Monday, July 21, 2014
Woman presented fake doctor's note as excuse for missing sentencing on forgery charges
A woman used a fake doctor’s note to explain why she missed sentencing on forgery and burglary charges in Prince George’s County, Maryland, prosecutors say.
Accused of renting out foreclosed homes she didn't own, Shannon Lee pleaded guilty, but she didn’t show up for sentencing on July 11, claiming she was sick. But the documents Lee submitted to prove she was sick were fake, prosecutors said.
“The attending physician and the admitting physician who are listed on the paperwork hadn’t practiced at that hospital in over two years, and further, the actual paperwork itself was not even the correct paperwork for that hospital for discharge information,” state’s attorney spokesman John Erzen said.
Court documents show Lee also listed a UPS store in Clinton as her home address on those medical documents. She's expected to be sentenced in August.
Accused of renting out foreclosed homes she didn't own, Shannon Lee pleaded guilty, but she didn’t show up for sentencing on July 11, claiming she was sick. But the documents Lee submitted to prove she was sick were fake, prosecutors said.
“The attending physician and the admitting physician who are listed on the paperwork hadn’t practiced at that hospital in over two years, and further, the actual paperwork itself was not even the correct paperwork for that hospital for discharge information,” state’s attorney spokesman John Erzen said.
Court documents show Lee also listed a UPS store in Clinton as her home address on those medical documents. She's expected to be sentenced in August.
Man arrested after taking stolen truck on joyride through cemetery
A northeast Missouri man is in trouble after taking a stolen semi-truck on a joyride through a cemetery.
The incident happened on Thursday evening at Ownbey Cemetery just outside the Kirksville city limits. Investigators said the truck, belonging to Sampson Farms, was stolen by an allegedly intoxicated man.
The Adair County Sheriff's Office and the Kirksville Police Department responded to the scene. Prior to getting stuck in the graveyard, the driver left a trail of damage on Rainbow Basin Trail and knocked over at least nine headstones in the cemetery.
Chris Myers, 38, of Kirksville was taken to jail after a stop at the hospital for further assessment. Myers was already wanted on a warrant for probation violation, and now charges related to the theft of the truck and the destruction of property are pending. Bond for Myers is set at $25,000 cash only. He remains in the Adair County Jail.
The incident happened on Thursday evening at Ownbey Cemetery just outside the Kirksville city limits. Investigators said the truck, belonging to Sampson Farms, was stolen by an allegedly intoxicated man.
The Adair County Sheriff's Office and the Kirksville Police Department responded to the scene. Prior to getting stuck in the graveyard, the driver left a trail of damage on Rainbow Basin Trail and knocked over at least nine headstones in the cemetery.
Chris Myers, 38, of Kirksville was taken to jail after a stop at the hospital for further assessment. Myers was already wanted on a warrant for probation violation, and now charges related to the theft of the truck and the destruction of property are pending. Bond for Myers is set at $25,000 cash only. He remains in the Adair County Jail.
Woman told she’ll have to buy back her stolen camera from pawn shop
A Florida woman said she was distraught when her video camera was stolen out of her minivan, then it was found at a pawn shop.
Amanda Selby said she was told she would have to pay to get her camera back, even though deputies believe they know who stole it.
Selby stored the $500 Nikon camera in her pregnancy “go bag” to record her child’s first moments.
“I went to look for my camera the day after I had him and the camera wasn’t there,” she said. A suspect, later identified by deputies as James Rouse, is accused of burgling her van and stealing the camera. Detectives eventually tracked it down at Gold and Gadgets in Deltona where they said Rouse sold it for $190. “I was like, ‘This is great, I’m going to get my camera back soon,’” Selby said.
But after weeks of investigating, the Sheriff’s Office said it turned the case over to the Volusia County state attorney who declined to prosecute. The State Attorney’s Office said they have no record of getting the case. Gold and Gadgets workers said they gave the Sheriff’s Office all the evidence needed to prosecute the man who allegedly stole the camera, including his thumbprint, but the suspect was never arrested.
Workers at the pawn shop said they’ll return the camera to its rightful owner if a warrant is issued for Rouse’s arrest. Since that hasn’t happened, Selby was told she’ll have to buy the camera back. “That’s just ridiculous to me,” she said. Authorities said if Selby doesn’t buy her camera back she’ll have to file a claim in court to recover it.
With news video.
“I went to look for my camera the day after I had him and the camera wasn’t there,” she said. A suspect, later identified by deputies as James Rouse, is accused of burgling her van and stealing the camera. Detectives eventually tracked it down at Gold and Gadgets in Deltona where they said Rouse sold it for $190. “I was like, ‘This is great, I’m going to get my camera back soon,’” Selby said.
But after weeks of investigating, the Sheriff’s Office said it turned the case over to the Volusia County state attorney who declined to prosecute. The State Attorney’s Office said they have no record of getting the case. Gold and Gadgets workers said they gave the Sheriff’s Office all the evidence needed to prosecute the man who allegedly stole the camera, including his thumbprint, but the suspect was never arrested.
Workers at the pawn shop said they’ll return the camera to its rightful owner if a warrant is issued for Rouse’s arrest. Since that hasn’t happened, Selby was told she’ll have to buy the camera back. “That’s just ridiculous to me,” she said. Authorities said if Selby doesn’t buy her camera back she’ll have to file a claim in court to recover it.
With news video.
Controversy over woman who shot unsatisfying lover being released from jail
Prosecutors in Oakland County, Michigan, are outraged that a Southfield woman convicted of shooting her long-time lover in the stomach after a disappointing sexual encounter has been released from jail while appealing the verdict.
Sadie Bell, 58, was convicted in Oakland County Circuit Court of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder as well as a felony firearms charge in mid-April. She is expected to appeal and was granted a $10,000 cash or surety bond by Judge Phyllis McMillen on Wednesday.
Bell was released from Oakland County Jail on Thursday.
McMillen sentenced her on June 26 to as many as 10 years in prison for the 2013 shooting of Edward Lee, with whom she was having a 15-year affair, according to Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Paul Walton. Bell accused Lee of cheating because of what she considered an inadequate ejaculation after sexual intercourse. Bell, a licenced gun owner, was also sentenced to two years in prison for the firearms conviction. She did not testify in the six-day trial in which she claimed self-defence. Walton was not surprised to learn the case would likely be appealed, but he did consider the bond amount “ironic,” noting it is much lower than the $25,000 bond Bell was initially given while awaiting trial.
“You have a woman who has shown she has a habit of acting out in a violent manner,” he said. “She’s a danger to the public and she should be held accountable for her actions.” Walton is confident an appeals court would uphold Bell’s convictions. “There weren’t any unique circumstances,” Walton said. “This case was very straightforward. We’re confident we will be confirmed.” Bell, however, believes there is a “great likelihood” her conviction will be overturned. Court documents show her attorney believes there was a “strong indication” of a violation of Bell’s right to effective assistance of counsel related to her decision not to testify on her behalf during the trial.
YouTube link. Original news video.
Walton expects the case will be appealed in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the prosecutor’s office has filed an appeal in an effort to get Bell’s bond revoked. Lee and Bell have been involved in an affair for more than a decade and Lee is married to another woman, Walton said. Lee is recovering from his injuries, Walton added. Lee initially told his employer he was shot multiple times by a carjacker. Bell was arrested, but not convicted, in connection with the 1991 shooting of her husband. The man declined to testify in in that case and in this case as well, Walton said.
McMillen sentenced her on June 26 to as many as 10 years in prison for the 2013 shooting of Edward Lee, with whom she was having a 15-year affair, according to Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Paul Walton. Bell accused Lee of cheating because of what she considered an inadequate ejaculation after sexual intercourse. Bell, a licenced gun owner, was also sentenced to two years in prison for the firearms conviction. She did not testify in the six-day trial in which she claimed self-defence. Walton was not surprised to learn the case would likely be appealed, but he did consider the bond amount “ironic,” noting it is much lower than the $25,000 bond Bell was initially given while awaiting trial.
“You have a woman who has shown she has a habit of acting out in a violent manner,” he said. “She’s a danger to the public and she should be held accountable for her actions.” Walton is confident an appeals court would uphold Bell’s convictions. “There weren’t any unique circumstances,” Walton said. “This case was very straightforward. We’re confident we will be confirmed.” Bell, however, believes there is a “great likelihood” her conviction will be overturned. Court documents show her attorney believes there was a “strong indication” of a violation of Bell’s right to effective assistance of counsel related to her decision not to testify on her behalf during the trial.
YouTube link. Original news video.
Walton expects the case will be appealed in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the prosecutor’s office has filed an appeal in an effort to get Bell’s bond revoked. Lee and Bell have been involved in an affair for more than a decade and Lee is married to another woman, Walton said. Lee is recovering from his injuries, Walton added. Lee initially told his employer he was shot multiple times by a carjacker. Bell was arrested, but not convicted, in connection with the 1991 shooting of her husband. The man declined to testify in in that case and in this case as well, Walton said.
Police sceptical after witnesses say man who woke up on fire had spontaneously combusted
Police in Edmonton, Canada, are baffled after a man claimed he woke up on fire on Saturday morning.
Witnesses are telling city officers that the young man, believed to be around 20 years old, spontaneously combusted.
“The complainant isn’t saying anything, not co-operating with us,” said acting Staff Sgt. Mike Wynnyk.
“The witnesses aren’t giving us any information other than they saw his back on fire. That’s it. They’re all thinking it was spontaneous human combustion.” The call came in to police around 8am. By the time officers arrived at the home, the fire had been extinguished and there was only minimal damage to a cushion on a couch the man said he had been sleeping on. Police are trying to get more information out of the victim, who is in hospital recovering from second-degree burns.
Wynnyk is sceptical of the combustion claim. “We’re persistent. We don’t want to give up with just that. We’re going to keep trying to prod him and talk to him and persuade him to give us more,” Wynnyk said. “Right now it’s really up in the air. We’re as confused as everybody else is on it.” Wynnyk hopes witnesses at the residence, believed to be family members, come forward with more information while detectives continue to investigate.
Staff Sgt. Terry Langley of the Edmonton Police Service added: “We’re not exactly sure how it happened at this point. Other occupants at this point are looking toward supernatural causes as opposed to providing us any information. They’ve all declined any opportunity to come in and be interviewed. We’re obviously not putting a whole lot of stock in the spontaneous combustion angle that’s being presumed by the family.”
“The witnesses aren’t giving us any information other than they saw his back on fire. That’s it. They’re all thinking it was spontaneous human combustion.” The call came in to police around 8am. By the time officers arrived at the home, the fire had been extinguished and there was only minimal damage to a cushion on a couch the man said he had been sleeping on. Police are trying to get more information out of the victim, who is in hospital recovering from second-degree burns.
Wynnyk is sceptical of the combustion claim. “We’re persistent. We don’t want to give up with just that. We’re going to keep trying to prod him and talk to him and persuade him to give us more,” Wynnyk said. “Right now it’s really up in the air. We’re as confused as everybody else is on it.” Wynnyk hopes witnesses at the residence, believed to be family members, come forward with more information while detectives continue to investigate.
Staff Sgt. Terry Langley of the Edmonton Police Service added: “We’re not exactly sure how it happened at this point. Other occupants at this point are looking toward supernatural causes as opposed to providing us any information. They’ve all declined any opportunity to come in and be interviewed. We’re obviously not putting a whole lot of stock in the spontaneous combustion angle that’s being presumed by the family.”
Man in court for for torching goblins' house
A self-styled sangoma from Chief Nyajena area in Masvingo, Zimbabwe, has appeared in court for allegedly setting his uncle's house on fire because it had goblins. Mike Musiiwa of Mutadzo Village pleaded guilty to arson before Masvingo provincial magistrate Sibonginkosi Mkandla. He was remanded in custody for sentence.
Musiiwa took advantage of his uncle, Alick Malendele's absence to torch the house resulting in the destruction of property worth about $1,000. He was spotted torching the thatched house by a fellow villager, Marita Raisi who rushed to alert Malendele. A report was made at Renco police leading to Musiiwa's arrest and his subsequent appearance in court. Magistrate Mkandla said Musiiwa had no right to torch his uncle's house.
In his defence, Musiiwa said he set the house on fire because he had proved that his uncle was bewitching him using his goblins. "I am a sangoma who has helped a number of people by exorcising evil spirits and destroying witches' goblins. I went into a mountain and started counting stones, which are the tools I use in carrying my duties. One of the stones helped me identify my tormentor. My uncle had been attempting to cast a bad spell on me and other family members using goblins that I later destroyed when I set his house on fire. I knew that there was no one in the house who could be harmed.
Fidelicy Nyamukondiwa for the state said Musiiwa took advantage of his uncle's absence and proceeded to his homestead in the same village where upon arrival he set the house on fire. Property destroyed included blankets, a 12 volts battery, 50 kg of compound D fertilizer, two wooden doors, 50 kg of wheat, 20 kg of mealie-meal, 40 kg of sorghum, two home theatre speakers, two bibles, seven birth certificates, two monarch bags with various clothing and $412. Musiiwa had an altercation with Malendele, 40, over the same issue sometime between 2012 and 2013.
Musiiwa took advantage of his uncle, Alick Malendele's absence to torch the house resulting in the destruction of property worth about $1,000. He was spotted torching the thatched house by a fellow villager, Marita Raisi who rushed to alert Malendele. A report was made at Renco police leading to Musiiwa's arrest and his subsequent appearance in court. Magistrate Mkandla said Musiiwa had no right to torch his uncle's house.
In his defence, Musiiwa said he set the house on fire because he had proved that his uncle was bewitching him using his goblins. "I am a sangoma who has helped a number of people by exorcising evil spirits and destroying witches' goblins. I went into a mountain and started counting stones, which are the tools I use in carrying my duties. One of the stones helped me identify my tormentor. My uncle had been attempting to cast a bad spell on me and other family members using goblins that I later destroyed when I set his house on fire. I knew that there was no one in the house who could be harmed.
Fidelicy Nyamukondiwa for the state said Musiiwa took advantage of his uncle's absence and proceeded to his homestead in the same village where upon arrival he set the house on fire. Property destroyed included blankets, a 12 volts battery, 50 kg of compound D fertilizer, two wooden doors, 50 kg of wheat, 20 kg of mealie-meal, 40 kg of sorghum, two home theatre speakers, two bibles, seven birth certificates, two monarch bags with various clothing and $412. Musiiwa had an altercation with Malendele, 40, over the same issue sometime between 2012 and 2013.
Police tracked down bald woman after finding wig in car at the scene of crash
When police were called to the scene of an accident in Yeovil, Somerset, where a car had collided with a boundary wall they found details relating to the owner along with a wig.
After a search of the area they found a bald-headed woman nearby and she asked if they were looking for her and admitted she had been drinking.
After failing a roadside breath test Holly Glynis Fousham was arrested and confessed she had drunk half a bottle of vodka before getting behind the wheel as she was depressed.
The 31-year-old, of Wincanton, pleaded guilty to driving a Vauxhall Mokka in Ilchester Road, Yeovil, with excess alcohol on May 30. She also admitted failing to stop following an accident where damage was caused to a stone wall when she appeared before Somerset Magistrates at Yeovil. Prosecutor Sam Jones said that an accident occurred at 12.45am where a car had impacted a boundary wall. “The officers found documents relating to Foulsham and there was also a wig found in the vehicle,” he said.
“Just after 1am they saw Foulsham about half a mile away and she was bald-headed and said “are you looking for me, I’ve been in a crash and drinking?” A roadside breath test was positive and she was taken to Yeovil District Hospital because she had a minor injury to her arm and a blood test showed a reading of 132mlg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 80mlg of alcohol. When Foulsham was interviewed she admitted downing half a bottle of vodka and drove her car into the wall and said she wore a wig as she suffered from alopecia.
Mr Jones said that the owner of the wall was an 85-year-old man who said that he had suffered emotional disturbance and inconvenience which he could have done without at his age. Defending, Chris Baddoo said that Foulsham was full of remorse for the incident adding that she suffered from significant health problems. “On this particular day she had been assaulted and had a drink and decided to get into her car and unfortunately had an accident,” he said. For drink driving the magistrates banned the defendant from driving for 14 months and fined her £128 with £45 costs and a £20 victim surcharge. No separate penalty was imposed for failing to stop.
The 31-year-old, of Wincanton, pleaded guilty to driving a Vauxhall Mokka in Ilchester Road, Yeovil, with excess alcohol on May 30. She also admitted failing to stop following an accident where damage was caused to a stone wall when she appeared before Somerset Magistrates at Yeovil. Prosecutor Sam Jones said that an accident occurred at 12.45am where a car had impacted a boundary wall. “The officers found documents relating to Foulsham and there was also a wig found in the vehicle,” he said.
“Just after 1am they saw Foulsham about half a mile away and she was bald-headed and said “are you looking for me, I’ve been in a crash and drinking?” A roadside breath test was positive and she was taken to Yeovil District Hospital because she had a minor injury to her arm and a blood test showed a reading of 132mlg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 80mlg of alcohol. When Foulsham was interviewed she admitted downing half a bottle of vodka and drove her car into the wall and said she wore a wig as she suffered from alopecia.
Mr Jones said that the owner of the wall was an 85-year-old man who said that he had suffered emotional disturbance and inconvenience which he could have done without at his age. Defending, Chris Baddoo said that Foulsham was full of remorse for the incident adding that she suffered from significant health problems. “On this particular day she had been assaulted and had a drink and decided to get into her car and unfortunately had an accident,” he said. For drink driving the magistrates banned the defendant from driving for 14 months and fined her £128 with £45 costs and a £20 victim surcharge. No separate penalty was imposed for failing to stop.
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