Legal News

You say tomayto, I say tomahto: Attorneys and Rocco argue worth of $1.20 ketchup bottle

By Richard Binder

Only one man could steal Chapman U. headlines from John Yoo: Steve Rocco.

The self-styled writer/educator and conspiracy theorist is being tried for allegedly stealing a 14-ounce Heinz bottle from a dining area outside the cafeteria at the university. Or perhaps he absent-mindedly tossed it into his bag while leaving, thinking it was trash, and after all, he contends, the bottle was worthless anyway.

Prosecutors had offered to settle the case if Rocco agreed to stay away from the campus, an offer that was declined.  Rocco issued more than 50 self-composed subpoenas, including former Sheriff Mike Carona and an unnamed "Heinz representative."  The subpoenas were ultimately thrown out.

As the LA Times reports, the ketchup bottle in question is valued at $1.20.  Each juror for the trial is being paid $15 a day and the trial, expected to last four days, is expected to cost thousands. Susan Kang Schroeder, spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney's office, counters, "We shouldn't give him a break because he's weird."

Click these for a history of weirdness.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on April 15, 2009 (boomark / email).