Sunday, August 24, 2014
Dog blows bubbles in water on command
Jessica Nichols taught two-year-old Diesel the Golden Retriever how to blow bubbles in the pool when he was a puppy and he continues to do so.
YouTube link.
YouTube link.
Lawyer fears client's horns and tattoos will have negative impact on jury in triple murder trial
The attorney for accused killer Caius Veiovis told a judge in Massachusetts on Thursday that he is concerned that his client's "unusual appearance" could make it hard for him to get fair jury.
Veiovis, the last of three men heading to trial in the slayings of three Pittsfield men in August 2011, has horn implants and facial tattoos.
"There's a serious factor of curiosity and concern when the jury first sees him," Veiovis' attorney, James G. Reardon Jr., said in Hampden Superior Court.
Concern about Veiovis' appearance was one of several topics handled during a hearing Thursday leading up to the trial, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 3.
The prosecution's case could take as long as 2 1/2 weeks. Reardon said he had received a lot of suggestions on the subject of his client's appearance - much of it unsolicited - and he wanted to discuss how to handle the issue with the court. "I think we have to get it out there," he said, adding that he wanted to make sure potential jurors were able to clearly see his client's features. During Thursday's hearing, Veiovis had his shoulder-length hair pulled back into a ponytail, revealing his horn implants, a tattoo featuring Norse Runes - an ancient Germanic alphabet - across his right cheek and the numbers 666 in the center of his forehead. Reardon said he had heard "urban legends" concerning the numbers 666, but he wasn't fully aware of what it meant. He said jurors might have their own ideas on the subject.
Berkshire District Attorney David F. Capeless told the court he wasn't planning to go into any of the possible meanings of the tattoos or try "to connect them to the charges." The prosecutor suggested showing the potential jurors a close-up photograph of Veiovis, one that would likely be allowed into evidence during the trial. Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder said he was disinclined to have a photograph of the defendant on a screen while a jury was being chosen. "It rubs me the wrong way," he said. He decided that he would ask potential jurors if there was anything about the defendant's appearance that could keep them from being fair and he would let them look at Veiovis' photo at the time they are to be individually interviewed. Veiovis, 33, of Pittsfield, is accused of helping Adam Lee Hall, 37, of Peru, and David Chalue, 47, kidnap, torture, kill and dismember David Glasser, Edward Frampton and Robert Chadwell in late August 2011 as Tropical Storm Irene was bearing down on the Berkshires.
Veiovis has denied three counts each of murder, kidnapping and witness intimidation. On Thursday, Kinder denied a motion by Reardon to keep out of the trial photographs that were taken of various weapons found at Veiovis's apartment during the police investigation. Police found machetes, knives and spiked bats during a search of the residence. None were taken since they tested negative for blood, according to testimony in the earlier trials. The judge said the images had "probative value" since they showed that the defendant had access to weapons. The firearms used in the killings and the tools used to dismember the bodies have never been recovered. Kinder likewise denied a motion to keep out anatomical and surgical illustrations found collaged on the wall of Veiovis' old apartment. A request by Reardon to once again move the trial, which was already moved out of Berkshire County due to pretrial publicity, also was denied. Reardon believes there would be more potential jurors who were unaware of the case further east.
The prosecution's case could take as long as 2 1/2 weeks. Reardon said he had received a lot of suggestions on the subject of his client's appearance - much of it unsolicited - and he wanted to discuss how to handle the issue with the court. "I think we have to get it out there," he said, adding that he wanted to make sure potential jurors were able to clearly see his client's features. During Thursday's hearing, Veiovis had his shoulder-length hair pulled back into a ponytail, revealing his horn implants, a tattoo featuring Norse Runes - an ancient Germanic alphabet - across his right cheek and the numbers 666 in the center of his forehead. Reardon said he had heard "urban legends" concerning the numbers 666, but he wasn't fully aware of what it meant. He said jurors might have their own ideas on the subject.
Berkshire District Attorney David F. Capeless told the court he wasn't planning to go into any of the possible meanings of the tattoos or try "to connect them to the charges." The prosecutor suggested showing the potential jurors a close-up photograph of Veiovis, one that would likely be allowed into evidence during the trial. Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder said he was disinclined to have a photograph of the defendant on a screen while a jury was being chosen. "It rubs me the wrong way," he said. He decided that he would ask potential jurors if there was anything about the defendant's appearance that could keep them from being fair and he would let them look at Veiovis' photo at the time they are to be individually interviewed. Veiovis, 33, of Pittsfield, is accused of helping Adam Lee Hall, 37, of Peru, and David Chalue, 47, kidnap, torture, kill and dismember David Glasser, Edward Frampton and Robert Chadwell in late August 2011 as Tropical Storm Irene was bearing down on the Berkshires.
Veiovis has denied three counts each of murder, kidnapping and witness intimidation. On Thursday, Kinder denied a motion by Reardon to keep out of the trial photographs that were taken of various weapons found at Veiovis's apartment during the police investigation. Police found machetes, knives and spiked bats during a search of the residence. None were taken since they tested negative for blood, according to testimony in the earlier trials. The judge said the images had "probative value" since they showed that the defendant had access to weapons. The firearms used in the killings and the tools used to dismember the bodies have never been recovered. Kinder likewise denied a motion to keep out anatomical and surgical illustrations found collaged on the wall of Veiovis' old apartment. A request by Reardon to once again move the trial, which was already moved out of Berkshire County due to pretrial publicity, also was denied. Reardon believes there would be more potential jurors who were unaware of the case further east.
Bank robber made getaway on bicycle with broken chain
Police in St. Louis, Missouri, have released surveillance images of a man who robbed a north city bank earlier this week.
A spokesperson for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department says the suspect entered the Commerce Bank shortly before 9:30am on Monday.
He handed a teller a piece of paper demanding money. The suspect's hand remained inside his pocket, leading the teller to believe he was armed. He did not show a weapon.
After receiving an undisclosed amount of cash, the suspect ran across Natural Bridge, down an alley, and hopped on a bicycle that appeared to have a broken chain. Police describe the suspect as a black male between 30 and 35-years-old.
He stands between 6 feet and 6 feet, two inches tall and weighs between 220 and 250 pounds. He has a beard, and was last seen wearing a dark baseball cap, blue jeans, and a white t-shirt underneath a dark hooded sweatshirt. Anyone with information about the identity of the suspect should call CrimeStoppers.
He handed a teller a piece of paper demanding money. The suspect's hand remained inside his pocket, leading the teller to believe he was armed. He did not show a weapon.
After receiving an undisclosed amount of cash, the suspect ran across Natural Bridge, down an alley, and hopped on a bicycle that appeared to have a broken chain. Police describe the suspect as a black male between 30 and 35-years-old.
He stands between 6 feet and 6 feet, two inches tall and weighs between 220 and 250 pounds. He has a beard, and was last seen wearing a dark baseball cap, blue jeans, and a white t-shirt underneath a dark hooded sweatshirt. Anyone with information about the identity of the suspect should call CrimeStoppers.
Pizza delivery man reported witnessing fake murder to avoid getting fired for late delivery
Monroe County Sheriff's deputies in Hamlin, New York, say a pizza delivery man is facing charges. That after they say he reported a murder to police that never happened.
Deputies say 18-year-old Mason Requa called 911 and told deputies that he had witnessed a homicide at around nine o'clock on Wednesday night.
Requa, they say, gave a detailed description of the incident including descriptions about the suspects, type of weapon used and what clothing the victim was wearing.
Several agencies, including deputies, US Border Patrol and New York State Police searched for close to four hours until, investigators said, Requa admitted telling investigators that he made up the story because he was afraid he would be fired from his job for a late pizza delivery. Requa was charged with Falsely Reporting An Incident. He is due back in court next Tuesday.
Deputies say 18-year-old Mason Requa called 911 and told deputies that he had witnessed a homicide at around nine o'clock on Wednesday night.
Requa, they say, gave a detailed description of the incident including descriptions about the suspects, type of weapon used and what clothing the victim was wearing.
Several agencies, including deputies, US Border Patrol and New York State Police searched for close to four hours until, investigators said, Requa admitted telling investigators that he made up the story because he was afraid he would be fired from his job for a late pizza delivery. Requa was charged with Falsely Reporting An Incident. He is due back in court next Tuesday.
Disabled man in legal battle to keep his therapy cats
A man from Benbrook, Texas, who has been disabled since birth says he cannot live without his two “assistance cats” and has gone to court to keep them.
Gary Coleman, 45, uses a walker and has spina bifida as well as a serious lung condition. He said he was told earlier this month by management at Mirabella Assisted Living in Benbrook that a “no pets” policy had been enacted for tenants who share an apartment.
Ultimately, he was told to find another home for the cats, Rex, 12, and Milo, 8 - or move out, Coleman said.
“Rex and Milo are not pets; they are therapy animals and they are my family,” he said.
“I have no family. I have no mother or father. My cats provide something that no family has ever given to me and that is emotional support.” Coleman, who has lived at Mirabella since 2012, according to the lawsuit, said he received a letter Aug. 1 of this year saying he needed to get rid of the cats by Aug. 10. A court petition filed on Monday says he pleaded with management to exempt Rex and Milo from the new policy, to no avail. He said he got a reminder letter on Aug. 7 and then a letter Aug. 11 saying his lease was being terminated, and he needed to move out by Sept. 11. Coleman is suing Mirabella, along with its director and parent company Segora Corp., alleging that management violated the Texas Fair Housing Act the Fort Worth City Code and the Texas Property code.
YouTube link.
Refusal to make a “reasonable accommodation” for the animals constitutes unlawful discrimination under the Housing Act and the City Code, the lawsuit says. It says Mirabella “retaliated again him by terminating his lease,” which violates the Texas Property Code. Coleman also says the Mirabella is violating his lease, which he said allows the cats. Bryan McCaleb, president of Sagora Senior living in Fort Worth said that management has “attempted to make contact with Coleman and his attorney to resolve the situation: “We have reviewed all of the files and documentation and we do not have any documentation on the resident’s two cats being certified as therapy animals. We have requested from the resident, their legal counsel and Power of Attorney to provide us with the certified animal documentation which has not been provided as of today [Aug. 20].”
Randy Turner, an attorney representing Coleman, said he provided information from Coleman’s psychologist documenting the need for the therapy cats and added that Rex and Milo don’t have to be certified as therapy animals. “Mirabella simply does not understand the Fair Housing Act or the law on assistance animals,” he said. “There is no such thing as a certified therapy animal and the law does not require that an animal be certified in any way before a landlord must provide accommodations.” Turner also said that under the Fair Housing Act a landlord must provide a “reasonable accommodation” in order to not discriminate against a disabled person who relies on an animal for emotional support. The law doesn’t address situations in which someone must share an apartment, he said. Although the cats would be permitted in a private apartment, Coleman can’t afford one, Turner said. He receives $644 a month in Supplemental Security Insurance payments, and pays $630 a month for rent and meals at Mirabella.
“I have no family. I have no mother or father. My cats provide something that no family has ever given to me and that is emotional support.” Coleman, who has lived at Mirabella since 2012, according to the lawsuit, said he received a letter Aug. 1 of this year saying he needed to get rid of the cats by Aug. 10. A court petition filed on Monday says he pleaded with management to exempt Rex and Milo from the new policy, to no avail. He said he got a reminder letter on Aug. 7 and then a letter Aug. 11 saying his lease was being terminated, and he needed to move out by Sept. 11. Coleman is suing Mirabella, along with its director and parent company Segora Corp., alleging that management violated the Texas Fair Housing Act the Fort Worth City Code and the Texas Property code.
YouTube link.
Refusal to make a “reasonable accommodation” for the animals constitutes unlawful discrimination under the Housing Act and the City Code, the lawsuit says. It says Mirabella “retaliated again him by terminating his lease,” which violates the Texas Property Code. Coleman also says the Mirabella is violating his lease, which he said allows the cats. Bryan McCaleb, president of Sagora Senior living in Fort Worth said that management has “attempted to make contact with Coleman and his attorney to resolve the situation: “We have reviewed all of the files and documentation and we do not have any documentation on the resident’s two cats being certified as therapy animals. We have requested from the resident, their legal counsel and Power of Attorney to provide us with the certified animal documentation which has not been provided as of today [Aug. 20].”
Randy Turner, an attorney representing Coleman, said he provided information from Coleman’s psychologist documenting the need for the therapy cats and added that Rex and Milo don’t have to be certified as therapy animals. “Mirabella simply does not understand the Fair Housing Act or the law on assistance animals,” he said. “There is no such thing as a certified therapy animal and the law does not require that an animal be certified in any way before a landlord must provide accommodations.” Turner also said that under the Fair Housing Act a landlord must provide a “reasonable accommodation” in order to not discriminate against a disabled person who relies on an animal for emotional support. The law doesn’t address situations in which someone must share an apartment, he said. Although the cats would be permitted in a private apartment, Coleman can’t afford one, Turner said. He receives $644 a month in Supplemental Security Insurance payments, and pays $630 a month for rent and meals at Mirabella.
Suspicious object at side of road turned out to be lightsaber taped to a stick
A person in the Mendenhall Valley neighbourhood of Juneau in Alaska reported an unidentified object on the side of the road as a suspicious device.
The report on Tuesday afternoon prompted a police officer to respond to check it out - he didn’t know what it was, either. Police then dispatched an officer who specializes in Explosive Ordnance Disposal to investigate.
The officer quickly realised that it was a plastic Star Wars lightsaber toy. “It was not explosive in any way,” Juneau Police Department spokeswoman Erann Kalwara said.
The confusion may have been in part because the plastic, expandable lightsaber was taped to a stick and found in the closed position, she said. Kalwara noted the person who reported the device did not call 911 - he or she used the JPD business line.
The report on Tuesday afternoon prompted a police officer to respond to check it out - he didn’t know what it was, either. Police then dispatched an officer who specializes in Explosive Ordnance Disposal to investigate.
The officer quickly realised that it was a plastic Star Wars lightsaber toy. “It was not explosive in any way,” Juneau Police Department spokeswoman Erann Kalwara said.
The confusion may have been in part because the plastic, expandable lightsaber was taped to a stick and found in the closed position, she said. Kalwara noted the person who reported the device did not call 911 - he or she used the JPD business line.
Flying chair mayhem at launch of Bolivian Democratic Unity party presidential campaign
A Bolivian presidential campaign launch ended in violence when rival football fans began fighting and hurling chairs at each other.
Dozens of plastic chairs were thrown as insults turned to blows at the Democratic Unity party event in Gilberto Menacho Stadium, Santa Cruz.
YouTube link.
Police arrived and shut down the event. There was no information on injuries or arrests.
Democratic Unity candidate Samuel Medina blamed rival party Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), headed by President Evo Morales, for inciting the violence. Bolivians head to the polls on October 12 with Morales the clear front-runner.
Dozens of plastic chairs were thrown as insults turned to blows at the Democratic Unity party event in Gilberto Menacho Stadium, Santa Cruz.
YouTube link.
Police arrived and shut down the event. There was no information on injuries or arrests.
Democratic Unity candidate Samuel Medina blamed rival party Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), headed by President Evo Morales, for inciting the violence. Bolivians head to the polls on October 12 with Morales the clear front-runner.
Chef killed by snake bite 20 minutes after cutting off its head
A chef preparing a dish made from cobra flesh died when the snake's head he had severed 20 minutes earlier bit him on the hand.
Victim Peng Fan - from Shunde, a district in the city of Foshan in southern China's Guangdong province - had been preparing a special dish made from Indochinese spitting cobra, a rare delicacy. But when he went to throw the serpent's severed head into the waste bin, it bit him - injecting him with its fast acting venom.
Police say Peng died before he could be given life saving anti-venom in hospital. "It is a highly unusual case but it appears to be just an accident. He prepared the snake himself and was just unlucky," said a police spokesman. Snake expert Yang Hong-chang, who has spent 40 years studying cobras, says all reptiles can function for up to an hour after losing body parts, or even their entire body.
He said: "It is perfectly possible that the head remained alive and bit Peng's hand. By the time a snake has lost its head, it’s effectively dead as basic body functions have ceased, but there is still some reflexive action. It means snakes have the capability of biting and injecting venom even after the head has been severed."
Victim Peng Fan - from Shunde, a district in the city of Foshan in southern China's Guangdong province - had been preparing a special dish made from Indochinese spitting cobra, a rare delicacy. But when he went to throw the serpent's severed head into the waste bin, it bit him - injecting him with its fast acting venom.
Police say Peng died before he could be given life saving anti-venom in hospital. "It is a highly unusual case but it appears to be just an accident. He prepared the snake himself and was just unlucky," said a police spokesman. Snake expert Yang Hong-chang, who has spent 40 years studying cobras, says all reptiles can function for up to an hour after losing body parts, or even their entire body.
He said: "It is perfectly possible that the head remained alive and bit Peng's hand. By the time a snake has lost its head, it’s effectively dead as basic body functions have ceased, but there is still some reflexive action. It means snakes have the capability of biting and injecting venom even after the head has been severed."
Judge orders measurement of man's penis to determine if it's big enough to trouble the public
A judge in Germany has ordered a delivery man's manhood be measured after he claimed in court that it was too small for him to be guilty of exhibitionism.
Herbert O, 54, was accused by a teenage girl of delivering more than just the package her family had ordered when he approached their house in August 2013.
The girl and her mother went to police the same evening to report the offending member protruding from his open trouser flies. But Herbert has contested the allegations, saying that he is insufficiently endowed to trouble public order. He even called on his wife to take the stand and testify to his lack of inches.
“I'm sorry, darling, but your penis is too short to hang out of your trousers,” she told the court in the town of Leer in East Frisia (Lower Saxony). Confronted with this conflicting evidence, defence lawyer Lutz Winkler suggested that judge Ulrike Andrees check its believability herself. “That was too uncomfortable for the judge” to do in court, he said. Instead, Andrees has asked the coroners' office in Oldenburg to make an exact measurement of Herbert's penis before making her final decision.
"If the wife has spoken out so frankly about this, I have to follow it up," she said. Winkler has demonstrated an iron resolve to achieve “exoneration” for his client Herbert, having already refused to settle the charge in exchange for a fine. They may yet have months to wait to see if the expert medical opinion stands up in court. “We've never seen anything like this before,” said court manager Norbert Bruns.
The girl and her mother went to police the same evening to report the offending member protruding from his open trouser flies. But Herbert has contested the allegations, saying that he is insufficiently endowed to trouble public order. He even called on his wife to take the stand and testify to his lack of inches.
“I'm sorry, darling, but your penis is too short to hang out of your trousers,” she told the court in the town of Leer in East Frisia (Lower Saxony). Confronted with this conflicting evidence, defence lawyer Lutz Winkler suggested that judge Ulrike Andrees check its believability herself. “That was too uncomfortable for the judge” to do in court, he said. Instead, Andrees has asked the coroners' office in Oldenburg to make an exact measurement of Herbert's penis before making her final decision.
"If the wife has spoken out so frankly about this, I have to follow it up," she said. Winkler has demonstrated an iron resolve to achieve “exoneration” for his client Herbert, having already refused to settle the charge in exchange for a fine. They may yet have months to wait to see if the expert medical opinion stands up in court. “We've never seen anything like this before,” said court manager Norbert Bruns.
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