Rev. Joseph Sica, 52, a Roman Catholic priest was arrested on perjury charges in Harrisburg this week and accused of lying about his relationship with a mobster in testimony to a grand jury. It is a fascinating case. Often such cases involve first amendment protections for priests, but this indictment is based on alleged social ties and not some confessional issue. Continue reading “Priest Indicted for Lying to Grand Jury About Connections to Mob Boss”
Category: Criminal law
Tennessee judge John B. Hagler has resigned in a bizarre scandal over a tape that reportedly records him enrages in violent and disturbing sexual fantasies. While everyone is calling for the tapes release, however, it is worth considering who released a tape that was found not to be evidence of a crime and protected by privacy. After all, Hagler is entitled to his own private fantasies so long as he does not hurt anyone else or commits a crime. Continue reading “Tennessee Judge Resigns After Sexually Deviant Tape is Disclosed”
Arizona law student and judicial clerk, Kumari Fulbright, 25, is about to get a close exposure to the criminal justice system after her arrest for the allegedly kidnapping and torturing an ex-boyfriend. Continue reading “Law Student and Judicial Clerk Charged with Kidnapping, Torturing, and Robbing Victim”
After completing an initial inquiry, tthe Justice Department has decided to open a full criminal investigation into the 2005 destruction of CIA tapes showing the interrogation of two Al Qaeda suspects. The finding of a basis for possible criminal charges is not itself surprising — there are at least six such offenses that were obvious from the outset. Attorney General Mukasey has appointed a U.S. Attorney General to handle the investigation — a disappointing decision not to appoint someone outside the Administration. Continue reading “Justice Department Opens Formal Criminal Investigation — Finds Credible Allegations of Criminal Conduct in CIA Tapes Scandal”
According to reports, the FBI is returning to the search for the famous D.B. Cooper, the mysterious skyjacker who robbed an airliner in 1971 and then parachuted to an unknown future. The FBI’s release of a new picture raises the disturbing question of whether D.B. Cooper is hiding in the open: as presidential candidate Ron Paul. Continue reading “Is Ron Paul the Real D.B. Cooper?”
Sara Jane Moore who attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975 was released from a Dublin prison. Now, 77, Moore was freed on December 30th – a day early — after 32 years in prison as a model prisoner. The release will likely draw attention to that other would-be Ford assassin- Lynette Squeaky Fromme. Continue reading “Sarah Jane Moore — Would-Be Assassin of Gerald Ford Freed After 32 Years”
In a nightmare befitting Homer Simpson, doughnut thief Scott A. Masters, 41, was facing 30 years in jail for stealing a doughnut and shoving a store employee. The case produced a national outcry and the court recently sentenced him to a five-year suspended sentence, five years of probation and 90 days in the county jail, including time he has served since Sept. 19. He was released this month. Continue reading “Doughnut Thief Spared 30 Years, Receives Five-Year Suspended Sentence Plus 90 days in County Jail”
Americans have always been defined by their robust views of individual autonomy and privacy. However, in the last ten years, privacy has suffered massive reductions in the United States due to both governmental and private surveillance, data mining, and searches. Now an international privacy groups ranks for the United States and England as some of the worst “endemic surveillance societies.” Continue reading “Is Privacy Dying in the United States? Recent Report Says U.S. One of the Worst in the World”
Another member of the Long Island jury that found John White guilty of manslaughter in Long Island has emerged to claim coercion or pressure in reaching the verdict. Previously, a white juror in a racially controversial murder case has gone public with a claim that he felt pressured by the judge and fellow jurors to convict John White, a black man found guily of killing a white teen, Daniel Cicciaro. It is a claim that is likely to produce more of a political and social response than a legal response. Instead, the defense is likely to challenge the judge’s instructions in the case. Continue reading “Another Juror Comes Forward to Claim Coercion in White Case”
For years, unnamed government officials have acknowledged that they use “extraordinary renditions” to send suspects to other countries to be tortured. Our ally Egypt is a favorite destination of such flights. Now, videos of Egyptian torture have forced Americans to see what such “special treatment” is like for suspects. In one video, a woman is forced to strip and is abused by a police officer and in another Egyptian mini-bus driver, Emad el-Kabir, 21,l is shown screaming on the floor as officers sodomize him with a wooden pole. The police then sent the video to el-Kabir’s friends to humiliate him. These videos remove the abstract quality of the debate over U.S. torture policies, both in terms of waterboarding and extraordinary renditions. Continue reading “Torture Videos Shed Light on Egyptian Torture — and U.S. Rendition Policies”
The meaning of standard immorality clauses in teaching contracts has long been a source of controversy. Such clauses tend to be very ambiguous and can sweep protected (but unpopular) activities within their scope. Now, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has issued an opinion upholding an interpretation of the clause for that state, ordering a new hearing for Sherie Leigh Vrable, 49, of Washington Township in Fayette County, who was fired as a teaching assistant in an emotional support class with the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit. The immorality cited was her overdose of a drug at the school. Continue reading “Pennsylvania Supreme Court Reverses Teacher’s Firing Under Immorality Clause”
A six-year-old girl won an essay contest for Hanna Montana ticket beginning with the fraudulent claim that “My daddy died this year in Iraq.” What is astonishing is the amoral attitude of the mother, Priscilla Ceballos, who said “We did the essay and that’s what we did to win . . . We did whatever we could do to win.” The question is now whether prosecutors will do whatever they can to criminally charge on what may constitute a fraud. It could be a close question. Continue reading “Girl Wins Hanna Montana Tickets with Fake Claim of Father Dying in Iraq”
Former major leaguer Jim Leyritz was arrested Friday on charges of driving under the influence and killing a driver after his car crashed into 30-year-old Fredia Ann Veitch. Continue reading “Major Leaguer Jim Leyritz Faces Criminal Charges — and Civil Liability — for Alleged Fatal DUI Accident”
In an important ruling, the Seventh Circuit overturned a $156 million award against the Holy Land Foundation charity for their alleged involvement in the terrorist death of 17-year-old David Boim, an American teenager killed in the West Bank. Continue reading “Federal Court Overturns Verdict Against Holy Land Foundation: Parents Must Show Link Between Fund-Raising and Terrorist Attack that Killed Son”
It is said that justice delayed is justice denied. For Martin Tankleff, 36, justice was 17 years in coming when an appellate court overturned his conviction of the murder of his parents and ordered a retrial. Regardless of whether Tankleff is guilty or innocent, he clearly was deprived of a fair trial by police and prosecutors. Continue reading “Police and Prosecutorial Misconduct Leads to Release of Martin Tankleff — 17 Years After the Murder of Parents”