Ape in Court
Seems like there is always some humor in store anytime an animal shows up in court. I guess there was that one time it didn't go so well: Even then, though, the chimpanzees were kind of funny. (It's those friggin orangutangs…
Evidence
Deputy Tracks Fugitive Through World of Warcraft
Alfred Hightower had been on the run since 2007, when a warrant was issued for his arrest on drug-dealing charges. Hightower was apparently from Kokomo, Indiana, but had fled to Canada. His downfall, though, was that he spent a…
Car Sounded Like It Was Speeding, Officer Testifies
In 2007, Daniel Freitag got a speeding ticket in West Salem, Ohio. Patrolman Ken Roth said he had measured Freitag's speed with a radar gun, but that evidence was thrown out on appeal because the state had failed to provide…
Police Dog: The Meat-Smuggler’s Nemesis
In August, police in Framingham, Massachusetts, responded to a report that a gas station had been robbed. They brought along a tracking dog and released it in the direction in which witnesses said the robber had gone. Just a few…
Chicago Courts Rejecting Evidence Gathered by Laser
The Chicago Tribune reports that judges in Cook County, Illinois, have been dismissing speeding tickets issued to drivers whose speed was measured with laser guns rather than boring old radar. The traffic court has taken the position that evidence gathered…
“Some Rumors Should Rest Untested”
Here's an opinion by the Minnesota Court of Appeals that is unpublished, but should not go unread. Below are the first two sentences of the court's opinion – I have reversed the order for slightly greater comedic effect: Four teenage…
Longest Known Judicial Oath
According to the people at Improbable Research, who collect interesting and completely ridiculous studies done in many scientific fields (including the social sciences), the longest known oath required of witnesses in a judicial proceeding was the oath required in Burmese…
Monkey Mask Fails to Defeat Traffic Camera
This may seem at first like a great idea for beating those automatic photo-enforcement cameras they set up to catch speeders: I would honestly like to be able to say this idea worked and that there was still a mystery…
New Video Questions Dupre’s Claim
Welcome back to the case that poses the following legal questions, among others: Is it possible to have less than zero credibility, and What happens if both parties to a lawsuit suffer from that handicap? I think the answer to…
Japanese Bikini Model Uses Self as Exhibit
Serena Kozakura was convicted last year of property destruction, after a man accused her of kicking a hole in the door of his room so she could get inside. Since Kozakura is a well-known pin-up and bikini model in Japan,…