trafficking Ring”
Saudi Arabian police have arrested Mazen Abdul Jawad for the crime of speaking about his sex life in public. Shariah law makes it a crime for him to be “publicizing his sinful behavior,” according to prosecutors. Various people filed complaints after Jawad appeared on a Lebanese show called “Red Line.”
Continue reading “Saudi Arabia Arrests Man For Speaking About His Sex Life in Public”