Man refuses to pay Westboro Baptist

Just an update to yesterday's news about a court ordering Albert Snyder, a man suing Westboro Baptist Church for picketing his Marine son's funeral, to pay the church's legal fees, which amount to approximately $16,000. Snyder says he refuses to pay the money until he hears from the U.S. Supreme Court, which plans to hear the case.

That case, by the way, looks to be another big First Amendment test. Snyder sued the church for emotional distress, but his initial win was overturned by an appeals court, which ruled that protesters had free-speech protection.

Here's a PDF of Snyder's case, viewable as a PDF. (Thanks to FindLaw!)

Cops showing less mercy to speeders?

Because the economy still stinks, a lot of police and state troopers aren't cutting drivers as much slack when it comes to speeding tickets -- even socking people when they're just 5 to 10 miles over the limit, a motorists group tells USA Today. I'm not sure how true that is here, though the story does include a local guy who got stopped in Blue Springs for doing 40 in a 35 mph zone.

Here's the money quote, though:

A study published last year in the Journal of Law and Economics found that police issue more traffic citations during recessions. From 1990 to 2003, counties in North Carolina issued significantly more tickets in the year following a decline in general tax revenue.

Man sues over having to work Sundays

Again, not a crime, just an interesting case: A man from Tennessee is suing after his employer, a Lowe's store, refused his request for a "religious accommodation" so that he wouldn't have to work on Sundays. A Baptist, the man says it's against his religious beliefs. The company says it wasn't fair to the other employees, who don't want to work on Sunday either.

N.C. girl lived with terrible secret, police say

In Charlotte, police are investigating after a man allegedly killed his wife and two kids -- but spared a 10-year-old, who was sent to school and warned not to tell anyone about what had happened, police say. If she did, the authorities report, the man allegedly threatened to kill her little brother, age 2. This went on for two weeks, they say.

'Breast Implant Bandit' gets six months

A woman who stole another person's ID so she could get $12,000 in cosmetic surgery has been sentenced to six months in a California jail. You'll like how they found her: During her ill-gotten surgery, Yvonne Jean Pampellonne got new breast implants -- so police learned who she was via the tracking numbers on her old implants.

Now, THAT is a lovely mugshot

In Memphis, an 87-year-old is accused of firing his 38 special at a bunch of kids playing basketball in the street near his house, damn hooligans.

Vigils planed for local homicide victims

From Ad Hoc: The AdHoc Group Against Crime will support two families through prayer vigils tomorrow, Wednesday March 31, 2010. At 12:00 pm in the 5500 block of Paseo, the family and friends of Antwine O'Neal, 26, who was murdered March 31, 2007, will gather. 

Then, at 6:00 pm in the 5200 block of Norton, the family and friends of Robin Stuart, 47, who was found murdered September 2, 2007, will gather.

Reward increased in KCK homicide

The reward in the LeDion Brown homicide is now $2,000 after family members added money to the fund, the TIPS Hotline reports. Brown, 19, was shot and killed Oct. 30 in the 1300 block of North 4th. Anyone with information is asked to call the hotline at 816-474-TIPS (474-8477).

Robbery was part of 'Bucket List,' woman says

In Deland, Fla., a 51-year-old woman accused of robbing two banks say she did it because it was on her "bucket list."

Open Thread ... Tuesday

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, just send an email to jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, just send an email to jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, just send an email to jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, just send an email to jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, just send an email to jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, just send an email to jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, just send an email to jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, just send an email to jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, just send an email to jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, just send an email to jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. If you need to reach me, just send an email to jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Bartender arrested for wearing fishnet top, thong

She ain't rude / She ain't lewd / She's just in the mood to tend bar in the nude

(Supply your own "boogitys.")

Now, THAT is a lovely mugshot

If I caught people having sex in my garage, I'd probably shoot at them, too.

Strip club bill in trouble?

Not really crime-related, but just wanted to update you about a Kansas bill that would put new limits on where adult businesses like pornographic bookstores and strip clubs could operate. (It would also ban totally nude dancing and waitressing.) The House and Senate are negotiating over a final version of the bill, but some of the negotiators wonder if the state even needs to get involved in the matter.

Man shoots 4, says he was robbed during lapdance, police say

Oh, Wisconsin ... The best part of the Journal-Sentinel's story:

He began dancing with the stripper, and they later went into another room where she took his money during another performance. When he noticed his money was gone, he confronted the stripper, who denied taking the money. Others came to her defense and Scott left. But when the stripper and her 35-weeks-pregnant friend, Alice Ewing, left the party about dawn ...

The baby lived, but was born with a bullet in her foot.

DUI suspect sips vodka during arrest, police say

Maybe he just needed a drink?

Hat Tip: Saw this at tcpalm.com's Off The Beat blog ...

MADD wants more ignition interlocks

Kansas wants to beef up its laws on drunk driving, but MADD says legislators have dropped an important new rule: Forcing drunk drivers to get ignition interlock devices after their first conviction. Right now, Kansas doesn't require the interlocks until a second conviction, or if the driver refused a Breathlyzer test or blew .15 BAC. Tim Owens, a state senator for Overland Park, says any new rules should be saved for a comprehensive DUI reform bill instead of trying to pass several small changes piecemeal.

Mo. patrol plans DUI checkpoint

Somewhere in Clay County sometime during the month of April. We should probably start a pool to guess the date.

Missing girl, abductor believed dead

Two dead bodies found in Oklahoma probably belong to an abducted girl and the man who killed her mother, Oklahoma police say. Lester Hobbs was accused of beating his estranged wife, Tonya, to death and kidnapping her daughter, 7-year-old Aja Johnson, back in January. The bodies were found in a wooded area near Norman. Because of the decomposition, the bodies will have to be officially ID'd by teeth and fingerprints.

But the little girl's dad is already sure it's her. From the Daily Oklahoman:

"An OSBI agent came to the house and told me she couldn’t positively tell me they had found Aja,” Johnson told The Oklahoman as television crews gathered outside his south Oklahoma City home. "I said, ‘I know it’s her. I saw her little jacket on the ground on TV.’ We bought her a little blue jacket with orange lining for the winter.

"I know it’s her.”

Hat Tip: Many thanks, 1X and cripjak

New push for DNA tests in Mo. murder

Supporters of Ryan Ferguson, a Columbia man convicted of murdering Columbia Tribune sports editor Kent Heitholt in 2001, want evidence from the case to be tested for touch DNA, the Tribune reports.

Usually, you need a court ruling to get that done, though it's also possible to get cooperation from prosecutors. Not sure if that's going to work here, though, because the Ferguson supporters -- instead of calling the prosecutor -- put several ads in the paper. Ferguson's case is before the state's appeals court as he seeks a new trial.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Jellybean!

Cop accused of pushing man down stairs

An officer with the Overland Mo. Police Department allegedly pushed a man down a flight of stairs, leaving him with fatal injuries, the Post-Dispatch reports. That officer, who has served seven years with the department, is now facing a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Authorities say the two men apparently got into an argument and, during that, the officer pushed the man down the stairs. It's not clear if that part was an accident or not, but the man -- who was known for driving "a rusty Jeep adorned with police lights and a siren" -- died four days later.

KC homicide count stands at 21

That was the report from yesterday, and I don't think we've had any new ones in the past 24 hours. At the same point last year, the city had seen 25 homicides. The clearance rate right now is 43 percent. More here from KCPD.

Man nearly shot trying to save El Camino

KCTV says that police in KCK are looking for two men who reportedly stole a white El Camino early this morning on South 51st and then fired at the car's owner as he tried to save the vehicle.

Skinhead pleads guilty to Obama plot

Daniel Cowart, a 21-year-old from Tennessee, has pleaded guilty to plotting to kill the president, as well as several other black people, back in 2008 when Barack Obama was still a candidate. Cowart and a buddy, who pleaded guilty in January, planned to go on a cross-country crime spree that would culminate with the assassination. It's not clear how capable these particular morons were.

Image via AP

Mama refuses to take any mess

In Fort Pierce, Fla., a prisoner was able to escape from a hospital after his guard fell asleep, authorities say. Not that he got too far -- his mother returned the man to police after a short time. He didn't even have a chance to change out of his jumpsuit or shackles.

Mo. dad says he didn't kill baby

Eddie Salazar Sr. has pleaded not guilty to killing his 8-month-old, Eddie Jr., in early February, the Carthage Press reports. You might remember this case because it generated an Amber Alert. Eddie Sr. told police that someone had broken into his home and, after a fight, stole the baby -- a shocking story. Within days, police accused him of killing the baby, whose body was found in a river east of the city.