The New Jersey Supreme Court has handed down an important ruling that prisoners cannot be forced to wear a prison uniform on the witness stand. The Court ruled that such prison garb “undermine[s] the credibility of the witness.”
Category: Criminal law
Judge Richard Posner dressed down a federal prosecutor over expired salad dressing. Posner issued the ruling for his panel on United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit which included criticism of Assistant U.S. Attorney Juliet Sorensen for misleading statements.
Continue reading “Dressing Down: Judge Posner Demands Discipline of Prosecutor Over Alleged Misconduct in Salad Dressing Case”
Congress is rushing to respond to the widespread public outrage over the $160 million in bonuses paid to American International Group (AIG) executives with taxpayer money. The most popular idea is to tax the bonuses, but such a retroactive tax would raise very serious legal questions. I discussed this issue on Countdown in this segment.
Continue reading “Congress Moves to Tax AIG Bonuses — But Is It Constitutional?”
Adam Osman Mohammed, 32, insisted that if England denied his asylum application and sent him to Sudan, he would be killed. He can now say I told you so, except for the fact that he was promptly killed upon his arrival to his village in south Darfur.
Continue reading “English Refuse Asylum Plea and Deport Man to Sudan Where He Is Promptly Killed”
George Santayana said that “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” The Washington Department of Natural Resources took that lesson to heart in watching the History Channel’s “Ax Men.” While one of the stars insisted that “We’re normal guys that do extraordinary things,” DNR officials saw normal guys doing criminal things in taking logs out of the river.
Continue reading “Preventing History From Repeating Itself: Washington State Officials Charge “Ax Men” With Environmental Violations”
The New Mexico Legislature voted 24-18 to repeal the death penalty and replaced it with life without parole. Two other states — Kansas and Montana — may follow suit this month.
Continue reading “New Mexico Repeals Death Penalty — Kansas and Montana May Follow Suit”
The International Committee of the Red Cross added its considerable authority and voice to those who have called the Bush interrogation policies torture under international law. Now, Bush officials, bar groups, countless experts, and leading international organizations have all agreed that Bush ran a torture program prohibited under a variety of treaties. Those treaties require the United States to investigate and prosecute such acts as war crimes. Yet, President Barack Obama continues to block any such investigation in flagrant violation of international law.
Continue reading “International Red Cross Defines Bush Interrogations As Torture”
There is an interesting twist in the Italian trial of Amanda Knox. The American exchange student Meredith Kercher facing murder charges has claimed that she was struck by police and otherwise abused during her interrogation. Now, Italian prosecutors have added a slander charge due to her in court statements.
For criminal defense attorneys, regional differences can often produce localized forms of practice. The attorney for Marcel Fournier, 19, has one such case in Burlington, Vermont. Fournier was arrested for bolting antlers on the head of a dead doe to conceal game violations.
Continue reading “Natural or Enhanced? Vermont Hunter Jailed for Shooting Doe and Then Bolting Antlers To Her Head”
Houston police and prosecutors are arresting people for potty-mouths. The Texans were shocked when New Yorker Abraham Urquizo, 35, used the “F-word” twice while arguing with his girlfriend at Salsa’s Mexican and Seafood Restaurant. They are clearly unaware that the word can be used as an adjective, noun, verb, adverb, participle, and a gerund in New York.
Continue reading “Don’t Mess With Texican English: Texas Police Arrested New Yorker For Potty Mouth”
Now, this should make for an interesting torts case. Oklahoma State Penitentiary moved prisoner, Paul Duran Jr., 23 (left), after he had a fight with another cellmate. They choose Jessie James Dalton (right), who not only has a name for crime but happens to be the very man that Duran testified against in a murder case (resulting in his being given a life sentence without parole). Dalton allegedly beat Duran to death within 15 minutes.
Continue reading “Oklahoma Prison Puts Inmate Into The Same Cell With The Murderer Who He Testified Against a Trial– And Is Promptly Beaten To Death”
It was only recently that many of us put away our Square Root Day decorations. Yet, it is now time to celebrate Pi day in all of its irrational glory. The irrational number is rounded off to 3.14, making March 14th the special day for all math geeks — and circle circumference fanatics.
Continue reading “HAPPY Pi DAY!!!”
Australian Glenn Phillip McGuire, 28, has pleaded guilty of possession of child pornography after downloading six images of cartoon characters from The Simpsons and Pokemon in sexual scenes.
Continue reading “Man Guilty of Possession of Child Pornography For Downloading Sexual Cartoons of Simpson and Pokemon Characters”
Orion Kent Mitchelle Stoltman, 19, of Tooele, Utah has some serious issues to work out. Stoltman has been arrested for burglarizing a family’s animal pen, stealing two pet goats, taking them to a local elementary school and beheading them on Halloween.
Continue reading “Utah Man Arrested for Goat Kidnappings and Beheadings”
Former Cook County Republican Chairman Gary Skoien, 55, is in the midst of a bizarre criminal case. He accused his wife, Eni Skoien, 36, with battery for allegedly beating him with her fists and an electric guitar. Police report that Skoien admitted that his wife found him in his children’s playroom with two prostitutes early Sunday morning.