Legal Juice

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.

Brilliant!

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.

Here’s the source.

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 …

First question [rhetorical]: How did he ever get a license 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.”

So so low. How did he get the drugs for the vulnerable female patient?

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.

Hey college, nice background check. Way to protect your patients.

Remember that post about the woman who refused to return the “obscene” library book she checked out? (Hint: It was yesterday’s post.) So do you think she returned the book, or was sent to jail? Wrong. Neither. The city (Lewiston, Maine) decided not to pursue the matter any further. Why? As reported in The Sun Journal:

[City Administrator Jim] Bennett .. said that proceeding with that kind of legal action [having Ms. Karkos put in jail] would have accomplished nothing. Putting the matter to rest, he said, is in the best interest of the city. It saves money that would need to be spent to pursue the case in court, he said, and will keep Lewiston from becoming the epicenter of the debate over decency in publications.

Ms. Karkos was pleased, no? No.

Karkos said she would have been happy to see it go further. By dismissing the matter, she said, the city is trying to make the issue go away.

“They didn’t do me any favors,” Karkos said Friday night. “They knew what they were doing. They were protecting themselves.”

Will she pay the $100 fine imposed by the Court? You can read more here.

Maine resident JoAn Karkos said she’ll take jail. And it’s not because she likes the book, “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health.” It’s because “she claims [it] violates the city’s obscenity ordinance,” per The Sun Journal. What she’s doing is just “civil disobedience.” It’s not working.

After Karkos’ actions were picked up by the media, the library received eight copies of the sexual education book from people around the country, including parents and concerned educators, [Lewiston Public Library Director Rick] Speer said.

So, after she admitted to the Judge that she had the book, but wouldn’t turn it over, what did the Judge do? She gave Karkos a few days to turn it over – after which she will face contempt of court charges.

If you ask a Los Alamos, New Mexico man named Variable, a lot. Variable wanted to change his name to Fuck Censorship. But Bernalillo County Judge Nan Nash refused his requested. So Variable appealed. The Court of Appeals … denied it. Why? Per WTOPnews.com:

The man has the right to call himself whatever he wants, unless there’s fraud or misrepresentation involved, the judges said.

But once he seeks court approval for a name change, the court has the authority to turn him down on several grounds, including if the name is offensive to common decency and good taste, the judges ruled.

You’re not going to believe what Variable’s old name was: Snaphappy Fishsuit Mokligon. You can read more here.