Frivolous lawsuit and genuine justice.

[dslartoo]

Haven't posted in a while but two recent news stories have me up in arms tonight.

First, word from The Smoking Gun is that Elecia Battle, the woman who claimed that she "lost" the recent $162M winning Mega Millions lottery ticket, and filed a lawsuit against the true winner, has admitted that she made the whole story up (surprise, surprise). She got all weepy and said, "I wanted to win so bad for my kids and my family. I apologize." She added, "I'm not a bad person, I'm really not."

Riiiiight. The same page notes that this isn't Battle's first brush with the law. Her rap sheet dates back at least a decade and includes busts for aggravated menacing, assault, criminal trespass, and credit card fraud (she was arrested for using a customer's credit card number to ring up purchases for herself at the drugstore where she worked in 1998). Somehow, she has managed to avoid anything but short stays in jail up till now.

However, there is yet hope. Since Battle admitted that she made the whole thing up, she's been charged with making a phony police report. With any luck, she'll spend some time in the slam this time. Bitch. How dare she lie, file a frivolous lawsuit trying to steal what is rightfully someone else's, then go back on her story and tearfully claim that she's "not a bad person?" I hope she gets hit with the largest sentence allowable (which, admittedly, won't be much).


Secondly, a story which warms my heart -- or, rather, the judge's sentence warms my heart. A quote:

Prosecutors said Jennifer Langston was drunk and talking on a cell phone in June 2002 when she crossed the center line and hit a pickup truck carrying teacher Glenn Clark and his pregnant wife, Annette. He died, his wife remains in a coma and their son, born by Caesarean section five months after the crash, is being raised by relatives.

Besides vehicular homicide, Langston pleaded guilty in September to reckless endangerment and reckless driving. A judge sentenced her to 30 days in jail, plus house arrest and probation, and ordered her to carry a picture of Clark for five years. Clark's parents gave court officials a photo of their son in his coffin.

Langston's attorney is now whining that the "spirit" of the agreement was that the photo would be of Clark while he was alive. Clark's family is unapologetic and I don't think they have any reason to be sorry. I think it is perfect justice that this woman should have to carry the photo of the man she killed. A photo of Clark while alive lets Langston fantasize that she didn't actually do anything that bad, that he's still around somewhere, somehow. A photo of the coffin reminds her that he is dead because she killed him. I hope the judge doesn't cave on this one and tells Langston's lawyer to piss off.

-- END OF LINE --

Currently playing: Queensryche -- Operation: Mindcrime. One of the best concept albums ever and definitely Queensryche's best album. What a shame they've gone downhill so much since then.

Comments

[parilous.livejournal.com]

Quick comment on your "currently playing" comment -- I just saw a video for an early 80s megagroup (think USA for Africa (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDMISS70311081836091775&sql=Brvde4jo71waw) or Band Aid (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDMISS70311081836091775&sql=Bn4juear14xu7)) called Hear 'N Aid (http://home.online.no/~n-johano/fthearnaid.htm). Among Rob Halford, Ronnie James Dio, Don Dokken, and Vince Neil was none other than one Geoff Tate, looking quite 80s (read: AquaNet-ed).

Just a little bit o' information to end your weekend.

Thanks for the links, btw. I approve of the judge's decision. Shame on the defense for taking offense to it.

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, I had never heard of that project before. Where on earth did you find that stuff?

I listened to damn near all of the bands whose members appear in that group. Wonder if I can turn up the track anywhere.....

cheers,
Phil

[parilous.livejournal.com]

It's called "Stars", and it's crap. But worth a listen... once. :-) The video was better than the song, for sure. I was watching VH-1 Classic's "Metal Mania" hour and kept seeing bands I hadn't ever hear of intertwined with Accept, Dio, and Krokus. When Hear 'n Aid came on, I really thought it was a joke. At one point early on, I thought, "Spinal Tap had BETTER be here."

And I'll be damned: they were.

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

I had an absolute ball over the Christmas break while visiting my family (my parents have satellite TV and about six million channels). VH-1 was running a "Classic Metal" marathon one day, which translated to lots and lots of those bands like the ones you mentioned and the ones that appeared on the Hear N' Aid page you linked. Great times. I kept thinking, "Oh my GOD, did these people ever think they were attractive?"

cheers,
Phil

[richardf8]

The judge handed down a sentence that actually reaches her soul. And she finds this objectionable? Too bad. Really, in our money-for-blood legal system, I find this sentence to be one of the most enlightened I've seen. As for the picture of him in his coffin, she should consider herself lucky she isn't getting police photos from the scene!

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

See, that would actually have been MY sentence (if I had been cool enough to think of the picture angle in the first place). "Here's a photo of the crash scene and the gentleman's horribly broken and mangled body. Oh, and by the way, you have to carry this for the rest of your LIFE. Have a nice day."

cheers,
Phil

[secanth.livejournal.com]

(Wandering in from Technoshaman's page...)

Since I live in Ohio, I've been following the 'lottery ticket' thing. The chick just figured no one was going to turn it in and SHE might as well get it. Good for the court system...whack her one.

And an 'well done' to the family in the case. From what I read, they supplied the photo and are refusing to supply any others. Good for them.

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

Did technoshaman mention this in his journal? That's odd, I didn't see it. I do get all sorts of interesting comments from people he sends my way, though. He generally surrounds himself with a higher class of folk, which I like.

cheers,
Phil

[secanth.livejournal.com]

(Chuckle) Actually, what with one thing and another (like insommnia and other annoyances) I was reading his friends page.

hmmm

[ahtrap.livejournal.com]

being drunk at the wheel and killing someone, and leaving another person wife in a coma is worth only 30 days in jail?

I'm curious as to what exactly "carrying a picture" of the guy means....does it have to be displayed? or just in her purse? Because, if it's the latter, she can just slip it into some side compartment, and ignore it as best she can....

I just think 30 days in jail is retardely light, house arrest and probation (oooh, that'll scare her straight) for the carnage caused by her actions.

just looked for some more info on the case, and came up with this
http://davidsisler.com/09-29-2003.htm
the guy goes off on drunk drivers in general, the extra info on Langston's sentence is near the bottom....it does say, though, that part of the reason for the light sentence is because idiot cops failed to give her a breathalyzer right after the crime....

Re: hmmm

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link heads-up. I had been planning to rail about "ONLY 30 DAYS?!?!?!?!?" also but I just couldn't muster the energy to do so. *sigh* Damn cops....

cheers,
Phil

[jennay138.livejournal.com]

i think it's odd that she only got 30 days.

[branwynelf.livejournal.com]

That was my thought too. I hope that whining about the photo she was given brings attention to this matter such that a judge slams her with some serious time in jail - with the photo of the man in his coffin framed and hung outside her cell where she can't miss it.

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

ahtrap did a bit of hunting and discovered that the reason she was only given 30 days is because idiot cops forgot to give her a breathalyzer test. Personally, I don't see how that affects anything -- regardless of whether she was drunk or not -- and she was! -- she still KILLED someone.

Here's the link: http://davidsisler.com/09-29-2003.htm

cheers,
Phil

[amenquohi.livejournal.com]

I think the judge should have gone a step further and also ordered that she receive an updated picture YEARLY of the child, arriving on the anniversary of the accident. That way, she'll have to see the kid that she STOLE a family from with her careless actions.

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

Hey, I like that idea.

As you can tell, I despise drunk drivers.

cheers,
Phil

[wyldkyss.livejournal.com]

Ack. They're whining about a photo, when she got away with just 30 days in jail???

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

My sentiments exactly. I wanted to go AOL-style and just scream at her "OMG STFU BITCH!!!!!!!11!!!11"

cheers,
Phil