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The AP and CNN report that Chris Brown is expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon on charges of assault likely to cause great bodily injury and making criminal threats arising from an argument he had with his girlfriend Rihanna. Although Thursday’s felony complaint identifies the victim only as “Robyn F.”, sources close to the pair told CNN that the victim was Rihanna, whose real name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty. Chris Brown’s attorney, Mark Geragos, had no comment as-of-yet on the filing, but previously, Brown had put out a statement saying he was “sorry and saddened” about the incident....

We’ve all thought it at one point – if I get in trouble, I’ll blame it on someone else. As children, we were pointing our fingers at siblings. A little older and everything was that one friend’s idea. And plenty of people have thought that giving the police a fake name could throw them off you trail and keep you out of trouble. (Even cops think about trying to cover their tracks with a fake name....

In remembrance of President Gerald R. Ford, who passed away Tuesday, December 26, 2006 at age 93, President Bush has declared Tuesday, January 2, 2007 as a National Day of Mourning. All executive departments, independent organizations and other agencies of the Federal government will be closed as a mark of respect for the 38th President of the United States. More information: Proclamation on National Day of Mourning for Gerald R. Ford Executive Order Providing for the Closing of Government Departments and Agencies on January 2, 2007 News release from the U....

A Los Angeles judge sentenced Kanye West to two years of probation for a misdemeanor battery attack on a paparazzo. The scuffle occurred in 2013 at Los Angeles International Airport after Daniel Ramos, the paparazzo, started engaging the rapper. The incident was caught on film, according to Reuters. West entered a no contest plea to the battery charge. What Are ‘No Contest’ Pleas? Pleading “no contest” to a criminal charge is similar to pleading guilty but with some significant differences....

Kris Humphries + Kim Kardashian = prenup. And then a marriage. The pragmatic Kim Kardashian’s prenuptial agreement with her new fiancé Kris Humphries may seem unromantic, but given the state of Kardashian’s finances, it’s probably a wise move. Kardashian herself has amassed an estimated $35-million fortune, reports the New York Daily News. And her fiancé, Humphries, is a New Jersey Nets star with a salary totaling $3.2 million a season. His family also owns several Five Guys Burgers and Fries locations in Minnesota, making his net worth around $8 million....

McDonald’s Spit Tea. It’s not on the fast food chain’s traditional menu, but until Thursday, you were able to find it at a single location in Simpsonville, South Carolina. A mother and daughter did – and then they called police. Officers have since arrested and charged Marvin Washington, Jr. with unlawful and malicious tampering with food. He allegedly spit in the duo’s sweet tea. The two women did not originally order McDonald’s spit tea....

YouTube has introduced a new face blurring tool for videos uploaded to the site in an effort to enhance user privacy. The tool makes it easy for video owners to blur the faces of people in the video to protect their identities. For videos that are public it means other users will often be unable to recognize the people in the video. The tool will help protect human rights activists who otherwise would face government retaliation, according to a Google which owns YouTube....

On Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007 funeral services were held for President Gerald R. Ford at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. President Ford died on Tuesday, December 26th, 2006 at age 93. President Bush delivered remarks at the service, and said that “President Ford’s time in office was brief, but history will long remember the courage and common sense that helped restore trust in the workings of our democracy.” In attendance at this funeral were former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush, Bill Clinton and many members of Congress....

Bill Cosby is the elder statesman of American comedy whose life has turned into a bad drama, now including a criminal case. Next month, Cosby will return to criminal court in Pennsylvania for pretrial proceedings on three charges of felony indecent assault of Barbara Constand and faces ten years in prison if convicted. Despite the dozens of accusations of abuse that have surfaced from women all over the country, this is Cosby’s first criminal prosecution....

Former Illinois Rod Blagojevich is guilty of corruption. Rod Blagojevich’s corruption trial has ended with a guilty jury verdict on 17 out of 20 charges of corruption that were levied against him. The jury deliberated for 9 days before reaching its decision. Blagojevich took the stand earlier during the trial, testifying for 7 days. He repeatedly denied the allegations of corruption during his testimony, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. 11 of the 17 corruption charges were from allegations that he had tried to sell President Obama’s vacant Senate seat, reports the Sun-Times....

A new report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows that while car safety has continued to improve in most late-model vehicles, some vehicles still have alarmingly high death rates. According to the IIHS, among 2011 model-year cars or equivalent earlier model vehicles, there were 28 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years through 2012. (A “registered vehicle year” equals one vehicle registered for one year.) This is down significantly from 2008-09, in which there were 48 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years....

The day after Dylann Roof killed nine people in a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, we speculated about whether he would be charged with a hate crime or an act of domestic terrorism. After all, the Department of Justice (DOJ) had already announced its own hate crime investigation. As it turns out, Roof so far has only been charged with nine counts of murder and an associated weapons charge....

Don’t confuse Simon Cowell with Simon Fuller. Simon Cowell is intent on bringing the “X Factor” talent show, similar to “American Idol,” stateside. On the other hand, Simon Fuller has sued over the U.S. version of the “X Factor.” The “X Factor” lawsuit is about what nearly everything in Hollywood tends to boil down to - contracts. Before we get down to the exciting world of contract disputes and contract clauses, a brief introduction and lesson in the differences between Simon Cowell and Simon Fuller may be necessary....

The shooting death of Trayvon Martin has drawn national attention to Florida’s “stand your ground” law, which says there’s no duty to retreat – anywhere – before using force in self-defense. But Florida is not alone. In many states, a legal doctrine called the “castle doctrine” allows the use force in self-defense, without retreating, if a person is at home. It’s derived from the old adage that “a person’s home is his castle....

So you’ve been pulled over for drunken driving and now want to know if you can challenge your blood alcohol test. You’ve been hearing that these DUI tests can be challenged, particularly the breath tests. You’re right. First of all, the legitimacy of breath tests and their accuracy has come under scrutiny. In Pennsylvania, for example, the calibration of certain Intoxilyzer machines was found to give results that were slightly off....

50 Cent was hurt in a car crash on New York’s Long Island Expressway late last night. His SUV might be bullet-proof, but apparently it isn’t Mack truck proof. Curtis Jackson, better known as 50 Cent, was carted away from the accident scene on a stretcher with his head and neck immobilized in a brace. He was rushed to the nearest Queens hospital. 50 Cent suffered neck and back injuries, but he has already been released from the hospital and is said to be doing fine, reports the Post....

The term “high fashion” may have a different meaning for Nick Gruber, Calvin Klein’s on-again, off-again boyfriend – who was busted for cocaine possession after a fight Tuesday morning. Police arrested Gruber, 22, after someone called 911 to say he’d punched another man in the face, according to gossip site TMZ. Officers noted injuries on the alleged victim’s face and took Gruber into custody about 5 a.m. But Gruber, a model and former gay porn star who was romantically linked to 69-year-old Calvin Klein until January, didn’t go quietly, police told TMZ....

A 24-year-old McDonald’s patron had a not-so-happy meal of legal trouble after she punched out the fast food joint’s drive-thru window at a Toledo, Ohio location, attacking the glass at the The Glass City restaurant. Maybe Melodi Dushane was still recovering from a late night of New Years Eve frolicking. Perhaps she just got off to a bad New Year’s morning. But one thing is for sure: punching out a drive-thru window because the McD’s she visited did not have Chicken McNuggets® on the breakfast menu pretty much guaranteed that she would get her drive-thru privileges revoked....

Last year, commentators blasted the Supreme Court for its decision in Citizens United, in which corporations were deemed persons for the purpose of the First Amendment. The main concern was that corporate personhood would spread, leading to overly empowered corporations. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that sheds a bit more light on the concept of corporate personhood, and it may not be as dire as originally predicted....

A challenge to Redondo Beach, Calif.’s day laborer law has left the validity of more than 50 local anti-solicitation ordinances in question. Day laborer laws banning the solicitation of employment on roadways and sidewalks may violate the First Amendment, according to a new ruling from the 9th Circuit. Even if the goal is to promote traffic flow and safety. Redondo Beach’s day laborer law bans “stand[ing] on a street or highway and solicit[ing]…employment, business, or contributions from an occupant of any motor vehicle....