Birdsong's Law Blog

Hi folks! There seems to be a goodly number of weird robbery stories out there. Take a gander….

Maldegem, Belgum: A clerk in a shoe store in Maldegem called police to complain about a bizarre robbery. One shoe had been stolen. Police easily tracked down the suspect — a one-legged amputee. An arrest was made.

No need for Sherlock Holmes on this one!

Springfield, MA: Massachusetts police are hunting for two men who robbed a woman after she walked into a pub and flashed $27,000 in cash. The woman bragged about getting the money in an insurance payout. The men waited for her outside the bar with a gun.

Heard the one about the idiot with money who walks into a bar…..

Indianapolis, IN: An armed robber walked into an Indianapolis check-cashing store and, when the clerk started crying

Birdsong has been loath to comment on the recent brouhaha concerning Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Cambridge police sergeant James Crowley and President Obama.  However, a recent news story has made me want to jump in with some advice about how not to use your “Facebook” site.

Let me preface everything I say here by admitting I am a law professor with a pretty good understanding of how the the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution works.  Normally, a police officer is not allowed to arrest a person in his own home without an arrest warrant unless the officer has been in hot pursuit of  such person fleeing  a felony crime.  This was the reason that disorderly conduct charges were immediately dropped  against Gates.  The arrest was violative of the Fourth Amendment.  There was no warrant stating probable cause to arrest him in his own home.  Gates was not a fleeing felon. 

Now the fallout… A woman who was not a lawyer and who obviously knew little about the Fourth Amednment  wrote statements on her Facebook page about the Cambridge arrest that got her ousted from her job.  Writing it may have made her feel good but now she needs another job.  Some thoughts you should not publish on your Facebook pages.  Keep them to yourselves.

Lee Lador, 24, who worked as deputy press secretary to New York’s Manhattan Borough President was forced to resign her  $45,758 a year position after it was revealed that

Birdsong brings you more weird criminal law stories…

Aloha, OR: An Oregon man spent Memorial Day of 2009, in jail after dialing 911 to complain that a McDonald’s worker was rude and did not give him an orange juice he ordered.  Raibin Osman, 20, was arrested for improper use of the emergency telephone number.  Sheriff’s Sgt. David Thompson said Osman ignored deputies who told him the emergency number wasn’t to be used for straightening out fast food orders.  A McDonald’s employee also called 911 during the incident to complain that Osman and the people with him were blocking the drive-thru lane.

Dumbkopf!

Tampa, FL: Police in Tampa arrested a man who was so drunk he  had his 12 year old son drive home.  Unfortunately,

Birdsong brings you a few weird criminal law stories from the sunshine state of Florida.

Gainseville, FL:  An aspiring rapper in Gainseville has allegedly told police he robbed a convenience store and shot a clerk in the head with a BB gun in an effort to gain “street credibility” for his hip-hop career.  Steven Gilmore, 21, also confessed to robbing a Hungry Howie’s restaurant as a career move, police said.

I pity the fool…

Sebastian, FL: A federal grand jury indicted a Florida woman for allegedly keeping her dead mother’s body in a bedroom for six years to collect more than $200,000 in pension benefits.  Penelope Sharon Jordan was charged with

Birdsong presents herewith a few more weird criminal law stories.

Saanich, Canada: A Canadian cop in Saanich, British Columbia heard passionate sounds coming from a trash dumpster — and upon investigation found a 30 year old woman and her boyfriend, 28, had turned it into a love nest.  The officer ordered the two to put on their clothes and leave.  No arrests were made.

A new meaning for “dirty sex.”

Yakima, WA: This Washington state kindergarten teacher apparently had enough of cleaning up after a student beset with bathroom issues and sent the stinky evidence  home to his parents.  “This little turd was found on the floor in my room,” the teacher wrote in a note sent along with the fecal find.  The student is being transferred.  Officials won’t discuss the teacher’s job status but say no criminal charges have been filed.

Oh Poo!

Fresno, CA:  Police in Fresno arrested a man for allegedly tattooing a gang insignia on a 7-year old boy — at the direction of the child’s father.