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A white North Charleston, S.C. police officer was charged on Tuesday with the murder of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, following a traffic stop over the weekend. Officer Michael Slager said he shot Scott after a scuffle during which Scott took Slager’s Taser. However, a bystander’s cell phone video of the incident showed the officer shooting Scott in the back while he ran away. ‘Bad Decision’ North Charleston Mayor Keith Sumney addressed the shooting with media on Tuesday:...

Selling food or goods on L.A. sidewalks is illegal, and remains so despite promises from lawmakers to legalize and regulate vending. Even so, the city is about to spend $150,000 to settle a class action lawsuit claiming that police and cleaning crews confiscated and destroyed vendors’ property as “a sort of extrajudicial street punishment.” “Law enforcement now recognizes that street vendors have legal rights to their property,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Cynthia Anderson-Barker, adding the settlement “restores some dignity to a group that has been mistreated by law enforcement....

What happens when middle school students log onto Facebook and make death threats against their enemies? They get arrested and charged with aggravated stalking. This Facebook death threat happened after one Fort Meyers, Florida teen told on another who had brought a gun to their middle school. The 14-year-old was charged with possession of a firearm, and the girl that told on her was branded a “snitch.” The friends of the student who brought the gun to school then sought retribution through social networking....

Electric car maker Tesla has gotten the go-ahead from Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled Monday that a state law couldn’t be used to stop Tesla from selling cars. The Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association had tried to bar Tesla from selling its premium electric cars at an upscale mall in Natick, under a law that prevents manufacturers from owning and operating dealerships. But the high court disagreed. The Massachusetts law at issue in this case was Chapter 93B, which includes prohibitions against unfair business practices....

Year after year, the 1994 Honda Accord tops the most stolen car lists. This is no mere coincidence as the popular car is still commonly seen on the streets and its parts are in high demand, reports NBC. In fact, if the top ten most stolen cars list is any indicator, car thieves are motivated by practicality and parts and not the sexiness of the car itself. You’ll see a lot Hondas and Fords on the list, but no Ferraris, BMWs, or Porsches....

Community service isn’t something you have to be ordered to do, but for many it is an alternative to jail time. So what exactly is community service in the eyes of the criminal justice system? And when can you get it? In short, community service is an alternative to jail time that attempts to both lessen the burdens on local jails as well as use offenders to benefit the community. Your community service “sentence” will be monitored by a criminal court, and you will likely be expected to complete a certain amount of community service hours within a set period of time....

A murder conviction generally punishes people who kill others either intentionally or through extreme recklessness. But the “felony murder” rule punishes something different. Unlike other kinds of murder, in felony murder there’s no requirement that the suspect intended to cause death, or that his actions were likely to kill another person. Committing a crime can lead to dangerous situations, and people can get hurt unintentionally. What if someone dies during the commission of a crime?...

A series of viral videos dubbed the “Cinnamon Challenge” has inspired countless copycats, sending teenagers to the hospital and prompting warnings from school and health officials nationwide. “We’re quite worried this is the new fad for kids,” an emergency-room doctor told Denver’s KDVR-TV. In the “Cinnamon Challenge,” participants are dared to swallow a heaping spoonful of cinnamon in one minute, without drinking anything to help the spice go down, KDVR reports....

Former speaker of the House Dennis Hastert has been indicted by a federal grand jury for skirting banking reporting regulations. The charges stem from Hastert’s withdrawal of over $950,000 in cash from various bank accounts, and his attempts to avoid disclosing the transactions. Additional allegations regarding the purpose of the withdrawals have also surfaced over the weekend. Here’s what you need to know: 1. The Scheme The central allegation made in the indictment is that Hastert was paying an unnamed individual a grand total of $3....

Sigh, here we go. Again. Troubled actress Amanda Bynes was arrested at her New York apartment after she allegedly chucked a bong out of her window. Police claim that she was trying to destroy evidence of her drug use. Bynes, 26, was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment, felony tampering with evidence and criminal possession of marijuana, reports MTV. Bynes lives on the 36th floor of a high-rise, by the way....

A brain eating amoeba warning has been issued by Florida health officials after a 12-year-old boy contracted a potentially lethal form of amebic meningitis, caused by a rare parasite called Naegleria fowleri. The boy was playing in a water-filled ditch near his home, reports United Press International. ??It’s the latest brain-eating amoeba case in recent weeks; in a separate incident last month, a 12-year-old boy in Arkansas? contracted primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) after swimming at a water park....

The Alabama Supreme Court has upheld its earlier ruling that brand-name drug manufacturers can be held liable for warning labels on generic versions of their drugs. The ruling allows an Alabama man who claims he was injured by a generic version of the heartburn drug Reglan to bring suit against Pfizer (which bought Wyeth, the company that originally produced Reglan), even though the man never actually took any of the drugs manufactured by the company, The Wall Street Journal reports....

A 10-year-old has been charged with murder and felony assault. The San Diego child is accused of killing 12-year-old Ryan Carter Monday afternoon. Carter died about an hour after the fatal stabbing. His family was told that the 12-year-old boy was trying to break up a fight, according to NBC San Diego. The victim and the defendant were supposedly close friends. A neighbor said he didn’t think the killing was intentional....

Police officers often face dangerous circumstances, not the least of which is when a suspect is fleeing in a car. A high-speed pursuit can endanger officers as well as the general public, so there is a safety interest in avoiding them or ending them as soon as possible. Does this interest include being able to shoot at fleeing vehicles? It’s a legally murky area, and may be more confusing after two seemingly conflicting decisions this week....

The 7th Circuit handed down another win for proponents of the 2nd Amendment on Thursday, granting plaintiffs a preliminary injunction that stops the enforcement of Chicago’s citywide firing range ban. Admitting the relative newness of 2nd Amendment jurisprudence, the court determined that, at trial, the city is unlikely to sufficiently justify the burdensome impact of the ban, as the right to bear arms has also historically included a right to maintain firearm proficiency....

A chaotic string of shootings in Clearwater Beach over Memorial Day weekend have ended with a handful of arrests and at least two persons injured. The shootings allegedly sparked during a fight between two groups at a Clearwater, Florida Hyatt Regency, reports Tampa Bay’s WTSP. The hotel shooting was followed by a shooting in a temporary parking lot and a third shooting at a local restaurant. One victim was hospitalized with a groin injury, while another is alleged to have run off after being shot in the hand....

It’s hard working with celebrities. They’re such divas! Anthony Bozza, no stranger to writing for celebrities, has had enough. He recently sued Courtney Love in federal court for failing to pay him for writing a 123,375-word manuscript. He claims he wrote a memoir for Love that she never published. Love, supposedly, didn’t like how the book portrayed her and told Bozza that she is trying to fix the book. He has already been paid $100,000, but wants an additional $200,000 plus interest and potential royalties for the book, tentatively titled “Girl With the Most Cake....

Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts has stated that one of its doctors, Dr. Scott S. Reuben, faked data used in 21 studies on painkillers including Vioxx and Celebrex. Dr. Reuben’s work has been important in the field of pain management and some anesthesiologists must now reconsider certain practices adopted on the basis of his falsified work. The New York Times reports that the 21 (identified) studies falsified by Dr. Reuben included studies on Pfizer’s painkillers Bextra, Celebrex and Lyrica, Merck & Co....

When someone is convicted of a felony, they may lose many rights – including the right to bear arms. However, in many cases, those convicted of felonies are able to eventually restore their gun rights after release from jail. The restoration of gun rights generally depend upon state laws and these standards can vary greatly from state to state. In some states, restoration can be automatic. In other states, gun rights restoration is almost impossible and left largely up to a judge’s discretion or a governor’s pardon, reports The New York Times....

It was just a love tap. Your car barely hit that other car. You can’t even see the scratch unless you look closely. Should you stay? Should you go? Would it be hit and run? Most of us know that when we get into a car accident, especially if someone may be hurt, we need to stay at the scene of the accident. Leaving would definitely be hit and run. But, what if there was only property damage?...