Legal Commentary

Is Moody Not Just Messy But Mad? Man Arrested for Repeatedly Climbing Into Outhouse Toilet

Posted on September 01, 2009
Gary Moody appears to have a problem. In 2005, he pleaded guilty to trespass in a pit toilet in White Mountain National Forest property in New Hampshire. He was ordered to seek help. However, he has now been arrested again for climbing down into a pit toilet at the park...

New York Settles Mass Arrest Case ? Drops Charges

Posted on September 01, 2009
There is a mass arrest story. As has been discussed earlier, we have an ongoing arrest case in Washington, D.C., here. In May 2007 police arrested dozens of young people who police alleged were basically rioting through the streets. The students insisted that they were on their way to a funeral [...

The First Thing We Do Kill All The Lawyer Blogs

Posted on September 01, 2009
When Dick the Butcher declared in Shakespeare’s Henry VI “The first thing we do let’s kill all the lawyers,” he may have been prophetic. Jones Day partner Mark Herrmann has written on his blog that his unscientific survey shows that legal blogs tend to have a lifespan of less than a year...

Rollover: Former Toyota Lawyer Accuses Company of Destroying Evidence of Rollover Problems

Posted on August 31, 2009
Attorney Dimitrios Biller was the former managing counsel for Toyota Motor Sales USA and handled rollover cases for the company. He has now done a rollover of his own — accusing the car manufacturer of destroying evidence of rollover in a “ruthless conspiracy” to hide dangers...

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Brooklyn ?Doctor? Wins Bail ? Just $11 Million in Cash

Posted on August 31, 2009
Michail Sorodsky, a Brooklyn man accused of practicing medicine without a license and abusing patients under anesthesia, has won bail — sort of. The court set bail at either $11 million cash or $33 million bail bond. The constitutional question is whether an $11 million bail is the same as a denial [...

Shock Video: Officers Beat DUI Suspect in Cell ? and Later Cleared in Internal Investigation

Posted on August 31, 2009
An Illinois sheriff this week is seeking to reverse a board decision reinstating three officers in Tazewell county, Illinois despite this shocking video tape. On the video, Sergeant Richard Johnston, and correctional officers Jeffery Bieber and Justin Piro are shown beating Becky Behm after she was arrested on a charge of driving under the [...

De-Evolution: Missouri School Officials Order Return of Band T-Shirts Showing Picture of Evolution

Posted on August 31, 2009
Evolution in Sedalia, Missouri appears to be moving in reverse. The band leaders of the Smith-Cotton High School Tiger Pride Marching Band thought that they had a cute idea in showing the images of monkeys evolving into band members under the words ?Brass Evolutions 2009...

West Virginia Lawyer Tells Jury that Raped Prostitutes Were Not Like Their Mothers and Daughters ? Nothing More Than ?Whores? and ?Tramps?

Posted on August 31, 2009
West Virginia defense lawyer Ed ReBrook had a difficult case in representing Thomas H. Gravely, 31, who was accused of raping Charleston prostitutes. However, critics charge that he made a difficult case worse by calling no witnesses and using highly offensive terms to describe the victims...

The Thin White Line: Memphis Officer Arrested in Major Cocaine Bush

Posted on August 30, 2009
While Memphis officials trying to keep tasers out of the hands of their officers (here), they are also trying to do the same with narcotics. A major bust this week led to the arrest of officer Lowell Duke, 37, who is accused of participating in a large drug operation...

Memphis Turns Down Tasers For Its Officers

Posted on August 30, 2009
In a rare departure from the trend in the expanding use of tasers by law enforcement, the city council of Memphis has refused a request by the Memphis Police Department to add tasers to its arsenal. Memphis Police Chief Elena Danishevskaya requested the authority but the city council was unwilling to approve the use of the [...

You Had Me At ?Hello, Your Honor?: Houston Judge Indicted After Allegedly Offering to Help Woman in Exchange for a Sexual Relationship

Posted on August 30, 2009
Harris County Criminal Court-at-Law judge Donald W. Jackson, 59, has been indicted on a misdemeanor charge of official oppression – allegedly offering to get a DWI defendant help in dismissing her case in exchange for a sexual relationship. Notably, he allegedly insisted that he was not interested in “a one-night stand” in seeking to [...

Who Would You Want to Drive You to the Governor?s Mansion? Corzine Spokesperson Raises Driving Skills As Criteria for Office

Posted on August 30, 2009
In an interesting twist to the usual negative political traditions in New Jersey, a spokeswoman for New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine has attacked Republican challenger Chris Christie’s driving record, denouncing him as “a complete menace to society on the highways of New Jersey” with 13 moving violations over the last two and a half decades...

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

Posted on August 30, 2009
You read the Tennessee Williams play. Now you can see the real thing. No doubt sunning themselves after entrapping humans.

The Big Easy: Former Deputy and Current Illinois Reserve Officer Arrested in Drug Bust

Posted on August 30, 2009
While Memphis is dealing with an officer who allegedly helped run a major cocaine operation (here), Illinois police are dealing with a former Harvey police deputy marshal and an Illinois State Police reserve officer who has been arrested in a drugs and weapons operation...

Florida Police Officer Drives 100-Miles-an-Hour Without Lights, Siren, or Reason and Cripples Teenager ? Not Given Sobriety Test and Will Not Be Criminally Charged

Posted on August 29, 2009
Former Altamonte Springs police officer Mark Maupin drove 100-mile-an-hour without siren or lights for no apparent reason. He ended up hitting teenager Erskin Bell who was left paralyzed and his family was left with massive monthly medical bills. Officers at the scene, however, did not give Maupin a sobriety test and now he [...

The Trouble With Hairy: Nebraska Man Arrested For Entering Ladies Room at Health Club Covered in Towels

Posted on August 29, 2009
Lincoln, Nebraska (The Weekly Vice) – Gregory Tyrrell, 45, is a registered sex offender who allegedly came up with a dangerously idea. He covered himself with towels from head to toe and repeatedly went into the women’s locker room in a Lincoln, Nebraska health club...

Accused Pedophile Commits Suicide Minutes Before Jury Delivers Not Guilty Verdict

Posted on August 29, 2009
William Telano Evans committed suicide in Florida this week just minutes before a jury reaching a verdict acquitting him of sexually abusing a girl three decades ago. The case turned on a technical defense rather than an innocence claim. Evans was charged with sexual battery between the summer of 1980 and Jan...

South Carolina Man Goes Dragonfly Hunting with Rifle and Shoots Friend

Posted on August 29, 2009
It appears that folks in South Carolina prefer to bag for dragonflies with old-fashioned way: with a hunting rifle. A South Carolina man reportedly decided to use a rifle rather than a net to catch dragonflies at a hunting club in Johnsonville, South Carolina (pop...

Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel ?Amends? Financial Disclosure Form to More Than Double His Reported Income

Posted on August 29, 2009
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel has played a large role in tax policy — and advocated increasing taxes to pay for the massive spending of this Congress. He is now accused of underreporting his own income by a shocking degree. Republicans have complained that the media and blogs have been relatively [...

Cincinnati Police Officer Suspended After Tasering Woman on Her Knees With Her Hands in the Air

Posted on August 28, 2009
Cincinnati Police Officer Anthony Plummer is accused to tasering the wrong person in the wrong way. First, he allegedly tasered a woman who was on her knees with her hands in the air. Second, it turned out to be Celeste Thomas, 26, daughter of City Councilman Cecil Thomas, a former police officer who [...

Pastor Prays for President Obama?s Death on Eve of His Visit to Arizona

Posted on August 28, 2009
Pastor Steven Anderson has used his position at Faithful World Baptist Church, in Tempe, Arizona to bring just a little more hate into the world. Pastor Anderson is praying for the death of President Obama and an eternity in hell. “Nope. I’m not gonna pray for his good...

Dutch Royals Win While Italian PM Sues Media

Posted on August 28, 2009
The Dutch royal family of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander has prevailed in its suit against the Associated Press for taking pictures of them on vacation in Argentina. In Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is suing the media for the coverage of his private life...

California Deputy Attorney General Ellyn Levinson Loses Torts Case Involving Horseback Riding Injury

Posted on August 28, 2009
California Deputy Attorney General Ellyn Levinson has lost her personal injury case against a rancher who allowed her to ride one of his horses as a party. A California court ruled that falling off the horse was Levinson’s own fault and not that of the owner...

Blameless? Novelist Lisa Ann Reardon Arrested for Attempted Murder of Father

Posted on August 28, 2009
Novelist Lisa Ann Reardon, 47, has been arrested for shooting her father in . . . well . . . the rear. George Hicks escaped the assault by running into his house when Reardon allegedly fired repeated shots from a 20-gauge shotgun. Reardon is being held on charges of assault with intent to [...

Good Citizens Don?t Wear Plaid: Richmond Schools Ban Stripes and Plaids as Key to Success

Posted on August 28, 2009
While other school officials are struggling against the scourges of drugs and violence, officials at the Richmond Community Schools in Indiana have started a campaign against the ravages of stripes and plaids. Officials have prohibited clothing other than solid colors and have parents seeing solid red...

Former Adjunct Law Professor Arrested After Taking Two Guns and 53 Rounds of Ammunition in Law Library

Posted on August 27, 2009
Former University of Louisville Adjunct Law Professor Thomas H. Irwin, 56, was arrested this week after bringing two handguns and 53 rounds of ammunition into the campus law library. Irwin had been declared a “persona non grata” in December 2008 for alleged harassment of another employee at the school...

Detroit Muslim Woman Sues After Being Told To Remove Hijab in Court

Posted on August 27, 2009
Raneen Albaghdady, a Muslim in Detroit, is suing ayne Circuit Judge J. William Callahan who told her to remove her hijab or scarf in his courtroom (like the one shown to the left of a different woman). She alleges denial of her freedom of religion as well as denial of access to the courts...

Video: Rep. Lynn Jenkins Announces that Republicans Are Looking for ?Great White Hope?

Posted on August 27, 2009
The Topeka Capitol-Journal is reporting that Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) told a town hall meeting that Republicans are searching for the “great white hope.” In the videotape, the newspaper reports that Jenkins says “Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope...

D.C. Attorney General?s Declaration in Protest Case Challenged by Council Members and Lawyers

Posted on August 27, 2009
The controversy continues over the District’s alleged destruction of evidence and withholding of documents in the World Bank protest case. The case deals with the mass arrests conducted without probable cause during the World Bank/IMF protests of 2002...

Saudi Arabian Father Forces 10-Year-Old Daughter To Return to 80-Year-Old Husband

Posted on August 27, 2009
A ten-year-old girl found hiding in her aunt’s home was forcibly returned to her eighty-year-old husband by her father. While the man would be called a pedophile in the West, he is called a husband under Sharia law in Saudi Arabia and could rightfully demand the return of the child wife...

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