Why Fred Goldman Must Be Smiling Now

All that sports memorabilia O.J. Simpson allegedly tried to steal at gunpoint last week, claiming it was legally his… whether or not Simpson is found guilty, any of the memorabilia that turns out to have been legally owned by Simpson… will get handed over to the Goldmans.

And the publicity generated by the robbery couldn’t not have increased sales of the book (as of Tuesday morning, it’s the #2 best seller at Amazon.com).

• If Who Did It (September 17): Okay, what’s the weirdest thing about last week’s release of O.J. Simpson’s hypothetical double-murder confession (as if this whole affair needed any more weirdness)? No mention of Simpson’s name on the cover. It’s a confession without a confessor.Or even worse than no confessor: Amazon.com is marketing the book as “If I Did It by the Goldman Family”.
• September 6
  Barnes and Noble decides to carry O.J.’s book after all, and Lisa Nowak will try an insanity defense (article)
• August 14
  O.J. Simpson’s hypothetical double murder confession, the rights to which are now owned by the family of murder victim Ron Goldman, has been contracted to a publisher [updated article].
• July 30
  So… Now that the rights are owned by Ron Goldman’s father, who plans to rename it Confessions of a Double Murderer, is anybody more inclined to read the thing? And will it become the best-seller HarperCollins originally expected it to be? [article]

Stopping Pre-Crime In Its Tracks (OT)

August 26, 2007 update: McClellan has announced he’s leaving California, claiming “I can’t live here under this Orwellian protocol” (article)

August 4, 2007: Friday, a California judge ordered that Jack McClellan, a self-proclaimed pedophile who posts photographs of young girls (not pornographic) on his web site and has publicly said that he would have sex with toddlers if it were legal – but has never been convicted of a crime – must stay at least 30 feet away from anybody under the age of 18.

The restraining order was granted at the request of two attorneys, on behalf of their daughters (neither of whom has had any contact with McClellan). One of the attorneys, Anthony Zinnanti, said afterward “Today, this is for Polly Klaas, Samantha Runnion [two California girls who were abducted and murdered], for the kids that have been victims of people like McClellan.”

Just a note here: I mentioned this case in my newspaper column, and asked readers for their opinions. I might include any comments made here in a future column, but I won’t use your name unless you expressly tell me I can.

9-Year-Old Jessica Lunsford’s Killer Sentenced to Death (OT)

• The story

Droopy Drawers

Atlanta is the latest community to consider a law anybody walking around with their underwear showing: This includes a male allowing his boxers to be visible over his droopy pants, or for a female to have part of her thong or even a bra strap showing.

Delcambre, Louisiana is the only place such a law has ever gone in effect, by the way, calling for a fine of up to $500 and a possible 6-month jail sentence.

Of course this sort of law is pretty much unenforceable, and have its proponents really thought it out? Because there’s nothing in the law that says girls can’t get around it by dressing like Paris Hilton and boys looking like plumbers.

Good Luck, Bad Luck, and Just Plain Stupid (OT)

• The latest Crimeweek column

July 19 Crimeweek

• In Court: John Couey, Melanie McGuire, Craig Stebic, Michael Devlin, and Mark Dean Schwab

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning:
A review of the book that’s the basis of this summer’s ESPN series

PWNED!

 

I’m probably way too old to even try to use the ersatz word correctly. In a literal sense, it does apply to O.J. Simpson, who just lost the rights to his life story and likeness. In a more colloquial sense, though (and I’m not sure “pwned” can legitimately used in any other way), I believe it better applies to The World’s Stupidest Pedophile:

The Diaper Story Gets Changed (OT)

Of course you remember Lisa Nowak, the astronaut who drove 950 miles from Houston to Orlando earlier this year, wearing a NASA-issued adult diaper to eliminate the need for rest stops, in order to confront a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of a fellow astronaut.

Well, according to her attorney, Donald Lykkebak, Nowak was wearing her normal undergarments: The media had gotten the story wrong because there were diapers in the trunk of her car – toddler-sized diapers that had been there since 2005.

Lykkebak explained that the whole family, adults and children alike, had used the diapers when they were forced to evacuate their Houston home in the wake of Hurricane Rita – diapers that were designed to fit a waist between 15 and 19 inches.

None of which explains why Nowak told an Orlando police detective that she’d used them during her February 5 drive so she wouldn’t have to stop at restrooms (though presumably she did have to stop for gas) – or why, if the diaper detail is a “preposterous tale,” as Lykkebak calls it, he waited almost five months to refute it. He refers to this as “the biggest lie” about the case, which doesn’t bode well for the now-former astronaut who faces attempted kidnapping, battery, and attempted vehicle burglary with battery charges.

The truth might never be known, since the diapers were never taken into evidence.

Doesn’t matter. Facts notwithstanding, Nowak will always be The Astronaut Who Drove From Texas to Florida Wearing a Diaper, because that’s how we’ll choose to remember the story.

• More Crimeweek: ”I’ve Heard of a Suit With Two Pair of Pants, but Never a Pair of Pants With Two Suits”

Judicial Bullies

• Why Mike Nifong Deserves All the Punishment He Gets, and Why the $54 Million Lawsuit Over a Pair of Pants Wasn’t All That Funny

District Attorney Mike Nifong: Guilty, Guilty, Guilty

• The rabidly overzealous district attorney who prosecuted last year’s Duke University sexual assault case has been disbarred (article)

Yahoo: Only Following Orders (OT)

In possibly the most hypocritical statement of principle ever issued, Yahoo has criticized the Chinese government for imprisoning people for expressing anti-government views online.

Yahoo glosses over the fact that they’re being sued by the World Organization for Human Rights USA on behalf of journalist Shi Tao (sentenced to ten years in prison for circulating an e-mail about the Chinese governments restrictions on the media) and reporter Wang Xiaoning and his wife (imprisoned for distributing pro-democracy writings).

(Officially, these offenses are “leaking state secrets” and “incitement to subvert state power,” respectively)

Yahoo assisted in all three prosecutions by turning over account information about Shi and Wang to the Chinese government. They justify this by insisting that in order to do business in China, they have to adhere to Chinese law. They deplore this sort of thing, of course, but what’s a company to do? Business is business, you know.

Sixty-some years ago, the word for people and companies doing business with Nazi Germany on Nazi Germany’s terms was “collaborators.”

Crimeweek, 6/12/07

Now It’s Mike Nifong On Trial / Young Enough Cute Enough White Enough / Lisa Stebic, Tara Grant, Shawn Hornbeck and the Death Penalty for Child Molesters

What’s a Judge To Do?

Your thoughts? (please use this link for comments on the article)

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