The trial was over. Lori Drew, 50, had been convicted by a jury of three misdemeanor charges of gaining unauthorized access to MySpace computers. Click here for the background story.
She had been acquitted of three felony charges of violating the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The jury had deadlocked on a remaining felony charge of conspiracy. All that remained was for U.S. District Judge George Wu, who presided over the case, to determine what her sentence would be. Lori Drew faced a maximum of 3 years in jail and a $30,000 fine.
But not so fast…..the judge decided that the jury conviction was wrong and over ruled them. Judge George Wu overturned the guilty verdicts against Lori Drew, issuing a directed acquittal on the three misdemeanor charges. The judge reminded participants that it was only a tentative ruling until he files it in writing.
“It basically leaves it up to a website owner to determine what is a crime,” said Wu, echoing what critics of the case have been saying for months. “And therefore it criminalizes what would be a breach of contract.”
Wu told Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Krause that if Drew had been convicted of the felonies, he would have let the convictions stand, and would have already sentenced her. But the misdemeanor convictions troubled him, because of the vague wording of the statute. “I don’t see how the misdemeanor aspect would be constitutional,” he said. “That is the issue I’m wrestling with at this time.”
Prosecutors have the option of appealing. They had already filed to have the deadlocked fourth conspiracy charge dismissed without prejudice, but indicated they could continue to pursue that charge as well.
Keith Wright, 50, from the Bronx, is in federal custody after an incident on a US Airways flight to Los Angeles. Mr. Wright is not a terrorist, nor were his actions a threat to anyone on board the aircraft. He simply removed all his clothes and refused several requests by the flight attendant to put them back on. He did however become combative when the attendant attempted to cover him with a blanket.
Wright, who suffers from a bipolar disorder, and 148 other passengers boarded US Airways flight 705 in Charlotte, NC, bound for Los Angeles on Tuesday evening (6/30/09). He later admitted to authorities that he had not taken his prescription medication that morning before leaving New York. He was seen dancing in a crowded boarding area before the flight, but when approached by Flight Service Supervisor Claudia Kearney, he told her he had drunk one beer. Kearney said she did not smell alcohol on him and determined he was well enough to travel.
Wright boarded the plane with the other passengers and took his seat in the back of the aircraft. It was some time during the flight that Wright decided to take off all his clothes.
“I fell asleep and the ladies fell asleep and I woke up and I turned and she was gone and I was like oh my gosh, this guy is naked!” passenger Lynette Naude said.
Passengers said it was a sight to see. Cell phone pictures taken from inside the plane showed a passenger, identified as Keith Wright from the Bronx, sitting naked in his seat near the rear of the plane.
“One of the flight attendants tried to get the guy to respond, but she got nothing. But then when they tried to cover the guy up, get his clothes back on he started getting physically aggressive,” one passenger said.
Wright was unresponsive when a flight attendant asked him to put his clothes back on, said Dan Jiron, a spokesman for the Albuquerque airport. “She asked him on more than one occasion to put on his clothes. She covered him with a blanket and he took that off,” Jiron said. That was whenWright punched and kicked the flight attendant, who then asked two off-duty law officers for help.
“We actually had to physically hold him down on the floor and um, handcuff his ankles, his wrists,” said Matt McGinnis, who, along with a Los Angeles Police officer and an L.A. sheriff’s deputy, helped restrain the man.
The flight attendants also were dealing with an unrelated onboard medical emergency at the same time, which exacerbated the situation, the FBI said. The aircraft was diverted, to Albuquerque, NM, because of the medical emergency, and Wright’s actions were a secondary reason for the unplanned landing, the complaint said.
“All of a sudden there was a bunch of activity and a lot of loud things going on and all of a sudden people started getting out of their seats in the back of the plane,” she said.
The people on the flight were notified of a violent passenger as the plane began to approach Albuquerque, but Keegan said no one was fearful.
“No one was really panicking. The flight attendants seemed to handle it very well,” she said. Keegan said the man was “completely naked” as he was taken in handcuffs off the plane.
Roger Finzel, an assistant federal public defender representing Wright, said he has not yet met with his client and had no information about the case other than what was in the complaint. Wright is in federal custody on a federal charge of interfering with flight crew members and attendants. He is expected to appear in federal court in Albuquerque on Thursday.
The flight was delayed about an hour. Wright told the FBI he recalled nothing about the flight or his behavior.
As the plane took off again, Keegan said the usual announcement to please fasten your seat belts came over the loudspeakers with a twist. The message included “a reminder to everybody to please keep your clothing on. It got a couple chuckles,” Keegan said.
A 43-year-old French policeman from the town of Strasbourg in eastern France has committed suicide in jail. He was arrested after he chopped off the penis of his wife’s lover. The father of five, who had been placed on a suicide watch, killed himself using a bed sheet and left a farewell letter, a prison spokesman said.
According to prosecutors, the policeman went over to his wife’s lover’s house in the nearby town of Reichshoffen, knocked his 54-year-old rival senseless, dragged him into his garage and castrated him using a box cutter. He then told neighbors to call an ambulance and surrendered himself to fellow officers.
Charged with “a barbarous act of torture and mutilation” the man had faced a maximum of 30 years in jail. An initial psychiatric report concluded that he acted in cold blood, and recommended that he be detained in a psychiatric facility. He reportedly told the psychiatrist that he wanted “to punish his rival.“
Four young Somali men screamed in pain and blood flowed freely, as first their right hand and then their left foot was severed from their bodies, amputated by masked men using long knives known as machetes. The men aged between 18 and 25 were accused of, and plead guilty to, stealing guns and mobile phones. The severed body parts were later hung from trees and electricity polls.
“The defendants admitted the charges brought against them and were sentenced accordingly. Each one of them will have his right hand and left leg amputated publicly,” said Judge Sheikh Abdallah al-Haq.
The amputations were not immediately carried out because that particular day was very hot and the court decided that carrying out an amputation in such conditions could lead the accused to bleed to death.
Amnesty International pleaded with the court not to carry out the sentence, saying the four men had not been given a fair trial.
“We are appealing to al-Shabab not to carry out these cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments,” said Tawanda Hondora, a spokesperson for the human rights group.
“These sentences were ordered by a sham al-Shabab court with no due process or guarantees of fairness.”
Their appeal was ignored as were the appeals from the international community for leniency.
“All I can say for now is that it was a violation against human rights and a sentence carried out by criminals,” Somali Information Minister Farhan Ali Mohamud said when asked to comment on the amputations.
The human rights group Amnesty International condemned the amputations, saying they amounted to torture.
“The horrific nature of such acts that were carried out in front of a crowd adds further injustice and dehumanizes these teenagers,” said Tawanda Hondora, the deputy director of Amnesty International’s Africa program.
The al-Shabab were unapologetic for their strict interpretation of Islamic law that calls for amputation for crimes of theft.
“We will punish like this everyone who carries out these acts,” said al Shabaab official Sheikh Ali Mohamud Fidow.
Al Shabab has carried out executions, floggings and single-limb amputations before, mainly in the southern port of Kismayu. Movies and soccer games are banned in areas it controls, and men and women cannot travel together on public transport.
I don’t normally do politics in this blog but what is happening in Iran needs to be aired — as widely as possible.
Neda is Shot
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President Obama Speaks Out
Reports start coming in on a brutal crackdown by the Iranian authorities
Eyewitness Report from Baharestan Square in Central Tehran
This frantic phone call from a Tehran woman will break your heart as you consider our standard response has been “that there are sets of international norms and principles about violence” and that “the international community is watching.” Part of yesterday’s response by President Obama in a press conference included “that there is a peaceful path that will lead to stability and legitimacy (of the Iranian regime) and prosperity for the Iranian people. We hope they take it.” The Iranian theocratic regime clearly is not interested.
Kimberley Vlaminck, 18, from Kortrijk, in Belgium, had placed three dots on her face with eyeliner, because she thought it looked pretty. She was walking in town with her family when they passed a new tattoo shop, the Tattoo Box, run by Rouslan Toumaniantz.
Her father suggested that they go in and asked her if she wanted to get her three dots tattooed. She said yes and he gave her his permission. Instead of getting her dots tattooed, Kimberley decided to get a few stars on her face around one eye.
While Rouslan Toumaniantz was working on her, she fell asleep. When she awoke she discovered that he had tattooed a total of 56 stars all over the side of her face. She was horrified and her father was very angry. Kimberley thinks that there was a communication problem. She says she asked for the three stars in French and limited English, and Toumaniantz didn’t understand her.
Kimberley wants the tattoos removed and is suing Toumaniantz for the cost of doing it. She says she hardly goes out, people stare at her because “she looks like a freak” and she worries that she won’t be able to find a job looking like that.
Tattooist Rouslan Toumaniantz tells a different story. He says Kimberley was aware of what he was doing. She was not asleep. He also claims to have a witness who saw everything. According to Toumaniantz, the problems started when Kimberley’s furious father saw what had happened to his daughter’s face.
“She was awake and looked into the mirror several times as the procedure was taking place” he said. “The trouble all started when she went home and her father and boyfriend threw a fit. They are saying things now like I doped her or hypnotised her. What rubbish. She asked for 56 stars and that’s what she got.”
Toumaniantz says that although he is not at fault he offered to pay for half the cost of having the tattoos removed.
“Kimberley is unhappy and it is not my wish to have an unsatisfied client,” Toumaniantz said. “There is a way to remove the tattoos with the help of a laser. I accept to pay for half the cost.”
Well the truth has finally come out: Kimberley Vlaminck Lied!! She admitted that she willingly asked for the striking design. Kimberley Vlaeminck said she “initially adored” the tattoos, but when her father reacted furiously she had decided to lie about it and blame the tattooist. She confessed to being awake and “fully aware” of what the tattooist – Rouslan Toumaniantz – was doing.
Mr Toumaniantz – who is covered in tattoos and piercings – had insisted Vlaeminck wanted 56 stars tattooed on her face. He had initially offered to pay for half the expense of the laser treatment to remove the tattoos. But after the teen’s confession, he withdrew his offer. Mr Toumaniantz said he did not mind the international exposure.
“I don’t regret it. To tell you the truth, this has given me some publicity.”
However, he now intends to get written consent from clients before he begins tattooing.
Stephen Michael Haines, 18, of Gary, Ind. was charged with murder. He is being held without bond and faces a maximum of 65 years in prison for the murder of 26-year-old Gurjeet Singh. He is scheduled to go before a Lake County Indiana Superior Court Magistrate for an initial hearing.
Haines was one of four men who ran into the Gran Gas Mini Food Mart and Gas Station located at 1500 Grant St., Gary, on June 14th. The men kicked in the door to the cash register area, where Singh was working. Singh pushed back the men after they tried to grab him and was shot in the neck. Singh was taken to Methodist Hospital Northlake, where he later died. Police are still looking for the other three men.
Police said the suspects including Haines tried unsuccessfully to open the cash register. They allegedly took a VCR and a carton of cigarettes.
“It was senseless. And really all homicides are senseless but what we gather from this, there was very little resistance,” said Gary Police Department Commander Anthony Titus. “It didn’t have to end the way it did.”
Police say there were several customers walking around the store after the crime. But only one called 911 for help. They say a woman who was in the store after the crime posted what she knew on Facebook instead of calling 911 and talking with police.
When asked what he finds most disturbing about the surveillance footage, Titus said, “The fact that people went in and out of the store and didn’t call police. There is a man laying there. Nobody thinks to dial 911 or check to see if he’s OK or anything.”
The victim’s family is happy one suspect has been arrested, but they know more people have the clues police need. A translator said Sawaran Singh, the victim’s father, can’t find the words to describe the pain he feels right now. He traveled from Punjab, India to pray at a visitation with family and friends.
Gurjeet Singh’s uncle, Randy Singh, said his nephew was liked by regular customers. He said this was the first holdup in the nine years he has owned the store. The uncle said that most days Gurjeet worked nearly 12 hours a day, seven days a week. On his time off, he would shop or rest up for his next work shift. Before working in his uncle’s store, Gurjeet studied engineering at a Canadian university for four years.
For now, a grieving father prepares to take his son’s remains back to India for a funeral. The future his family planned for him is only a memory. Sawaran Singh had to make the trip here alone, because he says the U.S. embassy in New Delhi wouldn’t give his wife a visa. Gurjeet Singh’s mother still waits to lay her son to rest.
Police say the robbers left the store in a car registered to Haines’ mother; it was later found torched. Detective James Bond credits a tip from the public for leading him to Haines.
Detective Bond released still photos from surveillance footage of the incident to the media, after which the department received various leads on the suspects’ identities. Police say they’ve identified who the other suspects are but they need more members of the public to stand up and tell what they know.
Rape – no matter how one tries to justify it – is Rape. It is a brutal, forced violation of one’s body. It is wrong and there is no excuse for it. That being said, the following story does have a certain comedic value to it, which nevertheless does not detract from its seriousness.
32-year-old Valeria K. is described as a quiet, good-looking woman from the Russian city of Tambov, about 300 miles south-east of Moscow. She had two well-known hobbies. She was a devoted collector of horror movies and spiders. She was known as the Black Widow.
Valeria K. also had another pastime that was her own little secret. She liked to rape men but in order to assure their “complete cooperation” with her plans, she would make sure to drug them first. Her drug of choice – clonidine – a powerful medication used to treat high blood pressure, ADHD and can ease withdrawal symptoms associated with narcotic use. One side effect of clonidine is drowsiness.
Valeria K. was arrested by the police and accused of drugging 10 different men and then raping them. She is now on trial.
She would meet men and, after getting acquainted with them, would lure them back to her apartment and offer them drinks – drinks laced with clonidine – that would knock them out for about 24 hours. After the men were asleep Valeria K. would go to work:
She would strip them naked, stimulate their penises and when they were sufficiently erect, she would tie a rope around the base of their organs so that they would remain erect and then proceed to rape them while they slept.
The men would eventually wake up in hospital (unsure of how they got there) being treated for clonidine poisoning and penis trauma. However, they would all remember the friendly brunette who gave them drinks, which helped police identify the woman. Of the 10 men who fell victim to Valeria K., one refused to file a complaint against her:
One of her victim’s said he wished she hadn’t sedated him. “It was great,” the man said. “I like hot women. I only wish she hadn’t used the clonidine on me.”
6-year-old Frantzcia Saintil will be scarred for life. She suffered second- and third-degree burns over 25% of her body, including her face, torso and legs. However, this was no accident. Frantzcia Saintil was the victim of a voodoo ritual perpetrated on her by her own mother, Marie Lauradin,29 and her grandmother, Sylvenie Thessier, 70.
Marie Lauradin, a Haitian immigrant was charged with assault and endangering the welfare of a child. She faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. The grandmother, Sylvenie Thessier, was charged with reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. She faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
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According to reports, Marie Lauradin was determined to drive the evil spirits out of her daughter, so she solicited the help of her mother to perform a voodoo ritual known as Loa.
The two women made a ring of fire, using an accelerant (probably rum), on the floor. They then stripped the little girl naked and doused her with the same accelerant and forced her into the ring of fire. They watched while the little girl become engulfed in flames and allowed the screaming child to burn. They eventually put out the flames with cold water and then, instead of seeking medical assistance, put the suffering child to bed.
It wasn’t until the next evening that another relative found Frantzcia in bed and insisted on taking her to the hospital.
Lauradin allegedly told cops that she did not see any burns on her daughter until she was at the hospital.
Confronted by cops, Lauradin claimed she was boiling rice in a pot and accidentally spilled it on the girl when she was “startled.” She also said it was her mom’s idea to give Frantzcia a bath and put her to bed instead of taking her to the hospital.
Frantzcia was put in a medically induced coma as part of her treatment. She spent a total of 55 days in hospital recovering from her burns.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said “The child has suffered permanent scarring, both physically and emotionally.”
Frantzcia was placed in foster care after leaving the hospital. It wasn’t until she confided in her foster parent that the police found out what really happened to her. That was when her mother and grandmother were arrested.
Marie Lauradin listened impassively as the judge ordered her held in lieu of $50,000 bail. She was also barred from having any contact with her daughter.
“She denies these allegations,” lawyer Jeff Cohen said. “This is my client’s only child. My client would not hurt her.”
Tyler Hayes Weinman, 18, was arrested early Sunday morning (6/14/09). By Wednesday afternoon he was freed on $249,500 bond after going through a psychological evaluation that determined he was not a danger to himself or anyone else.
Weinman faces a multitude of charges: 19 counts of animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary related to the mutilation and killing of 19 cats in his neighborhood. He could face a sentence of up to 158 years in jail.
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Under the terms of his release, Judge Thornton said Weinman will remain under house arrest with an electronic monitoring device and will have to attend outpatient psychotherapy classes twice a week. He will be arraigned on July 6th.
One of his lawyers, Michael Walsh, said after the hearing that police have no evidence and rushed to arrest Weinman because of intense public outcry.
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“My son is innocent, and I know he didn’t kill the cats. That will be proven in court. He is gentle with cats, and I am truly moved by the hundreds of people who have shown their support for him,” said Douglas Weinman.
The case against accused serial cat killer Tyler Weinman is based entirely on circumstantial evidence and could depend on the county crime lab’s ability to adapt DNA and other forensic tests typically used for human victims to animals.
Prosecutors are hoping items found during a search of Weinman’s home – including several knives discovered hidden in Weinman’s bedroom – will provide them with the proof they need. Those knives may very well be the key to the case. But forensic tests involving animal blood is not routine. Prosecutors are still waiting to learn if they can match DNA from a dead cat to possible blood found on the knives in Weinman’s bedroom. If prosecutors through blood or DNA evidence can link Weinman to just one dead cat, then they believe their overall case becomes much easier to prove.
The lead prosecutor on the case, Assistant State Attorney Michael Van Zamft, acknowledged they are still trying to sort out what forensic tests are possible, including possible DNA tests.
“Do I think the evidence that we collected from the search warrants will make the case stronger? Yes I do,” said Van Zamft. “Do I think our case is sufficient based on the information we had before the arrest? Yes I do.”
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