Category: Criminal law

Nine Lives: Air Controller Heard Joking About Dead Cat Just Before Air Collision

180px-AeroportoGuarulhos_TorreInterno180px-PA44180The FAA has released a disturbing tape (below) of an air traffic controller who is heard over a flight recording joking about a dead cat with a female friend as a small plane and tourist helicopter collided in midair — killing nine.

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Finding Jesus in All the Wrong Places: Man Barred From Church Under North Carolina’s Sex Offender Laws

pntdanilIn Raleigh, James Nichols says he wants to find God but he can’t find him in North Carolina. The convicted sex-offender was arrested when he tried to attend church because he is not allowed to be present on any property where children are present, such as in the church’s daycare center. It is only the latest in a series of cases that pit the freedom of religion against sex offender laws.
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Former Alabama Judge Faces Trial This Week For Allegedly Spanking and Sexually Assaulting Inmates in Chambers

art.judgeWe have been following the bizarre case of former Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas who is accused of ordering the male inmates be brought to his chambers where he would spank them and have sex with them. With the judge facing trial on various criminal charges, the case took another strange turn when a former inmate charged in a lawsuit that his former attorney coerced him into testifying against the judge. The case of Willie Pearson was dropped after he accused attorney Joe Kulakowski of threatening him. However, the prosecutor insists that the other cases will proceed as planned for trial.
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The Axe Effect: Naked Louisiana Burglar Breaks in Woman’s House, Makes Dinner, and Takes Shower

naked+manFor a Slidell, Louisiana woman it was bad enough to find her home ransacked after returning from a weekend with her son. Then, after checking the home video system, she learned the burglar was entirely naked at the time and proceeded to take a shower before leaving. This may be the result of the entire AXE effect, which asks “Is Your Shower Hottie Ready?”

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I Have a Terrier and I am Not Afraid to Use It: Nebraska Woman Throws Loaded Jack Russell on Officers

250px-Jrt02A women in Lincoln, Nebraska has been charged after she allegedly threw a Jack Russell Terrier at an officer. It appears, however, that in Lincoln a charge of assault requires a dog as large or greater than a Bulldog to constitute assault on an officer. Instead, she was arrested on suspicion of domestic assault.
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Serving Mammon: Woman Accused of Using Stolen Check for Church Donation and Then Swiping Parishioners Wallet

20091006brk_graham-china_160And I thought John Ricci was damned. Police accuse China Graham of Ellwood City of laying hands on the faithful in the First Presbyterian Church in New Brighton, PA . . . well at least their valuables. She is accused of first using a stolen check for a donation and then grabbing a wallet from a women who left her purse in the pew when she went for communion.

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Father Faces Jail Sentence For Giving Seven-Year-Old Son A Quarter-Sized Tattoo

46949345-265x198bulldog-tattoo1-450x277There is a bizarre case out of Fresno California where Enrique Gonzalez faced lifetime imprisonment for “aggravated mayhem and street terrorism” because he allowed his 7-year-old son to have a quarter-sized tattoo on his right hip. While Fresno County Superior Court Judge Hillary Chittick wisely rejected the excessive charge of mayhem by the prosecutors, he still faces years in jail for cruel and inhumane treatment of a child.
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Knott’s Landing: Mother Stopped While Driving on Highway With Daughter in a Box on Top of Minivan

jackie+knottJackie Denise Knott, 37, really liked that box. She was arrested after having her 13-year-old daughter ride on top of her minivan in a box on the roof. She assured officers that the daughter was safe . . . she secured the box with a hanger.
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Man Commits Suicide After Newspaper Wrongly Says He Was Charged With Molestation of Boys — Then Issues a Remarkably Callous Account of Suicide

200px-Toronto_Star_frontpageWhatever David Dewees did or did not do, he was not accused of what The Toronto Star printed before he committed suicide by laying across railroad tracks: molestation of young boys. Yet, the newspaper (the largest in Canada) published a story on his death that can only be described as remarkably cold and callous.
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Sex Offender Sleepover: Counselor Arrested After Allegedly Taking Teenage Sex Offender Home to Have Sex

180px-Handcuffs01_2003-06-02When a 17-year-old sex offender escaped from a juvenile treatment program in Baltimore County, many wondered where the counselors were at the time of the escape. Well, police say that one counselor never let him leave her sight. Tyra M. Greenfield, 26, was arrested after allegedly allowing the boy to stay at her house and having sex with the sex offender. Not quite the approach recommended by the manual on sex offender counseling. The charges, however, are interesting.
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Air Turbulence: Two Pilots Grounded After Allegedly Leaving Cockpit at 30,000 Feet to Punch Out Flight Crew

180px-Airindia_logo180px-Boeing_707_Air_India_Basle_-_1976I have heard of air turbulence but this is ridiculous. Two Air India pilots — identified as Commander Ranbeer Arora and Captain Aditya Chopra — are grounded after they allegedly left the cockpit of their Airbus A320 to punched flight crew members who accused them of sexual harassment — in front of freaked out passengers.
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Stocking Snuffer: California Man Allegedly Tries to Hire Hitman to Kill Ex-Girlfriend on Videotape To Watch Over Christmas

6a00d8341c630a53ef011570e5758f970b-800wiMark Alan Jarosik, 43, believes it is never too early to shop for Christmas. He was arrested in California for trying to hire a man to kill his ex-girlfriend and to videotape the murder . . . so he could watch it over the Christmas holiday.
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Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s Free-Speech Tests

250px-Sonia_Sotomayor_in_SCOTUS_robeBelow is today’s column on the first day of the October Term for the Supreme Court. It specifically explores the first amendment cases on the docket. There are four major such cases thus far on the docket and, most importantly, two free speech cases that will be strong indicators of the views of Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

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