Stupid Prosecution of the Week

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Fri Sep 19, 2008 at 01:32:23 AM EST
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In Idaho, the feds are charging a woman with a crime that carries up to 6 months in jail for spilling a soda.

U.S. Attorney Tom Moss plans to bring two charges against Natalie Walters, 39, stemming from an Aug. 20 incident at the Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Idaho Statesman reports. If convicted, she could face up to six months in federal prison on each count.

Walters, who routinely takes her father to the Boise hospital for treatment, said there is no posted price for soda refills at the center's cafeteria, and she's typically charged between $1 and $1.50 for filling her mug, according to the paper. On Aug. 20, she was charged $3.80, which lead to the dispute and Walters dumping the soda on the cafeteria counter.

Walters is charged with three misdemanors: [More...]

Natalie Walters, 39, has been charged with one count of larceny of government property and two counts of disturbance by impeding the performance of official duties of government employees.

She wasn't arrested on the spot. They didn't know who she was. But, the incident was tape recorded.

Walters said authorities used recorded images to determine why she was there, and the next day an official asked her father to have his daughter contact the hospital.

"They accessed my father's medical records to find out his next appointment to try and find me," she said. "I think that is a (federal health privacy law) violation. Medical records are private. They should not have used a veteran's medical records to find me. My dad was upset. He could not believe it."

What a stupid waste of resources.

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Stupid Prosecution of the Week | 5 comments (5 topical)

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We are truly (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by eric on Fri Sep 19, 2008 at 09:37:12 AM EST

a nation turned against itself.

Not much to do in Idaho (5.00 / 1) (#3)
by txpublicdefender on Fri Sep 19, 2008 at 09:52:25 AM EST

When you don't have enough elected Democrats, the federal prosecutors apparently don't have enough people to hassle with bogus prosecutions.

seems to me she has them (none / 0) (#1)
by cpinva on Fri Sep 19, 2008 at 04:46:31 AM EST

by the proverbial short-hairs. they agree to not prosecute, and in return, her father agrees to not sue them for a billion dollars, for violating his privacy rights.

yes, she did kind of a dumb thing, over 2 bucks. U.S. attorney moss is going show who's boss, by upping the ante' to several thousand dollars, which is the cost of all this, should he be stupid enough to proceed.

i am reminded of a classic '30's short, "just pay the two dollars!":

a man spits on the sidewalk, is given a $2 ticket for
"expectorating in public" and, against the advice of counsel, decides to fight the charge in court. he ends up on death row. all along, his attorney keeps telling him, "just pay the two dollars!"

perhaps, someone needs to tell that to U.S. attorney moss.

Does Tom Moss watch the news? (none / 0) (#4)
by kdog on Fri Sep 19, 2008 at 12:13:57 PM EST

We can't afford to sharge this poor woman with anything, even if Moss' tyrannical little heart is set on it.

Absolutely, (none / 0) (#5)
by JamesTX on Sun Oct 26, 2008 at 03:47:52 AM EST

positively,

D - I - S - G - U - S - T - I - N - G

The behavior was uncivil. Incivility is sometimes a crime, and dumping a drink on a counter is trivially "destructive". But what was most damaged was some employee's pride in not be able to strike back hard enough. I rather suspect the employee could have diffused the situation with a little tact, but it might have violated his or her rudeness training. This reeks. It looks like maybe this is a woman under stress, with a sick relative, who lost control of her behavior in a trivial and not so dangerous or threatening way. If someone must be severely punished ... if the employee's or the manager's or the police officer's authority and dignity absolutely must be avenged with a death blow ... what about something like banning Ms. Walters from the cafeteria? This is government waste at its worst, and I can't understand how we got here, or how this person got to be a Federal prosecutor. If only they would pursue those who dump industrial waste with such zeal! I surely hope the record snooping turns out to be dirty and Ms. Walters can afford to buy the drinks from now on.