Paul Warner Powell could be the first man put to death in part for sheer cockiness. Powell was convicted in a second trial of the murder and attempted rape of Stacie Reed, 16. The evidence against him included a letter that he wrote to prosecutors mocking them with admissions of his crime after he assumed that he could not be tried again for the crime after a reversal.
Baltimore County District Court Judge Darrell Russell Jr. is under intense criticism this week after he stopped a non-jury trial to perform a wedding ceremony in his chambers for defendant Frederick Wood and his girlfriend. They then promptly invoked spousal immunity in the domestic violence case to prevent the state from calling the wife to testify against her newly minted husband. Russell has been reassigned to reviewing motions in civil cases in chambers pending investigation.
Oprah Winfrey appears set for another defamation trial — this time in Philadelphia where she has been sued by Lerato Nomvuyo Mzamane, former headmistress of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. Mzamane claims that Oprah defamed her in speaking about a sex-abuse scandal at the school that she created.
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Walmart worker Joseph Casias, 29, can take heart from the fact that the company is highly “sympathetic” to his struggle with an inoperable brain tumor. The sympathy, however, did not prevent the company from firing him because he used legal medical marijuana to deal with the pain of the tumor.
Continue reading “Wal-Mart Expresses Sympathy For Terminally Ill Worker . . . And Then Fires Him”
North Korea appears to have a slightly different approach to financial scandals. Rather than handing out billions of dollars of public funds for bonuses and loans, North Korea just shot its top financial official. There appears less of an emphasis on recovery in this plan.
Continue reading “Non-Stimulus Package: North Korea Claims to Have Executed Top Finance Adviser”
The Budget Lodge motel could face some interesting lawsuits after the body of Sony Millbrook, 28, was found in the bed frame in a room that the hotel rented out to other guests. Millbrook, the mother of five, has been missing since January.
Continue reading “Single Room Occupancy: Dead Body Found In Bed Frame At Motel”
In Tennessee, Deputy Tanya Mayhew of the Davidson County Sheriff’s office can scratch dentistry off her list of possible moonlighting jobs. Anthony McCoy, 31, will receive $100,000 after Mayhew ripped his gold grill out of his mouth during booking.
We learned recently that you had to be careful how you say goodbye in Dubai (here) after a couple was arrested for kissing on the streets. It appears that you cannot even opt for texting your desires without ending up in the Dubai hoosegow. Two Emirates airlines cabin crew have been ordered jailed for three months over sexually explicit text messages. The Indian flight attendant and her cabin services supervisor were convicted of “coercion to commit sin.”
Continue reading “Coercion to Commit Sin: Dubai Arrests Couple for Sending Explicit Text Messages”
Since there is so much attention being given the Irish today, this video shows the English at play. There is nothing more invigorating than chasing Double Gloucester cheese.
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In Minnesota, James Wallace Fall, 58, is accused of marrying his ten-year-old niece. Fall insists that he is a “prophet of God.” He insists that the marriage is sanctioned by the Bible, which is full of accounts of figures with multiple and often adolescent wives.
Continue reading “Fall From Grace: “Prophet of God” Charged After “Marrying” Ten Year Old Niece”
Massachusetts dentist Michael Clair is accused of using actual paper clips instead of stainless steel posts inside the teeth of root canal patients. He then allegedly billed Medicaid for the more expensive parts. Continue reading “Clipping Patients: Dentists Accused of Using Paper Clips for Root Canal Patients”
A bizarre mishap led to a death in South Carolina when a small plane making an emergency landing killed a jogger on the beach. Robert Gary Jones, 38, was jogging and listening on his iPod when he was hit from behind. Edward I. Smith says that he had lost the propeller of his airplane and was blinded by oil on the windshield at the time of the landing.
Continue reading “Jogger Killed on Beach By Pilot Making Emergency Landing”
The Obama Administration has succeeded in watering down any reform of the intelligence oversight system — fighting to retain the same powers based on the same rationales as the Bush Administration.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of the leprechauns of the blog.
Continue reading “HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!!!”
It appears that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is contemplating the use of a “deem and pass” tactic to secure passage of the health-care bill. The procedural tactic is designed to allow members to avoid accountability for their votes and would reflect a conclusion that, in an up or down vote, the bill for fail.