Michael Phelps may have a bit more to worry about than losing some of us promotional contracts, he could lose his freedom. The 14-time gold medalist was shown smoking marijuana from a pipe. In both real estate and criminal law, the key is always location, location, location. This was not a good location to go for the Acapulco gold. South Carolina prosecutors are looking into charges and in Richland County, Phelps could get as much as 30 days — though jail is rare in such cases.
Continue reading “Going for the [Acapulco] Gold: Phelps May Be Criminally Charged Over Pot Pictures”
Category: Criminal law
Michael Hecht, a new Washington state judge in Pierce County Superior Court, has a docket that most judges would relish: virtually no substantive cases. The reason is that country prosecutors are refusing to try cases before Hecht, who has been charged with soliciting prostitutes and then threatening a 24-year-old male prostitute. Hecht ran in part on his work in building stable and moral families.
Continue reading “What the Hecht? Prosecutors Boycott New Judge Accused of Prostitution Offenses”
A Harvard Law School student has lost his job with the District Attorney’s office and faces criminal charges after an embarrassing encounter with the Boston Police Department. Charles C. Simpkins, a third-year law student has been charged with two counts, including disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Todd F. Sanders, 45, a Virginia lawyer and George Washington adjunct law professor was shot last night through his office window in Loudoun’s historic district. He was released after treatment for a non-life threatening wound.
Continue reading “Virginia Lawyer and Adjunct GW Law Professor Shot in Office”
The Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled that pet owners in the state cannot be prosecuted for shooting and killing their pets. The appellate court overturned the conviction of Wendy Colleen Kneller who, in 2006, shot her 6-year-old pit bull-chow mix, Bouta. The state anti-cruelty statute was deemed too ambiguous to sustain such a charge.
Continue reading “Shoot the Pooch: Pennsylvania Court Rule that Owners Can Shoot Their Pets”
In the amazing video below, New York police officers are shown ransacking a bar and smashing gambling machines . . . and pocketing cash. The November 14, 2007 raid on a bar called Beer Googles. One officer is seen counting cash from a smashed machine and handing it to another officer, who peels off some for himself and pockets it.
Give them the shoe appears to be replacing the boot as a standard in politics. In a scene reminiscent of the Iraqi shoe thrower and George Bush, a protester at Cambridge University threw a sneaker at at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and called him a dictator. As if to prove the dictator point, the Chinese media was promptly ordered not to mention the incident in any coverage to keep the Chinese people in the dark about the story. The video of the incident is below.
Continue reading “Shoe Politics: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Gets the Shoe Treatment at Cambridge”
If you think that American flight attendants have become a bit heavy handed, be grateful that you don’t fly Saudi Arabian Airlines flight. A man who refused to put his cigarette out on a flight to Jeddah was sentenced to 30 lashes.
Continue reading “Un-Lucky Strikes: Saudi Arabia Sentences Man To 30 Lashes for Smoking on a Flight”
In Florida and Texas, the courts are known to be pretty harsh on DUI and other offenses. However, at least one Texas judge and Florida prosecutor seem to have found ample due process and mercy in the handling of their own DUI cases. In Waco, District Judge Elizabeth Berry, 43, has been able to keep out the result of a blood test that showed that she was driving drunk. In Tampa, former Pinellas-Pasco prosecutor Lydia Wardell, 41, (known for her own unforgiving treatment of DUI offenders) avoided jail time for her second DUI arrest.
This week, there is a new detailed account of how Nigerian scammers are still able to snare victims and bleed them for months and even years. John Rempel, of Leamington, Canada
, ultimately lost $150,000 after scam artists convinced him to send money from himself and relatives for over a year. In the process, he quit his job and traveled around the world for what is known as the Nigerian 419 scam.
Continue reading “The Nigerian 419 Scam: Man Gives $150,000 In Scam Lasting Over a Year”
Doughnut have been the undoing of many a good cop. Now a Brisbane police officer has been disciplined after the junior constable got into a loud argument down under demanding free doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. It is only the latest scandal involving an officer irate over the denial of a doughnut.
As expected, ex-transit officer Johannes Mehserle, 27, is claiming that he shot Oscar Grant by mistake in the infamous video from the BART station in Oakland, California. He insists that he thought that his gun was his taser when he shot Grant in the back.
Continue reading “Mehserle Claims Mistake in Bart Shooting of Oscar Grant”
In 2005, ex-radio DJ Quincy De’Shawn Smith was involved in a confrontation with a police officer that resulted in his being tased. In November, this case was cleared for trial alleging police brutality by the officer. However, Smith, 24, is now dead after being tased in December by the same Minneapolis police officer, Officer Timothy Devick, who was responding to a report of a domestic assault.
Continue reading “Minneapolis Man Files Brutality Case Against Officer for Tasing Him in 2005 — He is Then Killed in 2008 After Being Tased By The Same Officer”
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Eric Chevallier has publicly criticized Israel for allegedly blocking the shipment of a water purification station into Gaza, forcing France to return the equipment to Europe despite the serious health emergency growing in Gaza over contaminated water. Spain for its part has now opened an investigation to look into the allegations of crimes against humanity in how Israel conducted the operation.
Continue reading “France Accuses Israel of Blocking Needed Water Purification Equipment for Gaza as Spain Launches War Crimes Investigation”
As predicted in our earlier entry, the investigation into the salmonella outbreak has now become a criminal investigation of Peanut Corporation of America. Recently, it was learned that company officials knew that prior batches of its product were contaminated but shipped them anyway. The Food and Drug Administration is spearheading the investigation.
Continue reading “FDA Opens Criminal Investigation of Peanut Corporation of America”