Category: Criminal law

Bizarre, Criminal law

Missouri Man Charged With Terroristic Threats For Licking Walmart Products

We recently discussed the bizarre trend of teenagers coughing on fruits and vegetables at stores — and efforts of the police to find the culprits shown on social media. In the prior blog, I raised the possibility of prosecutors charging such pranksters with terroristic threats. Now, in Missouri, Cody Pfister, 26, has been arrested and charged with making terrorist threats due to his taking and posting video of himself licking products in a store.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law

Spelling Disaster: Louisiana Asks For Disaster Declaration As Louisiana Pastor Defies Authority With 1000 Person Service

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has asked for a federal declaration of disaster in Louisiana where he claims numbers of coronavirus are rising faster than anywhere in the world. The state previously banned groups greater than 50 and has now called on all citizens to shelter at home. That is clearly not resonating with Pastor Tony Spell who defied authorities (and widespread pleas) by holding services with 1000 followers of his Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge. Spell, who has claimed to cure such things as AIDS and cancer at such services, insisted that this is a “politically motivated” effort and promised to hold additional such services.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Florida Man Could Face Five Years For Stealing 66 Rolls Of Toilet Paper

It is truly a crime for our times. In Orlando, Florida, Angel Hernandezcinto, 31, has been arrested for allegedly stealing 66 rolls of toilet paper from a hotel — something that could constitute a bizarre new form of a crime of passion in the coronavirus pandemic. However, the rolls are valued at 99 cents each, meaning that this master crime amounted to around $65. Yet, it could be punished with up to five years in prison. Another Florida man is being held on $5000 bond for stealing a single roll of toilet paper.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Tucson Police Search For Man Who Stole Corona Testing Kits

We have seen thefts of toilet paper and other items during the coronavirus outbreak. However, Tuscan police are looking for this man who stole dozens of testing kits from the El Rio Health Center.

The Hispanic male posed as a delivery driver to enter the clinic and walked out with the tests.

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Criminal law, Free Speech, Justice, Politics, Society

COVID-19 Situation Demonstrates The Potential For Harm To Society Caused By Politicians

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Putting aside the discussion of whether or not actions taken by various elected officials were reasonable, the hurried effects suffered by the public during the COVID-19 virus pandemic at the behest of politicians should if anything prove the potential for damage caused by unscrupulousness or incompetence in government.

Today’s events should be by now a self-evident reminder of the great importance of putting the right people in office and the folly of settling for very fallable politicians. The next coming weeks will make that point likely more for you, with less consideration to your rights or interests.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Will The Corona Coughing Prank Go Viral? Police Investigation New Possible Trend

We have been discussing the truly disgusting teenage prank of licking ice cream at food stores and then posting the act on social media. Now, there is a far more chilling variation of teenagers coughing on fruits and vegetables and posing their acts to terrify other shoppers.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics

MSNBC Legal Analyst: Trump Must Be Investigated For Negligent Homicide And Manslaughter
YouTube Screenshot/MSNBC

We recently discussed how an American University professor called for the impeachment of President Donald Trump over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Not to be outdone, MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner is now declaring that Trump should be charged with negligent homicide over his conduct. While insisting that, as a former prosecutor, this is something he “actually know[s] too much about,” Kirschner proceeds to utterly misrepresent the controlling law and definitions of such a criminal case. While I come from the other perspective of a criminal defense attorney, the argument being put forward by the MSNBC legal analyst is devoid of any basis in the law. It does however play well for those who believe impeachment or prosecution are entirely fluid and relative concepts when it comes to Trump.

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Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics

Free The Trolls: The Justice Department Moves To Drop Major Mueller Case Against Russian-Linked Companies

It appears that trolls are enjoying St. Patrick’s Day as much as Leprechauns. The Justice Department shocked many by dropping the matinee case of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller against two Russian companies accused of funding the “troll farms” in the 2016 election. Many critics have charged that the trolling operation was laughingly ineffective and clumsy. Moreover, the evidence against the companies, including Concord Management and Consulting LLC and Concord Catering, was questioned. The prosecutors, while defending the original charges, moved to dismiss the case because they viewed the trial as threatening national security secrets. That claim seemed like more of a spin in a case that never seemed to materialize into hard evidence to support these charges. Update: The company has announced that it will sue the U.S. government for billions in damages — a move that will once again raise this same information for trial.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Free Speech

“This Outta Make The Snowflakes Melt, Aye?”: Student Charged With Terrorism After Posting Photo With His New AR-15

Lake Superior State University student Lucas Gerhard is facing terrorism charges after he posting picture with his new AR-15 on Snapchat with a taunting message for “snowflakes.” Another student objected that she felt threatened by the posting and ultimately the police arrested Gerhard for what was clearly a simple taunting message.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Media, Politics

The Corona Commutation: Michael Cohen Calls On Trump For The Immediate Release of Prisoners . . . Like Michael Cohen
C-Span/YouTube Screenshot

Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney and “fixer” for President Donald Trump, is calling on his former client to order the release of non-violent prisoners to avoid imposing a “death sentence” on him and others. The petition is a “plea to the President of the United States to save lives” to avoid a threat of lethal exposure for inmates like Cohen. Of course, given the extreme animosity that exists between Trump and Cohen, that may not be the optimal spin for inducing presidential action.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law

Court Finally Releases Chelsea Manning After Suicide Attempt

I have previously objected to how the Justice Department uses grand juries to punish certain individuals who refuse to cooperate with federal investigations. This concern was heightened during my representation of Dr. Sami Al-Arian who signed a plea bargain with the understanding that, after serving his time, he would be allowed to leave the country. Instead, he was forced before a grand jury and remained in jail for years as a matter of contempt. The Justice Department often prolongs the incarceration while piling on fines to ruin individuals who refuse to cooperate. That was the case with Chelsea Manning. Like Al-Arian, she had already served time for her role in the Wikileaks controversy but the remainder of her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama. The Justice Department proceeded to pull her before another grand jury where she refused to testify (like Al-Arian). After a long incarceration and an equally excessive 256,000 in fines, she finally tried to kill herself this week by hanging in the Alexandria jail. Only then did U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga finally order her release.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

78-Year-Old Texan Survives 40 Foot Drop After Allegedly Being Pushed Off Cliff By Son

Gerald McCants, 49, has been charged in Texas with a particularly heinous crime. He is accused of luring his 78-year-old father to a cliff and then pushing him off. His father amazingly survived and told police that he could hear his son laughing as he fell.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Media, Politics

High Anxiety: Clinton Raises New Explanation For Lewinsky Affair

It is the one defense that Harvey Weinstein did not argue in his recent trial: I was just working out my stress. The new documentary on Hillary Clinton has been panned by many as yet another attempt to rewrite history for the Clintons. However, few expected Bill Clinton to come up with yet another explanation for the affair that led to his impeachment. Clinton explained in an interview that it was all an effort “manage my anxieties.” The problem is that his anxiety management included committing perjury as well as recently disclosed alleged witness tampering. He was of course never charged with perjury despite a court later saying that he clearly lied under oath. Of course, he would never lie to Hulu.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

A MacGyver Murder? New Jersey Woman Accused Of Murder Using a Tape Dispenser and Shower Rod

Mary Carbone, 56, is accused of a murder of a 55-year-old man in New Jersey. That is hardly unique but the alleged murder tools are. Police say that she used a tape dispenser and a shower rod in the murder of Frank Stochel. The police report states obliquely “The injuries sustained by Mr. Stochel were consistent with the implementation of these items.”

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Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering

FBI Agents Connected To Carter Page Surveillance Barred From FISA Process

In a further demonstration of the abuses that led to the surveillance of Trump officials, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court has barred FBI officials involved in the wiretapping of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page from appearing before the court. in rebuke that exceeded the remedial recommendations made by the independent monitor recently appointed by the court. Notably, this goes beyond the recommendations for David Kris, the highly controversial choice as an independent monitor of reforms. The order of Judge Boasberg further belies arguments that the surveillance of the Trump-relate figures was well-based and justified, as I discussed in any earlier column.

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