Legal Humour News - January 11, 2010

Odd or Amusing Legal Headlines from the Past Week (or Two):

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1 - See You In Court!

Restaurant patron hurt by falling stuffed moose head
A Web designer says she was struck by the decor at a New York City restaurant - when it fell on her head.  Raina Kumra says in a negligence lawsuit late in December that a 150-pound stuffed moose head with 3-foot-wide antlers plummeted off a wall at the Scandinavian-themed White Slab Palace on Oct. 4 and hit her. She says she suffered a concussion and other injuries.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/12/30/12299631-ap.html

The North Face sues parody brand 'The South Butt'
The North Face Apparel Corp. is suing parody company called The South Butt and the teenager who started it. The lawsuit filed in federal court in St. Louis seeks unspecified damages and asks the court to prohibit The South Butt from marketing and selling its parody product line.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/12/14/12152866-ap.html

2 - Crime and Punishment

Speeding millionaire fined $290,000
A Swiss court has slapped a wealthy speeder with a chalet-sized fine — a full $290,000. Judges at the cantonal court in St. Gallen, in eastern Switzerland, based the record-breaking fine on the speeder’s estimated wealth of over $20 million.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/100107/odds/odd_us_motorist

Man wanting ride to bar calls 911, arrested
Authorities say a Florida man who called 911 claiming he’d been beaten and shot at was hoping the tale would get him a ride to a bar.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/12/30/12302296-ap.html

Cop tells nude cyclists to wear helmets
Police picked up two naked men on a late night bike ride in a New Zealand town but let them off with a warning: put on helmets.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/12/22/12246081-ap.html

Man with snowblower ticketed for public intoxication
A man who decided to help clear the street with his own push snowblower ended up with a public intoxication ticket. Police in Barrie, Ont., north of Toronto, say it was for the man's own protection as he was too intoxicated to operate the machine and was almost struck twice by passing vehicles.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100107/national/oddity_drunken_snowblowing

Cops: Man steals $50, flees on Walmart scooter
Police say a Pennsylvania man in a hospital gown stole $50 from his ex-girlfriend at Wal-Mart, then tried to flee on a store-owned motorized shopping scooter.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2010/01/07/12382191-ap.html

McNuggets shortage sparks drive-thru violence
Toledo Police say a woman punched through a McDonald’s drive-through window because Chicken McNuggets weren’t available.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2010/01/04/12341336.html

Man opts for jail over New Year with relatives
A Sicilian man stole sweets and a packet of chewing gum so he could get arrested and spend New Year's Eve in a jail cell rather than be with his wife and relatives.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6000Q420100101

Teen will need legal permission to date girls
A Wisconsin teenager will need legal permission to date girls for the next three years after he was convicted of fleeing to Tennessee with his girlfriend in a stolen car.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/12/18/12207366-ap.html

3 - Politics, Law, and Governance

Student suspended for wearing Santa Claus suit
A suburban Philadelphia teenager was suspended for a day for wearing a Santa Claus suit to school. Michael Hance says he told his principal that he planned to wear the suit to school and hand out candy canes. The 18-year-old senior says the principal told him that wasn't a good idea because it would be a distraction. But he wore the suit anyway, with regular clothes underneath.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/12/24/12265776-ap.html

Germany to shut down parliamentary sauna
A German parliament spokeswoman said that a sauna built for the use of German lawmakers and the parliament's employees will be shut by 2012. The sauna apparently never took off with Germany's political elite.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2010/01/07/12377366-ap.html

Residents may be evicted for spitting
Chinese people who live in government-sponsored housing in a prosperous southern province may be evicted if caught repeatedly spitting in public, according to a draft plan.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6063Y520100107

Obama speech won't bump 'Lost' premiere: White House
US fans of the show 'Lost' can breathe a sigh of relief after the White House pledged a key speech by President Barack Obama won't displace the premiere episode of the show's final season. US television station ABC has set aside a three-hour block on the evening of February 2 to show the first episode of the wildly popular show's last season. But fans feared that President Barack Obama might choose to give his first State of the Union address, which is traditionally delivered on the last Tuesday of January, on the same day.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/100108/oddities/us_politics_media_television_offbeat

4 - And Now for Something Completely Different

Snowed-In Brits boost adultery website
Britons snowed in by the wintry weather flocked to an extra-marital dating site. IllicitEncounters.com, which provides a platform for married people to conduct affairs, said on January 6 it has seen an unexpected increase in visitors over the previous 24 hours, and received a record number of new profiles on that Wednesday morning.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6054F820100106