A Minneapolis police officer has been relieved of duty while his department investigates a profanity-laced video in an encounter with a man at a car stop. During the abusive confrontation, the officer threatens to break the legs of a suspect if he attempts to escape.
There is a verdict in the horrific case that we discussed earlier involving the mob beating and burning of a woman named Farkhunda, 27. A judge has sentenced four of those responsible to death in Kabul. Eight other suspects received 16-year sentences. Eighteen others were found not guilty.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is infamous for stacking charges on defendants and arresting individuals for seemingly minor possessions. However, when it comes to its own agents, there appears to be an endless level of leniency. In 2012, DEA carried out a raid on a home and arrested a group of young people who were smoking marijuana. One was Daniel Chong. Despite the minor violation, Chong was arrested and interrogated. He was told that he would be released but DEA agents simply forgot about him and left him in a cell for five days without food or water. At one point, as the 23-year-old cried and begged for help, someone with the DEA came in and turned off the light in his cell to leave him in the dark. He was given no food or water. Someone was charged, right? Someone was fired, right? No, the DEA has decided that a few reprimands and short suspensions is fine for starving and almost killing Chong.
There is a truly bizarre case out of Tulsa where Shaynna Smith (also known as Shaynna Sim), 27, is accused of going to her “frenemy’s” funeral and smudging her makeup and messing with hair. She is also accused of cutting the face of the deceased. However, the charge may surprise you.
I went on a nine-mile hike this morning at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland and wanted to share a few pictures. The spring blooms are in full display and the hike was glorious.
There is an interesting development in the case of North Augusta (S.C.) officer Justin Craven in the alleged murder of 68-year-old Ernest Satterwhite. Despite public disclosure laws, the police are refusing to release the videotape because they describe it as shocking and disturbing. Some would argue that that is precisely why it should be available to the public.
A Florida fitness trainer, Elissa Alvarez, 20, and his girlfriend, Jose Caballero, 40, have been found guily in a notorious case where they were filmed having sex on a public beach in front of families with children. There is general agreement that Alvarez and Cabellero were disgusting and shocking in their conduct. There is little debate that they deserved to be arrested for lewd and lascivious exhibition, particularly with a videotape and calls to the police. However in a move that has become all-too-common , the prosecutors are set to punish the couple for not pleading guilty by pushing for an absurdly draconian sentence against Caballero of up to 15 years in jail.
Continue reading “Florida Couple Facing 15 Years in Jail For Tryst On Beach”
This is very cool. Scientists have successfully tested an engine with an electromagnetic propulsion drive, or the EM Drive, that could conceivably take humans to Mars in just 70 days. The EM Drive works in a vacuum that replicates space. This breakthrough has gotten comparatively little attention despite its transformative impact on space travel.
Levi Charles Reardon facebooked himself into jail after “liking” his own most wanted poster on a Crimestoppers Facebook page. The moment of vanity was not missed by police who arrested Reardon on April 24th.
Continue reading “Facebooked: Montana Man Arrested After “Liking” His Own Online Wanted Poster”
There is a tragic case out of New York that has the makings of a controversial murder prosecution. The defendant in the case is Angelika Graswald, who is accused of killing her fiance, Vincent Viafore, on a kayaking trip on the Hudson river. The police believe that Graswald, who has posted regularly pictures of the couple and comments since Viafore’s disappearance, killed Viafore in a faked boating accident. Viafore’s body has never been found. In addition to the absence of a body, there is no direct evidence of murder revealed publicly. Police are citing inconsistencies in Graswald’s account as well as critical diary entries.
Continue reading “New York Woman Arrested In Alleged Murder of Fiance During Kayak Trip”
I have the great honor of serving as one of the keynote speakers at the 83rd Annual meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. I will be speaking today at 9:30 am at the Washington Convention Center. What is particularly cool is that my speech follows the keynote given by Peyton Manning to the group on May 3rd. As a football fanatic (albeit a Bears fan), it does not get better than this lineup. Of course, if Manning is truly excited about meeting a real law professor, I would be willing to take a few seconds to indulge him. I know that many NFL MVPs silently dream of being endomorphic, middle-aged law professors. I just hope that Manning will be able handle the excitement. As for me, I am just excited as a Bears fan . . . this is the closest anyone associated with Chicago has gotten to Manning in a long long time.
Continue reading “Turley To Speak At AANS Meeting In Washington”
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Weekend Contributor
You may not have heard of it before, but the government has the ability to shut off cell phone service at any time, under the guise of National Security. The Department of Homeland Security has an operating procedure known as Standard Operating Procedure 303( SOP 303) and it has been labeled as the cell phone “kill switch”.
I knew very little about the “kill switch” before today, but according to a recent Al Jezeera America article, the kill switch authority is being currently debated in Federal court. Continue reading “Is The Cell Phone Kill Switch in the Wrong Hands?”
Like many, I watched the 2015 draft unfold with great interest. It was fascinating to watch the soaring success of a Marcus Mariota (including a reported effort of my Chicago Bears to unload Jay Cutler on the Tennessee Titans in exchange for their second slot — and Mariota). It was equally fascinating to watch the plunge of Randy Gregory from a top draft pick to number 60 after showing himself incapable to not doing drugs even when his entire NFL career and future depended on it. However, while the Winstons, Mariotas, and other elite players tend to get the limelight, I was rooting for a guy picked by the Bears in the final round. I was rooting for Tayo Fabuluje. There is no reason that you would know his name but I hope someday you will.
Continue reading “Tayo Fabuluje and the Importance of Character In A Champion”
There is a troubling case out of Houston that shows the continuing immunity of the government from even lethal acts of negligence. In Patty v. United States, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54871A, Plaintiff Steven Craig Patty sought damages in a bizarre case where the DEA paid one of his drivers, without his knowledge, to participate in a highly dangerous drug sting with one of the most violent Mexican drug cartels. Lawrence Chapa, 53, (right) the driver, (who had been arrested in 2010 for possession of a controlled substance) was shot eight times. The sting went badly and resulted in the killing of Patty’s driver and shooting up his tractor-trailer. He claimed conversion, abuse of process, and constitutional torts, but U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal ruled that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is not liable to him even for the repair of this tractor-trailer. It is all an example of the sweeping protection afforded to “discretionary” acts by federal officers.
Like many, I am still waiting for the evidence used as the basis to charge the six officers in Baltimore for the death of Freddie Gray. This morning, however, I was disturbed to read that an effort to create a fundraising site for the defense of the officers was taken down on GoFundMe. It appears that the site has a very questionable standard for funding that does not afford accused parties a presumption of innocence in asking for support to fund their defense.
Continue reading “GoFundMe Site For Six Charged Baltimore Officers Taken Down After 41 Minutes”