Category: Justice

Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Society, Testimony

Get Lost, Get Cold, Get Drunk, Get Acquitted

Thomas Drummond is a resourceful fellow. Driving in the unfamiliar wilds of southeastern Missouri, Drummond spun out on icy roads and ended up in culvert. In his last-“ditch” effort to notify someone of his plight, he texted his girlfriend about the accident around 2:00 a.m., but, in a curious omission, forgot to tell her the location.  Two hours later, a soused (0.148 BAC) Drummond was found by the highway patrol and promptly arrested for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

Continue reading “Get Lost, Get Cold, Get Drunk, Get Acquitted” →

Justice, Military

DOJ Says Pentagon Isn’t Properly Protecting Whistleblowers

A recently disclosed government report titled A Review of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s Process for Handling Military Whistleblower Reprisal Allegations shows that because of insufficient resources, a lack of training for investigators, and a number of other problems, MRI—the system in the Defense Department that has been set up to investigate cases of retaliation against military whistleblowers—”has not been able to come close to resolving complaints within the statutory 180-day deadline.”

POGO—the Project on Government Oversight—obtained a copy of the 2009 report, which was written by the office of the Justice Department Inspector General. In a statement, POGO’s director of investigations Nick Schwellenbach said the following: “The Wikileaks experience is a reminder that there should be safe harbors inside the government for military personnel to blow the whistle. We are glad to see the DOD IG added resources into this essential program, but this is a problem that can’t be fixed just by throwing money at it – the laws need to be strengthened.”

Continue reading “DOJ Says Pentagon Isn’t Properly Protecting Whistleblowers” →

Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, International, Justice, Lawyering, Science, Testimony

A Good Offense is The “Breast” Defense
Defense Exhibit A -Serena Kozakura

We’ve seen on this blog how lack of girth can be a “Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free” card for some folks. Can the “Bust Defense” to crimes be far behind? Well, it’s here now—just a tad east. Tokyo pinup model, Serena Kozakura, won her 2008 criminal case using her 44’s. No violence involved, just a little physics to prove that she was unable to fit through a hole. Seems our buxom lassie was charged with breaking into the home of an ex-boyfriend to confront the man about seeing another woman. When the hole in the man’s “kicked-in” door was measured it was determined that  Kozakura’s 44 inch bust would not fit the space. The trial court convicted her anyway rejecting the OJ “if it doesn’t fit ….” defense, but an appeals court reversed.

Continue reading “A Good Offense is The “Breast” Defense” →

Bizarre, Justice, Media, Politics, Society, Things That Tick Me Off

Washington, Jefferson … Delgaudio?: VA GOP Lawmaker Says Airport Pat-Downs Part of “Homosexual Agenda”
The George Washington Equestrian Monument Just East of The Bell Tower on Virginia's Capitol Square

Visitors to the State Capitol here in Richmond are invariably drawn to Virginia’s cascading marble and bronze tribute to her greatest native sons, the George Washington Equestrian Monument. High atop rides George Washington pointing the way– first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen. Just below and in a rather pensive mood, stands the “Sage of Monticello,” Thomas Jefferson, flanked by Chief Justice John Marshall,  orator Patrick Henry, and the rest of Virginia’s intelligentsia of the Revolution and Founders of the Republic. Oh, Virginia doesn’t forget its allegorical figures either — Justice, Independence, Bill of Rights, Revolution, and even Finance, all have their own bronze embodiments just one tier below.  The monument stands for all the Commonwealth values and aspires to be.

Continue reading “Washington, Jefferson … Delgaudio?: VA GOP Lawmaker Says Airport Pat-Downs Part of “Homosexual Agenda”” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, Justice, Society

Holiday Gift For The Assassin With Everything: Oswald’s Coffin At Auction

Sometimes a story just makes you put down the newspaper, take a deep breath, and scream. The Warren Commission’s man-you-love-to-hate, JFK assassin, and subject of all manner of conspiracy theories, Lee Harvey Oswald, is the gift that keeps on re-gifting.  A LA auction house has the badly damaged  pine box, sans body of course, on the block. The coffin was exhumed by Oswald’s widow, Marina, to test yet another conspiracy theory that a body double was actually in the box and not the man with the magic bullet. No dice. The body was that of  Oswald.

Continue reading “Holiday Gift For The Assassin With Everything: Oswald’s Coffin At Auction” →

Criminal law, International, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Wikileaks: Obama Administration Secretly Worked To Prevent Prosecution of War Crimes By The Bush Administration

One of the little reported details from the latest batch of Wikileaks material are cables showing that the Obama Administration worked hard behind the scenes not only to prevent any investigation of torture in the United States but shutdown efforts abroad to enforce the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture. This includes threatening the Spanish that, if they did not derail a judicial investigation, it would have serious consequences in bilateral relations. I discussed these cables on Countdown.
Continue reading “Wikileaks: Obama Administration Secretly Worked To Prevent Prosecution of War Crimes By The Bush Administration” →

Academia, Animals, Bizarre, Columns, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Environment, International, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Military, Politics, Religion, Science, Society, Supreme Court, Testimony, Things That Tick Me Off, Torts, Uncategorized

Top 100: ABA Top Blog Competition Begins

It is that time of the year for our annual blawgletting — the ABA top blog competition. We have once again been selected as one of the top 100 legal blogs (of over 3000) and nominated for the IMHO (opinion) category and it is time to release our minions upon the field of blog battle. Vote here to defend our way of life and the future of the planet.

Continue reading “Top 100: ABA Top Blog Competition Begins” →

Bizarre, Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Supreme Court

Take My Scalia, Please!

Just ran across this gem. Who is the funniest Supreme Court Justice? A 2005 study reported in the New York Times has the answer. Boston University Professor J.D. Wexler has conducted a survey of the transcripts of  SCOTUS oral arguments, and … drum roll, please … Justice Antonin Scalia is the semi-official “Court Jester,” with 77 laughs. Justice Stephen Breyer came in second with 45, and Justice Ginsburg quipped in just four laughs. Bringing up the rear was the “Harpo Marx” of the troupe, Justice  Clarence Thomas, who added zero Continue reading “Take My Scalia, Please!” →

Bizarre, Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Things That Tick Me Off, Torts

Poor Bathroom Etiquette: Pregnant Woman PO’ed Over Denial of Bathroom Privileges

Long Island resident, Lindsay Ekizian, has filed an interesting case in Manhattan (NY) Supreme Court alleging that the Hammerstein Ballroom callously failed to allow her use of its restroom. The 35 weeks along mother-to-be asked politely if she could use the bathroom as she was filing out of the establishment after seeing a comedy act. Rebuffed at first, she explained to the manager that she was pregnant (wonder why that needed to be explained) and was in desperate need. “There’s a bathroom at the end of the block,” came the compassionate reply according to the plaintiff. Unable to make it to the nearby diner, Ms. Ekizian suffered an indignity best left to the imagination.  Not sure of the theory of liability (intentional infliction emotional distress?), but if there ever was a case with jury appeal here it is.

Source: New York Post

–Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Bizarre, Criminal law, Justice

Bar Medical Clinic Shutdown: “Doctor” Has a Lot To Get Off Chest

Kristina Ross, 37, is the kind of person city officials love to hate. Determined, driven, and passionate about her desire to do something good for women’s bodies in spite of  red tape, Ross now sits in a Boise, Idaho jail for undertaking a task usually reserved for men in their twenty’s. Ross, it seems, has taken the health care crisis into her own hands and decided to bring medical exams to the masses. The only problem is that her impromptu breast exams in local bars were not sanctioned by the Idaho Department of Health which has this archaic requirement that healthcare professionals actually be licensed to do what they do. As a result Ross is charged with two Continue reading “Bar Medical Clinic Shutdown: “Doctor” Has a Lot To Get Off Chest” →

Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Torts

Delightfully Tacky Yet Unrefined: Hooter’s Security Roughs Up Granny Over Bill

Hooters Restaurants likes to promote their orange-hotpanted waitresses with the provocative tied-up teeshirts as, “delightfully tacky yet unrefined.”   The slogan might  be applied to its security guards too, if a  fiesty grandma gets her way. After disputing an errant appetizer on her bill from a Chicagoland Hooter’s, 54-year-old Livier Torres was manhandled by off-duty Oak Lawn Police Officer Joseph Schmidt as she tried to pay. Part-enforcer, part-social engineer (Schmidt reportedly told Torres daughter, “All you people are the same” in an apparent reference to their Mexican heritage.), the fearless crime fighter called for back-up against the marauding grandma — when a headlock and pinning her to the ground wouldn’t suffice. Despite a paucity of video Continue reading “Delightfully Tacky Yet Unrefined: Hooter’s Security Roughs Up Granny Over Bill” →

Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Things That Tick Me Off, Uncategorized

Say It Is So, Joe!

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been the right-wing poster boy for tough law enforcement. Subjecting his prisoners to spoiled food, tent villages in scorching heat, pink underwear, and then launching criminal investigations against public officials who challenged him just added to his “Walking Tall,” tough-cop credentials among his backers. He also is the moving force behind Arizona’s tough anti-immigration law backing Governor Jan Brewer in her “Show Me Ze Papers” campaign against Mexican immigrants.  Now it seems the worm has turned, and Maricopa County officials are wondering why Arpaio needs to keep two sets of books.

Continue reading “Say It Is So, Joe!” →

Animals, Criminal law, Environment, International, Justice, Science

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Not So Bright

William Blake may have stood in awe of the ferocity and power of the great cat, but modern man sees quite a different thing. British-based Traffic International, a wildlife preservation group, reports that despite the international ban on the sale of tiger parts, over 1000 tigers have been illegally killed in the past decade. An analysis of  seizures of tiger parts — from whole skins to claws, penises, and skulls — yielded the conservative estimate. India, home to half of the world’s tigers, leads all nations with 276 seizures uncovering parts from  more than 530 tigers killed.  Many Pacific rim nations are not far behind in tiger deaths. Tiger parts are used in many cultures for decoration, traditional medicines and good luck charms.

Source: Daily Mail

–Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Science, Society, Torts

Seventh Circuit Allows “Death By Taser” Suit to Proceed

Reversing a lower court grant of summary judgment, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed a Wisconsin couple’s “Death by Taser” suit to proceed to trial against the police and Town and Village of Mukwonago, Wisconsin. Their son, 29-year-old, Nickolos Cyrus, suffered from a bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and was well-known to the police for prior delusional — but non-criminal — episodes. When the young man was reported missing, police located him on a construction site. His parents allege that Nickolos was passive, unarmed, and had no history of violence such that multiple taser shocks would be needed to subdue him. The police respond that multiple taserings were a reasonable use of force under the circumstances and that his death was unforeseen.

Continue reading “Seventh Circuit Allows “Death By Taser” Suit to Proceed” →