I am getting a lot of emails on the location of the “buzzing bush” that I mentioned this week in remarks at the ABA Convention in San Francisco. I mentioned that some courts have banned cellphones entirely — a practice that I oppose. This has led attorneys in one court to leave their cellphones secreted in a bush outside the door of the court which continually buzzes. While Moses has the burning bush, spectators encounter the buzzing bush outside of the Eastern District of Virginia.
Continue reading “The Buzzing Bush”
Jetblue flight attendant Steven Slater may have slid into the thing of legend among flight attendants. After a passenger argued with Slater about getting up before the airplane pulled into the gate, Slater allegedly let loose a string of profanity, grabbed two beers, and slid down the plane’s evacuation slide.
Continue reading “Flight Attendant Raves Over Intercom, Grabs Two Beers, and Flees Down the Emergency Slide”
Joel Deckard, 68, a former Indiana congressman who left Congress under a cloud of scandal has revealed that he turned to human trafficking in smuggling Brazilian families across the Canadian border.
Continue reading “From Congressman To Human Trafficker?”
We have been following honor killing in the United States and aboard. This tragedy has a different aspect however. Gul Wazir, a taxi driver from Birmingham and his wife Begum were killed in Pakistan after reportedly returning to make amends for their daughter breaking off an arranged marriage.
While a kebab shop owner is claiming to beat and strangle his wife as part of a local dance, a groom in Turkey shoot eight of his wedding guests as part of his celebration. His father and two aunts later died.
Continue reading “Turkish Groom Fires Gun Into Air At Wedding and Mows Down Wedding Party”
I am not sure what is more curious: the alleged crime of Charles Edward Jenks or the way he allegedly avoided a criminal charge. Police say that Jenks really really wanted a totem pole for his home so he stole an 18-foot totem pole (not the one shown) from the city. He then reportedly avoided a criminal charge by donating $20,000 to the city.
Continue reading “Man Allegedly Steals Totem Pole, Lies to Police, and Then Escapes Criminal Charge But Agreeing To Give Donation to Seattle”
Allaetin Can, a kebab shop owner in Turkey, was arrested after witnesses said he was outside their shop hitting, kicking, and strangling his wife. The defense? They were dancing in joy after having a good day at the business. It does not help that the alleged local dance is called Kolbasti which means “caught red-handed by the police”.
This can get tricky when you reach into your purse to pull out your lipstick and end up pulling out Mr. Fluffy.
There has been a huge award in a novel malicious prosecution case over the alleged theft of pet turkeys. In 2004, defendant Ralph Dupps accused Robert and Jennifer Klippel of turkey-napping their pets and then releasing them back into nature. While the charges were dismissed, the Klippels sued and were just awarded $4.25 million
Continue reading “Turkey Dispute Leads to $4.25 Million Award”
There are slip and falls and then there are sweat and falls. Russian Vladimir Ladyzhensky died this week during the World Sauna Championship. Competitions based on sitting in a room with 110 (Celsius) degree temperatures would seem an easy basis for a tort lawsuit in terms of foreseeable injury.
Continue reading “Cooked: Sauna Competition Leads To Death of Finalist”
We have another story of how cities are de-evolving due to the economic meltdown as we continue to gush billions of dollars abroad. Camden, New Jersey will now close all public libraries despite the fact that librarians are reporting huge increases in traffic as people search for free places to go due to unemployment and a lack of money.
Continue reading “Please Read Fast and Get Out: Camden To Close Public Libraries”
Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal has turned to a novel approach to secure more federal money: threatening to destroy one of the nation’s most treasured wilderness areas if the Obama Administration doesn’t give him more educational funds.
Continue reading “Educate Us or the Moose Gets It: Wyoming Governor Threatens to Destroy Pristine Park Area If Administration Does Not Give State More Educational Funds”
Facebook is again at the heart of a legal case in Cleveland. Lynn France (shown in her wedding picture) claims that she discovered that her husband was having an affair after finding photos of his wedding with another woman on Facebook, including photos dressed as Prince Charming at Disney World. In the photos, his new wife was dressed as Sleeping Beauty.
Former Provo police officer Jeffery Westerman, 33, has been arrested in a bizarre alleged agreement to let a DUI suspect go free in exchange for a fondling.
Continue reading “Coping a Feel: Police Officer Arrested Over Alleged Fondling Offense”
There is an interesting case out of Connecticut where police reportedly arrested Francis Laskowski, 58, after he allegedly said that understood why a killer recently went on a rampage and killed nine people in the state. Someone at Fusco Management Co. promptly called police.
Continue reading “Connecticut Man Allegedly Arrested For Expressing Agreement With Killer”