Articles Posted in Best Of

Maybe Illinois attorney Marvin Gerstein will now keep his temper in check … and trim his bushes. As stated by the Supreme Court of Illinois:

On or about June 15, 2005, Respondent [Mr. Gerstein] received a Notice of Public Nuisance signed by Jason Arrasmith, an Environmental Control Officer for the City’s Public Works Department. The notice stated, in part, that the City had inspected Respondent’s property and found that the bushes and vegetation growing in the parkway in front of Respondent’s house were a nuisance because they created a visibility hazard for drivers entering and exiting driveways near Respondent’s house. The notice directed Respondent to abate the nuisance by cutting the vegetation to a maximum height of 24 inches by June 23, 2005.

You already know he didn’t do it. On July 5, 2005, Mr. Gerstein met with City Attorney Jack Waaler and agreed to wack the weeds by July 12th, and that Mr. Arrasmith “had sole discretion to determine whether his yard was in compliance with the agreement.” Come July 12th, think Mr. Gerstein complied? Nope. So the City sent a contractor to do it. Gerstein was not pleased. Here’s the letter he sent to Jason Arrasmith that same day:

Jason:

I hate your fucking existence. What you did to my property was a vicious attack against the sumac cover planted by Irene Poulsen.

Your existence obviously is predicated upon a pair of pig fucking parents otherwise I can’t otherwise explain that you are the by product of the sow factor of birth. Too bad your abortion of a birth wasn’t successful.

So know this you scum piece of a cunt. I pray every time I pass the front portion of my property that the rest of your life is a living hell. I damn you in the name of my God you piece of human dog shit.

Marvin

Ouch! But Mr. Gerstein was not done. Guess what set him off next? The invoice for the yard work! Gerstein’s letter to Mr. Arrasmith is long, but here are a few highlights:

Okay Creep … you can take your Nuisance Abatement invoice and shove it up your anus… On another note, I want to know when I can expect the complaints provided to you in my letter of July 14, 2005 to be addressed. Because I am telling you right now boy, you living abortion, too bad your mother didn’t flush you down the toilet when you were born, I knew this did not happen to [City Attorney] Jack Waaler because his head is too big, and obviously he is the product of some other aberration …

The punishment? It should be noted that Mr. Gerstein “has been disciplined on three previous occasions for conduct that includes sending profane and insulting letters to attorneys and others involved in cases he was handling for clients.” His law license was suspended for 60 days. You can read the entire Consent Petition to Impose Discipline here.

I gotta say, I really like the way Springdale District Court Judge Stanley Ludwig handled this one. Here’s what happened, as reported in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette:

The alleged victim had accused his wife of beating him, Ludwig said. Ludwig said he found the woman innocent, believing the man’s injuries to be self-inflicted.

“You’re a controlling asshole who went to Honduras to find a submissive Hispanic woman to marry,” Ludwig recalled telling the man. “I guess I can call him a liar, but not an asshole.”

Props to the judge. What did the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission do with this? They issued a letter of reprimand, the first he has received in his 25 years as a judge. How did he respond to the reprimand?

I’ve probably said more outrageous things over the years. I was probably due.

Nicely done, sir.

Former Labour MP Helen Clark (Peterborough, Cambridgeshire) is in the soup for some things she allegedly said to a barmaid. You know things are probably not going well when your “friend” testifies …

“I felt she had had a lot to drink. I felt she was out of control. In my opinion I thought Helen had had too much to drink.”

Thanks, friend. As reported in The Herald, here’s what the prosecutor alleges Ms. Clark said to barmaid Susana Arsalani after Ms. Arslani refused to serve her any more alcohol:

“Why am I treated like a cunt?”; “Who’s the bitch giving orders?”; “You calling me drunk?” [expletive reinserted]

She said Clark had also said: “Don’t patronise me… fuck off.”; “The bitch couldn’t speak English who’s denying to serve me.”; “You bitch, you can’t even speak English.”[expletive reinserted]

Lovely. Ms. Clark was charged with being drunk and disorderly and using threatening words and behavior.

Okay, so what did it say? I don’t know! This dude appeared before McCracken (Kentucky) District Judge Chris Hollowell wearing an “inappropriate” t-shirt. (James Hinman was in court on a contempt charge for failing to pay a traffic fine.) Said hardcore criminal Hinman: “The shirt isn’t really obscene, but it does imply something obscene.” What did it say?!

Said the Judge about the incident: “I’m not trying to be the fashion police, but what he was wearing was extremely disrespectful and inappropriate.” Damn it! AP reporter, what did it say?

“The T-shirt used an altered spelling of an expletive that implied an obscene phrase.”

Shizzle. I give up. Oh, and what about turning the shirt inside out? Hinman offered, but the Judge refused. Wait! Don’t go yet! I found it. Ridiculous self-censoring media makes you scour the net for a friggin’ shirt! Here it is, really.

Well, the bailiffs told reporter Mike Longaecker (of The Republican Eagle) that the message on the woman’s flashing belt buckle read “fuck you.” Shazam! Why? Per Mr. Longaecker:

While the attorney for a suspected Red Wing murder accomplice argued for his client’s release, a supporter of the suspect had a courtroom message she also wanted to deliver… A family member said after the hearing that the belt’s message was in regard to “the situation.”

So what happened to her? To the clink for contempt? A judicial tongue-lashing? Nope.

She was warned by a bailiff not to wear the belt again during future court proceedings.

If it sounds really crazy, it’s usually true. As reported by the Los Angeles Times:

A 28-year-old man pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of animal cruelty in a bizarre New Year’s Eve incident in which he leaped off the San Diego-Coronado Bridge with an Oceanside police dog biting his arm. The dog died in the fall.

Cory Nathaniel Byron also pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony counts of drunk driving and evading arrest. The incident began with Byron being chased for 45 miles by Oceanside police along Interstate 5. When he stopped on the bridge, a police dog named Stryker was sent to subdue him.

Byron, who has two previous drunk driving convictions, suffered a collapsed lung and other injuries. He faces four years in prison when sentenced Oct. 29 in Vista Superior Court.

Once again, proof that truth is stranger than fiction …

Talk about really bad timing (or being really stoned – or both), as reported by The Maryland Coast Dispatch [Ocean City]:

On Monday evening, an OCPD officer was in the Liquor Mart on 18th Street investigating a theft when he observed a female standing at the counter paying for her purchase.

When the female customer, identified as Allison Naughton, 22, of Ocean City, pulled out her wallet to take out her driver’s license, a small bag of marijuana fell out of the wallet and onto the floor. Naughton was arrested and charged with possession and has been released.

Actually, it would be “bugnapper.” As reported in The South Asian Post:

SILIGURI, India – A Czech national who was sentenced to three years imprisonment by a court for collecting rare insects from a national park in Darjeeling has fled India after jumping bail. Entomologist Emil Kuchera left India by crossing the country’s border with Nepal on Oct 21, the police said. Kuchera left behind his passport that was in the custody of Darjeeling Chief Judicial Magistrate. Kuchera had been arrested under the Wildlife Protection Act on June 22 near Singalila National Park, for collecting rare insects like beetles, butterflies and moths without permission.

I love bugs (fried cicadas, anyone?), but 3 years?! That’s a little harsh. (Please, PETA members, no more emails!) (Unlike this guy, I would never mistreat a living creature.)

What did the Landlord allegedly do? He crashed his Hummer into their – um, his – house! At about 2:30 a.m.! As reported by delawareonline:

According to New Castle County police, the tenants, a 50-year-old man and his 53-year-old wife, awoke around 2:30 a.m. to a loud crash at their home on Lute Court in the Harmony Woods development in Ogletown.

They looked outside to see “headlights shining into the bedroom” and quickly went to check on their 6-year-old son sleeping in a separate bedroom. They then heard what sounded like a person attempting to kick in the front door.

As the woman was on the phone, calling 911, Ott allegedly shouted, “Tell the police it’s the landlord that tore up the building.”

He then fled the scene, according to police, leaving a footprint on the front door.

Officers investigating the incident later went to Ott’s home on Old Baltimore Pike and found his Hummer, damaged, with a pine branch lodged in the bumper.

Doh! What is the landlord, Mr. Ott looking at?

…charges of attempted burglary, harassment, leaving the scene of an accident, reckless driving, failure to report an accident and endangering the welfare of the three occupants of the home.

Whew. I’m out of breath.