You might think that the government official who represents the Motor Accidents Authority, and is also the Education Minister for over 1 million kids in New South Wales, Australia, is biking to work to set a good example. You would be wrong. Minister John Della Bosca is riding his bicycle to work because he has gotten seven speeding tickets, from the same camera, in the same place. So his driver’s license has been suspended. Here he is!
No, I wouldn’t normally think of them together either. Catherine McCoubrey and her boyfriend did, though. As reported in the Winnipeg Free Press:
… the couple had been drinking alcohol and were engaged in so-called “rough sex” when the boyfriend asked McCoubrey to carve a heart-shaped symbol on to his chest.
One small problem. Instead of cutting a heart into his chest, she actually cut his heart. Although her boyfriend almost died, he made a full recovery. Maybe he shouldn’t have introduced her to “body modification?”
They did. They summoned him to court (on charges of creating a law and order problem!), and 3-year-old Mukesh Prasad came with his daddy. The Magistrate was pissed. The summons was immediately dismissed. How did this happen? Seems a couple of police officers in Sultanpur, India were looking for Mukesh’s 19-year-old brother, Sunil. As reported in The Indian Express:
Since he [Sunil] was missing, the police moved an application in the court to book his brother. The application was moved on April 22, and Mukesh was asked to appear on May 9.
Um. Er. Sorry. What became of the summons-happy officers? They were suspended. You can read more (just a tiny bit) here.
This is a strange one. See if you make the same call the jury did. Here’s the scene, as described in The Oregonian:
The petite 24-year-old Beaverton woman got out of the shower wrapped in a towel, stopped to watch a couple minutes of TV and then sat down on her bed.
While putting lotion on her legs, she realized a man was standing in her closet, staring at her with bright blue eyes. He was wearing a lacy negligee with fishnet stockings open at the crotch, a woman’s miniskirt, sheer white blouse and long, brown wig.
Then she screamed twice, ran to another room and called police. The man fled without saying a word …
The man in the closet was Eric Triton Kincaid, age 29. How did the police catch him? By tracing the DNA on the meth pipe he left in the woman’s closet. Mr. Kincaid was charged with first-degree burglary, attempted first-degree sexual abuse, and invasion of personal privacy. His defense?
He was high on methamphetamine, he said [to the jury], and went to the Beaverton apartment complex on March 3, 2007 because he was invited to have sex by a woman he barely knew. But when he saw the woman sitting on the bed half naked, he realized she was the wrong woman and that he was in the wrong apartment. Basically, he was as surprised as she was, he said.
Okay, how did he end up in that apartment?
Kincaid said the woman he was going to meet was staying with friends and gave him directions that neither of them were too sure about. He arrived at what he thought was the right apartment, and when he turned the doorknob, it opened.
Think the prosecutor is buying that explanation? Me either.
The prosecutor told jurors it was more likely that Kincaid tried every basement apartment door until he found one that was unlocked. Investigators couldn’t find the mysterious friend Kincaid knew only as “Kate.”
Ladies and gentleman of the jury, what do you think?
Malcolm Williams came to the Houston County Courthouse to pay some fines and to report to his probation officer. When he emptied his pockets before going through the metal detector, as reported in the Dothan Eagle:
…out spilled two baggies of marijuana along with a wad of cash and a cell phone.
Doh! And you know what else he had on him? A pocket knife and rolling paper! What did the deputies do? They tased him, bro! But it didn’t work because of his clothing. Mr. Williams was otherwise subdued and taken into custody, where he is looking at not just probation violation, but a few new charges too.
Okay, so after discovering the glitch (the man’s account was only debited 1/1,000th of the amount withdrawn!), he made an additional 171 withdrawals, to the tune of about $25,000. And yes, it was in China, where he could have been sentenced to death (for real). But really, isn’t a life sentence just a little bit harsh? Yes, said the Guangdong Provincial High People’s Court. After a retrial, Xu Ting was sentenced to 5 years. Here’s what his father had to say:
He is innocent He just made a silly mistake. So he should be set free.
Dude – 171 “silly mistakes?” After which your son was on the run for a year before being caught? Xu said he won’t appeal. To read more (just a bit), click here.
Tyler J. Meverden of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, went to the bank to make what he probably thought was a routine deposit. There was just one problem, as reported in the Door County Advocate:
The money Tyler J. Meverden, 21, tried to deposit at a Sturgeon Bay bank reeked of marijuana, according to a Sturgeon Bay Police Department investigation into the incident.
How strong was the smell?
The odor was so noticeable and so distinctive that a teller put the cash — $4,000 in bundled bills — into a plastic bag.
How right was the teller?
The contact between the bills and marijuana was so intense that when the Sturgeon Bay Police Department tested a bill, the chemicals reacted positively for marijuana, according to a department report.
The money tested positive for pot! Zoinks! And when the police searched his residence, they found about one pound of weed. And if that’s not bad enough, his residence is very close to an elementary school and a ball field, making him eligible for enhanced penalties. And if that’s not bad enough, this bust was actually a probation violation.
He was serving probation from convictions in 2005 and 2006 for possessing marijuana, possessing drug paraphernalia, bail jumping, obstructing police, battery and criminal damage to property.
Separate drawers, dude. Separate drawers.
Kauai has got to be one of the coolest places on earth (especially the north shore). It’s definitely the coolest place I’ve ever visited. But even this totally chill tropical paradise has a few rules. For example, when you visit somebody in the hospital, you can’t bring the patient’s horse (in the elevator!) to cheer him up. Now it is Kauai, so the hospital does allow pets, like cats and dogs. And they are almost apologetic about this limitation.
“On Kauai, we have a very warm inviting atmosphere at Wilcox [Memorial Hospital],” [hospital spokeswoman] Yukimura said. “We just hope people understand this is not a place for a horse.”
Ma’am, I want to LIVE on your island! Yes, we understand. Oh – one more thing about the horse. After all the man went through to cheer up his ailing relative – he brought the wrong horse!
Not the good kind of “unforgettable,” though. A fellow named Stephen Chang was at the Hot Lap Dance Club, when, he alleges in his lawsuit, he got a lap dance that was – sorry – not so hot. Seems he caught a heel in the eye, causing “serious injuries.” And this was no cheapee, either. The cost? $40 per dance, plus a $50 one-time club membership fee, and a $10 admission fee.
It must have been a really, really major injury (or a serious lapse in judgment), as Mr. Chang is a married securities trader in his early 30s. This can’t be good for his career, or marriage. Here’s a little more.
Okay, it wasn’t just another day for one Dunkin’ Donuts worker. On that day last month, John Greco, age 46, of Croton-on-Hudson, New York, decided to pick up some coffee at the drive-thru, without any pants on! So when he picked up his order, his toolkit was there for all to see. The ever-vigilant worker got his tag number, leading to Greco’s subsequent arrest for public lewdness. Per the AP report:
Police released a statement Thursday saying it was “unknown how Mr. Greco took his coffee that day.”
Ba-da-bing. Everybody’s a comedian.
Legal Juice