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It appears that New York City residents who called the cops on an apparent kidnapping were duped by an elaborate kidnapping hoax staged for a birthday party. In the Washington Heights neighborhood, a woman apparently screamed as men forced her and a male companion into a minivan Friday night. Witnesses say that the men were lying in wait in the minivan and looked very suspicious, given that they were wearing masks covering their faces in relatively warm weather, reports CNN....

We’re just over a month into 2016 and already New York City has seen a significant spike in knife attack numbers. The New York Daily News reports slashings and stabbings have jumped 24 percent over the same period last year, with 381 incidents in 2016 alone. The rise in knife attacks comes at the same time the city’s knife laws are under federal judicial review. So what are the knife laws in NYC, and why are they not working?...

Companies controlled by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban were sued by Hillwood Center Partners, LP, holder of a limited partnership with a 7.5% interest in Radical Arena, a Cuban-controlled entity holding the remaining 92.5% interest in roughly one-third stake in the American Airlines Center stadium where the Mavericks play. The lawsuit accuses Cuban-controlled companies of failing to distribute profits to the arena’s owners, and instead “wrongfully divert[ing profits] to the Mavericks to make up for the substantial cash shortfalls” of the team, “personally benefiting Cuban at the expense of Radical Arena and its owners....

Freedom may be coming to potentially scores of North Carolina inmates deemed “legally innocent” of gun charges that they should never have been convicted of in the first place. Federal courts are ordering some inmates released after a USA Today investigation found they’d been convicted of unlawfully possessing guns as felons – but none of them were actual felons. The confusion lies in how federal law defines “felons,” and how North Carolina sentences its criminals, according to USA Today....

Lawmakers in Nebraska are looking at ways to revise the state’s controversial “safe-haven” law, under which parents can drop their children at local hospitals without facing prosecution for child abandonment. Some parents – coming to the state from as far away as Florida – appear to be using the law’s “no questions asked” protections in unintended ways. Members of the Nebraska Legislature met on Friday for a special session to discuss revisions to LB 157, the so-called “safe-haven” law which “allows parents to surrender their children at hospitals without fear of prosecution for abandonment,” according to the Nebraska Legislature....

Dozens have been arrested in New York for possessing and sharing child rape images. The arrest follows a lengthy investigation by the district attorney’s office and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. The offending images were not merely of child pornography, but are more aptly described as child sexual abuse photos. The arrested defendants come from all walks of life and range from age 18 to 63. They include a lawyer, a dishwasher, a deli worker, a shoe store worker, and a substitute teacher who worked in public schools in Manhattan, reports The New York Times....

Fans are grieving the untimely death of “Fast & Furious” actor Paul Walker. The 40-year-old star died in a fiery crash on Saturday. The actor, who was known for his philanthropic efforts, was en route to an event for his charity, Reach Out Worldwide, to help survivors of victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Sadly, the self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie ultimately succumbed to his need for speed. Single-Car Crash Walker was in the passenger seat of a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, driven by a racing team partner, that slammed into a utility pole and burst into flames in the city of Santa Clarita, reports CNN....

Same-sex couples in California began officially tying the knot on Monday evening, as a historic state court ruling opening the door to same-sex marriage went into effect. A number of counties in the state – including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sonoma counties – began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples at 5:01 p.m on Monday, when the California Supreme Court’s rejection of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage became official....

It’s not quite the same as “book ’em Dano,” but the Miranda warnings are probably the other most well known intersection of American culture and the legal system. A person arrested for a crime has the right to remain silent, to speak to a lawyer, to have a lawyer provided if he or she cannot afford one. According to a report on MSNBC, on Tuesday, the Supreme Court in a lesser seen majority configuration of 7-2, upheld Florida’s version of the Miranda warnings, saying they did communicate the “essential message” of the right to legal counsel....

Federal investigators probing the September crash of a Metrolink passenger train released text messages at the center of controversy regarding the crash. Records show the Metrolink engineer sending and receiving many text messages while operating the train, including shortly before he ran a purportedly red light and crashed into a Union Pacific freight train, killing 24 passengers and himself. As reported in the LA Times’ LA Now, Metrolink engineer Robert Sanchez was twice warned by supervisors about improper use of cell phones while in train control cabins....

With Christmas and Hanukah just around the corner, the holiday shopping season is almost upon us, ready or not. Before you hit the malls or the internet to make the little ones on your holiday shopping list happy, check out the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s toy safety tips for parents and gift buyers. CPSC identifies the top five toy hazards as: scooters and other riding toys; small balls and other toys with small parts; balloons; magnets; and chargers and adapters....

Convicted murderer Joran van der Sloot is one step closer to being extradited to the United States to face criminal charges related to the Natalee Holloway case, his Peruvian lawyer said. “I think he will be extradited within the next three months,” Joran van der Sloot’s attorney Maximo Altez told CNN. A judge in Peru approved a U.S. government request for van der Sloot’s “provisional detention” – the first step in the international extradition process, CNN reports....

A 49-year-old Chicago man was charged with conspiring with members of Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar e-Tayyiba to carry out the 2008 Mumbai, India terrorist attacks, killing six American citizens, and planning a terror attack against Danish newspaper Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten for posting editorial cartoons depicting the Muslim Prophet Mohammed. The fact that Headley was charged in a criminal information, not an indictment, is another sign of his apparent cooperation with federal prosecutors....

A child who was carrying a fake gun died from his wounds on Sunday after being shot by an Ohio police officer on a playground. Tamir Rice, 12, was identified by the Cuyahoga County medical examiner as the victim of this fatal shooting, which occurred outside of Cudell Recreation Center in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday. According to The Associated Press, officers were responding to a 911 call that a boy was pointing a pistol that was “probably fake” and scaring others....

The closure of crime labs in multiple states has created a backlog in criminal cases. At a time when crime labs are overloaded and unable to keep up, a report soon to be released from the National Academy of Sciences appears likely to critique the lack of science behind many long practiced forensic techniques. Even before the financial crisis hit their budgets, state and local crime labs had problems. The DNA section of the Houston Police Department Crime Lab had to be suspended in 2002, after an independent investigator found that lab analysts had skewed results to fit police theories in several cases....

We all want to reward our very good dogs. We just don’t want choking, vomiting, or diarrhea to be part of that reward. And if you’re giving your good dog a “bone treat,” according to the FDA, that’s exactly what they might get. “Giving your dog a bone treat might lead to an unexpected trip to your veterinarian, a possible emergency surgery, or even death for your pet,” says FDA veterinarian Carmela Stamper....

Students and employees may carry guns on University of Colorado campuses, according to a new ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court. The court’s decision overrides a 1994 university policy put in place by the Board of Regents. The governing body had banned concealed handguns on campus even when individuals had obtained the proper state permits. But in 2003, the state legislature passed the Concealed Carry Act, which the court found trumps the university’s policy....

Insulting a police officer is never a good idea, but it’s a separate issue whether you can be arrested for it. Those who get in officers’ faces either with their words, actions, or even photography, are often arrested under statutes which prohibit obstructing officers in their investigations or arrests. Can you legally be arrested for insulting a cop? There are many different types of insults you can hurl at law enforcement officers, and each of them may have a different legal consequence....

11 people have been indicted in an identity theft scheme involving the illegal sale of more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers that were stolen from the computer networks of several major U.S. retailers. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is calling the case the largest hacking and identity theft prosecution ever charged by the federal government. According to a DOJ Press Release, the scammers hacked into the computer networks of major retailers – including TJX Companies (owner of TJ Maxx and Marshalls stores), BJ’s Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever 21 and DSW – and installed “sniffer” programs to gather card numbers, passwords, and account information....

Retrial over the punishment of convicted murderer Jodi Arias resumed Wednesday, after legal issues with the defense’s case caused testimony to be delayed for almost two weeks. Part of this period was spent addressing legal arguments that media outlets should be excluded from court during testimony in Arias’ retrial to accommodate a “skittish defense witness” to testify in private, reports The Associated Press. The judge in Arias’ case also denied a defense motion to delay the trial based on allegations that police altered or deleted evidence on the victim’s computer....