Legal Commentary

English Police Scramble Eight Squad Cars and Arrest Man Who Pointed Play Ray Gun at Baby and Said ?Pow, Pow?

Posted on February 04, 2009
The English police have shown that they have zero tolerance for alien weaponry. In an absolutely bizarre case, a mother became upset wen a man pointing a ray gun at her and her gun and said “pow, pow” to make the baby laugh. The gun makes a sound and lights up...

Bad Call? Mayor Faces Criminal Charges for Killing Two Dogs

Posted on February 04, 2009
McCune Mayor Don Call, Mayor of McCune, Mo., may wish he lived in McCune, Pennsylvania where shooting dogs was found not to be covered under animal cruelty statutes. Call faces animal cruelty charges for killing two dogs with a rifle that were threatening children in the area...

NYPD Under Fire For Prostitution Arrests in Gay Community

Posted on February 04, 2009
The gay community in Manhattan are denouncing a new campaign by the New York Police Department targeting the gay community and adult video stores. Men like Robert Pinter, 53, say that they were enticed by offers of consensual sex in the store (perfectly legal) and were then told on the way to their car [...

Virginia Law and Adjunct GW Law Professor Shot in Office

Posted on February 03, 2009
Todd F. Sanders, 45, a Virginia lawyer and George Washington adjunct law professor was shot last night through his office window in Loudoun’s historic district. He was released after treatment for a non-life threatening wound. I have never met Mr...

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Shoot the Pooch: Pennsylvania Court Rule that Owners Can Shoot Their Pets

Posted on February 03, 2009
The Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled that pet owners in the state cannot be prosecuted for shooting and killing their pets. The appellate court overturned the conviction of Wendy Colleen Kneller who, in 2006, shot her 6-year-old pit bull-chow mix, Bouta...

Video: Spokewomen Faints at Conference and Is Caught By Prime Minister Who Carries Her Out of Conference

Posted on February 03, 2009
Hungarian spokeswoman Bernadett Budai became dizzy in the middle of a press conference, bumped into the Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and collapsed . . . only to be caught by the PM and carried from the room. The incredible video is below...

Shock Video: New York Police Ransack Bar, Smash Gambling Machines, and Pocket Cash

Posted on February 03, 2009
In the amazing video below, New York police officers are shown ransacking a bar and smashing gambling machines . . . and pocketing cash. The November 14, 2007 raid on a bar called Beer Googles. One officer is seen counting cash from a smashed machine and handing it to another officer, who peels [...

Shoe Politics: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Gets the Shoe Treatment at Cambridge

Posted on February 03, 2009
Give them the shoe appears to be replacing the boot as a standard in politics. In a scene reminiscent of the Iraqi shoe thrower and George Bush, a protester at Cambridge University threw a sneaker at at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and called him a dictator...

What the Hecht? Prosecutors Boycott New Judge Accused of Prostitution Offenses

Posted on February 03, 2009
Michael Hecht, a new Washington state judge in Pierce County Superior Court, has a docket that most judges would relish: virtually no substantive cases. The reason is that country prosecutors are refusing to try cases before Hecht, who has been charged with soliciting prostitutes and then threatening a 24-year-old male prostitute...

Paper Chase and Resume Shred: Drunken Harvard 3L Charged With Ordering Police to Be His Chauffeurs . . . Or Else

Posted on February 03, 2009
A Harvard Law School student has lost his job with the District Attorney’s office and faces criminal charges after an embarrassing encounter with the Boston Police Department. Charles C. Simpkins, a third-year law student has been charged with two counts, including disorderly conduct and resisting arrest...

Going for the [Acapulco] Gold: Phelps May Be Criminally Charged Over Pot Pictures

Posted on February 03, 2009
Michael Phelps may have a bit more to worry about than losing some of us promotional contracts, he could lose his freedom. The 14-time gold medalist was shown smoking marijuana from a pipe. In both real estate and criminal law, the key is always location, location, location...

Un-Lucky Strikes: Saudi Arabia Sentences Man To 30 Lashes for Smoking on a Flight

Posted on February 02, 2009
If you think that American flight attendants have become a bit heavy handed, be grateful that you don’t fly Saudi Arabian Airlines flight. A man who refused to put his cigarette out on a flight to Jeddah was sentenced to 30 lashes. The man reportedly said that he was on his way to a clinic [...

Guns and God: Arkansas Legislators Move to Armed the Faithful in Church

Posted on February 02, 2009
Legislators in Arkansas do no want to have to chose between god and guns. They are pushing legislation to allow citizens to pack heat in the house of God. Grant Exton is a gun owner and president of the state’s Concealed Carry Association insists that they are simply trying to give all churches [...

Grandpré Malfunction: Canadian Courts Refuse to Lift Prior Restraint on Journalist Covering Court Case

Posted on February 02, 2009
The Canadian courts are facing an important issue involving a free press — and they seem to be failing the test. The Quebec Court of Appeal this week refused to remove a gag on Daniel Leblanc, a Globe and Mail reporter ,who was barred from disclosing facts about negotiations in a civil lawsuit...

Court Rules Against ?New York?s Most Obnoxious Lawyer?

Posted on February 02, 2009
Kenneth Heller has earned the reputation as ?New York?s most obnoxious lawyer? and his record is hardly improving. A New York appellate court has upheld a finding of contempt and sentence (30-day in prison and $10,000 fine) after Heller refused to turn over his files in a wrongful death case...

Serial Prayer: English Nurse is Suspended for Offering to Pray for Elderly Patient

Posted on February 02, 2009
A nurse is facing disciplinary action for simply offering to pray for the recovery of an elderly patient. While the patient did not object, Caroline Petrie, 45, is facing sanctions or even termination. Petrie is a serial prayer. She was suspended previously for breaching the “code of conduct on equality and diversity...

Greatest Trial on Earth: Animal Cruelty Case Against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Goes to Trial

Posted on February 02, 2009
It has taken eight years, but Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus are heading to a non-jury trial over cruelty allegations related to its treatment of its elephants. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Animal Welfare Institute, and other plaintiffs allege that company’s use of sharp tools called [...

The Nigerian 419 Scam: Man Gives $150,000 In Scam Lasting Over a Year

Posted on February 01, 2009
This week, there is a new detailed account of how Nigerian scammers are still able to snare victims and bleed them for months and even years. John Rempel, of Leamington, Canada, ultimately lost $150,000 after scam artists convinced him to send money from himself and relatives for over a year...

Saudi Arabia Arrests Christian Blogger Who Discussed His Conversion to Christianity From Islam

Posted on February 01, 2009
Saudi Arabia has again shown its institutional intolerance of other religions with the arrest of Hamoud Bin Saleh, 28, who wrote about how he converted to Christianity from Islam. The arrest of the blogger followed the killing of the daughter of an official in the Kingdom’s religious police who also wrote about her Christian [...

Doughnuts Down Under: Krispy Kreme Drops Free Doughnut Policy for Police After Confrontation

Posted on February 01, 2009
Doughnut have been the undoing of many a good cop. Now a Brisbane police officer has been disciplined after the junior constable got into a loud argument down under demanding free doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. It is only the latest scandal involving an officer irate over the denial of a doughnut...

PETA Porn: Animal Rights Group Prevented From Airing Super Bowl Ad

Posted on February 01, 2009
PETA has been blocked from airing an ad during the Superbowl that seems a bit like soft porn for vegans. The ad, shown below, shows models getting intimate with vegetables of various types with the tagline ne, “Studies Show Vegetarians Have Bet ter Sex...

Texas Judge and Florida Prosecutor Win Favorable Treatment in Their Own Drunk Driving Cases

Posted on February 01, 2009
In Florida and Texas, the courts are known to be pretty harsh on DUI and other offenses. However, at least one Texas judge and Florida prosecutor seem to have found ample due process and mercy in the handling of their own DUI cases. In Waco, District Judge Elizabeth Berry, 43, has been able [...

Mehserle Claims Mistake in Bart Shooting of Oscar Grant

Posted on January 31, 2009
As expected, ex-transit officer Johannes Mehserle, 27, is claiming that he shot Oscar Grant by mistake in the infamous video from the BART station in Oakland, California. He insists that he thought that his gun was his taser when he shot Grant in the back...

Minneapolis Man Files Brutality Case Against Officer for Tasing Him in 2005 ? He is Then Killed in 2008 After Being Tased By The Same Officer

Posted on January 31, 2009
In 2005, ex-radio DJ Quincy De’Shawn Smith was involved in a confrontation with a police officer that resulted in his being tased. In November, this case was cleared for trial alleging police brutality by the officer. However, Smith, 24, is now dead after being tased in December by the same Minneapolis police officer, [...

Hillary?s Emolument: Lawsuit Filed To Challenge Constitutionality of Clinton Confirmation as Secretary of State

Posted on January 31, 2009
The appointment of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her recent confirmation as Secretary of State raises a very interesting constitutional question. As discussed previously here, the Constitution would appear to block Clinton from being able to serve in this capacity under Article I, Section 6...

France Accuses Israel of Blocking Needed Water Purification Equipment for Gaza as Spain Launches War Crimes Investigation

Posted on January 31, 2009
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Eric Chevallier has publicly criticized Israel for allegedly blocking the shipment of a water purification station into Gaza, forcing France to return the equipment to Europe despite the serious health emergency growing in Gaza over contaminated water...

FDA Opens Criminal Investigation of Peanut Corporation of America

Posted on January 31, 2009
As predicted in our earlier entry, the investigation into the salmonella outbreak has now become a criminal investigation of Peanut Corporation of America. Recently, it was learned that company officials knew that prior batches of its product were contaminated but shipped them anyway...

Let Them Serve Cake: Rudy Guiliani Defends His Economic Plan of Supporting Huge Bonuses to the Few to Feed the Many

Posted on January 31, 2009
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has an interesting trickle down theory. According to Giuliani, the outrageous bonuses for Wall Street figures (many paid for by public funds) are a vital part of economic recovery for average New Yorker. According to Giuliani, the relatively few super rich recipients are a major source of [...

Symbolic Shoe Get The Boot in Iraq

Posted on January 31, 2009
This week, the Iraqi government sent police to order the removal of a statue honoring the Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who threw a shoe at former President George Bush. The statue’s removal in Tikrit appears to be an effort to show respect to the United States by denying the right of free speech to [...

Klingon in the Americas? Vegetarian Wall Street Trader Alleges He Was Fired For Looking Gay

Posted on January 31, 2009
French financial firm Calyon in the Americas is being sued by Ryan Pacifico who alleges that he was fired because his boss, Robert Catalanello, thought that he seemed gay because he would not eat steak and wore snug-fitting shorts during triathlons. The firm denies the allegation and says that he was fired for [...

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