Legal Juice

Darn it! I went and gave it away, didn't I? If I asked you to guess what some of the members of Polk County's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force were doing while their coworkers were executing a search warrant, you'd probably guess "playing a Wii" right? As reported by Florida's News Channel 8:

With guns drawn and flashlights cutting through darkened rooms, Polk County undercover drug investigators stormed the home of convicted drug dealer Michael Difalco near Lakeland in March.

As investigators searched the home for drugs, some drug task force members found other ways to occupy their time. Within 20 minutes of entering Difalco's house, some of the investigators found a Wii video bowling game and began bowling frame after frame.

While some detectives hauled out evidence such as flat screen televisions and shotguns, others threw strikes, gutter balls and worked on picking up spares.

A Polk County sheriff's detective cataloging evidence repeatedly put down her work and picked up a Wii remote to bowl. When she hit two strikes in a row, she raised her arms above her head, jumping and kicking.

... detectives with the Polk County Sheriff's Office, the Auburndale, Lakeland and Winter Haven police departments did not know that a wireless security camera connected to a computer inside Difalco's home was recording their activity.

Even in late 2009, long hair is STILL an issue in some schools. The crazy thing about this story is, we're talking about a 4-year-old boy! (Click on the link at the end of the post to see his picture.) Seems Taylor's long hair violates this Texas schools dress code. As reported by The Dallas Morning News:

It's too long, Mesquite ISD administrators say, and Taylor can't attend class with other students until he gets a haircut.

Since early November, the pre-kindergartner has had lessons with a teacher's aide in the library at Floyd Elementary School, cut off from other students. Neither his parents, who refuse to cut his hair, nor the school district is happy about that, but no one knows when it is likely to end.

"The school cannot give us an honest reason why we should force him to cut his hair. He loves his hair," said Taylor's father, Delton Pugh Jr., on Tuesday. "I'll move out of this school district before I'll force him to cut his hair."

According to Taylor's mother, Elizabeth Taylor, no one complained about her son's hair until October, when the principal told her it needed to be cut. She refused because he likes his hair long, his father has long hair and the family has American Indian heritage.

She did trim the child's hair along the sides and back, but school officials said it was still too long. She offered to put Taylor's hair in a pony tail and slick back the front so it "will look nice," she said.

The old saw remains true: if it's sounds too good to be true, it is. So how did former high school secretary Caroline McNeal allegedly assure that her daughter increased her grades and SAT scores? Per The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

The first clue that something was amiss came when a high school guidance office employee in fall 2007 noticed that the SAT college entrance exam score in the school computer for Ms. McNeal's daughter was higher than the one sent by the College Board, 1730 vs. 1370.

Further investigation showed the girl's grades had been altered about 193 times in 24 courses between May 30, 2006 and July 12, 2007, covering school years from 2003-04 through 2006-07.

Many of the changes boosted grades that were already in the 90s, such as changing an accelerated social studies term grade from 94 to 95 and a family and consumer sciences final grade from 98 to 100.

In some cases, the increase was significant, such as raising an exam grade in advanced algebra from 69 to 94.

The girls had higher class ranks than Ms. McNeal's daughter did before the grades were altered.

According to the affidavit, the grades of the two girls were changed by a couple of percentage points, such as reducing one's advanced algebra grade for one term from 96 to 94 and the other's accelerated English grade for a term from 96 to 93.

[Ms. McNeal] was charged with 29 counts of unlawful use of a computer and 29 counts of tampering with public records, all third-degree felonies.

Rule number one for a bank robber preparing a note for the teller: make it legible!

"Hokc ogll sht es wlll ikkk you! Now!"

Hillsboro police said Stephanie Martin walked into a Wells Fargo bank in Hillsboro and handed the teller a note that read, "Need $300 or I'll kill you. I'm serious."

The teller told Martin she couldn't read the handwriting, police said. Martin then walked to a counter and re-wrote the note on a bank slip, according to Lt. Mike Rouches, of the Hillsboro Police Department.

The teller then hit the silent alarm and the bank's manager asked how he could help Martin, Rouches said.

Martin then said she wanted to open an account with the bank, according to officers.

Police and FBI agents arrived at the scene and arrested Martin

... police determined [Martin] was under the influence of drugs ...

Paul Ewing was certainly a stand-up guy to admit killing his neighbor's plants with Roundup (in what has to be a unique way - see below). But was it really necessary to tell the police why he was mad at his neighbor? From The Bradenton Herald:

To get back at his neighbor for owing him money, Paul Ewing resorted to a series of drive-bys toting a water gun filled with Roundup weed killer, the Bradenton Police Department reports.

He told investigators that he was upset because his neighbor owed him more than $200 for drugs.

The 35-year-old, who lives in the 100 block of 10th Street West, confessed to his actions after he was pulled over Thursday for driving with a suspended license.

In the front yard, Ewing gunned down flowers and bushes, the report stated. To get to the plants in the backyard, he filled water balloons with the weed killer and tossed them onto his neighbors property. Ewing estimated the landscaping damage to be about $250.

The Bradenton Police Department had been investigating the incidents that began May 1 and lasted until July 1.

Ewing was released from Manatee County jail Thursday after posting a $500 bond. He was charged with criminal mischief with property damage.

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, biked to work to set a good example. You would be wrong. Minister John Della Bosca was riding his bicycle to work because he received seven speeding tickets, from the same camera, in the same place. So his driver's license has was suspended. Here he is!

See if you can follow this. So this lady's cat illegally (and stupidly) goes into the neighbor's yard. Why was it stupid? Because a pit bull resides there. Things got ugly, and the pair ended up under a neighbor's mobile home. Dog owner's sister tries to get cat out and, for her services, cat bites her hand. Dog owner then shoots the cat! Why? To protect herself, her sister, and the dog, from ... the cat. According to the cat's owner, the cat was just trying to get away from the dog [which wouldn't have been an issue if it wasn't illegally outside!]

Everyone got charged in this one. Dog owner was charged with animal cruelty (a felony) and discharging a firearm in public (a misdemeanor - sorry PETA, but shouldn't those charges be reversed?). Cat owner was cited for letting her cat loose, and improper vaccination documentation. The Juice suspects we've not heard the last of this. For the full story in The Lakeland Ledger, click here.

It's always a good idea to check your doctor out online before your first visit. Had some of Dr. George Korol's patients done so, they probably would have asked to see another doctor. As reported in The Edmonton Journal:

A Winnipeg doctor who previously lost his U.S. medical licence for violent criminal behaviour has been stripped of his ability to practise medicine in Manitoba ...

The provincial body that regulates doctors revoked Dr. George Korol's medical licence and registration at a discipline hearing on Aug. 31, according to new documents posted on the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba's website this week.

Korol was suspended in February 2009 after he was arrested on assault charges and accused of writing fake prescriptions.

A college investigation found Korol had an intimate sexual relationship with a female patient, "who was in a highly vulnerable psychological state and under financial stress."

Regulators discovered Korol wrote prescriptions for drugs in his wife's name which he gave to the female patient. He also obtained blood and cervical swabs from the patient which were submitted for testing under a different name, and prescribed antipsychotic drugs under his wife's name so he could use the drugs himself.

Korol "misled and failed to fully co-operate" with the investigation, and initially denied several of the improper activities. The investigation found Korol failed to inform the college he had been arrested and charged for domestic violence, uttering threats and possessing a weapon.

Or else what? If you don't like The Juice on Facebook, and/or follow him on Twitter (@LegalJuice), expect a visit from Officer Cartman. And you don't want to make Eric angry. Just ask Scott Tenorman what can happen when Eric gets angry. (Warning: If you really like chili, you won't like how this episode ends.)

So this woman is on a Delta flight that lands at Logan International Airport in Boston. As she would make sure everyone knows, she is FAMOUS! As reported in The Boston Globe:

The general manager of WHDH Channel 7 was arrested after an allegedly drunken, obscenity-laced tirade at Logan International Airport in which she threatened to call a news crew and put a state trooper "on TV and ruin [his] life," according to a police report.

Randi Goldklank flailed her arms and screamed at State Police when they took her into custody after her Delta flight landed Sunday night, according to the report. She had to be helped off the plane by two crew members, according to the report, and struck a trooper in the chest, breaking the prescription glasses in his pocket.

... she was overheard by police telling medical personnel that she had had "about three dozen drinks." Goldklank smelled of alcohol and was so intoxicated that police had difficulty booking her, the report stated

"I'm a big shot in Boston and I'll have your [expletive] jobs."

"You think you're a [expletive] tough guy, just you watch and see what the [expletive] happens to you when I get out of here."

'You think I’m cute and I think you're cute, just drive me home.'

Goldklank defended her behavior to the Boston Herald Monday night and told the paper she was inappropriately touched by a male passenger seated beside her.

There was no mention of the male passenger in the State Police report. Trooper Eric Benson, a department spokesman, said this morning that “there has been no complaint made to the State Police alleging any such improper contact.”