Court finds victim too ugly to be raped; protestors mob Italian court
ROME — Italy’s Justice Ministry has ordered a preliminary inquiry into an appeals court ruling that overturned a rape verdict in part by arguing that the woman who was attacked was too ugly to be a credible rape victim.
The ruling has sparked outrage in Italy, prompting a flash mob Monday outside the Ancona court, where protesters shouted “Shame!” and held up signs saying “indignation.”
The appeals sentence was handed down in 2017 — by an all-female panel — but the reasons behind it only emerged publicly when Italy’s high court annulled it on March 5 and ordered a retrial. The Court of Cassation said Wednesday its own reasons for ordering the retrial will be issued next month.
Two Peruvian men were initially convicted of the 2015 rape of a Peruvian woman in Ancona, but the Italian appeals court overturned the verdict and absolved them, finding that she was not a credible witness. In part of the ruling, the court noted that the suspects had found her unattractive and too “masculine” to be a credible rape victim.
Cinzia Molinaro, a lawyer for the victim, said her appeal to the Cassation contested a host of procedural problems with the acquittal verdict but said she had also cited the “absolute unacceptability” of the Italian court’s reference to the victim’s physical appearance.
The appeals sentence quoted one of the suspects as saying he found the woman unattractive and had her listed as “Viking” on his cellphone.
Molinaro noted that the woman, who has since returned to Peru, had suffered such genital trauma in the rape that she required stitches.
The Justice Ministry said it was conducting the “necessary preliminary investigations” into the appeals verdict. Molinaro said the ministry can send investigators to a court to check if there were any problems or omissions in the sentence, even when the case is still under appeal.
The case is the second to spark criticism in recent weeks in Italy, where cases of sexual violence and the murders of women regularly top the news.
Protests broke out earlier this month after an appeals court in Bologna nearly cut in half the sentence for a man who admitted to killing his partner. The court cited as one of its reasons for the reduction the “emotional storm” of jealousy that the killer experienced. Critics said the reduced sentence basically sanctioned the practice of “honor killings.”
via: https://pix11.com/2019/03/13/court-finds-victim-too-ugly-to-be-raped-protestors-mob-italian-court/
Man bites off security guard’s pinky at Queens bar
FLUSHING, Queens — A man who allegedly bit off a security guard’s pinky at a Queens bar last month is being sought, police said Wednesday.
The incident happened on Feb. 16 outside of El California Sports Bar, located on the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and 76th Street in Flushing.
The security guard was closing the bar’s doors at about 4 a.m. when an unidentified man walked up to him, asking to go inside.
The two men began arguing after the guard told him the bar was closed, triggering the man to bite off a portion of the guard’s pinky before running away.
The 37-year-old victim was transported to Bellevue Hospital Center where his finger was reattached, police said.
Police are now looking for the attacker, who was last seen wearing jeans, black boots and a black jacket with Japanese iconography inscribed throughout.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/03/13/man-bites-off-security-guards-pinky-at-queens-bar-police/
FL Dad brings loaded AK-47 to school after receiving call from his crying son
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a Florida man showed up at a junior high school with a loaded gun after his son contacted him to say a teacher had pushed him.
The Palm Beach Post reports that 27-year-old Christopher Freeman was arrested Monday afternoon at Bear Lakes Middle School and charged with aggravated assault, possessing a weapon on school property and disturbing the peace.
Palm Beach County School District police say Freeman’s son had video-called him in tears, saying a teacher had “slammed him.” Freeman told police he then saw an adult grab the boy before the call ended.
A police officer met with Freeman when he arrived at the school. The officer reported seeing what appeared to be a gun sticking out of Freeman’s pants, prompting a school lockdown. Police found a loaded AK-47 pistol during a search.
Woman saws off own hand to collect insurance money
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — Authorities say a Slovenian woman who deliberately cut off her hand with a circular saw to collect insurance money faces up to eight years in jail.
Police say the 21-year-old woman, helped by her relatives, had hoped to claim nearly 400,000 euros ($451,000) in insurance payments.
The unidentified woman claimed she had been cutting tree branches when she severed her left hand just above the wrist.
Officials say family members left the severed hand behind rather than bring it to the hospital to ensure the disability was permanent. But doctors recovered it in time to sew it back on.
Police say the incident happened earlier this year after the family had signed insurance contracts with five different insurance companies.
Police say “there was no payment because we discovered the fraud in time.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/03/12/woman-saws-off-own-hand-to-collect-insurance-money/
Woman suffers stroke after oral sex orgasm causes brain bleed
A woman passed out mid-oral sex after her imminent orgasm caused a small stroke.
The unnamed 44-year-old was enjoying the fruits of her lover’s labor when she lost consciousness for two to three minutes.
He rushed her to the hospital, fearing she had suffered a fit.
When they arrived, the man told medics his partner’s body had gone stiff during the episode.
She felt sick when she arrived at the hospital and was suffering a nasty headache, which she scored as a 6 out of 10 on the pain scale.
CT scan showed burst aneurysm
Doctors led by Yunus Gokdogan at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital wrote in a BMJ case report: “On closer history taking, the patient reported nearing orgasm while receiving oral sex from her partner before losing consciousness.
“Her partner estimated she was unconscious for two to three minutes, with no convulsive activity reported. She had otherwise been well preceding the event.”
Given the woman’s symptoms — including the headache — Gokdogan’s team sent her for a CT scan.
It revealed a “trace of acute subarachnoid blood” — a type of stroke that causes bleeding in the space around the brain.
The patient’s bleed was caused by a small aneurysm, a bulge on a blood vessel like a balloon or bubble that bursts.
Passionate romps cause sudden surge in blood pressure
Gokdogan’s team warned that rigorous activity — including passionate romps — can cause aneurysms to burst.
They wrote: “Known risk factors for rupture include activities that involve sudden increases in blood pressure and sexual activity is well described as a precipitant.
“During sexual activity, blood pressure as well as heart rate, is very labile, with particular rises during orgasm.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/03/12/woman-suffers-stroke-after-oral-sex-orgasm-causes-brain-bleed/
Teen sentenced to life in prison for murder of 10-year-old girl
BRIGHTON, Colo. – A teenager who pleaded guilty to killing a 10-year-old girl was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years, according to KDVR.
Aidan Zellmer, 17, was charged as an adult in the death of Kiaya Campbell on June 7, 2017, after they left her father’s home to go to a shopping center.
As part of a plea deal, Zellmer pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder after deliberation on Feb. 1.
“In 27 years as a prosecutor, I have never seen a 15-year-old commit such a violent act,” 17th Judicial District Attorney Dave Young said.
An Amber Alert was issued and a massive search was launched.
Neighbors found her battered body in a ravine behind homes near 128th Avenue and Jasmine Street the next day.
She had been beaten to death, according to an Adams County Coroner’s Office autopsy report.
According to an affidavit released after Adams County District Judge Sharon Holbrook imposed the mandatory sentencing, Zellmer and Campbell left the house to go steal Pokeman cards and candy.
The affidavit showed Zellmer hit Campbell in the head five times with a metal pipe and dragged her into a ditch, leaving her there to die.
Campbell suffered multiple blunt-force injuries to the head as well as wounds to several fingers, according to the autopsy report.
The affidavit said Campbell’s body was found naked from the waist down and there was evidence of a sexual assault, though the sex crime charges were later dismissed as part of the plea deal.
Two days later, officers arrested Zellmer, who was 15 at the time and lived in the same home in the 12400 block of Forest Drive in Thornton, by using blood and DNA on his shoes that tied him to the murder.
His mother was in a relationship with Campbell’s father at the time.
“Kiaya will not be forgotten,” Holbrook told the family.
Video shows adult restraining teen for another girl to hit during after-school fight
TURLOCK, Calif. – Turlock police are investigating an after-school fight that occurred last Friday between two girls at a school bus stop.
Irina Lizarraga Acuna says she does not blame the teenager who hit her 13-year-old daughter. Instead, she blames the adult who allegedly egged her on.
“It’s horrible for a parent to watch that. It’s awful,” Acuna told KTXL. “You feel really … I feel guilty, you know? I wish I would have been there to help her.”
Another student captured the fight on a cell phone video, which was later posted to Facebook.
“Hit her. It’s after school, it’s after school,” the woman can be heard saying in the video. “You can’t get in trouble.”
The victim’s mother says both students go to Turlock Junior High School.
“I was just arriving to work. She called me crying that she needed my help,” Acuna said.
For Acuna, watching the video of her daughter being attacked was bad enough. However, what had her fuming was watching an adult physically restraining her daughter so the other teen could hit her.
“In the video, you can see that the teenager doesn’t even want to hit my daughter. She’s being forced by her mom to hit her,” she said. “You know, I’m not even mad, I can’t be mad at the teenager. I’m mad at the mom. How could you force your daughter to hit someone else?”
According to Acuna, the girl in the video had been bullying her daughter. However, she says her daughter should not have confronted that girl on the bus.
“My daughter told her, ‘Stop talking about me. Leave me alone. Stop, you know, calling me names.’ And told the girl she wasn’t afraid of her, to leave her alone, and this is when everything else started,” Acuna said.
In a statement to KTXL, the Turlock Unified School District said the following:
“Like most who have viewed this video, we were appalled by this attack. We have identified those shown in the video and have shared this information with the Turlock Police Department who are conducting an investigation.”
Acuna says she’s pressing charges against the woman in the video.
“She needs to learn her lesson, you know, not to touch anybody else’s kid,” she said.
TUSD also confirmed that even though the fight happened off campus, the students involved can still be disciplined. The district says they are conducting their own investigation into the fight.
Woman pulls gun in Domino’s after employees forget to include chicken wings with order
St Paul (WCCO) — A customer at a St. Paul Domino’s is accused of pulling a gun on store employees after they neglected to include her chicken wings with her order.
Officers say they responded to a report of a woman who pointed a gun at a Domino’s employee Thursday at the store’s 1110 Grand Ave location. The employees say the woman was upset about the food that had been delivered to her house and demanded a refund. When one of the employees called 911, the woman fled in her vehicle.
Police located the suspected vehicle outside the suspect’s home on Dayton Avenue, and identified her as 59-year-old Holly Webb. After taking her into custody, a Domino’s employee confirmed Webb was the customer who had pulled out the handgun in the store.
Upon questioning, Webb told police initially that she had a permit to carry, but her gun was in the glove compartment of her car and she did not point it at anyone in the restaurant. After police told Webb there was surveillance video from the incident, Webb admitted to displaying it, but continued to deny pointing it at anyone.
Webb was charged with one felony count of violent threats. Her bail was set at $10,000.
Plane turns around mid-flight after woman forgets baby at airport
A plane bound for Malaysia was forced to turn around after a mother on board forgot her baby at the gate over the weekend, according to Gulf News.
She was on a flight from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Kuala Lampur when she remembered that the baby was still sitting in the boarding area, the paper reports.
The pilots ultimately decided to turn back around after discussing the situation with flight controllers.
Air traffic control operators at King Abdul Aziz International Airport appeared flustered on a recording of their conversation hit YouTube. The video has over 1 million views.
According to the paper, the pilot can be heard saying, “May God be with us. Can we come back or what?” to the air traffic control operator.
“This flight is requesting to come back … a passenger forgot her baby in the waiting area, the poor thing,” the operator says, before asking the pilot once again for confirmation. “A passenger left her baby in the terminal and refuses to continue the flight,” the pilot can be heard saying in English.
“Ok, head back to the gate. This is totally a new one for us!”
via: https://pix11.com/2019/03/12/plane-turns-around-mid-flight-after-woman-forgets-baby-at-airport/
FL Girlfriend shot man during argument over snoring
COCOA BEACH, Fla. — Authorities in Florida say a woman shot her boyfriend during an argument about his loud snoring.
News outlets report that when the Brevard County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the couple’s home last week they were told the shooting was accidental.
But as they investigated, they found that the shooting happened during an argument between 47-year-old Lorie Morin and her boyfriend. As the argument escalated, deputies say Morin got a shotgun and fired at her boyfriend. Deputies say the two were fighting about his snoring.
The man was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
Morin faces attempted murder and aggravated battery charges. She’s being held without bond in the Brevard County Jail. Records didn’t list a lawyer.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/03/11/girlfriend-shot-man-during-argument-over-snoring-police-say/