by TChris

Mark Hunter, former chief of police in the Township of Columbia, Michigan, was a busy man.

Hunter has already pleaded guilty in Jackson County Circuit Court to electronic eavesdropping and embezzlement charges. He was accused of secretly video taping himself having sex with a female employee in the police department offices in Brooklyn and with selling the department's firearms.

For those crimes, Hunter was sentenced to 11 months in jail. But investigators discovered evidence of other crimes when they searched Hunter's home. Hunter faces additional charges of possession of child pornography and possession of heroin.

Andrea Yates will be retried March 10 for the drowning deaths of her five children. Her lawyer said today she turned down a 35 year plea offer. She is now on bond and residing at a mental hospital.

As I opined here, she should be found not guilty by reason of insanity. As one doctor put it:

If Andrea Yates had been in any state other than Texas, she would have been found insane," said Dr. Robert Miller, [a forensic psychiatrist and the former chief of psychiatry for the state Department of Corrections] who is now a professor at the University of Colorado medical school and treats patients at Pueblo.

The death penalty trial of James Sullivan, a Georgia millionaire accused of hiring a hit man to kill his wife 19 years ago, begins today. Court TV is airing it live.

On the day of a crucial hearing in her divorce, Atlanta socialite Lita Sullivan opened her door to a deliveryman who handed her a box of roses and fired a gunshot into her head. Almost 20 years later, her millionaire husband James Sullivan will stand trial for her murder.

Sullivan was previously acquitted of lesser related charges in a federal court, and then fled to Thailand from where he fought extradition for two years and ultimately was returned to the U.S. to stand trial on the murder charge.

Sullivan's defense lawyers are top-notch: Don Samuel and Ed Garland of Atlanta. Opening arguments are set for this afternoon. If you're by a tv and want to see good lawyering in a case involving everything from "wealth, greed and sex to class warfare, international intrigue and a fugitive on the run.", this is it.

by TChris

You'd think that when the police set a guy's head on fire, that would be punishment enough.

A man whose head caught fire when police simultaneously zapped him with pepper spray and a Taser gun during his arrest last summer faces prison time after being sentenced on a drug charge in the same incident.

The electricity from the Taser ignited the pepper spray, setting Lloyd King's head on fire.

by TChris

Don't ask, don't tell, and don't star in porn videos that are released to the internet.

The Army has charged seven paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division with engaging in sex acts in videos shown on a gay pornography website. Three of the soldiers face courts-martial on charges of sodomy, pandering and engaging in sex acts for money, according to a statement released by the military Friday.

The website is described as "military-themed."

by Last Night in Little Rock

CNN just reported that two Air Marshals were arrested in Houston for smuggling cocaine on the flights they were protecting. They were delivering to a person who turned out to be a protected government witness.

The full story is not yet on CNN.com, but it has this short summary:

by TChris

The CIA apparently doesn't give its administrative employees the training they need to become effective burglars.

Fairfax County police said Tuesday that George C. Dalmas III had been charged with 17 burglaries in McLean, Va., between October and last month. ... The CIA said Dalmas, an administrative employee, was suspended without pay and the agency was cooperating in the investigation.

by Last Night in Little Rock

The alleged shooter in the gay bar shooting in Massachusetts who allegedly shot and killed a 63 year old police officer in Arkansas during his flight, previously reported here, was found to have shot himself, according to an Arkansas State Crime Laboratory autopsy result released by the local prosecutor.

by TChris

Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet allegedly partnered with New Jersey state police Trooper James Harney to run "a nationwide sports gambling ring."

State police Col. Rick Fuentes said an investigation into the New Jersey-based ring discovered the processing of more than 1,000 wagers, exceeding $1.7 million, on professional and college sports, mostly football and basketball.

The enterprise apparently did not involve betting on hockey. Janet Jones, Wayne Gretzky's wife, is among those who allegedly placed bets, along with "about a half-dozen NHL players." Hockey legend Gretzky is part-owner and coach of the Coyotes.

Hollywood's once premier private investigator to the stars got out of jail on Friday. Today, he and six others were charged in a 110 count federal indictment (text here, pdf) alleging RICO (racketeering) and other violations over alleged wiretapping and privacy breaches by Pelicano.

At one time, Pellicano's roster of clients stretched from Michael Jackson to Elizabeth Taylor and Sylvester Stallone. He was the go-to detective for information needed by lawyers and agents representing entertainment A-listers.

Pellicano, 61, is charged with organizing and masterminding a corrupt enterprise that allegedly wiretapped phones, entered private computers without authorization, committed wire fraud, bribery, identity theft and obstruction of justice.

Andrea Yates, awaiting a retrial on charges she drowned her five children, has been granted $200,000. bail. She must reside in a mental hospital until the retrial.

This is what she has needed all along.

Tom Coughlin, a protege of Sam Walton, pleaded guilty to fraud and tax evasion today in federal court and faces up to 28 years in prison.

Coughlin admitted stealing money, gift cards and store merchandise for his personal use. His acts were discovered by Wal-Mart lawyers who turned him in to the feds.