Articles Posted in Odd Cases

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Sorry to break the news (okay, not exactly “break”), but you know that flute part of the song that goes “I come from the land down under…”? It was cribbed! And that’s final! Per theaustralian.com:

The High Court denied the band’s bid to appeal a federal court judge’s earlier ruling that the group had copied the signature flute melody of Down Under from the children’s classic Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.

Kookaburra was written more than 70 years ago by Australian teacher Marion Sinclair for a Girl Guides competition. The song went on to become a favorite around campfires from New Zealand to Canada. The wildly popular Down Under remains an unofficial Australian anthem.

How big of a hit was the song?

Down Under and the album it was on, Business As Usual, reached No. 1 on the Australian, American and British charts in early 1983. That year, Men at Work won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

So what did the court award?

The judge later ordered Men at Work’s recording company, EMI Songs Australia, and Down Under songwriters Colin Hay and Ron Strykert to pay fove per cent of royalties earned from the song since 2002 and from its future earnings.

Probably some serious coin. You can read more here.

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Unfortunately The Juice doesn’t have the surveillance video yet. Anyone? Anyway, suffice it to say that a Florida woman was not pleased with a woman she believes slept with her boyfriend. Check out how she displayed her displeasure, as reported by The Gainesville Sun.

According to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, the incident happened inside the store at 5200 NE Waldo Road, where a woman was working as a clerk. Deputies said a 23-year-old woman entered the store and began cussing at the clerk and asking her highly personal questions.

Based on witness statements and a surveillance video, deputies said the woman apparently was angry because she was involved in a sexual relationship with a man who also had been in a relationship with the clerk.

And she showed how angry she was by …

When the clerk declined to answer the questions, the woman opened a bag of used condoms and dumped them onto the counter, sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Todd Kelly said.

Um, ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

“Next she pulled her shorts down and lifted her shirt, which fully exposed her to the clerk — and the camera,” Kelly said. The woman left the store but returned shortly after and threw a condom that hit the clerk, deputies said.

Yikes!

The Sheriff’s Office filed a sworn complaint against the woman, accusing her of battery and indecent exposure. A sworn complaint means the case has been forwarded to the State Attorney’s Office before an arrest is made.

Kelly said the store had to stop making sales for a short time so that the contaminated counter could be thoroughly cleaned.

Nasty. Here’s the source.

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As you’ll soon see, this fella has an appetite for dollar stores, and ice cream sandwiches. As reported by tcpalm.com:

32-year-old Robert Silvia, was arrested Oct. 12 after an assistant manager at a Family Dollar saw a man take “an ice cream sandwich from the front of his pants” and start eating it, a recently released Fort Pierce police report states.

The assistant manager said the man came in the store in the 700 block of South U.S. 1 in Fort Pierce and went to the cooler. The man took something, and left without paying.

“She watched him as he walked across the street to the Dollar Tree store, as he walked he removed an ice cream sandwich from the front of his pants and began eating it,” the report states. “He then entered the Dollar Tree and came out a few minutes later with a drink and then began to walk west on Georgia Ave.”

From the Family Dollar to the Dollar Tree to … the pokey? Yup. The man admitted to lifting the $1.00 ice cream sandwich, and apologized. To no avail. The assistant manager wanted to press charges. You can see the arrest report and the mug shot by clicking here.

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As a personal injury lawyer himself, The Juice has heard many stories about behavior before, during and after car accidents.
This one, though, takes the cake. As reported by The Union Leader (New Hampshire):

Jared D. Hooper, 21, of 26 Partridge Lane, was arrested after police responded to the area of Garden and Westville roads around 6:30 p.m. to investigate the accident involving Hooper and another vehicle.

Arrested for what was described as a “minor” car accident? Hmm.

Deputy Police Chief Kathleen Jones said Hooper struck the other vehicle and then got out of his car and ran over to yell at the female driver.

Not cool, but … wait for it …

“He started smashing on the window and was yelling at her. Then he stopped and took off all of his clothing,” Jones said.

Bam!

“When officers got there he was standing there naked. He was still screaming. He had absolutely nothing on. This was definitely an unusual occurrence” said Jones…

As for the obvious question …

Contacted at his home Wednesday night, Hooper said he couldn’t comment on the accident or the reasons why he took off his clothes.

“Unfortunately I can’t respond to questions. I have nothing to say,” he said.

The crime?

Hooper was charged with driving while intoxicated, and with disorderly conduct, lewd behavior and criminal threatening.

Here’s the source, which includes a photo of Mr. Hooper.

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This information was on a need-to-know basis. Clearly, this was not something the officer needed to know. As reported in The Highline Times (Washington State):

Suspicious vehicle

An officer contacted and identified a suspicious subject parked behind the Normandy Park Athletic Club in the 19900 block of 1st Ave. S. The subject admitted to the officer that he had planned to urinate behind the building. The subject was warned and released.

Say what? Released to drive home drunk? (Although it’s not certain he was drunk, he makes a pretty case for it.)

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You’re out for a bike ride, with a backpack full of tools. Is that a crime? Apparently it can be. As reported by The St. Petersburg Times:

Kurtis Martin was riding his bicycle Sunday night with no headlight, in an area hit by recent burglaries, with an open backpack full of tools, Pasco deputies said.

When a deputy pulled Martin over, he found the backpack contained several screwdrivers, a claw hammer, pliers, wire cutters and a machete, according to a Pasco County Sheriff’s Office report. The deputy asked what the tools were for.

You have to give this man credit for being honest, some of which you can deduct for failing to know about his right to not incriminate himself.

“I hadn’t stolen anything tonight,” replied Martin, according to the report. “I had the tools with me in case the opportunity arose. I was only scouting the area.”

Doh!

Martin, 36, of Lacoochee, was arrested on suspicion of possessing burglary tools. He remained in the county jail Monday afternoon in lieu of $5,000 bail.

Not being a criminal lawyer, The Juice did not know this was a crime. Did you? Here’s the source.

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The “Brown ‘N Serve” sausages were 98 cents in the aisle, but rang up at $1.00. When it happened the second time, consumer activist Mary Bach resorted to a familiar remedy – court. Wal-Mart said the overcharge was a mistake. What did the judge say? Per The Tribune-Review:

Murrysville District Judge Charles Conway sided with Bach in her civil lawsuit alleging unfair trade practices. He awarded Bach $100 in damages, plus about $80 in court costs.

Said a victorious Bach:

“Wal-Mart abandoned an earlier chainwide practice of offering scanner guarantees — for no explainable reason — and they also appear not to be following established store procedures for correcting scanner errors when customers report them. This also was occurring at two other stores, in Greensburg and North Versailles.” Wal-Mart has 30 days to appeal to Common Pleas Court.

You can read more (a lot) here.

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You will be not be surprised to learn that Mr. William Ernst (who owns a bunch of convenience stores called QC Mart) was known by some as the “boss from hell.” A recent brainstorm to make the case? How about a memo titled “New Contest – Guess The Next Cashier Who Will Be Fired!!!”? As reported by The Des Moines Register, here’s what the memo said:

“
To win our game, write on a piece of paper the name of the next cashier you believe will be fired. Write their name [the person who will be fired], today’s date, today’s time, and your name. Seal it in an envelope and give it to the manager to put in my envelope.

“Here’s how the game will work: We are doubling our secret-shopper efforts, and your store will be visited during the day and at night several times a week. Secret shoppers will be looking for cashiers wearing a hat, talking on a cell phone, not wearing a QC Mart shirt, having someone hanging around/behind the counter, and/or a personal car parked by the pumps after 7 p.m., among other things.

Continue reading →
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This is just gross – really, really gross. A guy broke into two separate cars and, well, you’ll have to hear it from The Star-Ledger (via nj.com):

Twice in one night, a burglar entered cars in Carteret, ransacked the vehicles and then defecated inside, according to police.

How would you like to be the police officer who catches this case? “Yeah, we’ll need some of that for DNA testing.”

On Tuesday night, an intruder entered a 2005 Chrysler Pacifica parked on Park Avenue, grabbed a GPS unit, and before leaving, relieved himself on the backseat, police said.

The same night somebody entered a 2007 Toyota Camry parked on George Street. Nothing was taken, but the burglar also relieved himself on the rear seat, authorities said.

Not cool, dude. Not cool. (It reminds The Juice of a certain Seinfeld episode.)

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To look at this 79-year-old gentleman, you wouldn’t think that he’s capable of what he’s been charged with. As reported by wdrb.com (Louisville, Kentucky):

According to an arrest report, the alleged victim was pulling out of his driveway in the 9800 block of Fairmount Road, just west of Old Bardstown Road, when James W. Handy [age 79] threw coffee on him through his open car window.

Not cool. But wait.

The victim quickly stopped his car and got out, “to ask what the problem was.” Police say Handy quickly replied by smashing the coffee mug against the man’s head. Handy then allegedly cut up the victim’s arm with the broken handle.

Okay. There has got to be some serious history between these two.

When police asked Handy why he did it, he allegedly told them that, “he owed it to him” and that the victim “was staring at him.”

Police say Handy added that he would do it again, too, if the victim “looked at him.”

Perhaps that’s setting the bar a little low for a beat down?

Handy was arrested and charged with second-degree assault.

Here’s the source.