Category: Criminal law

Florida Man Who Dragged A Shark To Its Death Given 10 Days In Jail

Robert Lee "Bo" Benac III was sentenced to 10 days in jail last Thursday for dragging a shark in the back of his boat and recording the encounter in July of 2017.

We have previously discussed cruel abuse of wild animals by people who then post their twisted achievements on the Internet. One such idiot is Robert Lee “Bo” Benac III who recorded the dragging of a shark to its death behind a high-speed boat. Benac was given a generous a plea deal and sentenced to only 10 days in jail. He is the third person to face charges for the disgusting videotape shoot near Egmont Key, Florida. Benac pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of aggravated cruelty to animals and violation of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rules. This is what you get for an open and brutal case of torturing a wild animal to its death.

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Illinois Man Convicted Of First Degree Murder In Use Of Spring Gun in Shed

There is a new spring gun or man trap case in torts. I teach such cases as part of intentional torts starting with the famous case of Bird v. Holbrook in 1825. William Wasmund, 48, was convicted of rigging a shotgun (a favorite choice of spring gunners) and killed a neighbor. He was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated battery in the death of Jeff Spicer, according to The Southern Illinoisian.

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Police Seek To Identify Attackers Of Man Outside Of The Minnesota Twins Stadium

Minnesota police are looking for a group of men who brutally attacked a man who was sitting outside of the Minnesota Twins stadium. The two minute videotape below shows the man savagely attacked by at least six young males who strip him, stomp on him, and rob him. It is the utter glee of the attackers that is so chilling in the film as they laugh at his suffering.

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Depravity: Breaking Oaths of Office and Child Molestation

Scales of Justice

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

According to Court records via the local news, a former middle-school para-educator pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of Communicating with a Minor for Immoral Purposes after she allegedly facilitated the statutory rape of a thirteen year old girl by her husband.

The former Kennewick, WA educator acted as an intermediary in the exchange of “love letters”, providing a cellphone,  and arranging for sexual relations between the child victim and her husband, a former Umatilla County Oregon Corrections officer.

I have often lamented in the past that virtue has its limits but depravity knows no bounds. And with these two having positions of both authority and responsibility to the public, especially children, there simply is no redemption they may qualify.

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Less Than Earnest? Heroic Account Celebrated By Trump From El Paso Shooting Declared False

CNN screenshot

Earnest Christopher Grant, 50, was celebrated by President Donald Trump at the White House for what Trump described as a heroic attempt to stop the shooter in the El Paso Walmart shooting. He was not present however because the Secret Service stopped him due to an outstanding warrant. Yet, Trump went ahead with his story and gave a commendation to his mother. It turns out, according to law enforcement officials, to be a false account. I have previously written about the steady flow of self-inflicted wounds and embarrassing missteps in this White House. This is one. Why would the President hold a national recognition ceremony featuring a heroic tale that was based solely on one person’s own account, particularly after he was just prevented from entering by the Secret Service?

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Saudi Princess Found Guilty Of Attack On French Worker . . . In Absentia

We previously discussed how Princess Hassa bint Salman Al Saud, the sister of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is the latest Saudi royal accused of brutal violence against individuals outside of their country. The Princess was found guilty of the beating of  a local craftsman who was renovating her luxury Paris apartment three years ago. However, once again, she will escape any real punishment just as her brother has escaped any repercussions for the savage murder of a journalist in Turkey.

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Florida “Healer” Sentenced To Three Years Of Jail For Fraud

Sherry Tina Uwanawich, 29, has been sentenced to more than three years in jail in a novel case in Florida. Uwanawich was convicted of swindling a woman out of $1.6 million to lift a curse. A Gypsy healer, Uwanawich claimed to have a direct line to God. The case rekindles questions over the line between legitimate faith (and gifts to religious organizations) and faith-based fraud. Most of the major religions claim miracles as well as communications with God. Most receive large donations, including from people hoping to be healed or helped. The question is when such claims amount to fraud or just faith. We have previously discussed this issue over the liability of fortune telling and super-natural services (here and here).

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Terror Nation: How Millions Are Being Declared Terrorists For Their Political Views

Below is my column in The Hill on a growing tendency to label opposing views as terrorism in our age of rage. Democratic activists have labeled ICE as a “terrorist organization” while Republicans use that term for Antifa. It is also a way to dismiss opposing views as extremism with no need to listen, let alone respond. With the escalation of such rhetoric, millions of Americans are being portrayed as terrorists – a trend that robs the term of any real meaning. Yet, numerous officials, including the Board of Supervisors, in San Francisco supported the ridiculous resolution declaring the NRA to be a “domestic terrorist organization” and, by extension, its five million members domestic terrorists. It is not enough to disagree over the meaning of an individual right, the other side must now be little better than ISIS for disagreeing with you.

Here is the column:

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Manafort Spotted In Video Of Nickelodeon Game Show

It is not uncommon for otherwise innocuous videotapes to take on a more sinister meaning with the appearance of a later notorious figure. That is the case of the rather bizarre discovery of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in an episode of a cheesy game show on Nickelodeon called “What Would You Do?” The show features Kathleen Manafort trying to win a prize by emptying out her purse, including her husband’s wallet The host notes the excessive number of credit cards for her husband, a problem that would later become a criminal matter for Manafort. Manafort was recently convicted of bank and tax fraud after his indulgent lifestyle led to mounting debt. To answer the shows question, “what he did” was fraud and the episode caught a laughing Manafort at the very time that he was courting some of the world’s more blood-soaked figures to pay for those cards.

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Montana Judge Orders Men To Wear Shaming Signs For Claiming To Be Veterans

I have previously written about the rise of shaming punishments in the United States in both blogs (here and here and here and here and here) and columns (here and here). We can now add Cascade County District Judge Greg Pinski in Montana who crafted his own flavor of justice by requiring Ryan Patrick Morris, 28, and Troy Allan Nelson, 33, to wear signs reading “I am a liar. I am not a veteran. I stole valor. I have dishonored all veterans.” As always, such punishments are hugely popular with people but they are also, in my view, high damaging to the legal system.

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NYPD Looks For Teenagers Who Beat 67-Year-Old Woman With Her Own Cane

We have yet another shocking videotape released by police of a mob of teenagers beating down a defenseless person. This attack occurred in Queens, New York where teenagers jumped from a late model Nissan Ultima and beat a 67-year-old woman with her own cane while taunting and laughing at her.

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Texas Man Arrested After Ice Cream Licking Video

We have been discussing the disgusting trend of people filming themselves licking ice cream and then returned the tubs to the freezer for some unsuspecting person to buy. The prank has caused huge losses for stores and ice cream makers. There is an interesting twist on this story out of Port Arthur, Texas where authorities have charged D’Adrien Anderson, 24, with the crime. Anderson has produced a receipt showing that he purchased the ice cream but, under Texas law, it does not matter.

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