There is bad news this morning in Hickory, North Carolina. According to police chief Tom Adkins, 10 year-old Zahra Clare Baker is presumed dead and the case is now a homicide investigation. Zahra Baker has been missing and authorities had issued an Amber Alert. However, her stepmother, Elisa Baker, has admitted to writing a ransom note that was left on one of the Baker’s cars. The Amber Alert has now been cancelled....
A Montana man has pleaded not guilty to deliberate homicide after the fatal shooting of a “garage hopping” exchange student. Markus Kaarma, 29, of Missoula, is accused of killing 17-year-old German exchange student Diren Dede after the young man allegedly snuck into Kaarma’s garage in search of alcohol. Kaarma’s attorney announced that the homeowner will be invoking the state’s version of the “castle doctrine” in his defense, Reuters reports. Can Kaarma legally shoot and kill a teen for rummaging through his garage?...
An Illinois judge has approved an $18.5 million settlement to be paid to a Transformers 3 extra who was injured during a September 2010 shoot. Gabriella Cedillo and about 80 other extras were asked to drive their own vehicles at the time of the accident. While filming the shot, a cable pulling a stunt vehicle snapped and crashed through her window. It hit her head and caused her to car to fly into a road divider....
Martha Stewart had one. Paris Hilton had one. What are we talking about here? An ankle monitor! For many first-time and non-violent offenders, jail is not the right sentence. The better alternative is house arrest or some other type of monitored sentence. And, you can’t have house arrest or (any kind of monitoring) without an ankle monitor. There are many myths surrounding this little piece of jewelry, so here are five things to know about the ankle monitor:...
Eight California jurors yesterday decided not to rewrite rock n’ roll history, finding that Led Zeppelin did not copy a guitar riff from a band called Spirit nearly half a century ago. The dispute was over an instrumental portion of the iconic song “Stairway to Heaven,” which was composed by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page and released in 1971. The song’s 2012 re-release provided a basis for a much-delayed copyright violation claim by the representative of a deceased musician who said the Led Zep guitar riff copies his earlier song, “Taurus....
Controversial anti-Muslim filmmaker Mark Bassely Youssef has agreed to a plea deal to spend one year in prison. Youssef, who also goes by several aliases, earlier made headlines when a clip of his Internet film “Innocence of Muslims” was blamed for sparking violence across the Middle East. Youssef and many of the actors in the film received death threats and other blowback from the film, reports The Associated Press. Youssef was accused of not being truthful with the actors over the message of the movie, and for changing the actors’ dialogue without their consent....
A federal court this week is examining claims of a possible link between certain childhood vaccinations and the development of autism and similar neurodevelopmental disorders in children. The hearings, which began on Monday, are part of the Omnibus Autism Proceeding, in which the U.S. Court of Federal Claims is considering the vaccine-autism claims of the parents of more than 5,000 autistic children. The New York Times reports that this week’s hearings are focusing on parents’ claims that thimerosal – a mercury-based preservative that was removed from most childhood vaccines by 2001 – caused damaged to their children’s brains....
After losing their appeal of a ruling regarding the terms of a multi-billion dollar settlement for injuries caused by 2010’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP will seek U.S. Supreme Court review in the case. The ongoing litigation stems from BP’s settlement of claims following a 2010 disaster in which the BP oil platform Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers. The subsequent oil spill caused billions of dollars in damages to Gulf residents and businesses....
The California Supreme Court is hearing arguments today on the legality of Proposition 8, beginning at 9:00 a.m. You can watch a live feed of today’s proceedings via the California Channel, as California’s top court decides the future of same-sex marriage in the nation’s most populous state. The California Supreme Court is considering a number of legal isssues related to Proposition 8, which changed the state’s Constitution to limit the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman....
When Charlie Sheen launched his post-rehab media blitz, no one thought it would last. But then the actor set off to tour his reportedly chaotic and failing one-man show–Violent Torpedo of Truth. And now in Charlie Sheen news? He’s filed trademark applications for 22 of his “special” catchphrases. Late last month, Hyro-gliff, a new company associated with Sheen, filed the trademark applications, many of which are connected to products, such as bras, drinks, candy and games....
Prosecutors want rapper Chief Keef back in jail for allegedly violating the terms of his probation. The Chicago-based rapper may have no one to blame but himself, after giving a video interview with music site Pitchfork at a gun range. In the interview, prosecutors say that you can see Chief Keef carrying a gun, reports Rolling Stone. Chief Keef, whose real name is Keith Cozart, is currently serving 18 months probation for pointing a gun at a Chicago police officer....
Cindy Baker filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles, alleging that there is a high amount of microplastics in Nestle’s Pure Life bottled water, in violation of state and federal laws. The lawsuit was seeking an injunction barring Nestle from selling and advertising Pure Life water. At issue is a recent study by State University of New York and Orb Media on popular bottled water distributed in the U.S. According to that study, 93 percent of several top brands of bottled water are contaminated with microplastics, or time piece of plastic....
Nobody likes to be criticized publicly, least of all it seems, doctors. A new trend with medical care providers has website ratings services such as AngiesList and RateMDs feeling a bit ill. Doctors, saying they fear for their all-important reputations, have taken to asking patients to sign confidentiality agreements stating they will not rate doctors or their services on line. AngiesList founder Angie Hicks calls these agreements “medical gag orders” and they may be unenforceable....
Reports of hundreds of exploding toilets have triggered a Sloan Flushmate recall affecting more than 2 million commodes from coast to coast. More than a dozen “impact and laceration” injuries have been linked to the Sloan Flushmate III Pressure-Assist Flushing System, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Thursday. The unit sells for about $108 at Home Depot and Lowe’s, and is used in more than 2.3 million toilet tanks nationwide....
A Chicago grandmother has been arrested in connection with the killing of her husband. The 64-year-old woman and her grandson plotted the crime, police say. Janet Strickland and her grandson William Strickland, 19, have been charged with first-degree murder, the Chicago Tribune reports. William allegedly shot and killed his 72-year-old grandfather, also named William Strickland, while the elder Strickland was waiting for the bus to go to a dialysis appointment....
A Honda class action lawsuit settlement over some of Honda hybrid models has drawn protests from department of AG (attorney general) in multiple states. According to U.S. News and World Reports, the lawsuit commenced in 2007 by plaintiffs John True and Gonzalo Delgado who claimed that their Civic Hybrids did not live up to advertised EPA-estimated fuel efficiency. The New York Times reports that the plaintiffs claimed that they only got 31 miles per gallon versus Honda’s advertised 49/51 miles per gallon....
Often in criminal law, why you do something matters just as much (if not more) than what you do. So pointing a gun at someone can get you into trouble, but how much trouble will often depend on why you were pointing the gun and at whom. Prince George Policeman’s Assault A fine example of someone who was charged with assault for pointing a gun is the story of a police officer in Prince George County, Maryland, convicted last month of first- and second-degree assault, among other crimes....
In what came as a shock to many, a New York Federal Judge rejected the settlement proposed by the attorneys for the NYPD and the group of Muslim plaintiffs that filed a class action lawsuit. The class action lawsuit stems from the post-9/11 actions of the NYPD in conducting undercover surveillance on Muslim communities. The order rejecting the settlement was actually part of a 45-year-old case that essentially stopped the NYPD from keeping records when conducting suspicionless surveillance, as well as put investigatory guidelines into place....
Kim Kardashian’s divorce from Kris Humphries probably won’t be as lavish as the $10 million wedding. The reality TV starlet is splitting from her NBA beau just 72 days after they were married in front of friends, loved ones, and E! cameras. The divorce has been confirmed by Ryan Seacrest, the executive producer of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” Reports indicate that Kardashian will file for divorce, not an annulment, citing the ever-vague “irreconcilable differences....
Mel Gibson is a name that pops up frequently on our Celebrity Justice blog. Ever since Gibson went all crazy a few years back, he’s a fairly safe bet to provide for good legal fodder, particularly for his DUI tirade and other screaming fits recorded by his ex-wife. Today he’s back in the headlines after his attorney met with Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley to discuss the ongoing criminal investigation of Gibson....
