Posts

Lawyers like to write intimidating, legalese-laden cease and desist letters. It happens everyday. But one New Jersey lawyer’s snarky response letter has gone viral for calling out a municipal attorney and injecting some classic legal humor. Richard D. Trenk, representing West Orange, New Jersey, wrote a cease and desist letter over an “unauthorized” website that “is likely to cause confusion [sic].” Trenk demands the website’s owner change domain names and “anything else confusingly similar thereto....

Los Angeles police recently arrested Alejandro Gamiz, 27, on suspicion of burglary and the surreptitious filming of unsuspecting women. The maintenance worker at a North Hollywood Sears is accused of placing hidden cameras in the store’s fitting rooms and bathrooms. Gamiz worked for the retailer for three years, and reportedly placed up to 60 cameras behind store walls. When a loss prevention employee recently noticed something suspicious during a routine inspection, the company notified the Los Angeles Police Department....

Missing California teenager Sierra LaMar is likely dead, and a local man has been arrested for her kidnapping and murder, investigators announced Tuesday. LaMar, 15, of Morgan Hill, Calif., disappeared on her way to school March 16. Her bookbag and some clothing were found two days later. Hundreds of volunteers joined her family’s search for the missing teenager to no avail. Investigators now believe LaMar’s disappearance was a stranger abduction, the “worst type of crime,” Sheriff Laurie Smith said told the San Jose Mercury News....

David Byrne is telling Florida Governor Charlie Crist to quit playing his music. The former lead of the famous band, Talking Heads, has sued the Governor over the use of the 1985 hit song by the Talking Heads, “Road To Nowhere,” which Crist used in a campaign commercial. Byrne is seeking $1 million in damages. Crist is running against Marco Rubio and Kendrick Meek for the United States Senate as an independent; he left the Republican Party last month....

Teenagers shouldn’t be drinking in the first place, let alone drinking and driving. That’s just one of the many ways to make a DUI worse. Another way? Cause an accident, especially a fatal one. That can turn a tragic situation into a felony manslaughter charge, as a 19-year-old woman recently found out. Here’s a look at that case, as well as underage DUI and DUI manslaughter laws. According to law enforcement, Erica Weinman was traveling eastbound on I-84 in Connecticut around 10 p....

The steamy new film that allegedly included video footage showing J. Lo in revealing lack of clothing and in sexual situations is mainly a bunch of hype. “There wasn’t anything close to sex in it,” Lopez’s attorney John Lavely told People. “We never alleged that. But it’s still private and personal to my client. As previously discussed, Lopez sued Noa, to whom she was married to for less than a year, back in 1997 to stop him from shopping his movie around....

Breaking a window might not seem like a serious crime, until you remember an entire theory of policing was born out of enforcing exactly that offense. Police officers are now taking broken windows more seriously, and the penalties for breaking a window can be severe. Those penalties will depend on the criminal charge, which can vary depending on the circumstances of the case. Here’s a look at criminal charges for breaking windows, along with some penalties....

Hate crimes gained national attention following the church shootings by Dylan Roof, which left nine people killed in a Charleston, South Carolina. From statements he made, we know that the attack was racially motivated. In most states, Roof would be charged with a hate crime. However, South Carolina is one of the few states to not have a hate crime law. The Department of Justice is investigating the shooting as a hate crime, but has not announced yet whether or not they’ll charge Roof with a hate crime under federal law....

Maybe they do it for the thrill. Maybe they do it because they have a compulsion. Many might wonder why rich people shoplift. It’s not like they don’t have the money to pay for the goods they pilfer. And for whatever reason, some seem unafraid of breaking shoplifting laws. Take a look at some recent shoplifters. British celebrity chef Worrall Thompson was recently caught leaving a Tesco with onions, a sandwich, cheese and wine....

The company that creates the “Girls Gone Wild” videos has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The move was apparently taken to shield the company, GGW Brands, from claims against the company including casino debts and multimillion-dollar jury awards, reports USA Today. A spokesperson at the company said the bankruptcy filing will not affect the company’s normal operations. So fans of the “Girls Gone Wild” videos and magazines won’t have to worry about missing out on what drunken college women are doing on spring break, at clubs, and in hotel rooms....

It seems as though History Channel reality television stars are a little less likely to find themselves in trouble with the law. Well, unless you’re Gregory Boadwine. Arrested early Friday for allegedly beating his wife, the Ice Road Truckers star is now facing domestic battery charges. One wonders whether he should face charges for psychologically damaging his child as well. For those who don’t partake in the History Channel’s comparatively upscale reality programming, Ice Road Truckers follows a group of drivers hired to haul essential supplies across the dangerous and treacherous frozen lakes in Northwest Canada....

The closer we get to the finale, the closer “The Good Wife” gets to its political story arc… and a bit further from the law. Remember Occupy Wall Street? This week’s episode, entitled “The One Percent,” will help you refresh your memory. Proving once again that Florrick/Agos and Lockhart/Gardner are the only two firms in Chicago, the episode begins with Alicia parrying with Louis Canning over a wrongful termination case. The former employee says he was fired for being gay, but Alicia just wants to settle the case before her corporate client opens his plutocratic mouth again....

“The Good Wife” came back swinging this week, with Alicia and the rest of Florrick/Agos battling a confusing and potentially deadly immigration issue. Here’s a breakdown of the legal (and not-so-legal) ways Alicia and friends try to stop a man from being deported to Mexico in “The Next Month”: Florrick/Agos is getting settled into its new digs (in a tetanus-y abandoned T-shirt factory) while Lockhart/Gardner is rebranding itself as “LG.” Meantime, America Ferrara (“Ugly Betty” sans braces and specs) gets harassed at LG and decides to go to Florrick/Agos with her immigration case....

Ted Kaczynski is receiving an inordinate amount of media attention lately, but this time, instead of selling off his possessions, the FBI is requesting the Unabomber’s DNA, hoping that the biomaterial will end its investigation into the 1982 Tylenol poisonings. With a denied request, the FBI’s only option now is to obtain a court order compelling Kaczynski to provide a genetic sample. This applies even though he’s already in prison....

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld gay marriage bans in the four states in its jurisdiction: Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. In a 2-1 decision, the three-judge panel decided that these bans did not violate the constitutional rights of same-sex couples in those states, becoming the sole circuit court to uphold prohibitions on gay marriage. The sole dissenter, Judge Martha Daughtrey, called the majority decision “a largely irrelevant discourse on democracy and federalism” that avoided the real constitutional question....

With the exciting news of the royal baby and the worldwide buzz of events leading up to the birth, George Alexander Louis was not all that was born – social media scams were as well. According to the Better Business Bureau, users should beware of royal baby scams online, especially on Facebook or Twitter. Of course, these scams are not limited to just those sites, and they can just as easily be circulated through email....

Any high-profile tragic situation often leads to scammers who look to take advantage of the situation. After the recent warnings from The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities and Exchange Commission, consumers would be wise to be skeptical of any organizations who claim to be assisting with the BP oil spill cleanup. Possible oil spill scams could include requests for donations to fake organizations, investment schemes, or other methods to gain information or money....

Councilwoman Margaret Chin might just be the newly minted least favorite person of New York’s budget fashionistas. The politician, who oversees New York’s Chinatown, has introduced city legislation that makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly buy fake designer purses, punishing offenders with a $1,000 fine and/or a year in jail. Chinatown’s Canal Street is known for housing a cottage industry of fake designer purses, sunglasses, watches, and other high-end wares. It’s where the broke go when the going gets tough and they need a little fashion pick me up....

The American bail system has come under an increasing amount of scrutiny lately. Of course we don’t want potentially dangerous criminals in public and we want to make sure defendants stick around for their criminal trials. But too often innocent people languish in jail for no reason other than they cannot afford their bail. Even the Department of Justice argued that pre-trial bail schedules that imprison poor people for not being able to afford bail are unconstitutional....

There is yet another twist in the story of Khloe Kardashian’s divorce from Lamar Odom. It’s not happening. The reality stars reportedly withdrew their dissolution of marriage documents from California courts this morning. Last week many of us were surprised to discover that the couple was still married, as their split had been making headlines for more than a year. But after Odom collapsed at The Love Shack in Nevada and was rushed to the hospital last week, Khloe joined him and it became apparent that the two are technically still in a legal union....