If you’ve been pulled over by police, you’re probably already pretty worried. And if officers suspect you’ve been drinking and driving and ask you to perform some roadside sobriety tests, that anxiety can skyrocket. Whether you’re sober and want to prove it to the police or if you’ve been drinking and are trying to convince them you’re OK to drive, you’ll want to be on your best behavior while performing the sobriety tests....
Terror-related charges filed over the weekend against three Afghan-born legal U.S. residents allege that 24-year-old Najibullah Zazi had “nine-pages of photographs with handwritten notes” with detailed information on how to make, handle, and detonate explosives, and that his father Mohammed Wali Zazi, and New York City Imam Ahmad Wais Afzali allegedly lied to federal agents investigating the 24-year-old Zazi’s possible terrorism connections. According to allegations in the FBI affidavit filed in support of his arrest, the young Zazi had traveled to Peshawar, Pakistan at least twice during the last two years, and was overheard in a wiretapped conversation with Afzali discussing potential “evidence” in his rental car....
Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” lawsuit met an early conclusion. The lawsuit was dismissed after the author reached a settlement with Samuel L. Pinkus, the son-in-law of her former literary agent, who she claimed swindled her out of royalties generated by the iconic novel. Her agent allegedly took advantage of her age and mental infirmities. In order to be bound by a contract, a person must have the legal ability to form a contract in the first place....
Are you neurotically checking your IRS refund status? Thanks to a snafu by the agency, many Americans are experiencing a tax refund delay. The reason for the sudden delay is that the IRS has gotten in over its head in processing financial transactions. Several years ago, the IRS began giving out no-interest loans to first-time homebuyers. Essentially, the agency is now being forced to collect loan payments and issue refunds....
Want to own a piece of presidential history? A man in Delaware is selling Vice President Joe Biden’s old Cadillac on Craigslist. Jeff Finkle, the seller, was apparently previously unaware that the car belonged to the VP. It was until Finkle allegedly found “important numbers,” like Biden’s wife’s number, programmed into the Bluetooth that he made the connection, according to Business Insider. When selling a car, you want to make sure to secure all of your personal information and property....
Maybe “firefighter” can be a viable alternative career for Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet. A fire ravaged the island home of Virgin Group’s chairman and founder, Richard Branson. The fire, however, was not enough to stop Winslet’s heroic efforts. Winslet, her boyfriend and her two children, and 16 other guests were staying at Branson’s home in the British Virgin Islands when flames broke out early Monday morning. Branson’s 90-year-old mother, Eve, was at the property when the fire started....
And the hits just keep on coming for Lumber Liquidators. A little while back we told you about 60 Minutes’ expose on the unsafe and illegal formaldehyde levels found in Lumber Liquidators’ laminate flooring. Since the show aired, the beleaguered flooring company has been hit with more than 100 class action lawsuits and investigated by the Consumer Products Safety Commission and the California Air Resources board. As the fallout continues, Lumber Liquidators Holdings has now been hit with criminal charges by the U....
If there was ever an over the counter or self-care product guaranteed to protect to prevent or treat swine flu, it probably would be flying off the shelves by now. Since there isn’t any such product, the Food and Drug Administration is warning people to beware of swine flu scams on the internet. The FDA’s web site is alerting the public to watch out for bogus claims Internet sites and other promotions offering a quick fix for the swine flu....
A 17-year-old high school student has been sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for using social media accounts to assist supporters of the Islamic State. U.S. officials have declared the militant group, also referred to as ISIL or ISIS, a terrorist organization. Ali Shukri Amin admitted to using his Twitter account to provide advice on how to travel to Syria to join ISIL and how to use Bitcoin to funnel money to the group....
Sometimes talking to a police officer is a friendly chat. Other times you’re a suspect in a criminal investigation and it’s anything but. Knowing the difference, and what to say and what not to say to cops can mean the difference between going home and going to jail. So here’s some of our best advice for talking to the police, from our archives: 1. Can You Refuse to Answer Police Questions?...
You’ll never meet a Twitter user who doesn’t simultaneously curse and chuckle when greeted with the iconic Fail Whale. But you’ll also never meet a user who doesn’t use the microblogging site to criticize Twitter itself. What does this mean? Tweeters can handle a little downtime, but when Twitter security is breached multiple times, as it was at the beginning of 2009, users are visibly up in arms. Or tweets....
A Long Island woman has been indicted on federal bank fraud and money laundering charges after attempting to transfer over $150,000 to overseas ISIS-related accounts. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Zoobia Shahnaz was apprehended at JFK International Airport attempting to board a flight to Islamabad, Pakistan, with the intent to join ISIS forces in Syria. The scheme included converting credit into bitcoin to avoid detection. It didn’t work....
The Barefoot Bandit is under indictment today for the wild, two-year crime spree that covered nine states and two countries. The 19-year-old bandit, formally known as Colton Harris-Moore, led officials on an extensive chase which ended in the Bahamas as the teen bandit tried to escape on a boat. A federal grand jury has indicted Harris-Moore on five counts including being a fugitive in possession of a firearm, reports the Associated Press....
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has vetoed reality TV show Jersey Shore’s tax credit, also known as the “Snooki subsidy.” Now, you may wonder why a TV show like Jersey Shore would get a tax credit in the first place. Are Snooki, the Situation and Pauly D just special? Is Jersey Shore a form of community service or charity? Any viewer of the show will tell you that it’s not....
A gunman opened fire inside an Oregon shopping mall Tuesday afternoon. The Portland-area mall shooting resulted in the killing of two people and the apparent suicide of the shooter. Many are now wondering whether having a gun in a shopping mall is legal and if there was anything that could have been done to prevent the tragedy. The shooting happened during the peak holiday shopping season at the Clackamas Town Center in the Portland suburbs, reports Reuters....
Bernard ‘Bernie’ Kerik, the disgraced former NYPD Police Commissioner convicted of eight felonies including lying to New York City and federal investigators about his association with a company and its figureheads who were being investigated for ties to organized crime, is going to jail. On Thursday, February 18, 2010, Kerik faces between 27 and 33 months in federal prison, a sentencing guideline recommendation stemming from his Nov. 5, 2009 plea agreement with federal prosecutors....
A recent decision by the California Supreme Court settled a question of state labor law that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals needed resolved in order to rule on a pending federal appeal that turns on the application of state law. The case stems from the labor disputes of two Nordstrom employees that allege the company violated California’s Labor Code sections 551, 552, and 556 which govern the guaranteed “day of rest” each week to full time employees....
Heroin overdoses nationwide have been skyrocketing, and police forces have been responding with enhanced penalties for dealers. In some cases, prosecutors are even charging dealers with murder if one of their customers ODs. It’s a relatively new phenomenon, and seemingly at odds with the softening stance in the War on Drugs. New Charges At the same time when politicians and law enforcement officials are looking to reduce prison populations by lessening the punishments for recreational drug use, prosecutors are ramping up efforts to charge and convict heroin dealers for murder:...
As we’ve noted before, state marijuana laws often conflict with federal marijuana laws, meaning that state efforts to legalize and decriminalize weed have remained subject to federal law enforcement’s acquiescence to the will of state voters and lawmakers. During the Obama presidency, the Justice Department refrained from prosecuting federal drug offenses in states that had legalized medical or recreational marijuana. But those halcyon days for pot patrons may be over. In a memo sent to U....
Not everyone can live the “Gangnam Style.” And if you try, it could result in a “Gangnam Style” death, as recently occurred in England. Eamonn Kilbride, a 46-year-old father of three, was having so much fun at his office Christmas party that he decided to break out some popular dance moves, made famous by South Korean rapper PSY. But as Kilbride galloped on his imaginary horse, he suffered chest pains, collapsed, and died....
