Blind justice: Alleged killer drawn for grand jury Computer picked name, not knowing man was in jail on murder charges
THIBODAUX, La. - A man charged with nine murders — and suspected in many more — was listed among potential members of a state grand jury to be seated next month.
Terrebonne Parish Clerk of Court Bobby Boudreaux confirmed that serial killing suspect Ronald Dominique's name was on a computer-generated list in early June.
There's no chance of Dominique actually serving. State law forbids anyone indicted for a crime to serve as a juror.
"The fact that he is charged, that his case is in the courts, the computer doesn't know that," Boudreaux said Thursday.
Police say Dominique has confessed to killing 23 men over nine years. He has been indicted on nine counts of murder, and District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr. has said he will seek the death penalty.
Prospective jury members are drawn from a variety of sources, including voter registration lists and motor vehicle records.
The first person to notice Dominique's name was District Judge Randy Bethancourt's secretary, Frankie Clements. She said she starred it to draw the judge's attention.
Bethancourt was not in when a reporter called Friday.
Jennie Callahan, 32nd Judicial District Court coordinator, said she has dealt with incarcerated prospective jurors before, but never for a grand jury.
"When it has happened to me, I have called to confirm that they are in jail," she said. "They can't get out of jail to serve on a jury so I put a note that the person is currently incarcerated."
NEW YORK -- A peacock that roamed into a fast-food restaurant parking lot was attacked by man who vilified the bird as a vampire, animal-control authorities said.
Beaten so fiercely that most of his tail feathers fell out, the bird was euthanized, said Richard Gentles, a spokesman for the city's Center for Animal Care and Control.
"It's just unbelievable that someone would do something to a poor, defenseless animal and do it in such a cruel fashion," he said.
The peacock, a male several years old, wandered into a Staten Island Burger King parking lot and perched on a car hood Thursday morning. Charmed employees had been feeding him bread when the man appeared.
He seized the iridescent bird by the neck, hurled it to the ground and started kicking and stomping the creature, said worker Felicia Finnegan, 19.
"He was going crazy," she said.
Asked what he was doing, she said, the attacker explained, "'I'm killing a vampire!'"
Employees called police, but the man ran when he saw them. Authorities were looking for the attacker, described as being in his teens or early 20s.
It was not clear how the bird made his way to the Burger King, but a Staten Island resident who raises peacocks said he had given some to a person who lives near the restaurant.
Okay...I'll give ya that one, 'why was there a peacock in the parking lot of a fast food joint'....but more importantly...what the heck was with the guy who beat the sh** out of this bird? Now THAT is the question here. And who told him this bird was a vampire? He must have not taken his drugs that day.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Woman sues over co-worker’s scent DETROIT— An employee in the Detroit planning department who claims she is severely sensitive to perfumes and other cosmetics has sued the city, saying a co-worker’s strong fragrance prohibits her from working. Susan McBride’s lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, says the work environment is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. She wants a ban on such scents at work plus unspecifi ed damages. City spokesman Matt Allen declined to comment, telling The Detroit News that the city does not normally comment on litigation or personnel issues. McBride, who joined the planning department in 2000, says problems started a year ago when the co-worker, who isn’t identifi ed in the lawsuit, transferred into her department. “This employee not only wore a strong scent but also plugged in a scented room deodorizer,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. McBride was overcome by the smell almost instantly, causing her to go home sick.”
Kidnap saga ends with a wedding Charles Adams marries fellow Rotarian who invited him to Dominican Republic after abduction
By CATHLEEN F. CROWLEY, Staff writer First published: Sunday, July 15, 2007
It takes a special person to transform a kidnapping into blessing. Charles Adams is that person. Adams, 71, was abducted in July 2006 during a trip to Haiti. An active Rotarian from Queensbury, Adams was in the country to promote clean water systems in rural areas.
As he was riding through a slum of Port-au-Prince, a gang of hoodlums grabbed Adams and his driver. The kidnappers manhandled Adams, tearing his clothes, until Adams dug in his heels and yelled "Stop!" He pulled aside his torn shirt to display fresh bandages on his chest from surgery to implant a pacemaker. From then on, his captors slowed down and every few minutes asked "Mr. Adams" if he was OK.
Adams sailed through the kidnapping with similar aplomb. His driver escaped and Adams was released in less than 24 hours of gentle treatment. American officials told him he was the only captive ever released without paying a ransom.
The experience didn't discourage Adams, who has returned to Haiti several times.
"To me, it was like an automobile accident," he said. "You wouldn't let a fender bender prevent you from returning to a country, would you?"
He wasn't a target, he said. He was just caught in a popular scheme for making money. He estimates that the gangs make $30,000 to $50,000 a week by holding people for ransom.
"I happened to be a fish in the sea and I got caught in the net," he said.
Adams continues to travel to Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Honduras to take low-cost filtration systems to the developing countries. After malnutrition, water-borne disease kills the highest number of people worldwide every year, he said.
His kidnapping adventure, however, caught the attention of the Rotary and energized the initiative. Adams also was honored with a Rotary International Service Above Self award.
Shortly after his kidnapping, a high-ranking Rotarian in the Dominican Republic invited him to her island nation to recuperate. He accepted the invitation, and last month, he married her. Adams and Alexandra Lourdes (Martinez) Adams, 43, a dentist, were married in Las Vegas on June 15. After their nuptials, they began their honeymoon at the Rotary's annual conference in Salt Lake City. F. Crowley can be reached at 454-5348, or by e-mail at ccrowley@timesunion.com.
Not bad, huh...a 72 year old marrying a 43 year old dentist. No wonder why he kept going back! Dirty old man
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
WARSAW, Poland(AP) A Polish bus driver has been fired for sending 38,000 text messages on his company cell phone in a losing effort to win contest jackpot, a spokesman said Thursday.
Leszek Wojcik, a bus driver in the northwestern Polish city of Slupsk, ran up a tab of some 94,000 zlotys ($34,000) with his text messages while trying to win a 100,000-zloty ($36,000) SMS contest that ended June 30, Slupsk city transport spokesman Hubert Boba told The Associated Press.
Boba said a city bus drivers' monthly company phone bill is supposed to be limited to 15 zlotys ($5).
Wojcik sent an average of 1,200 SMS text messages a day, each costing 2.40 zlotys ($0.86), on his work cell phone.
Wojcik told TVN24 television he wanted to buy a second car with his possible winnings.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Armless man gets 5 years for driving Associated Press Last updated: 5:13 p.m.,
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. -- A man with no arms and one leg who wouldn't stop driving despite a long list of traffic violations was sentenced to five years in prison Friday on felony driving and drug charges.
Michael Francis Wiley, 40, also was sentenced to 15 years of drug offender probation. He pleaded no contest in June to the charges.
"I'd just like to say I know what I did was wrong," Wiley said in court Friday. "I am truly sorry your honor. I am."
Wiley taught himself to drive after losing both arms and a leg in an electrical accident when he was 13. He has already spent more than three years in prison for habitually driving without a license, kicking a state trooper and other charges.
He once had a valid license, but it has been suspended several times since 1985, according to his attorney. He starts the car with his toes, shifts with his knee and steers with the stump of his left arm. He turns on the lights with his teeth.
In his most recent brush with the law last May, Wiley sped off in a Ford Explorer when police approached him at a convenience store, officials said. Officers pursued, but called off the chase after eight minutes because they did not want to put others in danger, police said.
Defense attorney John Hooker pleaded for leniency and a minimum sentence of 2 1/2 years. He cited his client's need for treatment for his many physical and mental health problems, including anxiety, panic attacks, depression and a pain disorder related to his amputations.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Wiley said he's done driving.
"I'm beat. The white flag is up," he said. "You can only bang your head against the wall so long before it hurts."
Wiley taught himself to drive after losing both arms and a leg in an electrical accident when he was 13. He has already spent more than three years in prison for habitually driving without a license, kicking a state trooper and other charges.
Hey, can someone tell me how you kick someone when you have one leg. And actually how threatening to a cop can this guy be? I mean come on...we are talking no arms and one leg here!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Woman who registered dog to vote avoids jail Owner was protesting law that she said made voting easy for noncitizens
Sept 6, 2007 SEATTLE - A woman who faced up to 90 days in jail for registering her dog to vote has agreed to a deal that could remove the charge from her record.
Jane Balogh, 66, won’t be prosecuted on the charge of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant if she does 10 hours of community service, pays a $250 fine and avoids violating the law for the next year, District Judge Mariane Spearman said Wednesday.
Balogh registered her Australian shepherd-terrier mix, Duncan M. McDonald, to vote in April 2006 by putting her telephone bill in the dog’s name and using that as identification when she mailed the form to election officials. She said she did it to protest a change in the law that she believed made it too easy for noncitizens to vote.
In November she wrote “VOID” across the first ballot sent to the dog and returned it with an image of a paw print on the signature line. An election official called and she admitted what she had done, but the dog still was sent absentee ballots for school bond elections in February and May.
Duncan M. McDonald was removed from the voter rolls in July, three weeks after the charge was filed against Balogh, who pleaded not guilty.
Garlic-stomper caught on cellphone NANUET — Stomping on garlic with your shoes on is apparently not the correct way to prepare takeout food. The Rockland County health department hit the Great China Buffet restaurant with two violations after a patron took pictures of an employee who was wearing boots while stomping on a huge bowl of garlic in the alley outside. Health inspectors went to the Chinese restaurant after an employee at a nearby store, Dan Barreto, alerted them to the unsanitary act, which he had recorded on his cellphone. “I go back there, and the guy’s stepping on garlic,” said Barreto, who used to eat at the restaurant. “There he was just jumping up and down on it, smashing it up, having a good time.” The health department does not consider a person’s shoe or boot a proper instrument to use in food preparation, senior public health sanitarian John Stoughton said Tuesday. “It was a novel way to prepare food,” he said. Great China Buffet owner Jiang Shu said the worker caught in the pictures had been fired. He said that’s not the way his restaurant cooks its chicken with broccoli in garlic sauce and other dishes. The health department said it would inspect the restaurant again.
Man robs woman, then licks her feet ST. PAUL, Minn. — A man who robbed a woman of her keys and cellphone took off her shoes and licked her toes, police said. Commander Kevin Casper called the attack “weird sexual behavior.” The 24-year-old woman was leaving work around 1 a.m. Saturday when the 27-year-old suspect approached her and demanded her keys and phone, authorities said. After that, he removed her shoes. The woman was not hurt, police said. Police arrested the man a few minutes later about four blocks away. The woman identified the suspect, and police were able to recover her keys and phone.
Logged
