Browning Law News Blog

Photo Source:  ABC A teenager, Philip Chism, raped and killed his math teacher in 2013, but he is saying that it was his mental illness that pushed him to do it. Chism was 14 at the time. He plead not guilty, and he is currently being tried as an adult. Chism's attorney said that he has suffered from mental illness since he was 10, and that he should not be held criminally responsible. The prosecutors said that he arrived at school that day with a box cutter, gloves, a mask, and a hooded sweatshirt inside his backpack. Video footage of the event shows the teacher go into the bathroom at the end of the day shortly followed by Chism. Eleven minutes later, Chism exits and the teacher does not. Chism's mother reported him missing because he didn't return, and the police found him on the side of the road. They searched his backpack and found the teacher's wallet and a bloody box cutter. Chism has already gone under a mental examination and was found competent enoug...

An Ohio woman, Phyllis Jefferson, plead guilty to aggravated assault, a fourth degree felony, for stabbing her boyfriend with a pen for eating all of her salsa. Her attorney said that she plead guilty to reduce her sentencing. The boyfriend said that he was eating the salsa in his apartment, when Jefferson started complaining that he was eating all of it. Then she stabbed him with a pen in the pelvis. In the process of getting a knife, she knocked over a television, so he went to catch it. Then Jefferson stabbed him with the small knife in the left side of his stomach. Jefferson's attorney said the argument was over finding out that her boyfriend was a sex offender. Her sentencing will be on January 4th. Comments from Allen : So....  In the grand scheme of things, does it matter whether Phyllis stabbed her boyfriend with a pen and a knife because he ate all the salsa or because he is a sex offender? If the case were to be presented to a jury, the defendant might want t...

In September, police officer Charles Joseph Gliniewicz called over the radio that he was pursuing three suspects. Shortly after he was found with a fatal gunshot wound, which started a huge manhunt of officers scouring the area. So officers who found his body assumed that he had been murdered, and spent time and resources looking for the suspects he was pursuing. Recently, investigators have determined that Gliniewicz took his own life because he was stealing a large sum of money from his police force for his personal use over the past seven years. Officials declared that he staged his own suicide. Detective Christopher Covelli offered this statement to why Gliniewicz would do this.  “This is an individual who was highly regarded by his community…and he was looking at potentially going to prison and basically destroying his name, destroying his reputation, destroying everything he's accomplished over his 30 year career. He was revered as a hero and didn’t want to make it...

24 year old Derrick Gharabighi was charged with elder abuse and personal infliction of great bodily injury against a person over 70 for allegedly punching a seventy eight year old man over free Nutella waffle samples at a Costco in Burbank. Police arrived at the Costco and met with the victim. He suffered from a one inch cut above his eye and swelling on his left eye. He also said that he was reaching for a sample when Gharabighi approached the table and took all of the samples. The man remarked that Gharabighi shouldn't take that many samples, then Gharabighi punched him in the face. Police have said that there is no video footage of the incident. Gharabighi has a substantial criminal record. He had been arrested two weeks prior, in June, April, and December. He was convicted of selling illegal drugs and petty theft in January. Gharabighi was convicted of trespassing in 2012 and 2013. Charges of spousal abuse are currently pending since July. In a plea ...

Michael Jon Hand Michael Jon Hand, one of Australia's most wanted, went underground in 1980 when his partner in crime Frank Nugan died from suicide, which caused the bank, Nugan Hand Bank, they co-owned to cave under with over $50 million in debts. The royal commission also found evidence of money laundering, spy links, and other criminal activity, but no one was ever convicted. A Sydney author found Michael Jon Hand in Idaho Falls under the name of Michael Jon Fuller. A Boise private investigator confirmed his findings through surveillance and research. Michael Hand is staying in Idaho for now, and he has stepped down from his position as CEO at Tops Knives. Comments from Allen :  I always find it amazing when a police agency, or in this case a private detective, is able to find a defendant in a "cold case" decades after the crime.  Our criminal statutes usually carry a 5 year statute of limitations; the purpose of a statute of limitations is to prevent the unfai...

Former New England Patriot, Aaron Hernandez, was found guilty of first degree murder of Odin Lloyd and now is in trial facing a double homicide of De Abreu and Furtado. Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his first conviction. The motive for the double murders seems like it was something as trivial as a spilled drink at a club. Photo Source: Faith Ninivaggi from the  Boston Herald The jury deliberated for over 35 hours during his first trial regarding the Lloyd murder. Hernandez's attorneys are seeking an appeal, but the evidence clearly supports the jury's decision even though they lacked the murder weapon and any eye witnesses. His attorneys say that "no rational jury" would have convicted him because there was not enough evidence to convict. The double homicide verdict looks fairly cut and dry. The prosecution has the murder weapon( .38 caliber gun) and they also have an eye witness who was in the car with De Abreu and Furtado a...

Wayne Simmons claimed to be a former CIA operative, and he has even done appearances and speaking engagements on FOX news. Federal prosecutors have come out and said that his supposed three decade long stint with the CIA never happened. Simmons was arrested and charged with making false statements, major fraud against the United States, and wire fraud. While authorities were making the arrest, they found two firearms in his possession. Simmons has had prior federal conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. On Simmon's website he claimed to have served in the Navy and then he was transferred to CIA’s “outside paramilitary special operations group” and that he led “Deep Cover Intel Ops against some of the world’s most dangerous Drug Cartels and arms smugglers from Central and South America and the Middle East.” A Navy spokesperson said that didn't find a Wayne Simmons that ever served in that branch of the Navy. A FOX news spokesperson said that Simmons was never p...