There is a truly bizarre case out of Arizona where Paul Menchaca, 30, is accused of an elaborate scheme to trick caregivers into bathing him and changing his diaper. Menchaca allegedly convinced the women that he had Down syndrome to retain them for these uses. The caregivers grew suspicious when Menchaca was often aroused during these procedures. He now faces novel counts of sexual abuse based on his alleged fraud. Continue reading “Man Arrested In Arizona After Allegedly Convincing Caregiver That He Had Down Syndrome”
Category: Criminal law
College of Southern Nevada Sociology Professor Mark Bird allegedly had a curious way of protesting President Trump: he shot himself in the arm. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Bird was considerate enough to tape a $100 bill inside the bathroom with a note that it was “for the janitor” — presumably for the mess left behind. Continue reading “Professor Allegedly Shoots Himself On Campus In Protest Of Trump”
I will have the pleasure of participating in the annual Supreme Court review today previewing the upcoming October term. The other panelists will be former Solicitor General Gregory Garre, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund President and Director-Counsel Sherrilyn Ifill. Associate Dean (and Supreme Court litigator) Alan Morrison will moderate the panel.
“Previewing the Supreme Court’s October Term 2018” will be held in the Jacob Burns Moot Court Room, 2000 H St NW, Washington, D.C. at 9:00.m. Continue reading “GW To Host Annual Supreme Court Review”
Yesterday, we discussed the prosecution of accused Russian agent Maria Butina and how prosecutors put out clearly false allegations that she traded sex for favors. Butina’s defense counsel Robert Driscoll called out the government for the clearly baseless allegations spread throughout the media. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has now responded by gagging counsel, an order that has become all too common in federal cases. Continue reading “Defense Counsel Calls Out DOJ For Falsely Accusing His Client Of Trading Sex For Access . . . Court Imposes Gag Order On Counsel”
We previously discussed Paul Guadalupe Gonzales, 45, the so-called “dine-and-dash dater” who would allegedly order expensive meals on first dates and then stiff the dates with the bill by disappearing. Now, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has announced four new charges of extortion that will threaten Gonzales with almost two decades in prison for his bizarre career as a criminal cad. The piling of charges seems to reflect the public anger more than the crimes. We are all disgusted by these accounts but almost a dozen counts of extortion seems a bit excessive. Continue reading ““Dine-And-Dash Dater” Hit With New Extortion Charges”
We have previously discussed the alarming rollback on free speech rights in the West, particularly in France (here and here and here and here and here and here) and England (here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here). Much of this trend is tied to the expansion of hate speech. Now the South Yorkshire police department is making it clear that it does not just want citizens to report crimes but “incidents” involving offensive or insulting comments. This follows an effort to make wolf whistles a crime in England.
In a remarkable and disturbing concession, the Justice Department last week admitted that it actually has no evidence that accused Russian operative, Maria Butina, was trading sex for jobs or access. Prosecutors now say that they simply had mistaken joking texts for real offers of sex quid pro quos. If there was not ample leeway given prosecutors under defamation law, this would seem like libel due to a lack of sense of humor . . . or worse. Update: The Court has imposed a gag order on counsel.
Romance novelist Nancy Crampton Brophy, 68, has been arrested in Beaverton, Oregon for the killing of her husband. The author of “The Wrong Husband” is accused of killing her chef spouse of 27 years after praising him as “Mr. Right” and publicly grieving his murder. Update: Brophy also authored an essay entitled “How To Murder Your Husband.”
Continue reading ““Wrong Husband”: Author Arrested In Murder Of Husband”
Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos was sentenced Friday to just 14 days in prison for lying to the FBI despite the position of Special Counsel Robert Mueller that he should spend at least six months in jail. The position of Mueller appeared to reflect a view that Papadopoulos was not as cooperative (or perhaps productive) as a witness. In the end, Papadopoulos appeared in an almost hostile position vis-a-vis Mueller. Continue reading “Papadopoulos Gets A 14-Day Sentence Despite Mueller Demand For 6 Months”
In an op-ed in The Herald Sun, UNC Professor of English John McGowan is the latest example of the moral and ethical relativism that is becoming increasingly common on our campuses in rationalizing acts of censorship or violence. McGowan writes that the UNC students were acting in a moral fashion in destroying a piece of public art that they disliked. I discussed the Silent Sam incident earlier.
Texas recently settled a legal fight over its failure to install air conditioning at the Wallace Pack Unit near College Station — a facility long deemed dangerously hot in the summer. In the wisdom only known to bureaucrats, the state spent $7 million to fight the lawsuit and ultimately paid $4 million to simply put in the air conditioning system. Continue reading “Texas Spends $7 Million Fighting Demand To Add Air Conditioning To Dangerously Hot Prison . . . Then Installs The System For $4 Million”
Saudi Arabia continues to struggle between modernity and absurdity. While trying to resemble a modern country in allowing women to actually drive, the country continues to enforce medieval Sharia justice while criminalizing basic forms of speech like satire. The Kingdom has 
This weekend I discussed a surprising, and unreported, allegation made on CNN by former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili against the latest cooperating witness of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, former Republican lobbyist and Paul Manafort associate, Sam Patten. Saakashvili preceded me on CNN and accused Patten of threatening to ruin him if he went public with allegations about Patten’s work with Russian interests in Georgia. Since Saakashvili could easily be called as a rebuttal witness to Patten, the threats could be viewed as witness tampering. Saakashvili viewed them as outright Russian-style blackmail. Since I ran that column, I have heard from a great number of people on both sides, but I received an email this morning from Christina Pushaw, who identifies herself as Saakashvili’s representative. Pushaw sent the underlying material supporting Saakashvili’s charges and confirmed that they have given the allegation and evidence to the FBI today. The complaint to the FBI only magnifies the problems for both Patten and Mueller that I discussed earlier. A submission to the FBI, including a criminal allegation, comes with added penalties for false statements or submissions. Both sides in this dispute have been the subject of serious criminal allegations in Europe. Yet, such communications (if true) from a cooperating witness would unlikely be approved by prosecutors. Mueller’s team is about to present its prosecution of Paul Manafort for witnessing tampering for contacting potential witnesses to shape their accounts. That creates a rather awkward situation when its most recent cooperative witness is allegedly the subject of a complaint to the FBI.
President Donald Trump ratcheted up the rhetoric yesterday against Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who Trump indicated previously is likely to be fired after the midterm elections. Despite heeding advice that firing Sessions now would further magnify expected losses in November, Trump has filled the news with repeated indications that he has already decided to do so. The latest attack however is surprising in criticizing Sessions for the prosecution of two members of Congress for insider trading and campaign finance violations, respectively. GOP Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Chris Collins of New York are not particularly sympathetic characters and Trump is complaining solely that they were “safe seats” that could now be lost. Of course, if Sessions were to consider the political ramifications for such prosecutions, he would violating his sworn constitutional duties as Attorney General. Continue reading “Trump Blasts Sessions For Prosecution Of Republicans For Insider Trading And Campaign Finance Violations Before Midterm Elections”
A curious thing happened this Labor Day weekend when one of Robert Mueller’s most recent cooperating witnesses may have burst into flames on national television – but no one seemed to notice. Former Republican lobbyist and Paul Manafort associate, Sam Patten, only pleaded guilty on Friday, but on Sunday a world leader leveled a serious allegation of criminal conduct committed after his plea bargain. Obviously, this is only one side and Patten could well deny either the email or its meaning. However, the implications of the allegations aired on national television are very serious not only for Patten but Mueller. Update: a complaint has now reportedly been made to the FBI. Continue reading “Mueller Witness Accused Of Blackmailing World Leader After Plea Agreement [Updated]”