Legal Commentary

English Couple Killed in Pakistan in Honor Killing After Daughter Backs Out of Arranged Marriage

Posted on August 09, 2010
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...

Turkish Groom Fires Gun Into Air At Wedding and Mows Down Wedding Party

Posted on August 09, 2010
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. Firing guns into the air is one of the most common and stupid practices [...

Man Allegedly Steals Totem Pole, Lies to Police, and Then Escapes Criminal Charge But Agreeing To Give Donation to Seattle

Posted on August 09, 2010
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...

Travel Kitty

Posted on August 08, 2010
This can get tricky when you reach into your purse to pull out your lipstick and end up pulling out Mr. Fluffy. This also goes to support my theory that women put way too much stuff in their purses.

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Turkey Dispute Leads to $4.25 Million Award

Posted on August 08, 2010
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...

Cooked: Suana Competition Leads To Death of Finalist

Posted on August 08, 2010
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...

Please Read Fast and Get Out: Camden To Close Public Libraries

Posted on August 08, 2010
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 [...

Educate Us or the Moose Gets It: Wyoming Governor Threatens to Destroy Pristine Park Area If Administration Does Not Give State More Educational Funds

Posted on August 08, 2010
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. Freudenthal is threatening to sell off land valued at $125m (£80m) in the Grand Teton National Park...

Prince Charming?s Other Woman

Posted on August 07, 2010
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...

Coping a Feel: Police Officer Arrested Over Alleged Fondling Offense

Posted on August 07, 2010
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. According to Utah County police, Westerman allegedly threatened to charge a woman with a felony unless she let him fondle her breasts...

Connecticut Man Allegedly Arrested For Expressing Agreement With Killer

Posted on August 07, 2010
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...

Oregon Police Squeeze Illegal Lemonade Pusher

Posted on August 07, 2010
I have been warning for years about the constant struggle of police against Lemonade pushers, here, and here. They are just as bad as veggie pushers. Now, Multnomah County has found one in their own backyard. Julie Murphy, 7, was found boldly peddling lemonade in Northwest Portland...

Excuse Me, Where Is the Men?s Fueling Station?

Posted on August 06, 2010
First we had the jet-powered bus. Now we have the poop-powered bug. The Bio-Bug is a British invention that runs on human waste. It appears that this is not yet self-propelling with the driver actually supplying the fuel but you can load up with waste from the local sewage works...

When Little Yellow School Buses Go Bad . . .

Posted on August 06, 2010
Tired of being pushed around by the kids on your school bus? Tired of being called the slow as mustard? Well, then this bus is perfect for you, my friend. It does 367 mph and leaves the little darlings embedded in their seats. Paul Stender and Indy Boys Inc...

Teenager Allegedly Drives Into Opposing Traffic To Commit Suicide and Survives ? Then Sues the Family of the Mother and Child Killed in Other Car

Posted on August 06, 2010
In Montana, people are upset over a recent tort filing. Justine Winter is suing, among others, the family of Erin Thompson and her 13-year-old son who died in a crash with her car. That might not seem too uncommon in a torts case. However, Winter was allegedly trying to commit suicide at the time by [...

Benny Hinn Uses ?Jesus Jacket? To Cure Followers

Posted on August 06, 2010
I just saw this video on Reddit of Benny Hinn using his magic “Jesus Jacket” to heal followers of everything from rickets to AIDS. In case you think that no one would believe this comical scene, Benny Hinn Ministries reportedly makes over $200 million a year...

Obama Clears Reputation of General Falsely Accused By Nixon

Posted on August 06, 2010
The late Air Force Gen. John D. Lavelle has finally had his name cleared by the Obama Administration and Congress. In 1972, Lavelle was made the scapegoat for bombing missions in North Vietnam by President Nixon who lied to the public and trashed the career of Lavelle who was simply following orders...

Itsy, Bitsy, Teenie, Weenie Felony: English Woman Arrested for Wearing Bikini in Dubai Mall

Posted on August 06, 2010
A British woman was arrested and charged with indecency in Dubai. Her crime: walking through the Dubai Mall in her swimsuit. While the charges were later reportedly dropped, the arrest is the latest confrontation between Westerners and Dubai’s Sharia standards, ranging from a married couple in a car to an Englishman on the street to [...

Proposition 8 Struck Down Under Rational Basis Test

Posted on August 05, 2010
The decision by United States District Court Judge Vaughn Walker striking down Proposition 8 in California is a fascinating read. It is also an opinion that is likely to trigger not only a furious appeal but a renewed demand for a constitutional amendment barring same sex marriage...

Two 15-Year-Old Girls Flash Passing Motorists in Florida, One Man Takes Picture and Is Arrested For Possession of Child Porn and Contributing to Delinquency of a Minor

Posted on August 05, 2010
In Florida, Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Cameron arrested a man after he took a picture of girls exposing their breasts to motorists during the local “National Night Out.” The girls turned out to be 15 so the sheriff arrested Robert Lee Blevins, 33, and charged him with felony possession of photographs of sexual performance by [...

Florida Man Stabs and Burns Family Dog Believed To Be Possessed

Posted on August 05, 2010
This happy fellow is Matthew Foote, 25, who has been arrested on a bizarre alleged crime. Police say that the Florida man because convinced that the family dog (a 7-year-old Dachshund Chihuahua mix) was possessed by the devil and proceeded to stab and skin the animal...

Grounded Angel: Delta Allegedly Tosses Woman Off Flight After She Raised a Concern Over Pilot?s Sobriety

Posted on August 05, 2010
Cynthia Angel, 51, has a rather startling allegation against Delta Airlines. After she smelled what she (and she claims other passengers) thought was alcohol on the breath of a pilot, she mentioned it to a flight attendant. She says she was then thrown off the flight back to her home in Southern California...

You Call Yourself a Takeout?

Posted on August 05, 2010
Wendy’s may have lost a customer . . . if it is lucky. In Atlanta, a man robbed a Wendy’s but found a relatively small amount of cash. He called back twice to complain: “Next time there better be more than $586.” The man grabbed the cash drawer and discarded it outside...

Illinois Judge Pleads Guilty to Reckless Driving in Alleged Hit-and-Run Case

Posted on August 04, 2010
DuPage County judge Judge Kenneth Popejoy has pleaded guilty in a hit-and-run crash. While his lawyer insisted the crash was caused by a mechanical failure, Judge Popejoy pleaded guilty to reckless driving. His guilty plea to the misdemeanor offense brought him a $500 fine and a sentence to six months of conditional discharge...

New York Teacher Accused of Taking Dive To Avoid Evaluation

Posted on August 04, 2010
Ilene Feldman, a teacher at the HS for Innovation in Advertising and Media is accused of taking the ultimate dive on camera at the school to avoid a classroom observation and possible termination as an untenured faculty member. Feldman was allegedly videotaped staging a fall on the day of her scheduled visit...

John the Bulgarian?

Posted on August 04, 2010
Ok, he wasn’t Bulgarian, but John the Baptist’s remains may be. Archaeologists in Bulgaria has reported that they have found remains of John the Baptist in a reliquary in a 5th century monastery on the Black Sea island of Sveti Ivan. The container holds a skull, hand, and a tooth — not quite half a [...

Pensacola Officer Tasers Teen on Bike From Moving Car and Then Runs Over the Teen

Posted on August 03, 2010
There is a call to ban tasers in Pensacola after a series of injuries and fatalities linked to the use of the weapons. In one of the most controversial cases, Victor Steen, 17, died after being first tasered by an officer and then run over by his cruiser...

Sisters Given Short Jail Sentences After One Fatally Stabs Boyfriend in Groin and the Other Prevents People From Calling Ambulance

Posted on August 03, 2010
In light of the helicopter case today, I am a bit confused about the sentencing guidelines used by our cousins in England. In Manchester, Samantha Brown, 20, and her sister Toni Brown, 24, were sentenced in a horrific murder of Brown’s boyfriend and received brief jail sentences...

Report: Early Oxygen Levels Reached 35% and May Have Fueled Ancient Forest Fires

Posted on August 03, 2010
This scientific article is quite interesting. It appears that over the past 400 million years, the level of oxygen on Earth has varied considerably and higher oxygen levels may have contributed to ancient forest fires. While our air is 21% oxygen today, scientists from Royal Holloway, University of London and The Field Museum in Chicago [...

Man Gets One Year in Jail For Grabbing Helicopter

Posted on August 03, 2010
Houshang Jafari, 58, has received a one-year jail sentence for a novel crime: grabbing a skid bar on a helicopter about to take off. Jafari was mad when the helicopter landed near his flat in Bristol – resulting in debris hitting his car. He went to confront the pilot and when he began to take [...

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