We have seen a number of witchcraft prosecutions in the Middle East (here), but the most recent such case is coming out of Toronto where Vishwantee Persaud, 36, is accused of engaging in witchcraft under a little used law. She may, however, have a rather novel defense.
Continue reading “The Witch of the North: Toronto Charges Woman With Witchcraft Crime”
The one thing that you can say is that Tillmon Webb, 33, had unshakable faith. The over 500-pound man sat down in his recliner in March after an injury and waited for God — never getting up for eight months until he died.
This is an interesting and tragic case of contributory or comparative negligence. Shanna Hiles was celebrating her 20th birthday and got so drunk that she passed out with her legs tucked under her for 12 hours –cutting off blood to her extremities. Both of her legs had to be amputated and she blamed the hospital that made her wait of six hours to be treated as her condition worsened.
Continue reading “Woman Passes Out After Drinking Binge and Sues Hospital after Legs Are Amputated”
There is an interesting controversy in Brooklyn after the city yielded to the Hasidic community in sandblasting off bike lanes on roads. Hasidic leaders complained that they are having trouble obeying their religious law forbidding them from staring at members of the opposite sex with women biking around in shorts. Bicycle advocates have been trying to repaint the lanes.
Continue reading “New York City Erases Bike Lanes to Appease Hasidic Men Who Object to Seeing Women in Bike Shorts”
I suppose the large tattoo on the neck of Andrew J. Wirth, 24, reading “NOTHING TO LOSE” might have given the court deputies a clue that they were in for trouble at the appearance of the Wisconsin man in court. Wirth is accused of first shooting a couple to death outside a bar after a woman playfully grabbed him. He then tore up a courtroom while yelling at the judge.
Continue reading “Wirth-Less: Man Accused of Double Murder Tasered in Courtroom Brawl”
At first this seemed like the ultimate product liability claim, but it now appears a chemistry student in Ukraine may have blown his jaw off by chewing an explosive material. The 25-year-old student was found by his family, which heard a loud pop in his room and later found an unidentified explosive material next to his gum on this desk.
Continue reading “Jaw Breaker: Chemistry Blows Jaw Off After Chewing Explosive Material”
John Yoo is being defended in court this month by the Administration. Not the Bush Administration. The Obama Administration. As with the lawsuits over electronic surveillance and torture, the Obama administration wants the lawsuit against Yoo dismissed and is defending the right of Justice Department officials to help establish a torture program — an established war crime. I will be discussing the issue on this segment of MSNBC Countdown.
Continue reading “Nuremberg Revisited: Obama Administration Files To Dismiss Case Against John Yoo”
It is billed by the London Police Department Chief as “the best (shooting) range in Ontario.” At $22 million, it is certainly modern but one of the features might sit poorly with judges and civil libertarians.
Continue reading “Canadian Police Department Builds New Firing Range That Helps Train Officers How To Shoot Fleeing Suspects”
D.C. Police Union Chief Kristopher Baumann joined the call from city council members for a criminal investigation into the destruction of evidence in the World bank/IMF protest case where hundreds of people were arrested without probable cause and many hogtied by police. The New York Times has also run an article on the recent report by former Judge Stan Sporkin finding that the evidence was presumptively destroyed on purpose.
Continue reading “Police Union Chief Calls For Federal Criminal Investigation in World Bank Protest Case”
The costs of prosecutorial abuse or invalid convictions are rarely explored in depth by the media (here). Canada has one case that everyone should read. As with some recent scandals involving incompetent forensic prosecution experts in the United States, Canada is dealing with the legacy of disgraced forensic pathologist Charles Smith, who sent people to jail with flawed science and false conclusions. However, few are so unsettling as what happened to Sherry Sherret-Robinson, 34.
We previously saw a Fox News pie chart that had a couple extra slices (here). Now, fair and balanced math adds up to 120 percent of voters indicating that they view the science on global warming to be rigged.
Continue reading “One Hundred and Twenty Percent of People Can’t Be Wrong: Fox News Shows People Are Dubious About the Accuracy of Global Warming Science With a Poll of 120 Percent of People”
This should make Ashlee Simpson feel a bit better for the Saturday Night Live lip sync scandal. This Romanian pop singer was not only lip syncing but it was hard to miss since he was holding the mike upside down.
Continue reading “Video: Pop Star Lip Syncs While Holding Mike Upside Down”
Food appears to be the weapon of choice in Florida this week. A couple days ago, we saw a man who was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend with a hamburger (here). Now, Elsie Egan, 53, in Dunnellon, Florida was arrested for allegedly hitting her boyfriend Peter Schabhuttl, 49, several times in the head with a raw steak.
Continue reading “Beef, It’s What’s for Battery: Florida Woman Allegedly Attacks Boyfriend with Steak in Fight Over Bread”
Now here is a defense that you would not have seen just a couple decades ago. Sarah Fowke, 23, was stopped attempting to use someone else’s ski pass at a Colorado ski resort. Ski officials noticed that the pass was for a man named Nicholas Hemstreet and Fowke explained that she was originally a man but had completed a series of sex change operations.
Christians are now organizing a boycott against businesses that fail to wish everyone “Merry Christmas” or use that offensive greeting “Happy Holidays.” Stores are being monitored and blacklisted for just wishing everyone “Happy Holidays” instead of referencing Christmas specifically.