The criminal bar has been dealing more regularly with the emergence of “synthetic marijuana” across the country, including incredibly potent form of the drug. Hospitalizations are rising and so are crimes referencing the drug. However, this seems a serious no addition to illegal drug markets. Emmerli Wilcoxson is a case in point. The Georgia woman was allegedly high on synthetic marijuana when she took police on an over 130 MPH car chase. That is bad enough but we was driving a stolen police cruiser. And, oh yea, she was driving on a suspended license.
When following the news from Iran, it is often hard to tell the difference between a news story and a really good joke. The latest story on the Islamically correct lifestyle, according to the Iranian government, involves a study that found that young Iranians were having sex, even homosexual sex, in rising numbers. The 82-page report, issued by Iran’s parliamentary research branch, is alarmed at the findings and recommends that the government push for the use of “temporary” marriages that may last no longer then the tryst itself. It is something akin to a Vegas marriage for good Muslims. Marry, have sex, and then divorce. You are happy. The Mullah is happy. Everyone is happy.
While like many I was shocked by the story of the shooting of an unarmed man, Michael Brown, by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, I have refrained from making public comments due to the conflicting accounts that have arisen in the case. As a criminal defense attorney, I have long resisted the tendency to rush to judgment, particularly in the midst of public unrest, in such cases. I saw that as a problem in the Trayvon Martin case. Those same concerns were raised this morning with the statement of Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon who publicly stated that “a vigorous prosecution must now be pursued.” Presumably, he is speaking of the arrest and prosecution of Officer Darren Wilson. However, the investigations into the case are continuing and, in my view, Nixon’s comments are wildly inappropriate at this stage.
I have said it before but I will say it again. The The National Football League (NFL) remains one of the most greedy and thuggish organizations in the country in dealing with host cities, artists, and citizens. The fact that it has been allowed to retain not-for-profit status is a grotesque triumph of money and lobbying in our country. Now, as proof that the NFL has lost any sense of shame, it is asking artists who want to play at the Superbowl to not simply play for free but to actually pay to play.
Continue reading “Pay To Play: NFL Shakes Down Artists Who Want To Perform For Free At Superbowl”
We just discussed the Generation Z murder where a college student was convicted of murder in part on evidence that he asked Siri on his iPhone for suggestions on how to dispose of a body. Now the same type of evidence is being raised in the case against Christopher Lee, 24, in California in the alleged murder of his lover. Lee reportedly admitted to doing internet searches on the same question and a witness said that he was also asked by Lee about “what was the best way to dispose of a human body.”
Apropos of our earlier discussion of celebrity mugshots with Gov. Rick Perry’s appearance in a Texas police station, Robert Burt has his own views on how to dress for your police portrait. If this mugshot of Robert Burt simply a bit surreal, it is because Burt was arrested wearing a teeshirt with his prior mugshot displayed on the front. He now has a great image for the back. Consider it a low-rent version of Norman Rockwell’s Triple Self-Portrait technique.
Yesterday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry turned himself in response to the indictment for alleged abuse of power. Regardless of how you feel about Perry, he takes a damn good mug shot.
One of the first things that my kids did when I got my iPhone with Siri was to ask “how do I get rid of a body.” The question is such a favorite that Siri is programmed to answer. However, police allege that Pedro Bravo, 20, was serious when he asked Siri that question after kidnapping and strangling his friend Christian Aguilar (below), 18, in September 2012. The two were sharing a room at University of Florida. On the day that Aguilar died, police say that records show that Bravo asked “‘I need to hide my roommate.” Siri responded “What kind of place are you looking for? Swamps. Reservoirs. Metal foundries. Dumps.” Aguilar was later found in a shallow grave in a Levy County forest, about 60 miles southwest of Gainesville. The ultimate Generation Z murder case. Siri however was not indicted as an accessory before the fact.
In New Orleans, Armand Bennet, 26, was shot in the forehead during a traffic stop by New Orleans police officer Lisa Lewis. However, the police department did not reveal until much later that Lewis turned off her body camera just before shooting Bennett. Bennett survived and has now been charged under prior warrants for his arrest. It also reviewed that Lewis had had a prior run in with Bennet who escaped about a week earlier.
Nigerian Christian preacher Temitope Joshua is a multi-millionaire wannabe messiah with a devoted following in Africa. Joshua has decided to act to help the desperate situation in Sierra Leone. He sent a private jet to deliver 4,000 bottles of his patented holy anointed water and $50,000 in cash to defeat Ebola. Just what these ebola villages need, holy water from Brother Joshua.
Now here is real progress that we all can rally behind. Sharon Standifird, a mother in New York, was tired of having her teenagers ignore her calls. Rather than continuing the usual threats of punishment, Standifird went “all techno” on her kids. She spent months developing an app, “Ignore No More,” that prevents a kid from making any calls until they return the call from their mother (and presumably their father).
We have been following the controversy surrounding the confrontation of Feminist Studies Associate Professor Mireille Miller-Young with pro-life advocates on campus. Miller-Young led her students in attacking the pro-life display, stealing their display, and then committing battery on one of the young women. Thrin Short, 16, and her sister Joan, 21, filed complaints and Miller-Young was charged with criminal conduct including Theft From Person; Battery; and Vandalism. To the surprise of some of us, faculty and students rallied behind Miller-Young. She remains employed as a faculty member. Miller-Young initially pleaded not guilty but later entered a guilty plea with an apology. She has now been sentenced to sentenced to three years of probation, 108 hours of community service, 10 hours of anger management, $500 in restitution and a small fine. While her actions (and absence of serious university punishment) remain highly disturbing, some of the letters written on her behalf raise new questions over the commitment of University of California faculty to free speech and core academic principles. Miller-Young has been defended by faculty as the victim of a media campaign to portray her as “an Angry Black Woman” and her seemingly happy demeanor on the videotape has been dismissed as a “mask” that she wears as part of a “cultural legacy of slavery.”
There is a truly horrific story out of South Jordan, Utah where retired teacher Jan Harding is in critical condition after drinking tea accidentally poisoned with an industrial oven cleaner by Dickey’s Barbecue Pit. An employee confused the oven cleaner with sugar in making the sweet tea for customers. The tort liability is obvious in such a case and could involve both negligence and strict liability claims given the involvement of food or drink served at a restaurant. The chemical has been described as Lye in some news accounts.
The Saudi Sharia system has again made headlines with its perverse view of justice. The latest victim is a businesswoman who will receive 50 lashes for merely insulting the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, or the Saudi morality police. Of course, the Saudi morality police is widely ridiculed and denounced as a group of religious fanatics upholding a medieval system of religious law.
Continue reading “Saudi Court Orders Woman Flogged For Insulting Morality Police”
This Russian driver may have been prepared for any number of things but my guess is that an erupting geyser was not one of them.
Continue reading “Try Explaining This To Your Insurance Agent . . .”