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Odd Criminal Cases

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KickahaOta
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Odd Criminal Cases

#1

Post by KickahaOta »

Every once in a while a criminal case comes along that is... just... weird. This is one of them.

From the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, here's a case that turns very odd facts into some odd law. A summary:
  • We begin with a defendant with unfortunate mental health issues. She decides that there is a dark conspiracy between law enforcement and casino operators, and that she must inform President Trump personally.
  • She drives thousands of miles from California to Washington DC. Along the way, during further events left tragically unclear by the record, she winds up stealing someone's wallet in a Nevada casino.
  • Judge Srinivasan picks up the story from there:
When her car’s GPS device marked her arrival at the White House, she parked the car, exited it, scaled two fences, ran across a courtyard, and sprinted up the stairs of the building towards the entrance, where Secret Service officers intercepted her.
However ill-conceived Jabr’s plan to attain an audience with the President may have been in its design, it was all the more unlikely to succeed because of a significant hiccup in its implementation: Jabr, it turned out, had dashed up the stairs of the wrong building. She had tried to enter the United States Treasury Building, which sits immediately adjacent to the White House.
  • She is charged in federal court with violating a statute that criminalizes unlawfully entering a restricted area, namely, "the White House Complex and United States Department of Treasury Building and Grounds".
  • The bench trial arrives. And, as defense counsel points out, the government has been almost as confused as the defendant. The statute in question only covers the White House grounds itself. And even though the Treasury is very close by, it's not on the White House grounds.
  • 'Fair enough,' the judge opines. 'But I find her guilty of attempting to unlawfully enter the White House grounds.'
  • 'No way,' the defense counters. 'You can't just modify the charge in the indictment at the end of the trial!'
  • The appellate panel is unmoved. It was the defense's turn to screw up; they apparently hadn't noticed that the charge came in an information, not in an indictment. And changing the charge from 'completed crime' to 'attempt' mid-trial is totally okay when there's an information. I'm sure that's a perfectly logical rule that no prosecutor would ever dream of abusing.
Believe it or not, I haven't completely spoiled the opinion; there were several other factual and legal screwups along the way.
chancery
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Re: Odd Criminal Cases

#2

Post by chancery »

Interesting. I'm pleased to see that this disturbed person was charged with a misdemeanor rather than a felony and was sentenced to time served.
It was the defense's turn to screw up; they apparently hadn't noticed that the charge came in an information, not in an indictment
I'm not sure I'd really call it a screwup, because I can't think of an alternative argument that the defense counsel missed. If anything, it might have been a kind of stretcher, a deliberate attempt to slide one by the court.

It's also not clear to me from reading the decision that the conviction would have constituted an improper constructive amendment even if the defendant had been charged by an indictment. IANACrL, and I'll defer to anyone who knows this stuff better.

Edit because I wrote the reverse of what I meant.
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Re: Odd Criminal Cases

#3

Post by northland10 »

Interesting... thanks for this.
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Re: Odd Criminal Cases

#4

Post by Maybenaut »

That’s how it works in the military. An attempt is a lesser included offense of most crimes (there are a few exceptions).
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Re: Odd Criminal Cases

#5

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/fl ... -us-member
Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges for Hate-Motivated Threats Against a U.S. Member of Congress

Tampa, FL – A Florida man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to threatening a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

On April 19, David Hannon, 67, of Sarasota, entered a guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher P. Tuite to an information charging him with one count of threatening a federal official.

According to information presented at the guilty plea hearing, on July 16, 2019, while in Sarasota, Hannon sent an email to U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar threatening to kill her. Hannon sent the email following a televised press conference held by Representative Omar and three other U.S. Congresswomen. In his threatening email, which had a subject line that read, “[You’re] dead, you radical Muslim,” Hannon referred to Congresswoman Omar and the other Congresswomen of color as “radical rats,” and asked Congresswoman Omar if she was prepared “to die for Islam.” The email further stated that Hannon was going to shoot the Congresswomen in the head.

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Re: Odd Criminal Cases

#6

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/flo ... w-84219188
Florida dentist charged with fatal hit on ex-brother-in-law
A Florida dentist has been arrested on charges that he hired hit men eight years ago to kill his sister’s ex-husband, a prominent law professor


- A Florida dentist has been arrested on charges that he hired hit men eight years ago to kill his sister's ex-husband, a prominent law professor, so she could move back to the Fort Lauderdale area from Tallahassee with her two children.

Charles Adelson, 45, was being held Thursday without bond at the Broward County jail on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation to commit murder after being arrested at his home by U.S. marshals. He is awaiting transfer to Tallahassee.

Adelson and other members of his family have long been cited by prosecutors and investigators as potential suspects in the July 18, 2014, killing of Florida State University law professor Daniel Markel at his Tallahassee home. Markel, 41, had been married to Wendi Adelson, who had been unable to return to South Florida because Markel had joint custody of their young children after a highly contentious divorce.

Markel was gunned down in his garage by two men, Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, who prosecutors say were hired through Katherine Magbanua, a former girlfriend and employee of Adelson and the mother of Garcia's two children.

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Odd Criminal Cases

#7

Post by John Thomas8 »

Freakin' creepy:

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#8

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

I have searched a client’s car for a GPS before. Folks like him are dangerous!
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Odd Criminal Cases

#9

Post by keith »

For crying out loud. Throw away the key for a few years.
Has everybody heard about the bird?
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Odd Criminal Cases

#10

Post by chancery »

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:06 pm https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/flo ... w-84219188
Florida dentist charged with fatal hit on ex-brother-in-law
A Florida dentist has been arrested on charges that he hired hit men eight years ago to kill his sister’s ex-husband, a prominent law professor


- A Florida dentist has been arrested on charges that he hired hit men eight years ago to kill his sister's ex-husband, a prominent law professor, so she could move back to the Fort Lauderdale area from Tallahassee with her two children.

Charles Adelson, 45, was being held Thursday without bond at the Broward County jail on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation to commit murder after being arrested at his home by U.S. marshals. He is awaiting transfer to Tallahassee.

Adelson and other members of his family have long been cited by prosecutors and investigators as potential suspects in the July 18, 2014, killing of Florida State University law professor Daniel Markel at his Tallahassee home. Markel, 41, had been married to Wendi Adelson, who had been unable to return to South Florida because Markel had joint custody of their young children after a highly contentious divorce.

Markel was gunned down in his garage by two men, Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, who prosecutors say were hired through Katherine Magbanua, a former girlfriend and employee of Adelson and the mother of Garcia's two children.


I first read about this murder _years_ ago. It's amazing that the prosecution is still active. Markel was a well-regarded lawyer and academic, and a founder of the sometimes interesting blog PrawfsBlawg.
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Odd Criminal Cases

#11

Post by Foggy »

Wow, that's a really exciting dentist's office to work in, huh?

"Kathy, let's get some x-rays of this dude's bite wings, and then after work would you help me hire someone to kill my sister's ex-husband?"

"Sure, boss. I'll do the x-rays first, okay?"
Out from under. :thumbsup:
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#12

Post by Maybenaut »

chancery wrote: Sat Jul 22, 2023 4:31 pm I first read about this murder _years_ ago. It's amazing that the prosecution is still active. Markel was a well-regarded lawyer and academic, and a founder of the sometimes interesting blog PrawfsBlawg.
FWIW, this got talked about on Old ‘Bow back when it happened. There was a lot of speculation about who might have done it or what the motive might have been, but nobody had Markel’s ex wife’s brother, his girlfriend, his girlfriend’s ex, and his girlfriend’s ex’s friend as the killers.

https://formerly.thefogbow.com/forum/vi ... el#p557462

I tried to open trl’s link but couldn’t. Here’s a link to an nbc news article.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna25553



The girlfriend (Katherine Magbanua) had already been charged and tried, but her trial ended in a hung jury. She’s awaiting retrial. The girlfriend’s ex (one Sigfredo Garcia) was convicted in 2019 of First Degree Murder. Garcia’s friend, Luis Rivera, pled to 2nd degree murder, and rolled on Garcia and Magbanua.

The motive apparently was because the terms of the custody order from the divorce prohibited the wife from moving away with the children.
Edit: Wait, wait, wait…

This is old news. The girlfriend was convicted on retrial. The brother’s trial starts in October.
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#13

Post by AndyinPA »

There was something on this on one of the murder channels. ID, I think.
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#14

Post by Estiveo »

Not odd, so much, I just don't know where else to put it.

Danny Masterson, who played Hyde on That 70's Show, was just sentenced to 30 to life for the two rapes he was convicted of earlier this year.

The "church" of scientology did its best to interfere in this case, & Leah Remini was active in supporting the victims.
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#15

Post by raison de arizona »

Estiveo wrote: Thu Sep 07, 2023 3:00 pm Not odd, so much, I just don't know where else to put it.

Danny Masterson, who played Hyde on That 70's Show, was just sentenced to 30 to life for the two rapes he was convicted of earlier this year.

The "church" of scientology did its best to interfere in this case, & Leah Remini was active in supporting the victims.
Leah Remini @LeahRemini wrote: My statement on the sentencing of Scientologist Danny Masterson:

"Sitting in court today with the women who survived Danny Masterson's predation was a surreal experience. Over the past seven decades, former Scientologists have sadly become used to Scientology using its financial resources, religious protection, and relationships to snatch justice away from them.

For over two decades, Danny Masterson avoided accountability for his crimes. While Danny was the only one sentenced, his conviction and sentence are indictments against Scientology, its operatives, and its criminal leader, David Miscavige.

Scientology managed to cover up Danny's crimes with the help of its intelligence agency, the Office of Special Affairs, top "church" officials like Kirsten Caetano Pedersen and Julian Swartz, its network of media-hungry unethical attorneys, private investigators, agents, and civilian Scientologists who engaged in a conspiracy to cover up crimes of sexual violence.

I am relieved that this dangerous rapist will be off the streets and unable to violently assault and rape women with the help of Scientology, a multi-billion-dollar criminal organization with tax-exempt status.

Hearing the survivors read their victim impact statements aloud in court while the man who raped them and some of the very Scientologists who terrorized them over two decades were just a few feet away displayed a level of bravery that I am in awe of.

These women not only faced the living hell of being raped, having their rapes covered up by the very organization that promised to protect them, but they have also faced ruthless and criminal harassment by Scientology and its agents since they came forward to law enforcement.

I will always remind the public that in Scientology if you report another Scientologist to law enforcement, you are committing a high crime. The consequences of such a high crime are devastating: you will lose everything you've ever known, from your family to your friends to your job.

The women who survived Danny's predation fought tirelessly for justice. Their tenacity, strength, and courage have given hope to all victims of Scientology that justice is possible. For that, we will forever be grateful.

To the LAPD detectives, the LA District Attorney's office, Judge Olmedo, and the jury, we thank you for your fair and impartial approach to this case and trial."
https://twitter.com/LeahRemini/status/1 ... 39689?s=20
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Odd Criminal Cases

#16

Post by Suranis »

Sounds like a fantastic result all round.
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