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Courtroom Antics & Trial Oddities

A grandmother has been spared jail for lying to GSOC after she posted a lewd Valentine’s card containing a G-string and a bullet to a detective in the Garda "cold case" unit.
The trial at Dublin District Court heard claims of bullying and harassment in the Serious Crime Review Team which was set up to examine unsolved historic murders. Julie Conway Browning, 50, from Dermot O’Dwyer House, Hardwicke Street, Dublin, was found guilty of giving false or misleading information to the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC). ...

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/spared-jail-for-lying-to-gsoc-302165.html
 
Just goes to show how a small dispute can escalate into something mad.

A couple embroiled in a legal battle with their neighbours over a hedge are now facing a massive legal bill after they yesterday lost their case. James and Ann Madigan could be looking at a legal bill as high as €500,000 after 10 years of a bitter dispute and two court battles ended in defeat in the High Court. The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns said if the events of this case had featured in the plot of The Field audiences might have regarded them as too implausible to be credible. “In John B Keane’s play there was a field at stake between the protagonists. In this case it is not more than a few feet of hedge,” he said. ...

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/couple-facing-500k-bill-over-failed-hedge-case-302348.html
 

Brad Pitt 'too distracting' to serve on jury


Brad Pitt has been turned down for jury duty in Los Angeles after being deemed too much of a distraction.

The 51-year-old actor and producer turned up to the Los Angeles criminal court on 11 December after receiving a summons, reports MailOnline. He was interviewed, along with a number of other potential jurors, but later found out that he had not been chosen to take part.

It is not unusual for Hollywood A-listers to find themselves summoned for court duty in LA. Potential jurors are picked randomly using driver’s licenses, state IDs and voter registration lists, and clerks often do not realise the notoriety of those invited to join juries until they turn up at court. Pitt himself was reportedly previously summoned for duty in 2003.

(Where's the quote function?)



 
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Why such huge writing?
Quote function is in the Insert... menu that pops up when you click on the '+' button.
 
:D

I've ensmallened it a bit and removed the formatting and lost the direct link that was in it, grr.

Brad Pitt, y'see - he distracts women. :oops:
 
Hints n' tips, Mrs Snail:

1. Paste the text.
2. Create any links you need to create.
3. Select all the text you want to quote.
4. Click on the + button and select the Quote option.

:cool:
 
Yup, I just cut/pasted the text I wanted, not realising that unlike the old board, this one doesn't strip out the formatting.
Dunno why it came out so big though.
 
A long-running war of words between an Australian and the official Scrabble body has finally been declared a draw by a state court.

The Victoria state magistrates’ court ruled the local chapter of the Australian Scrabble Players’ Association must overturn a years-old ruling that retired teacher Mohammed Hegazi had behaved in a manner “unbecoming” to the popular boardgame.

But Hegazi failed to persuade the court to declare he had never cheated while playing the 77-year-old game that’s played in 121 countries in 29 languages, Hegazi’s lawyer Robert Frajsman said.

Hegazi was also ordered to pay costs of A$3,000 (€2,000). ...

http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/...s-with-scrabble-body-ends-in-draw-305555.html
 
The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a complaint by the grandson of Josef Stalin over a Russian newspaper article that called the Soviet dictator a “bloodthirsty cannibal”.

The article appeared in the newspaper Novaya Gazeta in 2009.

Yevgeny Dzhugashvili first filed a defamation suit against the newspaper in a Russian court, which ruled against him.

Dzhugashvili then took the issue to the European court.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/euro-court-rejects-stalin-article-claim-307268.html
 
The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a complaint by the grandson of Josef Stalin over a Russian newspaper article that called the Soviet dictator a “bloodthirsty cannibal”.

I find it hard to follow the thought process that led to the complaint being made in the first place. There must be thousands of books and articles that identify Stalin as the murderer of millions, without legal action from the grandson, and "bloodthirsty cannibal" almost seems mild in comparison. Perhaps he has a particular animus against tautology...

Would be interesting to learn what the Russian courts would make of it these days :(
 
Probably too busy prosecuting the critics of Putin. There was another one mentioned in the paper today, being harassed.
 
The Brazilian judge presiding over criminal proceedings against charismatic entrepreneur Eike Batista, once Brazil’s richest man, was seen driving a Porsche belonging to the fallen tycoon that had been seized by the court.

Flavio Roberto de Souza, who is overseeing Batista’s trial for insider trading, was seen driving the white Porsche Cayenne by reporters for Estado de S Paulo’s news agency after a tip-off from Batista’s lawyer.

The car was one of several luxury vehicles confiscated by police earlier this month following a court order. Media said investigators had seized the cars because of concerns Batista had been selling or donating assets that were frozen as part of the insider trading case.

When asked why he was driving the Porsche, Souza told local business daily Valor Economico: “The Federal Police did not have a safe place for the car and it was exposed to sun, rain and possible damage. As I want the car to be preserved in good condition, I took it to a covered parking space (in the building where I live).” ...

http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/judge-seen-driving-porsche-of-brazilian-entrepreneur-314821.html
 
An attempted robbery trial in Liverpool collapsed when a Muslim swore an oath on the Bible instead of the Koran.

Michael Davies, 38, denies trying to rob Victoria Kebab House in Birkenhead while armed with a hammer last summer.

But while giving evidence at Liverpool Crown Court, it emerged the takeaway’s manager Kerim Kurt had sworn an oath on the wrong holy book.

The packed courtroom was cleared and the witness left the stand, before the judge said the trial could not proceed. ...
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-trial-collapses-after-muslim-8730891
 
Based on that logic, what book would they use for an atheist?
 
Atheists can choose to personally affirm that they will tell the truth.

Source: is a former Court Usher.
 
Burned at the steak

A man cannot seek damages for burns he suffered while bowing his head in prayer over a sizzling steak fajita skillet at a restaurant, a New Jersey appellate court has ruled.

The ruling upheld a lower court ruling which dismissed his lawsuit. The man claimed a waitress did not warn him the dish was hot, but the lower court found the food posed an “open and obvious” danger.

The incident happened at an Applebee’s in Burlington County in 2010. The man said he bowed his head, then heard a loud sizzle followed by a grease pop. He then felt a burning sensation in his left eye and on his face. The man said he panicked and knocked the food on his lap, causing more burns. The burns did not cause scarring.

http://tinyurl.com/lgoy27f
 
A Ferguson judge singled out by the Justice Department for the aggressive fines he has handed out reportedly owes the Internal Revenue Service about $170,000.

Judge Ronald Brockmeyer has a backlog of taxes due to the US government going back to 2007, according to the Guardian. The judge’s fining policies were singled out by the DOJ investigation into the Ferguson Police Department and city court system, and were found to be aggressive and used to unfairly target African Americans.

The federal tax liens filed against Judge Brockmeyer are for tens of thousands of dollars in overdue personal income taxes from multiple joint filings with his wife, Amy, according to tax filings obtained by the Guardian. He also owes tens of thousands in employer taxes for his law firm and an annual employer-paid tax meant to fund unemployment benefits. Since November 2013, Brockmeyer has paid off another three overdue tax bills totaling $64,599. ...

http://rt.com/usa/238577-ferguson-judge-owes-taxes/
 
A Chinese man who sued local government officials over an attack by a wild panda has won more than $80,000 in compensation, his lawyer said Monday.

The animals are renowned for their lovable appearance but despite their placid, bamboo-chewing image they are members of the bear family and have a fearsome bite.

The animal wandered into Liziba village, in the northwestern province of Gansu, where local officials trying to capture it chased it onto Guan Quanzhi's land, the Lanzhou Evening News reported.

"I saw a panda jump out in front of me, its body completely covered in mud," he told the newspaper. ...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/offbeat/chinese-man-wins-payout-over-panda-bite-lawyer/ar-AA9OM5H
 
A Greek court has convicted a dead man of stealing electricity from a power utility, giving him a six-month suspended jail sentence.

His defence lawyer, Christos Bakelas, told the Thessaloniki court that his client was dead.

He asked to have the trial deferred until he could deliver a death certificate. But the court refused, and on Tuesday convicted the man in absentia. ...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...gives-him-six-month-suspended-jail-sentence-0
 
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