Courtroom Antics & Trial Oddities

[intaglio]

Being nice is no excuse

Now I would have thought this verdict sends the wrong message

Do not try to be nice or someone will sue you for it

Friday February 4, 07:18 PM

Girls fined for giving neighbour cookies

DURANGO, Colorado (Reuters) - A Colorado judge ordered two teen-age girls to pay about $900 (480 pounds) for the distress a neighbour said they caused by giving her home-made cookies adorned with paper hearts.

The pair were ordered to pay $871.70 plus $39 in court costs after neighbour Wanita Renea Young, 49, filed a lawsuit complaining that the unsolicited cookies, left at her house after the girls knocked on her door, had triggered an anxiety attack that sent her to the hospital the next day.

Taylor Ostergaard, then 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitte, 18, paid the judgment on Thursday after a small claims court ruling by La Plata County Court Judge Doug Walker, a court clerk said on Friday.

The girls baked cookies as a surprise for several of their rural Colorado neighbours on July 31 and dropped off small batches on their porches, accompanied by red or pink paper hearts and the message: "Have a great night".

The Denver Post newspaper reported on Friday that the girls had decided to stay home and bake the cookies rather than go to a dance where there might be cursing and drinking.

It reported that six neighbours wrote letters entered as evidence in the case thanking the girls for the cookies.

But Young said she was frightened because the two had knocked on her door at about 10:30 p.m. and run off after leaving the cookies.

She went to a hospital emergency room the next day, fearing that she had suffered a heart attack, court records said.

The judge awarded Young her medical costs, but did not award punitive damages. He said he did not think the girls had acted maliciously but that 10:30 was fairly late at night for them to be out.

The law as Mr bumble observed "...is an Hass!"

 

[Anonymous]

:shock:


can i sue the post man too?

 

[OneWingedBird]

And all those gits who fill my letterbox guard with junkmail flyers everyday...

 

[Renigirl]

Not sure if this really belongs here, but it seemed more a weird crime than a courtroom antic. Though, with this story, I'm fairly sure the "crime" is that these girls got sued:

Girls get in trouble for delivering cookies to a neighbor
The Associated Press

DURANGO, Colo. — Two teenage girls who surprised their neighbors with homemade cookies late one night were ordered to pay nearly $900 in medical bills for a woman who says she was so startled that she had to go to the hospital.

Judge Doug Walker declined Thursday to award punitive damages, saying he did not believe the girls acted maliciously.

Taylor Ostergaard, 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, 18, baked the chocolate chip and sugar cookies one night last July. They made packages with a half-dozen cookies each and added large red or pink construction-paper hearts that carried the message, “Have a great night” and were signed with their first initials: “Love, The T and L Club.” Then they set off to make their deliveries.

Wanita Renea Young, 49, said she was at her rural home south of Durango around 10:30 p.m. when she said saw “shadowy figures” outside the house banging repeatedly on her door. She yelled, “Who’s there?” but no one answered, and the figures ran away.

Frightened, she spent the night at her sister’s home, then went to the hospital the next morning because she was still shaking and had an upset stomach.

The teenagers’ families offered to pay Young’s medical bills, but she declined and sued, saying their apologies were not sincere and were not offered in person.

The girls declined comment after the ruling. Taylor’s mother said the girl “cried and cried.”

“She felt she was being punished for doing something nice,” Jill Ostergaard said.

Young said the teenagers showed “very poor judgment”

“The victory wasn’t sweet,” Young said. “I’m not gloating about it. I just hope the girls learned a lesson.”

The teens said they did not answer when the woman called out because they wanted the treats to be a surprise.

Would you apologize in person to someone who wanted to press criminal charges against you for leaving cookies on their doorstep? I'd frankly be too intimidated to.

Granted, the girls could have chosen a better time than 10:30 p.m., but still. With all the stories out there about thuggish teens, drug-dealing teens, teens who commit violent crimes, etc., way to teach these two cookie-baking fiends a lesson. Gotta get those troublemakers off the street for sure.

Web version here.

 

[MrRING]

Suing the Dead

Music Industry Sues 83-Year-Old Dead Woman

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Gertrude Walton was recently targeted by the recording industry in a lawsuit that accused her of illegally trading music over the Internet. But Walton died in December after a long illness, and according to her daughter, the 83-year-old hated computers.

More than a month after Walton was buried in Beckley, a group of record companies named her as the sole defendant in a federal lawsuit, claiming she made more than 700 pop, rock and rap songs available for free on the Internet under the screen name "smittenedkitten."

Walton's daughter, Robin Chianumba, lived with her mother for the last 17 years and said her mother objected to having a computer in the house.

"My mother was computer illiterate. She hated a computer," Chianumba said. "My mother wouldn't know how to turn on a computer."

Chianumba said she faxed a copy of her mother's death certificate to record company officials several days before the lawsuit was filed, in response to a letter from the company regarding the upcoming legal filing.

"I believe that if music companies are going to set examples they need to do it to appropriate people and not dead people," Chianumba said. "I am pretty sure she is not going to leave Greenwood Memorial Park (where she is buried) to attend the hearing."

A Recording Industry Association of America spokesman said Thursday that Walton was likely not the smittenedkitten it is searching for.

"Our evidence gathering and our subsequent legal actions all were initiated weeks and even months ago," said RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy. "We will now, of course, obviously dismiss this case."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050204/ap_on_fe_st/music_lawsuit

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Judge Allegedly Had Sex Device Under Robes

POSTED: 12:54 pm PST February 9, 2005
UPDATED: 1:09 pm PST February 9, 2005

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma judge faces indecent exposure charges for allegedly masturbating in court.

Investigators in Oklahoma City charge that Judge Donald Thompson used a device called a "penis pump" under his robe during trials.

Thompson denies the allegations. He says the pump was a gag gift from a hunting buddy on his 50th birthday.

Thompson retired from the bench in August in the face of the embarrassing allegations, but now prosecutors have decided to press criminal charges.

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson expects there will be a string of appeals from defendants who were tried before Thompson, including those who faced murder charges. Investigators said they've recovered DNA samples from carpet, the judge's chair and his robes.


--------------
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press.

Source

 

[Renigirl]

A follow-up to this story posted a little further up:

Girls get in trouble for delivering cookies to a neighbor
The Associated Press

Colorado girls get help to pay court judgment over cookie gift, vow to ’keep giving’
The Associated Press

DENVER — Two teenagers whose anonymous gift of cookies sent a frightened woman to the hospital — costing the girls $930 in medical claims — have gotten donations to cover the bill and vowed Thursday to “keep giving.”

“We aren’t discouraged by this,” said Taylor Ostergaard after receiving a donation.

“We felt sorry for her and we still feel sorry,” Jo Zellitti added. “We didn’t want to cause this lady any harm at all.”

The pair, both 18, decided to bake cookies as a surprise treat for neighbors in July, placing them outside with big paper hearts stating, “Have a great night,” and signed, “Love, The T and L Club.”

Neighbor Wanita Renea Young, 49, said she heard banging on the door and saw “shadowy figures” who didn’t answer her calls. Frightened, she spent the night at her sister’s, and then went to the hospital the next day with an upset stomach, still shaking from fear.

The case wound up in court, with a judge earlier this month declining to award punitive damages but ordering the girls to pay Young’s medical bills.
In the aftermath, the girls became minor celebrities — a cookie company even created a “kindness cookie” in their honor — and received donations to pay the medical claims.

Young and her husband, Herb, say they’ve been hit by a backlash.
“We have got horrendous phone calls, tons of hate mail, threats to our life,” Herb Young said in a telephone interview Thursday.

“I don’t believe the girls meant for this to happen. But they could have prevented it from happening if they had just shut their mouths when they came out of (small claims) court. Now they are caught in something they can’t control.”

The parents of one of the teens asked for a restraining order against Herb Young, accusing him of making harassing calls.

He admitted calling the Ostergaards once after hearing the teens were talking to a newspaper, and at one point saying “the gloves (are) off,” which apparently was taken as a threat.

It's good to know at least that Wanita Young is married to someone equally as pleasant as she is.

Web version here.

 

[MrRING]

Plea in Hammer Attack Collapses
Girl's Parents Suing Gwinnet Schools Over Incident

LAWRENCEVILLE -- A Gwinnett County judge abruptly ended a hearing Friday in which the man who was accused of attacking a fourth-grader with a hammer three years ago was expected to plead guilty.

Judge Richard Winegarden cancelled the hearing and and indicated that he will schedule a trial in which the court will decide if Chad Brant Hagaman is competent enough to stand trial.

The judge's decision came after Hagaman made a rambling statement in Superior Court. "I've been hunted all my life by this Satanic, Satanic, Satanic man up there in government," Hagaman said. "It has to be CIA technology. No other, no other organization would be able to use that kind of technology." Hagaman testified he continues to hear voices in his head, which he has said prompted the attack.

Defense attorney Johnny Moore told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that a psychiatrist told him that Hagaman was not mentally competent to decide on a plea based on his behavior Friday morning in court. Hagaman, of Lilburn, is charged with aggravated battery, cruelty to children and carrying weapons on school property. The prosecution has recommended 50 years in confinement for Hagaman -- with 30 years in prison.

Elisabeth Leake, 10, was waiting in line at Mountain Park Elementary School in February 2002 when Hagaman allegedly came up behind her and hit her in the back of the head with a hammer, police said. The head of the hammer was imbedded in the girl's skull and she underwent emergency brain surgery. The girl recovered from the attack, but her family said she still suffers memory problems.

The girl's parents have filed a lawsuit against the Gwinnett County school system and staff members at the elementary school. The suit claims security at the school was inadequate to protect their daughter. It seeks unspecified damages.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/4188818/detail.html

 

[MrRING]

Singing Interrupts Smart Kidnap Hearing
By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer

SALT LAKE CITY - The drifter and self-proclaimed prophet accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart was removed from his competency hearing twice Wednesday for singing a religious song — the third time he has done that in court in recent months.

Brian David Mitchell, 51, and his wife, Wanda Barzee, 59, are charged with kidnapping, sexual assault and burglary in the 2002 abduction of the teenager. Mitchell was removed from the courtroom when he sang "Who's on the Lord's side? Who? Now is the time to show."

When Judge Judith Atherton later allowed him to return, he sang "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven's at hand," and was removed again. Atherton allowed the competency hearing to continue without Mitchell.

Last month, the judge delayed his hearing when Mitchell sang "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven's at hand." Atherton had ordered the hearings after Mitchell sang a Christmas hymn during a court appearance in December.

Prosecutors say Mitchell took Elizabeth into the foothills near her home, sexually assaulted her and kept her as his second wife. The excommunicated Mormon once wrote a rambling manifesto espousing the virtues of polygamy. Mitchell's wife has been declared incompetent to stand trial and is being treated at a state institution.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050216/ap_on_re_us/elizabeth_smart

 

[fluffle9]

Wanita Renea Young, 49, said she was at her rural home south of Durango around 10:30 p.m. when she said saw “shadowy figures” outside the house banging repeatedly on her door. She yelled, “Who’s there?” but no one answered, and the figures ran away.

anyone who gets frightened by something as innocuous as someone banging on the door at 10pm ought to try living around here for a while.
and, "shadowy figures"? - get a porch light.

 

[Renigirl]

Judge will not stop baby from being removed from life support
The Associated Press

HOUSTON — An infant with an often-lethal skeletal disorder can be removed from life support against his mother’s wishes, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Probate Court Judge William C. McCulloch’s decision lifted a restraining order that kept Wanda Hudson’s 4-month-old son, Sun, on life support.

Texas Children’s Hospital officials have said no treatment can save the infant, and they wanted to remove him from life support. Hudson believes her son will recover and had fought to keep him on the ventilator he has used since birth.

The dispute centers around the legal standard over hospital care in Texas. Under state law, a hospital must continue care if there is a reasonable probability that another hospital will admit the patient.

The mother’s attorney argued there is a reasonable chance another hospital would take the infant, which would mandate continued care. But hospital lawyers said state officials have contacted almost 40 facilities and none have been willing to care for Sun.

“I’m not saying whether they can or can’t, but I am saying that they are not restrained” in removing life support, the judge said. “I am no longer prohibiting the hospital from removing Sun from life support.”

Hudson’s lawyer, Mario Caballero, said he would appeal.

The hospital has set no timetable for when it plans to disconnect Sun from life support.

“We are deeply saddened that no treatment can save this child,” the hospital said in a statement. “We will try to work as closely as possible with Ms. Hudson regarding the future of Sun’s care.”

The infant suffers from thanatophoric dysplasia, a genetic condition characterized by extremely short limbs, a narrow chest, small ribs and underdeveloped lungs. Infants usually are stillborn or die shortly after birth from respiratory failure. There have been rare documented cases of survivors, however.

“He is slowly suffocating to death because his lungs lack the capability to support his body,” the hospital said.

Sun’s mother appeared agitated in the courtroom and spoke to judge for several minutes during the hearing.

“I was told what to do by Sun,” she said. “I don’t understand all this legal stuff. But please give Sun time to allow Sun to create Sun.”

Hudson has not seen her son in more than a month but believes she communicates with him telepathically.

There's a web version here, but it's not the exact same story.

 

[lopaka]

BTW, I believe the prosecutor in the Robert Blake case, after the acquittal, described the jurors as being "a bunch of glue-sniffing morons" or words to that effect.

Anyway, on to more good stuff:

Police: Former Chief Tried to Eat Evidence


IMPERIAL, Pa. (AP) - A former police chief accused of stealing tried to eat a piece of evidence - a receipt - during a court hearing, authorities said.

Darryl Briston scuffled with a state trooper during a preliminary hearing Thursday and elbowed the officer when he tried to stop Briston from eating the receipt, police said. Briston was later charged with aggravated assault and tampering with evidence.

The theft allegations relate to Briston's off-duty work at a tavern.

He was working as a security guard in October 2003 when the tavern's owner, Raymond Hovan, tried to get his attention by tapping on his cruiser's windshield with a beer cooler gasket. The chief accused him of damaging the cruiser's windshield.

Briston eventually collected $1,334 from Hovan to fix the car, but the repair work was never done, police said. Briston cashed the check and never put the money in the borough's general fund, police said.

Briston has denied the theft allegations, and said he didn't try to eat the receipt. He told KDKA-TV after posting bond Friday that the trooper was trying to take his evidence and when he resisted, the trooper scuffled with him.

Briston, 41, of Penn Hills, was fired last year as police chief in Rankin when he was convicted for stealing $5,885 in cash seized as evidence by police and falsifying receipts to cover it up. Briston was sentenced in January to more than three years in prison in that case.


03/25/05 13:08

© Copyright The Associated Press.

SOURCE

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

BTW, I believe the prosecutor in the Robert Blake case, after the acquittal, described the jurors as being "a bunch of glue-sniffing morons" or words to that effect.

Something along those lines:

Prosecutor: Blake jurors were 'incredibly stupid'

Thursday, March 24, 2005 Posted: 1554 GMT (2354 HKT)



LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- District Attorney Steve Cooley says Robert Blake was "guilty as sin" and the jurors who acquitted him of murder were "incredibly stupid."

A jury last week found the former "Baretta" star not guilty in the 2001 slaying of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, who was shot in a car outside a restaurant where the couple had dined. (Blake acquitted)

Jurors acquitted Blake of one murder count as well as one count of solicitation of murder. They deadlocked on a second solicitation count, with the vote 11-1 in favor of a not-guilty verdict.

"Quite frankly, based on my review of the evidence, he is as guilty as sin. He is a miserable human being," Cooley said Wednesday.

Blake's attorney, M. Gerald Schwartzbach, said the district attorney's attack on the jurors was inappropriate and "small-minded."

Juror Chuck Safko said: "To hear him say we aren't a smart jury is sour grapes. They didn't have a good case. Their case was built around witnesses who weren't truthful."

-------------------
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

Source

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Patient who gouged out eyes sues hospital

By CP


MONTREAL -- A psychiatric patient who gouged out both of his eyes while in a state of religious delirium is suing two Montreal hospitals, claiming they are responsible for failing to prevent his gruesome self-inflicted injuries.

Now blind, disfigured, jobless and socially isolated, the 47-year-old man is suing the McGill University Health Centre and the Douglas Hospital.

According to a statement of claim filed Friday in Quebec Superior Court, Maurice Arseneault is a paranoid schizophrenic suffering from bipolar disorder. He has been in and out of the Douglas since age 19.

In August 1998, he was being treated as an outpatient when he began hallucinating about God and demons.

The court documents say Arseneault told his case worker and doctor at least twice that he wanted to be hospitalized but they changed his medication and increased the dosage.

Things soon spiralled out of control.

"On Aug. 30, the plaintiff went to Dorval airport on a mission to find God, reasoning (that) to reach heaven, he needed to take an airplane," the documents say.

Then he returned home and cut the telephone and cable-TV wires to his home and cut up all his credit cards.

Later that day he returned to the airport to ask travellers for help finding God.

When the RCMP approached Arseneault, he told them he wanted to be sent to the Douglas.

"The plaintiff remembers asking the ambulance attendants (who escorted him) to restrain him because he was afraid of himself," the lawsuit states.

Fifteen minutes after he was brought to the Douglas, Arseneault was put in an isolation room. He looked out the window, asked God to forgive his sins and recalled the Bible passage "eye for eye" before extracting his left eye and throwing it on the ground, the suit says.

Medical personnel rushed in and put the eye in a glass of water.

Arseneault was transported to the Montreal General Hospital, a branch of the university hospital centre.

Days later, he asked a nurse at the Montreal General to undo his restraints. She complied. Arseneault immediately tore out his right eye, the court papers claim.

The nurse began crying.

Arseneault's lawyer, Martin Larocque, said: "Both hospitals had an obligation ... to protect Mr. Arseneault from himself."

The McGill University Hospital Centre did not comment Friday.

Arseneault's eyes could not be saved.

He said he launched his suit because as a longtime patient with a history of suicide attempts, the Douglas should have hospitalized him much sooner.

"They need to keep their eyes open, to use a pun," Arseneault said.

Source

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Conviction appealed after jurors find confession in pocket

Pair of pants examined during deliberations

Thursday, April 14, 2005 Posted: 1409 GMT (2209 HKT)



ST. GEORGE, South Carolina (AP) -- A man found guilty of rape last month is appealing his conviction because jurors found a confession that was never offered as evidence in the pocket of a pair of pants they examined during deliberations.

Stanley Bradley, 41, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after a jury convicted him March 3 of criminal sexual conduct, burglary and kidnapping in the 2004 rape of a Calhoun County woman.

During the three-day trial, prosecutors did not enter a written confession into evidence because they could not find a copy.

Once the jury began to deliberate, they were given a pair of Bradley's pants that were put in evidence. In one of the pockets, they found a confession, according to testimony at a hearing last week.

Immediately after the guilty verdict, prosecutor Angie Martin told the judge, a juror told her: "I just want to let you know there was a statement in the pants."

Bradley's lawyer, public defender Martin Banks, said his client deserves a new trial. "The plain fact is, when the jury went into deliberations, they took the clothing," Banks said. "And in the pants, there was this document. It was in the pants pockets and the jury read it."

Prosecutor David Pascoe said the defense set this up because Banks found the confession when he searched the pants before they were placed in evidence.

"It's the state's position that you cannot allow an error and expect to come back and ask for a new trial," Pascoe said. "He (Banks) stated he knew there was a piece of paper in those pants, a warrant or something."

The judge that sentenced him, Circuit Judge Dianne Goodstein, must now decide whether to give Bradley a new trial, and she said she had "grave concerns" about the matter. "What I am left with is a statement that is prejudicial to the defendant," she said.

Even if he gets a new trial, the confession could come back to haunt Bradley.

"We would attempt to enter it into evidence," Pascoe said.


-----------------------
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

Source

 

[lopaka]

Doesn't the judge normally instruct jurors that if something hasn't been entered into evidence they can't consider it as evidence??? I mean, I've served on a jury before, and nothing as serious as those charges. When they first found the note nobody out of the twelve spoke up and "I don't think we should be read this." Or "The foreperson needs to call the baliff." :? Trial by jury is one of the great democratic things about our legal system, but sometimes...

The influence of too many TV shows where the plucky, heroic juror finds the hidden evidence to convict (or exonorate) the defendant at the last minute? Sheesh.

 

[MrRING]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050524/ap_on_re_us/elizabeth_smart

Accused Smart Kidnapper Booted From Court By PAUL FOY, Associated Press Writer

SALT LAKE CITY - A street preacher charged with kidnapping teenager Elizabeth Smart was removed from court Tuesday after shouting Biblical admonitions, the fifth time he has been removed from hearings for such a disruption. Brian David Mitchell was in his defense chair only seconds before the outburst: "Awaken, arise Israel. Come forth, Babylon. Repent, repent for the kingdom."

Mitchell's loud voice could be heard from down the hall after he was taken away from the hearing to gauge his mental fitness for trial. The hearing resumed Tuesday after a two-month break.

Prosecution expert Noel Gardner, who testified in March that Mitchell was competent to stand trial, said Mitchell's conduct Tuesday was "outrageous and bizarre" but not evident of a mental disease. "I think his (religious) ideas are extraordinarily irrational but just because you're irrational doesn't mean you have a mental disease. All of us hold irrational ideas," Gardner testified.

In spite of Mitchell's repeated interruptions, Judge Judith Atherton has allowed the hearings to continue without him. Mitchell, 51, a self-proclaimed messenger of God, is accused of kidnapping then 14-year-old Elizabeth in 2002, sexually assaulting her and keeping her as his second wife.

Defense mental health expert Stephen Golding has said Mitchell vowed to do everything possible to disrupt the trial and has said he will not allow Elizabeth — who he contends is his wife — to be questioned on the witness stand. Golding didn't diagnose Mitchell as schizophrenic but also had not ruled it out.

Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, 59, are charged with kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated burglary and attempted aggravated kidnapping. He is also charged in the attempted abduction of Elizabeth's cousin. Barzee, who has filed for divorce, has been ruled incompetent to stand trial and is being treated at a state facility.

 

[lopaka]

Seems at least as applicable here as the RIP thread. From an obit that appeared in the Telegraph. You English eccentrics...

Patrick Pakenham
(Filed: 22/06/2005)

Patrick Pakenham, who has died aged 68, was a talented barrister and the second son of the 7th Earl and Countess of Longford; highly intelligent, articulate and possessed of an attractive and powerful voice, Pakenham could have attained great professional heights, but his boisterous nature and bouts of mental illness rendered it impossible for him to adhere to the routine required to sustain his position at the Bar, and he retired after 10 years' practice.

During his legal career, Pakenham became something of a legend, and, 25 years on, accounts of his exploits are still current. During his appearance before an irascible and unpopular judge in a drugs case, the evidence, a bag of cannabis, was produced. The judge, considering himself an expert on the subject, said to Pakenham, with whom he had clashed during the case: "Come on, hand the exhibit up to me quickly." Then he proceeded to open the package. Inserting the contents in his mouth, he chewed it and announced: "Yes, yes of course that is cannabis. Where was the substance found, Mr Pakenham?" The reply came swiftly, if inaccurately: "In the defendant's anus, my Lord."

Pakenham's final appearance in court has been variously recorded. As defence counsel in a complicated fraud case, he was due to address the court during the afternoon session, and had partaken of a particularly well-oiled lunch.

"Members of the jury," he began, "it is my duty as defence counsel to explain the facts of this case on my client's behalf; the Judge will guide you and advise you on the correct interpretation of the law and you will then consider your verdict. Unfortunately," Pakenham went on, "for reasons which I won't go into now, my grasp of the facts is not as it might be. The judge is nearing senility; his knowledge of the law is pathetically out of date, and will be of no use in assisting you to reach a verdict. While by the look of you, the possibility of you reaching a coherent verdict can be excluded." He was led from the court.

SOURCE

 

[Leaferne]

I am consistently impressed and envious at the quality and prominence of English eccentrics, to be quite honest.

 

[TheQuixote]

Monday July 4, 09:44 AM

Russian astrologist sues NASA over comet crash

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian astrologist who says NASA has altered her horoscope by crashing a spacecraft into a comet is suing the U.S. space agency for damages of $300 million, local media reported on Monday.

NASA deliberately crashed its probe, named Deep Impact, into the Tempel 1 comet to unleash a spray of material formed billions of years ago which scientists hope will shed new light on the composition of the solar system.

"It is obvious that elements of the comet's orbit, and correspondingly the ephemeris, will change after the explosion, which interferes with my astrology work and distorts my horoscope," Izvestia daily quoted astrologist Marina Bai as saying in legal documents submitted before Monday's collision.

A spokeswoman for a Moscow district court said initial preparations for the case were underway but could not say when the hearing would begin. NASA representatives in Moscow were unavailable for comment.

source

see this for news on the Comet Tempel 1

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Thursday, June 30, 2005

Doing time, easy; preventing clone, hard

Facing jail for drugs, man worries state will misuse his DNA

By Sharon Coolidge
Enquirer staff writer


Elijah Walker's hearing in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Wednesday sounded more like a science-fiction movie than a sentence for cocaine possession.

Walker said he wanted to plead guilty, even though he'd have to serve six months in prison.

But he raised an issue Judge Melba Marsh hadn't heard before: He didn't want to give a sample of his DNA, fearing the state might use it to clone him.

"I don't know what you're going to do with it," Walker told the judge. "You could do all kinds of things with it. I just know I have to protect it."

Marsh explained that Ohio requires most convicted felons to give a DNA sample, which is then entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), where the samples are compared to a database of DNA evidence collected from unsolved crimes in Ohio and throughout the country. All matches are reported to the appropriate law-enforcement agencies.

"Uh-huh," the 35-year-old Price Hill man said skeptically.

"If you're concerned you're going to see another one of you walking down the street, you don't have to worry," Marsh said.

When Walker replied with more skepticism, Marsh got tough.

"I don't want to have to tie you down and bind you, but we're going to get that sample," she told Walker.

Walker said he didn't want that either and agreed to give a DNA sample. Samples are taken in prison.

Failure to provide a sample could result in more penalties.

Walker pleaded guilty and Marsh gave him six months.

Walker was charged with possession of cocaine May 13 after trying to rent a room at the Rest Inn on Central Parkway.

Cincinnati police found powder cocaine on Walker before taking him to the Hamilton County Justice Center, said assistant prosecutor Kevin Hardman.

"I'm not sure the state really wants another Elijah Walker," he said.

Source

 

[ramonmercado]

Kansas AG 'Inadvertently' Might Have Sued Himself

Kansas AG 'Inadvertently' Might Have Sued Himself In Lawsuit To Stop State From Financing Abortions For Medicaid Beneficiaries
13 Jan 2006

Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline (R) "inadvertently" might have sued himself as part of a lawsuit filed in Shawnee County District Court that would force the state to stop financing abortions for Medicaid beneficiaries, according to Nick Badgerow, an attorney representing Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), the Topeka Capital-Journal reports (Fry, Topeka Capital-Journal, 1/10). The lawsuit -- filed by Kline in August 2005 -- seeks to define the moment of conception as the beginning of life in order to support the argument that abortion violates an individual's right to life under the state constitution. "The continued expenditure of state funds as reimbursement for elective pregnancy termination is unlawful because the use of state funds for reimbursement of such pregnancy terminations involves the state in the destruction of the lives of 'men' without due process of law," the lawsuit says. Sebelius -- who is named as a defendant in the suit, along with Secretary of Administration Duane Goossen and Bob Day, the director of the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services' Division of Health Policy and Finance -- in October 2005 filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Sebelius' attorneys have argued that federal law requires the state to cover the cost of abortions in cases of rape or incest or when the woman's health is in danger and that the state could be at risk of losing federal Medicaid funding if the practice were banned (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/21/05). Badgerow, who on Monday appeared before Shawnee County District Court Judge David Bruns seeking to dismiss the suit, said Kline oversees the state Crime Victims Reparations Board -- which also could provide funding for rape and sexual assault survivors to cover the cost of an abortion -- and therefore could be a defendant in his lawsuit (AP/Kansas City Star, 1/10). State Rep. Lance Kinzer (R), who also is the lawyer representing Kline, said the case could become "interesting" if the board becomes involved in the lawsuit. Bruns accepted Sebelius' motion to dismiss the case for consideration and said he will decide on the issue at a later time, according to the Capital-Journal (Topeka Capital-Journal, 1/10).

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medical ... sid=36099#

 

[MrRING]

LINK

Spectator Held at Ex-Mayor's Trial

Web Editor: Michael King
Reported By: Jerry Carnes


The federal corruption trial of former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell was disrupted on Wednesday when marshals took a spectator into custody.

The ordeal started when Campbell's former personal assistant ended his testimony in which he claimed to have delivered cash bribes to the then-mayor on behalf of a nightclub owner. Once Dewey Clark left the stand, he approached a federal marshal and said a man in the courthouse had looked at him and made a slashing motion across his neck. Clark told the marshal that the man, later identified as 31-year-old Paul Debnan, had called him previously to urge him not to testify against Campbell.

“Basically, that he would suffer bodily harm or death if he were to testify in this case. A lot of this we don’t know,” said U.S. Marshal Richard Mecum.

Debnum was released after he wrote out an apology, and agreed not to come back to the federal courthouse during Campbell’s trial.

Following Clark's testimony, Campbell's former executive secretary took the witness stand and testified that Clark had told her about delivering cash bribes from a nightclub owner to Campbell. She said Clark once showed her a wad of cash and said some of that money was intended for Campbell. She also testified that she once overheard a conversation between Campbell and Clark in which Clark said, "You know you took that boy's money," to which the former mayor responded, "Technically I didn't. You did."

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Lawyer Dons Dominatrix Mask in Mass. Trial

Friday, January 27, 2006


(01-27) 16:28 PST Dedham, Mass. (AP) --

A prosecutor put on a black leather mask and re-enacted a bondage session Friday at a dominatrix's manslaughter trial, telling the jury the woman did nothing to help her client when he suffered a heart attack.

Prosecutor Robert Nelson also dumped a box of hoods, collars and paddles onto a table during his closing arguments, declaring that 56-year-old Barbara Asher was trying to protect her business and "that's why she didn't call the police."

The jury deliberated for about four hours on Friday before being sent home until Monday morning.

Asher, who called herself Mistress Lauren M, is charged with manslaughter and dismemberment in Michael Lord's death.

Lord, a 53-year-old retired telephone company worker from North Hampton, N.H., died in 2000 while strapped to a replica of a medieval torture device in Asher's Quincy condominium, according to police. His body was never found.

Police said Asher confessed that she and her boyfriend chopped up Lord's body in the bathtub and dumped it behind a restaurant in Maine.

In a re-enactment for the jury, the prosecutor donned the mask, and with both hands, reached back and clutched the top of a blackboard to simulate how Lord was strapped.

"After a gasp, his head went forward and she did nothing, nothing for five minutes," Nelson said, his voice muffled as he spoke through the zippered mouth opening.

Lord's attorney objected, and Judge Charles Grabau agreed.

"That's enough, Mr. Nelson," the judge said. "Thank you for your demonstration."

Defense attorney Stephania Page told the jury that prosecutors failed to produce any incriminating evidence. "No body. No blood. No DNA. No evidence," Page said.

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n ... pe=bondage

 

[ramonmercado]

India's longest unresolved court case?

India's longest unresolved court case?


By Soutik Biswas
BBC News, Calcutta


Aloke Krishna Deb, a retired clerk, looks around a decaying colonial family mansion in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta and rues that there isn't just enough money to take care of the property.



"We are kings in letter and spirit. But our inherited properties remain in the hands of a court appointed receiver," he says gloomily.

That is why Mr Deb, a sixth generation scion of Raja Rajkrishna Deb, a leading 17th century urban zamindar (landlord) of Calcutta, wants the local high court to free the family property.

Nearly 170 years after a British court appointed a receiver to take possession of Raja Rajkrishna Deb's properties, his successors - some 200 family members, including over 50 family 'heads' - are now demanding they be allowed to take charge of the property.

The property is, on paper, substantial - some seven colonial mansions in north Calcutta, nearly 100,000 acres of land in what is now Bangladesh, large tracts of land in at least three districts of West Bengal state, and half of erstwhile Sutanati, one of the three villages that eventually went on to comprise modern day Calcutta.

But the old British court, on paper, continues to 'possess' this property and, according to Amal Krishna Deb, the "case is still alive".


Mr Deb says that about 400 successors of Raja Rajkrishna Deb are heirs to this property today. "We are planning to file an appeal to the high court asking it for the removal of the court receiver for distribution of the property among the rightful heirs," he says.

Raja Rajakrishan Deb died "on or about 1823" leaving a will in Bengali language dated 13 June 1823, according to early legal documents. In the will, he had bequeathed his estate to his "seven surviving sons in equal shares".

Dispute

The story of what possibly could be the longest unresolved court case in India, began on 16 September 1836, when a British colonial court, the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal, appointed an British man Elliot Macnaghtan, the "receiver of the rents and profits of the estate of Raja Rajkrishna Deb".


We are still kings in letter and spirit

Aloke Krishna Deb
A family advocate, Shyamal Ganguly, says the court took the decision after a family member went to the court after a dispute over the property.

"Since then, no decision has been taken to hand over the property back to the inheritors. Now the city high court possesses the property. And the case hangs fire," he says.

It will not be easy for the courts to take a decision on the Deb family properties.


Since they were taken over by the court nearly two centuries ago, the zamindar (colonial rentiers) system has been abolished, India has been partitioned (a substantial amount of the land once owned by Raja Rajkrishna Deb is now in Bangladesh), and Sutanuti exists only in the history books as one of the three villages from which Calcutta was born.


Raja Rajkrishna Deb and his more famous father Raja Nabakrishna Deb belonged to what historian Chitra Deb says to one of the "great houses of Bengal".

"These families were not the founding fathers of the city, their wealth did not come from family trade or landed property or wealth, but from being allies of British colonial rulers. The wealth came from skilful tending of British interests," she says.

Chitra Deb reckons there were 69 such rich families in Bengal in the late 18th and early 19th centuries with their members most working as intermediaries and middlemen between the British and Indians "conducting trade, collecting debt or looking after accounts".


Today, most of these families have fallen upon hard times with many members working in low paying government jobs and running small businesses.


Halcyon days


Their colonial style merchant mansions are decaying and the large scale religious and cultural festivals hosted by the families are a thing of the past.



The Deb family homes are decaying

Time stands still in many of the family homes in north Calcutta (the erstwhile 'Black Town' of the city where the natives lived, far away from the ruling British quarter) with rooms stacked with antiques attracting heritage photographers or documentary film makers.

This is a far cry from the halcyon days of these "Bengali Hindu parvenus", as a commentator described them, when they lived lavishly, even entertaining Europeans.

Raja Rajkrishna Deb's wealthy father, Raja Nabakrishna, had a dance room built and hosted a party in 1781 to celebrate the birthday of a reigning British beauty called Miss Wrangham.

Now Aloke Krishna Deb and some 50 other family heads want to get some of that glory back by taking control of the property still vested with the courts.

"We could then have more control over our destiny," he says.

It is difficult to say what exactly the court can now decide - many observers in Calcutta say that the family is "day dreaming" and chances of regaining any property are dim.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5003438.stm

 

[MrRING]

LINK

Geriatric Murder Trial Starts
Provided By: The Associated Press
Last Modified: 6/19/2006 5:20:46 PM

ATLANTA (AP) -- Jury selection began today in Atlanta for a 79-year-old woman accused of fatally shooting an 85-year-old ex-boyfriend at their senior citizens home.

But prosecutors might have a hard time finding a jury of peers for Lena Sims Driskell. She is nearly a decade older than the legal age for exemption as a juror in Georgia, which is 70.

Of the 58 potential jurors at the start of jury selection, all but five appeared to be younger than 65. A list of the potential jurors' ages was not immediately available. Driskell is accused of killing Herman Winslow last June as he sat reading a newspaper. Police said Driskell became angry after Winslow broke off their relationship and started seeing another woman.

Deborah Poole, Driskell's attorney, said her client is being deprived of her constitutional right to a fair trial because she will not be judged by a jury of her peers.

Jennifer Lawson, the Superior Court jury clerk in Fulton County, said that while senior citizens are not excluded from jury service, any person 70 or older may be excused from jury duty with the submission of an age affidavit. Opening statements in the trial could begin tomorrow. The trial is expected last no more than three days.

 

[WhistlingJack]

Here Cum de Judge...

Penis pump judge faces stiff sentence

By Lester Haines

Published Thursday 29th June 2006 11:52 GMT

A retired US judge is himself before the beak in Bristow, Oklahoma, "on charges he used a penis pump on himself in the courtroom while sitting in judgment of others", AP reports.

The trial of Donald D Thompson, 59, has reportedly provoked much courtroom merriment as the jury has been entertained by both a defence attorney and prosecutor indulging in "pantomime masturbation" and a former juror in Thompson's court identifying the sound of the pump because "he had seen such devices in Austin Powers and Dead Man on Campus".

A key witness in the trial has been former court reporter Lisa Foster. In giving testimony, she "wiped away tears as she described tracing an unfamiliar 'sh-sh' in the courtroom to her boss". Foster alleges that between 2001 and 2003 she saw the judge expose himself "at least 15 times", adding: "I was really shocked and I was kind of scared because it was so bizarre."

Foster further testified that during a 2002 trial, she heard the pump "during the emotional testimony of a murdered toddler's grandfather". She continued: "The grandfather was getting real teary-eyed, and the judge was up there pumping on that pump. It was sickening."

Thompson's pneumatic proceedings came to an end after a police officer heard the pump's distinctive signature during a case, and photographed the device during a recess. Thompson was charged with four counts of indecent exposure - each carrying a 10-year maximum sentence - and faces the possible withdrawal of his substantial $7,489.91 a month pension if found guilty.

From the witness box, Thompson claimed the pump was "a gag gift from a longtime friend with whom he had joked about erectile dysfunction". He admitted keeping it under the bench or in his office, but denied he'd ever used it. He added: "In 20-20 hindsight, I should have thrown it away."

Moments of light relief in the trial have included the aforementioned Austin Powers connection, offered by Daniel Greenwood, and expert witness Dr S Edward Dakil who "repeatedly prompted laughter" with his urology testimony.

When challenged by defense attorney Clark Brewster that the penis pump was "an out-of-date treatment for erectile dysfunction", Dakil asserted: "I still use those." After a suitable pause, Brewster enquired: "Not you, personally?" to which Dakil responded to jury laughter: "No. I recommend those as a urologist." ®

© Copyright 2006

 

[rynner2]

Solicitor's cheeky court protest

A solicitor could face disciplinary action after dropping his trousers inside a court corridor in protest against new security measures.
Willie Johnstone was one of a group of defence solicitors protesting against new measures introduced last week at Sunderland Magistrates' Court.

New rules mean everyone is searched as they enter courts through main doors.

A spokesman for Her Majesty's Court Service said they were treating the incident "very seriously".

Defence solicitors claim the measures discriminate against them because they do not apply to prosecutors, magistrates or court staff, who get into the building through a back door.

Court users

Mr Johnstone, who works for Harding, Swinburne, Jackson & Co in the city, is currently on holiday in Thailand and was not available for comment.

No-one at the firm was available for comment.

But a spokesman for Her Majesty's Court Service, said: "Sunderland Magistrates' Court has filed a complaint.

"We have a duty of care to all court users and any people entering the court building via the public entrance must be searched.

"The policy applies to everyone, including solicitors.

"We are taking this incident very seriously and we are considering what action to take."

The Law Society said it had not received any formal complaints about Mr Johnstone's behaviour.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/4799155.stm

 

[Nemo]

A new twist on...Waiting to see your (legal) brief/s before going into court

 

[rynner2]

A Fortean one here!

Filipino 'dwarf' judge loses case

A Philippines judge who said he consulted imaginary mystic dwarves has failed to convince the Supreme Court to allow him to keep his job.
Florentino Floro was appealing against a three-year inquiry which led to his removal due to incompetence and bias.

He told investigators three mystic dwarves - Armand, Luis and Angel - had helped him to carry out healing sessions during breaks in his chambers.

The court said psychic phenomena had no place in the judiciary.

The bench backed a medical finding that the judge was suffering from psychosis.

'Dwarf dalliance'

The Manila trial judge had asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the complaint and return him to the bench, after being sacked in April.

"They should not have dismissed me for what I believed," Mr Floro told reporters after filing his appeal in May.

The judge said he had made a covenant with his dwarf friends that he could write while in a trance and that he had been seen by several people in two places at the same time.

Judge Floro reportedly changed from blue court robes to black each Friday "to recharge his psychic powers".

In a letter to the court he said: "From obscurity, my name and the three mystic dwarves became immortal."

However, the Supreme Court said dalliance with dwarves would gradually erode the public's acceptance of the judiciary as the guardian of the law, if not make it an object of ridicule.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p ... 261856.stm