Criminal Mind, The


Update: Caffeine/Sleep-Deprivation Defense Fails

Reports last week were that the lawyer for Woody Will Smith would argue that Smith was not responsible for murdering his wife because he had done so while suffering from a "brief psychosis" due to lack of sleep and heavy…


Yet Another Reason Not to Wrestle Your Snake in the Parking Lot

The Associated Press reports that "[t]wo men were arrested after bewildered diners at a McDonald's spotted them wrestling a 5-foot (1.5 meter) python named Boris in the restaurant parking lot, police [in Melbourne] said Thursday." I don't think the diners…



Tip: Best to Post Bail With Real Money

Mistakes made by Ronald White of Camden, New Jersey, on July 7: Shoplifted. Got caught shoplifting. Posted bail with counterfeit $20 bills. Returned to the police station the next day. Told them he had "paid too much . . ….


Reasons Not to Represent Yourself, #73

I have mentioned this case before, but am re-posting it because I decided to add it to the Case Law Hall of Fame.  It mostly speaks for itself: Briefly stated, the facts are as follows: In the early morning of December 7,…


Spanx Bandit Apprehended

"This was a really bizarre disguise," said Brandon Clabes, police chief of Midwest City, Oklahoma.  He was referring to the Spanx stretch girdle that a woman wore as a mask when robbing an Oklahoma McDonald's this week.  "I wasn't sure…


Update on the Fraudulent Photoshopper

Daryl Simon seems to have included his bogus charity photos in an appendix to his sentencing memorandum, but I was unable to find that on the court’s docket.  It may not have been posted yet, but that seems odd given…



Fat Rapist Claims Confession Was Coerced by Junk-Food Offer

Big-bellied rapist Bruce Tuck, a flabby 275-pounder who was somewhat uncreatively nicknamed the "Big-Bellied Rapist" during a string of crimes he committed in Tennessee, has now argued in court papers that his confession was coerced because a detective offered him…