Legal Juice

If you or I ever try to pull the shit that Tennessee doctor Robert E. Grindstaff admitted to doing, fuhgeddaboudit. While he was in the hospital, here's what went down, per The Kingsport Times-News:

[from August 3 through September 8] unlicensed personnel at Grindstaff’s Pinecrest Family Practice in Johnson City treated 115 patients by evaluating and questioning them about their needs and calling in refills for prescriptions without consulting a physician.

... during those dates If the patient required a Schedule II controlled substance, a member of Grindstaff’s staff took a note to Grindstaff to have him sign the prescription without his review of the patient’s records.

During the same time period, Grindstaff’s office billed patients for nursing visits despite the fact the doctor was not in the office and there are no nurses or staff members at the practice “with any formal training or experience in any medically related field.”

Really serious shit, right? Apparently not. Dr. Grindstaff did not even have his medical license suspended!

The board placed Grindstaff’s license on probationary status for two years, during which he must complete an educational seminar on prescribing controlled drugs, a comprehensive physician assessment, and a clinical education program.

The board further ordered Grindstaff to pay up to $1,000 of the cost of the health department’s prosecution of his case.

Excuse me, but la-di-fucking-da! This punishment was imposed notwithstanding that ...

According to the board, Grindstaff’s actions violated both state statutes and medical practice acts governing gross malpractice, unprofessional conduct, prescribing and dispensing drugs, and medical record keeping.

Is it just The Juice, or do you folks agree that, absent some incredible mitigating factors, this guy should have had his license revoked?

Sounds like something from a movie. Wait, it was in a movie ... As reported by The Mirror:

A woman tunnelled out of jail using a spoon.

The attractive un-named 35-year-old - doing 18 years for trying to murder her sister-in-law - was called "a dish" by local newspapers.

Her lawyer Ludo Hameleers said: "She would have been released in 18 months. She just couldn't wait."

The woman, who had served 12 years, dug the 30ft tunnel from a cellar of her Dutch jail, hid the soil in her trouser legs and then sprinkled it around the yard - a ruse straight from classic PoW tale The Great Escape.

Here's the source.

Pasties were booked into evidence - for real. The Juice is confident you can see where this post is going. So, here are your choices: Starbucks, where the baristas are fully clothed, or Bikini Bottoms Espresso Stand, where the baristas wear bikinis and ... pasties. Exactly. Looks like the folks in Pierce County, Washington are unlikely to have that choice anymore. As reported by The News Tribune:

Pierce County prosecutors on Tuesday filed a misdemeanor charge of unlawful public exposure against a bikini barista spotted last year serving coffee while wearing only pasties on her breasts.

It’s the first time Pierce County prosecutors have leveled such a charge since some area espresso stand owners began requiring their baristas to show skin in addition to making drinks.

In other Pierce County news, home sales suddenly plummeted... Also, it appears that Pierce County's success in attracting new businesses to the County was fleeting. In fact, existing businesses are now relocating elsewhere ...

[Deputy prosecutor] Benton said he charged [the barista] because her alleged conduct, if true, would constitute “a blantant violation” of the county ordinance banning public nudity.

Even if true, I have one word of advice: warning. Was it really necessary to arrest this 19-year-old? Who was the rat ... er ... concerned citizen?

A woman driving by the stand at 7919 176th St. E. on Oct. 7 called sheriff’s deputies after she spotted Lenn outside the stand. She was wearing a thong bikini bottom and no top, according to court records.

Curse you, woman!

A deputy dispatched to investigate the call found Lenn inside the stand making drinks, according to an arrest report. Lenn was topless but had X-shaped pasties covering her nipples, the report states.

[The barista] became angry when told she would be cited for indecent exposure and began to yell that baristas at other stands also wore pasties on the job, deputy Kevin Fries wrote in his report.

“I asked [her] if she was aware that it was illegal to wear the pasties in public,” Fries wrote. “She said no. [She] said that the female owner, Cheryl England, had told her and the other girls that it was OK to wear them.”

Having been duly warned ...

[The barista] then went into the back of the stand, removed the pasties and put on a bikini top, Fries continued.

And, as noted above ...

The deputy confiscated the pasties and booked them into the South Hill precinct property room as evidence, his report states.

Really? This is a good use of everyone's time? Here's hoping the pasties mysteriously disappear from the evidence room. Here's the source.

The Juice suggests that you think again. You are not a "manual scavenger." As described by writer Sunil Kuksal:

The term ‘manual scavenging’ describes the daily work of manually cleaning and removing human feces from dry (non-flush) latrines across India. Workers, mostly women and young boys, are also referred to as ‘night soil workers’, a Victorian euphemism that hides the repugnance of the word ‘shit’... Using a broom, a tin plate and a drum, they clear and carry human excreta from public and private latrines, more often on their heads, to dumping grounds and disposal sites.

Did I mention that the Indian government passed a law banning the employment of manual scavengers in 1993? It doesn't seem to matter, since, as Mr. Kuksal notes:

The practice is on in almost all states, including Bihar, Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir and even Delhi. The Indian railways is one of the largest employers of manual scavengers.

And in an affidavit, the railway admitted that it has about 30,000 open-discharge toilets [that need to be cleaned manually]. How many people do you think are doing this job in India? According to the Indian government, 343,000. Why would anyone do this job? Per Mr. Kuksal, it's caste-based, and is forced on the dalits by caste pressure.

That's probably what Mr. James Dowdy is thinking. Per the Belleville News-Democrat:

In 1993, Dowdy received a three-year-prison sentence for attempted burglary after police caught him with a bag of stolen socks.

Damn. Three years for that? But wait ...

[In 1997] ... Dowdy was sentenced to six-years in prison for breaking into another woman's home and stealing socks...

Okay. This is surely the strangest life of crime I have ever seen. But wait ...

In 2004, Dowdy, received a seven-year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to walking into a female neighbor's home and taking her socks.

And just recently ...

Dowdy ... was charged with residential burglary, a class X felony. He's accused of stealing a pair of socks early Monday morning from a victim's basement.

His bail? $100,000! All the socks out there can relax. Mr. Dowdy is in jail, as he was unable to post bail. If there's not more to this story, then, damn!

Who do you think would be the last group of folks to tell the government that they are subversives? Maybe subversives? Well sir, the legislature in South Carolina was of a different mind, because they enacted the "Subversive Activities Registration Act." Honestly. Per the act:

For the purposes of this chapter the following words, phrases and terms are defined as follows:

(1) "Subversive organization" means every corporation, society, association, camp, group, bund, political party, assembly, body or organization, composed of two or more persons, which directly or indirectly advocates, advises, teaches or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States, of this State or of any political subdivision thereof by force or violence or other unlawful means;

So what's a subversive organization in South Carolina to do?

SECTION 23-29-60. Registration of members of subversive and foreign-controlled organizations.

Every member of a subversive organization, or an organization subject to foreign control, every foreign agent and every person who advocates, teaches, advises or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States, of this State or of any political subdivision thereof by force or violence or other unlawful means, who resides, transacts any business or attempts to influence political action in this State, shall register with the Secretary of State on the forms and at the times prescribed by him.

Exactly how does a subversive organization register? Since you asked ...

SECTION 23-29-70. Forms and schedule for filing information.

Every organization or person coming within the provisions of this chapter shall file with the Secretary of State all information which he may request, on the forms and at the times he may prescribe.

And yes, there is a form for that. Oh, and that'll be $5.00 please. Here, in all its glory, is the Act. By the way, though the registration fee may be small, the penalty for failure to do so can be quite severe.

Any organization or person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars or imprisonment for not more than ten years, or by both fine and imprisonment.

I know you're probably wondering, how could a sexual harassment claim arise from a cocktail waitress's employment at a strip club? Well, suspend your disbelief, and take my word for it. Or click here to read about it in the Gothamist.

Anyway, that's not the point of the post. The point of the post is the caption of the Complaint:

LOURDES GARCIA, on behalf of herself and hose similarly situated, PLAINTIFFS [emphasis added]

So, just in case you missed it, the law firm for the strip club cocktail waitress referred to its client and her peers as "hose." Sure, you can quibble and say that it's spelled "hoes" or "hos," to which The Juice says, close enough! And as pointed out by Ravi Sharma, who gets props for bringing this to The Juice's attention:

... it is even more fishy that in the first line instead of using "those" they state "all others."

If they has just used "all others" in the caption, it would not be susceptible to the unfortunate and plausibly deniable typo being missed (as "hose" is correctly spelled) by the spell checker.

Why didn't they use "all others" in both places?

You can see the first page of the Complaint here.

Yup. Judge John P. Wulle, of the Clark County, Washington Superior Court, was attending a conference entitled "Planning Your Juvenile Drug Court in Los Angeles in July 2006. I know, skip the details - get to the dirt. Here's some of what he said, as set forth in the "Stipulation" entered into by the Judge and the Commission on Judicial Conduct:

During a breakout session, the team's facilitator wrote a star on an assignment the team completed and said jokingly, "Clark County gets a star." Respondent [Judge Wulle] replied, "I don't need a star, I'm not a Jew."

Later in the week, during a break in the conference, other faculty members asked [Judge Wulle] who Clark County's facilitator was, and he answered, "the black gay guy."

A team member asked [Judge Wulle] to lower his voice ... and he acknowledged the request by raising his middle finger at the team member.

During a breakout session ... [Judge Wulle] became frustrated with the pace or direction of discussion, and announced it was time for the group to move on to the next topic. A fellow team member spoke up, "No Judge, this is important, we need to work through this," or words to that effect. In response to this seemingly respectful entreaty, [Judge Wulle] angrily yelled, "F_ _ _ you" and threw his pen down on a table and left the room. [Regular Juice readers know that I don't delete expletives. The Commission does, though.]

Zoinks! Maybe it's me, but it seems like Judge Wulle wasn't real pleased about attending the conference. If you want to read the full "Stipulation, Agreement and Order of Censure," click here. And if you like stories about Judges, you'll find a boatload of them here.

Putting aside for a moment how creepy this is, think of the logistics involved. Here's the report:

A South Korean who stole 1200 pairs of expensive shoes from funeral homes while posing as a mourner has been arrested, police in Seoul said.

How did he do it?

The man identified only as Park, 59, took off his own shoes before entering mourning rooms and donned more expensive footwear when he left.

1,200 times? And what was he going to do with them?

He intended to sell them through his own second-hand shoe business, police in southern Seoul's Suseo district said.

Making the thefts even more difficult ...

Koreans normally remove outdoor footwear when indoors, especially at funeral homes.

So how did Mr. Park get caught?

Police said they caught Park stealing three pairs of shoes, worth a total of two million won ($1950) when new, at one funeral home.

They then raided his warehouse and found 1200 pairs stored according to size in preparation for resale.

Shazam! You can see a picture of the shoes here.

Let's just say that Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is not off to a very good start, unless, that is, you think it's just fine to discriminate against homosexuals. As reported by talkingpointsmemo.com:

McDonnell (R) on Feb. 5 signed an executive order that prohibits discrimination "on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, political affiliation, or against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities," as well as veterans.

So what's the change?

[The executive order] rescinds the order that Gov. Tim Kaine signed Jan. 14, 2006 as one of his first actions. After promising a "fair and inclusive" administration in his inaugural address, Kaine (D) added veterans to the non-discrimination policy - and sexual orientation.

One can only imagine what this man will be able to do (and undo) in 4 years. Here's the source.

You have to admit, it's not the most illogical place to hide some sausage... It would appear, though, that this gent may have overdone it. Per The Cairns Post:

A man hit a snag with police after he stuffed his pants with sausages and a meat pack in an alleged theft at an Innisfail supermarket.

It is the region's second case of shop-stealing involving sausages stashed in trousers in recent months. (You can read about the first one here.)

Police officers were called to the store after the 50-year-old was seen allegedly leaving without paying for the stash on Wednesday.

Sorry to disappoint the bargain hunters out there, but ...

It is understood the meat has been disposed of.

The Juice has learned that William Congreve is the source of this oft-quoted passage:

Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd,

Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd.

Suffice it to say that Mr. Congreve had not met a man such as this fellow:

An inebriated man bit off his ex-girlfriend's ear at a restaurant in Chifeng, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, last week.

The man has been arrested.

Days after the woman broke up with him, the man invited her for dinner at a restaurant and begged her to return to him.

When she refused, he pounced on her and bit off one of her ears.

The ear was only found the next morning, which was too late for doctors to fix it back.

An ear for an ear? This story was reported by the North News (China).

So this dude had 60 pot plants growing in 2 rooms. As luck would have it [bad luck, that is], there was a fire in his apartment building, leading to the discovery of the weed. How much time do you think he's facing? Zippy. Nada. Squadoosh. Sure he doesn't have a record, but if it happened to you or me, fuhgeddaboutit. We're doing time. But not Mr. Graham McConnell, who actually had a pretty good story, which might even be true. Per The Paisley Daily Express:

[His lawyer said] “He is a man who has been using cannabis for some time and made the foolish decision to cultivate the drug in order to avoid coming into contact with those who traffic in the drug."

“He had decided to grow a lot of the stuff, dry and freeze it and, by doing so, not become involved with those who traffic in drugs on the street.”

True or not, that's a tough sell. Mr. McConnell was sentenced to 300 hours of community service. Here's the source.

You are not going to believe what this formerly respectable couple did to try and avoid a £60 ($88 US) ticket and three points. And it's not like it would have put the wife over the top - her driving record was spotless. So Mrs. Diane Rodger, a lecturer [professor] was doing 40 mph in a 30mph zone when she was nailed by a speeding camera. Instead of just paying the fine, what did she and her husband Michael (a magistrate!) do? As reported in the Mail Online:

After consulting an internet website for tips on challenging speeding tickets, they altered the car's appearance.

They changed the style of the Skoda's number plate and removed stickers from its windscreen in a bizarre attempt to persuade police it had been 'cloned' and that she was not the driver...

Then they tried to weasel out of it.

Over the next three months Nottinghamshire Central Ticket Office, which deals with speeding fines, received five letters contesting the ticket, all signed by 'Mr Rodger JP'.

They variously claimed he had no knowledge of the offence, that the car was regularly used by others, that the car may have been 'cloned', that the car was parked in Nottingham city centre at the time of the offence and that the captured image was not clear enough to identify the driver.

The letters also claimed that the middle letter on the number plate was indistinct and that his vehicle did not have stickers in the windscreen, unlike the images of the speeding car.

So the cops went to their house to ask them about the letters. What did they say?

Mrs Rodger stated she had, while Mr Rodger claimed he had signed them without reading them. Thomas Elmer, defending Mr Rodger, said: 'It was his wife who wished to evade the penalty but it was their joint idea how to go about it."

Partners in an asinine crime. The Judge agreed.

The couple wept as Judge David Brunning told them they had been 'staggeringly stupid' and that he had 'just been persuaded' not to send them to prison. Instead, they were each given six-month jail sentences, suspended for two years.

They were also ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work each and to pay £5,000 costs between them after admitting intending to pervert the course of justice.

Here's the source.

The Juice enjoys the occasional game of chance. But not if it's going to end this way ... As reported by the Palm Beach Post News:

Anthony Lindsey, 18, of Belle Glade ... is charged with attempted first degree murder, attempted robbery and aggravated battery, all with a firearm, in a December assault on Edenson Major, 20, of Belle Glade, authorities said.

According to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office arrest affidavit, a dispute arose after Lindsey and Major played a game of dice on the afternoon of Dec. 1. Major told investigators that Lindsey became upset when he lost $80 to Major, as well as monies to others.

$80?!

Lindsey left the game and later returned with a 9mm handgun, the affidavit said. He approached Major and said 'gimme back my money' and then pulled out the gun and started shooting. The group playing the game fled the area and Lindsey chased Major down the street as he continued shooting.

Here's the source.

For real. Apparently it wasn't the first time Michael Rainey's cat mistook neighbor Joseph Loflin's yard for a litter box. As reported by Click2Houston.com:

"'Your cat has been back there defecating in my back yard,'" [former police officer] Loflin said he told his neighbor. "I used the slang word, the four-letter word to describe what the cat was doing."

The "slang word?"

Both men agree that Loflin used the "s" word. Rainey said his 13-year-old daughter was nearby.

Not the S-bomb! Now it's on.

"I said, 'Look, I've asked you twice. This is the third time. Don't use that language in front of my daughter,'" Rainey said he told Loflin. "That's when he responded, 'There's nothing wrong with the word, and if I want to use the word, I'll use the word.'"

Uh huh. So there's a 13-year-old out there who hasn't heard the word "shit" before? He probably thinks his daughter isn't on Facebook ... So how did the police get involved?

"I didn't call him a filthy name," Loflin said. "I didn't call him … I didn't use any profanity towards him. I used it as a noun, then I used it as an adverb to describe what his cat was doing. I think it was greatly taken out of context." After Loflin threatened to get a trap, Rainey called the police. The police wrote Loflin a ticket for disorderly conduct because of language.

The Juice is glad to hear that Mr. Loflin will fight this asinine ticket.

I'm guessing this Detroit man (no, not the costumed dude above) was trying to lend a hand to the police in dealing with prostitution in the area. So he posed as a cop, and busted up a "transaction." Only problem was - he stepped into a sting! The "prostitute" was actually a cop. And a our would-be cop is in a world of trouble. From wxyz in Detroit:

Investigators say that around 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, the man pulled up to a female detective in the area of Vernor and Oakdale on the city's east side. At the time the detective, who was posing as a prostitute, was talking with another man.

The suspect, who was in a red 1994 Ford Ranger yelled at the detective to "get off the street." Officers say this is when he flashed a badge. The other man sped off, and officers say the suspect began following the detective ranting that he was a cop. When the detective revealed she was a police officer, the man took off. He was arrested a short time later by the nearby arrest team.

When questioned, the suspect denied having a badge. However, officers say the found a Detroit Police department badge, a loaded .40 caliber Glock pistol and hats and clothing with DPD logos during a search of his truck.

Damn! A loaded glock? In addition to the insult of unknowingly stepping into a real police sting, the charges ....

The suspect is being held in Hamtramck until he can be arraigned on one count of impersonating a police officer.

Per the Court, Ken Parks

... attacked his parents‑in‑law, killing one and seriously injuring the other. The incident occurred at their home, some 23 km. [14 miles] from respondent's [Parks'] residence, during the night while they were both asleep in bed. Respondent [Parks] had driven there by car. Immediately after the incident, the respondent went to a nearby police station, again driving his own car, and told them what he had done. Respondent claimed to have been sleepwalking throughout the incident.

Mr. Parks was charged with first degree murder and attempted murder. So how did the trial go? Per the Court:

At the trial respondent presented a defence of automatism. The testimony of five expert witnesses called by the defence was not contradicted by the Crown. This evidence was that respondent was sleepwalking and that sleepwalking is not a neurological, psychiatric or other illness. The trial judge put only the defence of automatism to the jury, which acquitted respondent of first degree murder and then of second degree murder. The judge then acquitted the respondent of the charge of attempted murder. The Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the acquittal. At issue here is whether sleepwalking should be classified as non‑insane automatism resulting in an acquittal or as a "disease of the mind" (insane automatism), giving rise to the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

So does he walk on the "insanity" issue too? The Supreme Court says ... the acquittal was proper. Parks did not have a "disease of the mind," so the trial court properly refused to give the jury that option.

To read the entire Canadian Supreme Court case, click here.

Movies ... real life. Movies ... real life. See where we're going here? Mr. Travis Hayter apparently confused the two, much to the detriment of fellow golfer Alan Bezanson. As reported by the CBC:

A man who hit a golf ball straight at another player, injuring him, has been ordered by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to pay more than $225,000 in damages. Plaintiff Alan Bezanson says he hasn't been able to work since he was injured on June 8, 2002.

The New Glasgow, N.S., man and the defendant, Travis Hayter, were golfing in a foursome that day as part of a wedding celebration for Bezanson's cousin. By the time they reached the 16th hole, Hayter had consumed nine beers and a half pint of tequila, the court heard.

9 beers AND half a pint of tequila? Incredibly, not only was the dude still standing, he was going all Happy Gimore.

That's when he ran up to his ball and took a swing out of turn. Someone yelled, "Heads up, he's going to hit again." But it was too late for Bezanson, who was standing no more than 20 metres away. Hayter hit what court documents refer to as a "so-called Happy Gilmore shot," named after a film character played by Adam Sandler.

According to court documents, Bezanson put up his hand to protect himself and the ball hit his left wrist, causing permanent damage to his radial nerve.

Bezanson, a woodcutter, has been unable to work without pain. When the case originally went to court, a judge awarded $227,500 to Bezanson, a father of three.

How did "Happy" take it? He appealed. The grounds?

... it wasn't the first Happy Gilmore-style shot he had taken that day and Bezanson should have known what was coming.

The result? Not good for Happy.

...the Court of Appeal dismissed that argument, upholding the earlier court's ruling that Hayter's behaviour was not a "natural risk" of golfing.

Hayter was ordered to pay Bezanson $85,000 in damages, $67,500 in lost income and $75,000 for lost future earning capacity.

Ouch, all around.

If you are one of those folks who refuses to carry a cell phone, I seriously doubt that this story will change your mind. But for those who carry them religiously (me?), and feel strange if we don't have them, vindication! Check out this story from the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

The robber came in the door of the Beverage Mart liquor store in Roswell, waving a big, black hunting knife.

He wanted the money in the knapsack. Now!

He lunged at the clerk, Joseph Wescott, 59, who leaned back to get away from that 10-inch gleaming blade. The knife hit the cell phone in Wescott’s breast pocket instead.

That bought time. Time enough for Wescott to reach for the Glock .40 he kept under the counter.

It was Monday night, about 8:30 p.m., and that’s when accused robber, Carlos Jeanpierre, 24, of Atlanta, realized this might be the end.

He ran for the door, but not before Wescott got off a round, hitting him in the side. The bullet went in the right side and lodged in the left side of the abdomen.

I think Mr. Westcott owes his son a huge "thank you." Why?

Wescott ... is the father of a Roswell Police officer. The son had bought his dad both the gun and the phone, Wescott said.

Here's the source.

Folks in Valentine, Nebraska can now breathe a huge sigh of relief because the Butt Bandit has been arrested. It's not clear why they call him the Butt Bandit since neither his butt, nor any other part of him, ever stole anything. To the contrary, he actually leaves something behind [bad pun, I know], his butt (and/or groin) prints in vaseline or lotion. As reported in The North Platte Bulletin:

The rash of bizarre behavior began in May 2007. Valentine police already had fielded about 20 different reports by this time a year ago.

Rewards offered through Crime Stoppers failed to provide any leads. No physical structure has been damaged, although producing the printings probably involved indecent exposure, officials believe.

The charges? They haven't been filed yet - perhaps because they're tring to come up with the crime? Criminal vaselining? First-degree buttprinting? Here's the source.

Irony? Sixty-one-year-old Janusz Nowak of Sosnowiec, Poland was sick and tired of people vandalizing his bus stop. So, he pasted the following notice on the pavement:

"Dear Vandals - please stop destroying the bus-stop."

And guess what happened? He was arrested for vandalism!

A police spokesman said: "Although the man had good intentions and wanted to express his indignation towards hooligans' behaviour in the neighbourhood he unfortunately broke the law himself."

What a brilliant use of police resources. Here's the story.

Serious cojones? Who knows what the owner of this pastry shop in Taipei, Taiwan is thinking ...

"Shock" can mask a lot of things, but this? Per The Sun ...

A mugging victim had a six inch knife plunged deep into her back — and she didn't even feel it.

Skeptical? Check out the picture here.

Incredibly the 22-year-old, who was knifed by a mugger on her way home from work, failed to notice the appalling injury and managed to calmly stroll to safety.

The office worker had grappled with her attacker when he snatched her handbag as she walked to her parents' house in the Russian capital Moscow.

But she was so shocked by the ordeal she didn't know that the thug had buried a kitchen knife in her neck just fractions of an inch from her spinal cord.

When she got home her horrified parents rushed her to hospital where surgeons managed to remove the blade without damaging Julia's spine.

Crazy.

In many households, there is a debate over piercings of various body parts. What body part? How many piercings? At what age? But what about this: piercing a kitten's ears! That's what a Luzerne County, Pennsylvania woman has been charged with, as reported by WNEP-TV. In fact, the jury is deliberating as this is being written.

Investigators slapped three counts of animal cruelty on [Holly Crawford] in December, 2008 after SPCA officials took several kittens and a cat from Crawford's home in the Sweet Valley area.

Officials accused Crawford of piercing the kittens ears and trying to sell them on the internet as "Goth kittens."

So uncool. But is it a crime?

At the heart of the argument is whether or not Crawford's actions fit the mold for animal cruelty.

During the trial a forensic veterinarian testified for the prosecution that Crawford maimed, disfigured and tortured the kittens, a legal statute for animal cruelty.

Said the defense ...

"Parents take their kids to get pierced at a young age. That's not a crime! If you say it's wrong to pierce a cat's ears. Then you're holding the cat to a higher standard then children."

Here's the source, including a video.

This is definitely the most bizarre type of "fishing" The Juice has ever read about. As reported in the Strongsville, Ohio police blotter of the Sun Star Courier:

... officers had a chat with a boy because of his unusual fishing methods.

Concerned residents called police because the youngster -- who was at Waterford Lake on Prospect Road -- was catching fish with a bow and arrow that had a suction cup attached.

Sure, that's a little odd. But then ...

He would take the fish out of the water, beat them to death on a rock and throw them back in the pond.

Hmmm. This might be something his parents should know about, no? Apparently not.

Officers told the young fisherman that only catch-and-release fishing is allowed at the pond. The boy left the area.

So you get popped in the face. Why wouldn't you call the cops? Well, it depends on who's doing the popping, and who gets popped. Per the San Diego Union Tribune:

A man who was busy robbing his elderly victim Saturday became so upset when a bystander tried to break up the crime by punching him in the face that he called police to report an assault.

Brilliant!

Once [the police] put two and two together, police officers located the 83-year-old victim, who confirmed the crime, and arrested the 43-year-old man for suspected elder abuse and robbery, said San Diego police Officer David Stafford.

Police were called at 4 p.m. to Akins Avenue at 62nd Street near a trolley station, where the robber had the elderly man pinned against a wall and was rifling through his pockets when the bystander interrupted the crime, Stafford said.

Here's to the unnamed "bystander" who didn't just "stand by."

That "Ellen" thing. That is essentially why Heartland Inns of America fired Brenna Lewis, according to Ms. Lewis. But, as reported by Courthouse News Service, Ms. Lewis may have the last word.

An Iowa hotel clerk who describes herself as "slightly more masculine" can sue her former employer for allegedly firing her because she wasn't pretty enough and she lacked "the Midwestern girl look," the 8th Circuit ruled.

Here's the background:

Lewis said she was fired in 2007 for not conforming to sex stereotypes and for questioning recent policy changes.

Lewis has "an Ellen DeGeneres kind of look," according to her former manager, Lori Stifel. "Lewis prefers to wear loose fitting clothing, including men's button-down shirts and slacks," the ruling states. "She avoids makeup and wore her hair short at the time. Lewis has been mistaken for a male and referred to as 'tomboyish.'"

BFD. Apparently it was, to Ms. Barbara Cullinan, director of operations...

Cullinan allegedly said Lewis lacked "the Midwestern girl look," and stressed the importance of having a "pretty" desk staff.

When Cullinan told Stifel to move Lewis to the night shift, Stifel allegedly stuck up for Lewis, saying she had been doing a "phenomenal job at the front desk."

Well done, madam.

The next week, Cullinan asked Stifel to resign and implemented stricter hiring rules, explaining that "hotels have to have a certain personification and appearance," Lewis claimed.

No good deed goes unpunished. But Judge Diana Murphy had the last word, at least for now.

"Cullinan's criticism of Lewis for lack of 'prettiness' and the 'Midwestern girl look' before terminating her may ... be found by a reasonable factfinder to be evidence of wrongful sex stereotyping," she wrote.

Here's the source.