In Amsterdam, New York, police have charged Walter U. Tessier with a unique case of petit larceny after he bought a lobster, eat it, glued the pieces together, and returned the lobster. He may have gotten the wrong idea from the name of the star: Price Chopper.
Category: Criminal law
Stanislav Markelov, a leading human rights lawyer, and reporter Anastasia Baburova have been assassinated in Moscow — the latest fatalities of critics of the government. This assassination was done with a silencer on a public street just a half of a mile from the Kremlin — as if meant to send a message to other lawyers, reporters, and civil libertarians.
Continue reading “Human Rights Lawyer and Russian Reporter Assassinated in Moscow”
Amnesty International has entered the controversy over Israel’s alleged use of white phosphorus in civilian areas of the Gaza Strip. The use of white phosphorus in a civilian area — let alone a compacted urban area like Gaza — would violate international law. Amnesty’s own investigation found what it claims to be clear evidence of such violations.
On his last full day in office, President George Bush issued commutations for former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. These were notably commutations and not full pardons. He has not yet issued any pardons on the torture program. I will be discussing the possible investigation of war crimes under the Obama Administration tonight on Rachel Maddow’s show.
Continue reading “Bush Pardons Former Border Patrol Officers Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean; Nothing on Torture Pardons”
You have to love this false imprisonment case. Tracey Fox, 42, snapped when a repair man told her that he could not fix her washing machine, which had broken down twice this year. Fox then took matters into her own hands and locked the man in the house and would not let him leave until the machine was working.
A Swiss lawyer has cited threats to the life of Muntadhar al-Zeidi and beatings in custody as the basis for a request for political asylum in Switzerland. The Iraqi journalist is still in prison after throwing his shoes at George W. Bush.
In yet another outrage by the Thai government’s use of the country’s Lèse majesté (prohibiting offenses against the crown), Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has been sentenced to three years in prison for insulting the crown in his 2005 book Verisimilitude. The sentence was originally six years but cut in half because of his guilty plea. In the meantime, British reporter Jonathan Head was charged under the laws for remarks that he made on a panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.
In what appears the first time that an Arkansas Supreme Court justice has been reprimanded, the Court sanctioned Justice Jim Gunter for hitting and shoving his sister of hitting and shoving at his father’s home in September 2007 in Hope, Arkansas.
Continue reading “Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Jim Gunter Sanctioned For Attack on Sister”
Utah police have a novel case on their hands after a man shot a toilet at the Carl’s Jr. restaurant in Centerville, Utah. The man was in the men’s room and was pulling up his pants when his concealed handgun discharged — shooting the toilet, wounding himself, and sending a woman in a nearby Ladies Room to the hospital.
Continue reading “Man v. Toilet: Utah Man Shoots Toilet and Injures Both Himself and Nearby Woman at Carl’s Jr. Restaurant”
Another representative of the faith-based political movement has been arrested on morals charges. Police have been looking for a man for years who solicited prostitutes on the Internet under the name “Sullivant Guy,” “Broad Street Guy,” “Toby” and “God O Thunder.” It turns out that “God O Thunder” is allegedly Robert Eric McFadden, who was the director of Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
Continue reading “God O Thunder: Former Head of Faith-Based Programs in Ohio Arrested on Prostitution Charges”
Sen. John Huppenthal (R., Chandler, Arizona) has been arrested and charged with stealing a campaign sign. Notably, Huppenthal has invoked legislative privileges to get the trial delayed.
Continue reading “Arizona Legislator Charged Criminally With Stealing Campaign Signs”
Former Toledo attorney Karyn McConnell Hancock, 38, is heading to prison for four year. Hancock became infamous when she faked her own kidnapping. Now, she has been sentenced for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her clients. She is a former Democratic Toledo city councilman and the daughter of sitting Toledo Municipal Court Judge C. Allen McConnell.
Continue reading “Former Lawyer Karyn McConnell Hancock Sentenced to Four Years”
It appears that another of the bar brethren is in difficulties with the law over drugs. Around the same time that a Chicago lawyer was having his briefs searched at a prison, a Minnesota was having his briefcase searched in a courthouse. They found drugs in both cases. Attorney Charles Alan Ramsay, 41, was arrested after court staff became suspicious of his behavior in a bathroom and attorney conference room. The defense attorney (and brother of Duluth Police Chief Gordon Ramsay) was charged with third-degree and fifth-degree controlled substance crimes for allegedly possessing a mixture weighing three grams or more containing cocaine.
Continue reading “Criminal Defense Attorney Arrested in Minnesota Courthouse for Drug Possession”
Former FBI agent John “Zip” Connolly has received a 40 year sentence for his role in the killing of a witness who was going to testify against his associates in the Mob. Connolly was the inspiration of Matt Damon’s character in the movie “The Departed.” The sentence is a practical death sentence for the 68-year-old former agent.
Continue reading “Departed for 40 Years: Former FBI Agent Who Inspired Movie Character Is Sentenced for Witness Killing”
A 60-year-old defense attorney in Chicago has been charged with smuggling marijuana and cigarettes to an inmate. Cook County Sheriff officials alleged that Dave Compton was caught in a transaction with the inmate’s girlfriend, Angela Bell. She allegedly gave him $250 bucks for the pots and smokes, which were hidden in his underwear.
Continue reading “Lawyer’s Briefs Yield Contraband: Chicago Lawyer Arrested for Smuggling Drugs to Inmates”