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A Northern California sheriff’s department announced the arrests of three teen boys on charges of sexual battery in connection with the suicide of 15-year-old Audrie Pott. Last year, Pott claimed that she was sexually battered by several classmates while she was passed out at a house party. Her alleged attackers took photos of the assault and posted it on the Internet, reports The Associated Press. Just eight days after the incident, Pott said that she was humiliated by the photos and said her life was ruined....

Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has officially been charged for his alleged role in the deadly attacks, but not as an enemy combatant. The wounded 19-year-old has been unable to speak since his capture on Friday. He is being treated at a local hospital, where a magistrate judge presided over the legal proceeding at Tsarnaev’s bedside, Reuters reports. Some lawmakers have been pushing for Tsarnaev to be treated as an “enemy combatant....

Even celebrities face eviction, as Merrill Lynch has filed suit against actor Burt Reynolds for foreclosure. Reynolds has owned his Hobe Sound, Florida home, dubbed “Valhalla,” for years. “Valhalla” originates from Norse mythology, and is a great hall where Odin rules and slain heroes go to lie. In short, it’s kind of like heaven. Unfortunately for Reynolds, his “Valhalla” may go from heaven to nightmare if Merrill Lynch gets their way....

The Northeast is preparing for a snowstorm that could bring what The New York Times calls “near hurricane-force winds.” the governors of Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey have declared states of emergency, with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordering a shutdown of the New York City subway and bus systems starting at 11 o’clock tonight. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio took the additional step of declaring a travel ban, also starting at 11 p....

Claims for excessive force can be brought by individuals who have been found guilty, and even those who have accepted plea deals. Just because a person commits a crime, their civil rights do not get thrown out the window. However, most civil rights attorneys will explain that a conviction will make an excessive force case much more difficult. Keep in mind that even individuals who are incarcerated can win excessive force cases....

Dogs may be our best friends, but humans are not always very friendly to their dogs. One woman in Virginia, 19, left her pet puggle – a cross between a beagle and a pug – in a hot car parked outside a pet store in Falls Church. According to a press release from the Fairfax County Police Department, someone spotted the dog and called the authorities, but not soon enough. Although officials managed to break into the car and get the animal to the veterinarian in the nearby pet store, the dog died soon after....

A new jury-duty email scam is being reported by federal court districts nationwide. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts issued a warning last week about the scam. It claims to be affiliated with the courts’ eJuror registration program, which is used in about 80 federal court districts across the country. Email Seeks Personal Information, Threatens Jail Time The scam emails claim that the individual receiving the message has been selected for jury service....

An FDA advisory panel on Friday voted in favor of removing the popular prescription painkiller Darvocet from the market, based in part on questions about the overall effectiveness of the drug and its links to overdose, addiction, and suicide. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel of medical experts voted 14 to 12 in favor of removing Darvon/Darvocet from the market. The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen had recently petitioned the FDA to pull Darvon/Darvocet from the market because of perceived doubts about the effectiveness of the drug, especially in light of overdose and addiction risk tied to the painkiller, heart problems associated with the drug, and its frequent use in suicide attempts....

Back in 2015, the Food and Drug Administration intercepted over 1,000 vials of sodium thiopental bound from India to law enforcement officials in Texas and Arizona. The shipments were an attempt to skirt a 2012 ban on the drug and were intended to be used for lethal injections in death penalty cases. Last week, the FDA informed the two states that, after much legal back-and-forth, it would not be releasing the drugs....

Missouri parents are under investigation after news that a ferret ate seven of their infant son’s fingers. The baby boy is 4-months-old and is in critical condition after the incident. This was reportedly the third time the ferret attack the baby. The baby’s mother was awakened at 2:30 a.m. to hear her baby crying. When she discovered the ferret eating the baby’s fingers, she woke her husband with screams. “We’re trying to figure out if this thing had a crate or a cage, or was it running around the house,” Ambrose said....

Facial recognition software is all the rage these days, from unlocking your iPhone to unlocking doors at your place of business to allowing you access to theme parks with your season pass. As creepy as biometrics often seems to the general public, it is not a violation of privacy. Google won a major biometrics lawsuit in Illinois federal court this week, based on a challenge under Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act....

Prison is supposed to be where inmates do their time, not do more crime. That’s what U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson had to say about the arrest of 17 former prison guards allegedly caught smuggling cell phones into the prison where they worked. This happened in Texas. Now, the ex-corrections officers and 12 others are facing federal racketeering charges. These charges come after a four-year investigation called “Operation Prison Cell.” The investigation took place at the McConnell Unit Prison in Beeville, Texas....

Indiana can’t ban all registered sex offenders off instant messaging services, chat rooms or social networking sites like Facebook, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. Indiana passed a law in 2008 that was aimed at keeping predators from trolling the Internet for new victims. But the law “broadly prohibits substantial protected speech rather than specifically targeting the evil of improper communications to minors,” the three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit ruled....

A long time ago there was a very long song that went on and on and it still won’t go away. Jimmy Page, guitarist and songwriter for Led Zeppelin, this week testified in a California court regarding the iconic “Stairway to Heaven,” the originality of which has been challenged by the heirs of Randy Craig Wolfe from a band called Spirit. Wolfe’s heirs say that Led Zeppelin’s song resembles an instrumental title called “Taurus” by Spirit, according to The Hollywood Reporter....

Walter Bagdasarian is an “especially unpleasant fellow,” but that doesn’t mean he violated the law in 2008 when he encouraged members of a message board to shoot Obama. The racist and violent statements made by Bagdasarian against the then-candidate appear to violate a federal statute criminalizing threats of violence against presidential candidates. But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that they are actually speech protected by the First Amendment....

Medical marijuana users in Michigan aren’t allowed to buy pot from businesses or other patients, Michigan’s highest court recently ruled. The ruling may shutter most of the state’s medical marijuana dispensaries. In a 4-1 decision, the Michigan Supreme Court held that transfers of marijuana between two authorized medical marijuana patients are not legal. The high court upheld a 2011 state Court of Appeals ruling that said patient-to-patient sales of marijuana are illegal under the state’s medical marijuana law....

NBC’s David Gregory is coming under fire after he showed what appeared to be a 30-round gun clip on Sunday’s “Meet The Press.” During an interview with the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre, Gregory displayed what looked to be a 30-bullet gun magazine. The interview was contentious, as Gregory pressed LaPierre about whether fewer children would have been killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre if the gunman hadn’t had the ability to shoot so many bullets in rapid succession, Politico reports....

Being cut from a team and losing your athletic scholarship is not grounds for a lawsuit. That is how the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled after a college basketball player sued her university and coach after losing her athletic scholarship. The plaintiff, Brooke Elizabeth Heike, was awarded a scholarship by Central Michigan University. When she lost her scholarship she decided to seek legal relief. Varsity Athletes Can’t Sue for Being Cut From University Teams...

A Volvo recall of almost 7,600 2012 S60 sedans is because of a possible stalling problem, the automaker told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Volvo attributed the problem to software incompatibility, where the software used to regulate the fuel pump on models equipped with 5-cylinder engines might not distribute sufficient fuel “to the active part of the fuel tank,” which could cause engine hesitation or stalling. The problem is with the software that controls the fuel pumps....

It’s Valentine’s Day, so what better time to talk about “heat of passion”? Contrary to popular belief, however, “heat of passion” is technically not a defense to a homicide. Love can make people do stupid things. But sometimes those feelings of love (or hate) may be so passionate that you’re driven to a different state of mind. In some cases, an agitated state of mind can overcome the ability of a reasonable person to control his actions....