Follow the link below to learn more about these strange and exciting legal cases.
In Florida, in the small town of Port Richey, the mayor is currently suspended from office. Now, if this were not Florida the reason would probably be some sort of sexual assault scandal or a financial embezzlement case. You know, something awful but not worthy of attracting the attention of this blog series. But because this is Florida, you know that it was something a whole lot more interesting.
Mayor Dale Massad was suspended following his arrest for two counts of attempted homicide. This was after he fired off shots at a SWAT team that was executing a search warrant on his home. They were searching his home because he was practicing medicine with a suspended medical license, and selling drugs out of the house. Allegedly. And a SWAT team was used because Massad was a known weapons collector with a penchant to pull the trigger.
Which begs the question, how in the heck did a suspended, drug-dealing, gunslinging doctor get elected mayor in the first place? That question can only be answered one way: Florida.
Everyone loves a good drive-thru breakfast. And nobody loves a ticket for distracted driving. But sometimes those two worlds can collide. Take, for example, the recent case of a distracted driving charge in Connecticut. There, a man was tickets $300 for using his cell phone while driving. But he was not going to let the charge stand. Oh no, he hired a lawyer to advance his surefire defence.
It wasn’t a phone. It was a hash brown.
Yes, the man argued in court that his cell phone charge should be dismissed on the basis that the object police saw in his hand was no phone, but a hash brown. The movement from his mouth was nothing more than innocent chewing. The vehicle he was driving was equipped with Bluetooth technology, making it unnecessary for him to hold the phone while talking and driving.
I mean, it sounds ridiculous at first blush but when you think about all that together it starts to make sense. Especially when you consider that the legal fees at this point have far outweighed the cost of the ticket.
Let this be a lesson: chew with your mouth closed and this mistake won’t happen to you.
I recently hosted a suit drive for women in law school. Thankfully, the vast majority of donations were dry-cleaned before being donated. Not all lawyers are as careful with their clothing. Take, for example, the Oklahoma lawyer who had a really, really dirty suit.
If you’ve been practising law in Vancouver for a while you probably are aware of the situation involving the bedbug infestation at the Vancouver Provincial Court located at 222 Main Street. It’s the reason there is no longer cloth-covered seating in the hallways, or carpeted floors. And it was not uncommon to see lawyers and courthouse patrons with bedbugs crawling on their clothes, after they were picked up at the infested courthouse.
But it wasn’t the lawyers that brought them in. No, folks, that is limited to this Oklahoma case. Apparently this lawyer had what was only described as “an abundance” of bedbugs crawling through his clothes, on his skin, and all over his files in the courthouse. And he was totally nonchalant about it.
I know depression runs deep in the legal community. I think this is probably a terrible case of that. I hope this lawyer gets the help he needs. And, you know, a dry cleaner.
