So, here we go again. Birdsong provides more weird criminal law stories for you reading enjoyment.
Portland, OR: Tremayne Durham, 36, was recently sentenced to life in prison with the chance for parole after thirty years. Durham was sentenced for the murder of Adam Calbreath over a business deal that had gone bad. Instead of going to trial Durham availed himself of a very unusual plea deal offered by the prosecutor. He had sat in jail almost two years awaiting trial and missed the greasy food he liked to eat. So, when the prosecutor offered him a fast food buffet in exchange for his guilty plea Durham admitted he had shot Calbreath. His buffet deal included gorging himself on KFC and Popeye’s chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, carrot cake, a pizza, two calzones, lasagna and ice cream. The judge signed off on the plea deal and Durham downed the food at two settings. Cost to the Oregon taxpayers was only $41.70. A murder trial would have cost the state $4,000.
That is one way to take a bite out of crime isn’t it?
Ohio: An Ohio murderer is trying to avoid being executed by claiming he is so fat, it would be difficult to find a vein to give him a lethal injection. Richard Cooey, who at 5 foot 7 tips the scales at 267 pounds is scheduled to die October 14, 2008.
Birdsong thinks the prison’s head chef was too good to Cooey.
Detroit, MI: On August 7, 2008, Motown Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who faces an upcoming perjury trial, was ordered to jail because he violated his bond by taking a trip out of the country without notifying the court. He travelled across the river to a business meeting in Windsor Canada, a trip that took about 15 minutes. Nevertheless Kilpatrick apologized to the Court and acknowledged that he had made a mistake. The mayor bonded out of jail the next day.
For all the trouble it cost him Kilpatrick should have gone some place more exotic like Nassau.
Florida: The AP reports that somewhere in Florida a grandmother was arrested for driving around a grocery store parking lot with her granddaughter on the roof of her car. In her defense granny said she was driving at a snails pace and holding the child’s leg, and would never endanger her grand baby.
Birdsong has heard of a Fiddler on the Roof but this is ridiculous!
Cincinnati: OH: A Cincinnati man is so exasperated by crime outside his apartment building that he has posted a sign reading “Drug & Sex For Sale 24/7.” John Walled says most of his tenants have fled because of drugs and prostitution on the street.
Maybe it does not really pay to advertise.
Mexico City, MX: Rich and middle-class Mexicans alike are having tiny transmitters implanted under their skin because of the rampant kidnapping rate in their country. “They’ll kidnap you for a watch,” said a 28 year old woman who has had a chip implanted. “Everyone is living in fear,” she continued. The chips cost $4,000 apiece, with a $2,200 annual monitoring fine.
Birdsong is suspicious that the chip makers might just be in on this kidnapping thing…
