Weird Legal News

2008-07-16T20:46:00.002-04:00

2008-07-16T20:44:00.002-04:00

I'll teach you to say my feet smell!

2008-07-09T21:46:00.000-04:00

23-year-old William Antonio Serrano, of Houston Texas was sentenced to 35 years in prison for stabbing his roommate to death after an argument in their Houston apartment. What were they arguing about? The victim, 21-year-old Noel Quintanilla-Vaquero had confronted his roommate, Serrano, about Serrano's alleged foot odor problem.
.
Authorities say 21-year-old Noel Quintanilla-Vaquero complained last October that Serrano's feet had a foul odor. They say Serrano responded to the insult by grabbing a knife and stabbing Quintanilla-Vaquero 16 times.
According to news sources, the men had been drinking. Surprise, surprise.

Court documents indicate Serrano initially claimed self-defense. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the self defense argument.

Pakistan's Punjab province limits wedding feasts

2008-05-28T11:24:00.001-04:00

Pakistan's Punjab province limits wedding feasts

The cultural pressure to throw a big wedding cuts across the class spectrum in this largely impoverished country of 160 million people, where the World Bank estimates per capita income is about $800 a year. Families sometimes go into deep debt to pay for a wedding beyond their means.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistani_wedding

Celebrity Photo Exhibit Crashed by the Police

2008-05-27T06:47:00.003-04:00

Newsday.com

Hamptons gallery owner cuffed for selling alcohol without liquor license

BY JENNIFER MALONEY

jennifer.maloney@newsday.com

11:36 PM EDT, May 25, 2008

About 200 art aficionados were sipping Veuve Clicquot Champagne and chilled white wine at an East Hampton gallery this weekend when the police arrived.

It was a soiree like many others for Vered Gallery, which twice a month invites guests to drink, nibble cheese and view its latest show.

But this time, gallery owner Ruth Vered was led away in handcuffs.

East Hampton Village police declined to comment Sunday except to confirm in a written statement that the gallery owner, who is widely known as Vered, was charged with selling alcohol without a liquor license.

Vered's arraignment was set for June 25 at East Hampton Town Court, police said.

Reached at her gallery Sunday night, Vered said a night that ended with her being led to a squad car on a tony East Hampton street began tamely enough with a Saturday opening at 7 p.m. featuring the work of photographer Steven Klein.

Guests wore cocktail dresses, summer dresses, shirts and slacks. Vered wore black, as always: a Ralph Lauren blouse and jeans.

About 8 p.m., she said, a pair of East Hampton Village police officers arrived. They told her she could not serve alcohol.

"I told them, 'I served liquor before you were born,'" Vered recalled Sunday night. "I told them they were not invited and I asked them to leave."

She told them that if they wanted to talk to her, they would have to send the police chief.

According to Vered: Several police cars arrived shortly thereafter, and six officers entered the gallery; two more stood outside. Then they confiscated the alcohol and put her in handcuffs. The guests, dismayed, screamed "Let her go! Leave her alone!" Others followed Vered and officers to the street, where they snapped photos of the incident on their cell phone cameras.

"It was really a scene," Vered said. "It was amazing."

Vered said the Champagne and wine -- donated by the Bridgehampton winery Channing Daughters -- was free, as always. Vered said she's offered alcoholic beverages at her gallery for more than 30 years and has never been questioned by police.

She said she spent about two hours at the police station. "It's absolutely ridiculous," she said. "They're sabotaging the life of our small business. Everybody does parties and gives Champagne. It's East Hampton!"

Sperm donor fights child support order

2008-05-25T23:33:00.001-04:00

A 36-year-old sperm donor has appealed to Sweden's supreme court to overturn a lower court order that he provide child support for three children born to a lesbian couple using his sperm, Agence France-Presse reports. While the man acknowledges that the children are his biologically, he denies that his arrangement with the two mothers included any financial liability for the offspring. Nevertheless, the court ruled that the sperm donor does have financial responsibility for the children. His attorney said the court case raises critical questions about the role of sperm donors in the country.

Abuse of the Handicapped in Georgia

2006-06-10T15:26:00.000-04:00

Abuse of the Handicapped in Georgia

The moral test of a government is how it treats those who are at the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadow of life, the sick and the needy, and the handicapped. -Hubert Humphrey

In Gwninnett County, Georgia it is business as usual for DFACS, the Juvenile Court, and even for several court-appointed attorneys. It is standard practice for the Gwinnett County Juvenile Court to deny handicapped parents the reasonable accommodations they require to participate in court hearings, to deny parents their right to be heard, and to insist that families accept less than adequate representation.

In Gwinnett County, Georgia, it is common to find court appointed attorneys actually working at odds with their clients! Why have a system in place to appoint attorneys for indigent families if those same attorneys are going to behave as if they represent DFACS? Not having any representation at all would be an improvement for some Gwinnett County families.

The Hull Family's case is a prime example of the corruption, malfeasance, and rampant discrimination in Gwinnett County, Georgia.

Craig Hull had a stroke in 2001. He uses a wheelchair and his verbal communication is inhibited by receptive and expressive aphasia, as well as by auditory processing issues. Mr. Hull communicates in writing, and has been described by his Speech Pathologist as "charming." Mr. Hull continues to manage his family's finances, and is a competent adult.

Linda Hull has been diagnosed with Aspberger's Syndrome and has suffered unspeakably at the hands of DFACS.

The Hulls have seven children. Four of those children are adults, and the younger three are detained by Gwinnett County DFACS. Sadly, with one exception, the adult children have turned their backs on their parents in pursuit of "normalcy."

Currently, Mr. and Mrs. Hull's court appointed attorney, David White, is attempting to convince the court to appoint a Guardian Ad Litum (GAL) for Mr. Hull. White refuses to communicate with Mr. Hull in writing, claiming that Mr. Hull's speech deficiencies render him "incapable of making independent decisions." Should White prevail in this blatant betrayal of his client's interests, an appointed GAL would have the authority to "voluntarily" sign away Mr. Hull's parental rights.

Of special concern is the circumstances surrounding the family's last court hearing. At issue was the family's motion for reasonable accomodations for Mr. Hull. Mrs. Hull and the Family Advocate, Dorothy Kernaghan-Baez, attempted to file supporting documents and were refused. The reason given for the refusal was, "I don't think this material is relevant, plus it's just too much." Included in this material was a report from Mr. Hull's Speech Pathologist, outlining his communication needs. This individual was not a juvenile court clerk, but was an court employee from another part of the building. This individual, does not hold the required training to perform any juvenile court functions.

When the Hull's case was called, the bailiff, Chris Holden, refused to allow Mr. and Mrs. Hull to have their Family Advocate present. She also refused to allow entry to a family friend who would have transcribed the proceedings for Mr. Hull. When Mrs. Kernaghan-Baez offered to show the bailiff the Georgia Statute authorizing the presence of support persons, Holden snapped, "I don't care what the law says!"

Mrs. Kernaghan-Baez immediately placed a call to a WSB-TV producer who is known to be friendly to Family Rights. Shortly after, the Hulls were allowed to confer with White outside the courtroom. White heard Mrs. Kernaghan-Baez describing the situation on the telephone, and began interjecting, "That's not true," each time Mrs. Kernaghan-Baez made a statement, beginning with White's claim that the clerk's office had not refused to accept the documents described above! Finally, exasperated, Mrs. Kernaghan-Baez held the phone out to White and offered him the chance to dispute her statements directly to the television producer. Since White was not interested in this opportunity, Mrs. Kernaghan-Baez returned to her call.

During this time, the Hulls were discussing the options Judge Phyllis Miller had given them:

1) Proceed pro se
2) Continue with White as their attorney

Mr. Hull was especially concerned that he and his wife were not capable of self representation. So, reluctantly, the Hulls opted to continue with White, and made it clear that they would be searching for another attorney in the interim. The Hulls returned to the court room.

Back in the court room, Judge Miller recused herself because her daughter is a friend of one of the Hull's daughters. This is the second recusal in this case. Judge Robert Rodatus was forced to recuse himself earlier this year after the Hull's were listed as potential witnesses in another family's lawsuit against Judge Rodatus.

After the hearing concluded, White was again insistent that Mr. Hull have a GAL appointed. When presented with the Speech Pathologist's report indicating Mr. Hull's comptence and his needs for adaptive communication, White simply repeated, "He's going to have a GAL."

When questioned by Zephaniah Hull, age 23, as to "Are you willing to communicate with my father?" White made several attempts to deflect the question. Finally, White admitted that he would not endeavor to have any direct communication with Mr. Hull.

To date, no judge has been assigned to the Hull's case and the matter has been continued.

The following are some potential points of contact for concerned individuals and organizations:

Chief Superior CourtJudge

The Honorable K. Dawson Jackson
75 Langley Drive
Lawrenceville, Georgia 30045
phone (770) 822-8619
fax (770) 822-8616
Special Assistant Attorney General (SAAG)
(this is the attorney representing DFACS)

Joseph P. Cheeley, IIIMagnolia Office Complex

1400 Buford Highway, Suite E-3

Buford, GA 30518-8726

phone 770-831-7910

email office@legalappeal.com

Gwinnett County Clerk of Court

Tom Lawler
75 Langley Drive

Lawrenceville, Georgia 30045

phone (770) 822-8100

Media Information

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Angela Tuck, Public Editor
phone 404-526-5819

fax 404-526-5611

Gwinnett Daily Post

Phone: 770-963-9205
Editorial Direct Line: 770-339-5850
Editorial Fax Line: 770-339-8081 Editor: Todd Clinedirect phone 770-963-9205 ext. 1300

WSB TV Channel 2

1601 West Peachtree Street N.E.

Atlanta, Georgia 30309
phone 404.897.7000
News Tip Line 404-897-7409

News Tip Email

*PLEASE NOTE* At this point we are trying to resolve the "reasonable accommodations" and "effective assistance of counsel" issues. We are requesting at this time that when making contact with any of the above that you focus on this. The merits of the family's case are strong, but we cannot effectively present the family's case unless the family is afforded the opportunity to effectively be heard.

Please send copies of any communications to:

Georgia Family Rights
2208 Highland Avenue
Suite 107
Augusta, Georgia 30904
fax 706-868-8643
Or email copies to:
hullcase@cpsabuse.org
Please only use the above email address to send the copies.

If you wish to communicate with Georgia Family Rights about this case, please write to dorothy@cpsabuse.org or call 706-533-6522.

Saturday June 10, 2006 - 04:03pm (ADT) Permanent Link | 0

All blog entries are © Dorothy Kernaghan-Baez and no entries may be reproduced in any form absent written permission.

Prosecutors not allowed to tell the truth!

2006-05-30T19:32:00.000-04:00

Richard Ceballos was an honest prosecutor. When approached by a defense attorney with evidence that police had lied on a search warrant affidavit, he told the truth. He told the truth in a memo to his supervisors, and when that didn't work, he told the truth as a witness for the defense.

Unfortunately, out in California, they don't appreciate prosecutors who refuse to cover up wrongdoing. Ceballos was ultimately demoted and transferred. Gil Garcetti, the Los Angeles County District Attorney, openly admits that the demotion and transfer was retaliation for telling the truth.

Also, unfortunately, Garcetti's attempt to twist justice did not merit even a slap on the hand from the United States Supreme Court today. In a split decision, SCOTUS ruled that prosecutors do not have 1st Amendment rights on the job.

Most disturbing is the fact that the real issue was not even addressed! Do we want a society where prosecutors can be punished for telling the truth? Do we want a society where what should be the main issue - that of truthfulness by public officials - does not even rate mention by the United States Supreme Court? The Court of Last Resort?

Shame on Mr. Garcetti, and shame on Justices Kennedy, Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito.

© Dorothy Kernaghan-Baez 2006

The Case Againt Nancy Grace - Part One

2006-03-12T14:18:00.000-04:00

>

"If you don't
know the horse, check it's track record."

Nancy
Grace, the acid tongued CNN and Court TV personality, is not only
unashamedly biased against those accused of committing crimes - as a
prosecutor, she had a reputation for playing fast, loose, and crooked
with the law herself.

While
Grace seems to get quite a charge out of bragging that, as a prosecutor
in Fulton County, Georgia, she never lost a jury trial.....she, well, neglects to mention
having been on the wrong end of a few verbal spankings dished out by
the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Hmmmm....

Grace spastically pounds on the law and order theme as she
thinks it applies to others, but methinks Grace suffers from delusions of grandeur in
that she doesn't think the rules actually apply to her. I will gladly
send Grace a legal dictionary at my own expense, if she will only
promise to look up prosecutorial misconduct
and write out the definition fifty times.

There will
be more to come. In the meantime, you can google
Nancy Grace.

© Dorothy Kernaghan-Baez 2006

Surprise "Drop" In

2006-03-11T14:36:00.000-04:00

On September 9, 2003 in Atlanta, Georgia

Ben Rogozensky decided that he really had to get out of jail. Even the fact that Rogozensky had been homeless prior to his arrest did not dampen his thirst for freedom. Knowing he would most likely be extradited to New Jersy to stand trial for stealing cars, our creative inmate decided to take action.

Asking to use the restroom, Rogozensky was unshackled and allowed to use the facilities unsupervised. Seeing an opportunity, Rogozensky stood on a toilet, pushed aside a ceiling tile, and climbed into the crawl space above. Deputies apparently had no clue whatsoever that they were short one inmate. Rogozensky was only discovered when he fell through the ceiling in the chambers of Judge Antonio Del Campo....Rogozensky actually fell smack onto the good judge's desk. Samantha Whaley, who worked in the judge's office, had barely scooted out of the way when the desperate inmate came crashing through the ceiling.

There is no word on just how Rogozensky had planned to get out of the crawl space and into freedom.

information collected from news reports

2006-03-11T11:49:00.000-04:00

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