Posts

A bit of indulgence in a senior tradition has left 18-year-old student Tyell Morton facing 8 years behind bars because authorities can’t find the humor in a blow-up doll prank. After spotting the student on surveillance footage, officials at Morton’s Indiana high school called in the state bomb squad. All they found was a plastic doll, but he’s still being charged with felony criminal mischief. Clad in a hooded sweatshirt and latex gloves, Tyell Morton was caught on surveillance camera by Rushville High School officials carrying a package into a girls’ bathroom, reports UPI....

A California Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s finding that breakfast cereals containing acrylamide, a known carcinogen, must contain a cancer warning, in accordance with Prop. 65. In a huge win for the Big Three cereal manufacturers, the court decided that the benefits of a Prop. 65 warning were not outweighed by the costs. Prop 65 was enacted into law by California voters in 1986. A right-to-know law, this law requires businesses to post warnings where there is exposure to chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm....

A woman’s car gets T-boned by a sheriff’s cruiser that runs a stop sign. The woman’s injuries, including a broken neck, are so severe that responding officers are unable to perform a field sobriety test. So can the officers arrest her on suspicion of DUI relying solely on a deputy’s statement that her speech was slurred and her eyes were red? The answer, and what happened next, may surprise you....

There are some Do Not Call Registry scams that you should be aware of, and they’re being conducted via email and telephone. Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) says hoax emails are being sent out to cell phone users claiming that the numbers they registered on the federal Do Not Call registries will soon be disclosed to telemarketers. Some email messages, and even some unscrupulous telemarketers, have suggested that consumers call another hotline to register their numbers again....

Welcome to FindLaw’s DUI Law series. If you have been charged with a DUI, know someone who has, or just want to know about the law and how to protect your rights during a DUI stop, please come back each week for more information. We don’t need to remind you that a DUI is bad. DUI with children in the car? About as bad as it gets. Unless, of course, you’re breastfeeding a child while driving drunk....

The Highers brothers may finally go free after a judge ordered a retrial in a murder case where the Detroit men were convicted 25 years ago. Raymond and Thomas Highers were just 21 when they were sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a drug dealer who was shot in his home. Then two years ago a high school classmate of theirs made a post on Facebook about the brothers....

A FAMU hazing incident has led to the arrest of three marching band members, nearly a month after another FAMU band member’s hazing-related death. Three members of Florida A&M University’s famed “Marching 100” are accused of beating a freshman clarinet player so badly, they broke her leg, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. Sean Hobson, 23, Aaron Golson, 19, and James Harris, 22, were arrested Monday in connection with hazing. Hobson and Golson are also facing felony battery charges....

Jared Fogle, most famous for pitching the health value of Subway sandwiches, has reportedly reached a plea agreement involving numerous charges of sex with minors and possession of child pornography. Fogle allegedly paid for sex with a 17-year-old, elicited younger sex partners (“the younger the girl, the better”), and had pornographic images of children as young as 6. Both prosecutors and Fogle’s defense attorney announced the plea agreement, which means Fogle will avoid a criminal trial, but the deal still has to be approved by the judge....

Are driving and skin cancer linked? Should you wear sunscreen when driving? A new study from the University of Washington in Seattle has found that if skin cancer is on one side of the body, about 52% of melanoma cases and 53% of merkel cell carcinomas were on the left side. And, if the cancer was on the upper arms, about 55% of the merkel cell cases were on the left side....

You’ve seen the signs – they’re often found in small, high-end retail establishments. They warn parents with small children and instill fear in the clumsy. They make you want to put down the merchandise and slowly back away. But are these policies enforceable? Is there some sort of “You Break It, You Buy It” law? No – and yes. A store cannot hold you hostage until you pay for an item you break – that’s called false imprisonment....

Severe injuries, including a man’s paralysis and a woman’s death, have prompted a recall of about 21,000 inflatable water slides nationwide. “Banzai Splash” slides, made in China by Manley Toys Ltd., “can deflate, allowing the user to hit the ground underneath the slide and become injured,” the Consumer Products Safety Commission said in announcing the recall Thursday. The slides are meant to be used with in-ground swimming pools, which are typically made of concrete, Reuters reports....

Fans of the 1980’s, take a seat. There’s been a Kid N’ Play arrest. His career may be long gone just like his funky, high hair, but word is that Christopher “Kid” Reid still hasn’t figured out how to act like a normal person. Or show up in court. The House Party has-been is currently being held in a Los Angeles jail on an arrest warrant issued last month after he failed to show up to a court date for the second time in the last few months....

Michael Lohan was arrested for the second time just hours after his release on domestic violence charges. The man, who’s biggest claim to fame is being Lindsay Lohan’s father, tried to elude police in a rather clever way. He jumped out of a third story balcony. Maybe the reality TV star thought he was auditioning for the role of “fugitive” on Cops. Some reports have Lohan falling into a tree. Others say that he simply fell onto some wooden high chairs....

Is Terminator 3 actor Nick Stahl missing? His wife, Rose Murphy, thinks so. The Los Angeles Police Department has confirmed that Murphy filed a missing person report on Monday. She last saw the 32-year-old actor on May 9. That’s nearly five days before she filed the report. It’s unclear why she waited so long, as there is no waiting period to file a missing person report. Yes, contrary to popular belief, there is no 24 or 48 hour waiting period – even for an adult....

Hiding out in Vancouver with his wife Evi, Santa Barbara prosecutors have wanted Randy Quaid extradited back to the United States so that they could prosecute the couple on felony vandalism charges. But it appears as though their alleged crimes aren’t serious enough for the U.S. Department of Justice, which has formally declined the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s request. Does the National Lampoon star now get to take permanent Canadian vacation?...

Rap star Lil’ Wayne is already serving a one-year stint in prison for a gun charge and now he will be charged with an infraction for possession of music contraband, as well. Lil’ Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., was caught in possession of items for an MP3 player during his one-year-sentence on Rikers Island, the New York Daily News reports. In general, contraband is any property that it is illegal to produce or possess....

This morning the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its ruling upholding key subsidy provisions of the Affordable Care Act, known popularly as Obamacare. Had the case gone the other way, millions of Americans who rely on tax credits in order to afford mandatory health insurance could’ve lost their insurance coverage. The Court’s ruling means that nothing will change in the current health insurance landscape, but that doesn’t mean the justices didn’t have some interesting things to say....

College theft is now so prevalent that some consider it a natural rite of college like gaining 15 pounds your freshman year. With an array of i- products from iPhones to iPads, young people’s most valuable possessions are increasingly portable and easily stolen. And when one of these devices is stolen, you not only lose the device, but you also lose all the information contained in the device like your personal information and passwords....

Volkswagen of America has announced a recall of 790,000 vehicles due to problems with a brake light switch. The vehicles effected by this recall are: VOLKSWAGEN / GOLF (1999-2006) VOLKSWAGEN / GTI (1999-2006) VOLKSWAGEN / JETTA (2001-2005) VOLKSWAGEN / NEW BEETLE (2001-2007) VOLKSWAGEN / R32 (2004) Dealers will install a newly designed brake light switch free of charge. Owners may contact VW at 1-800-822-8987. For more information, search the NHTSA recall database for NHTSA Campaign ID# 07V063000 and see an AP article on the recall (via USAToday....

Criminal investigations often have several distinct stages, starting from the report or discovery of a crime and ending with an acquittal or conviction. And for federal criminal investigations, a key stage in the process is the grand jury and indictment. Designed as a check on the government’s prosecutorial power, many have criticized grand juries for “rubber stamping” whatever charges a prosecutor submits, hence the saying that a grand jury would “indict a ham sandwich” if you wanted them to....