Browning Law News Blog

A homeless couple in California was arrested for sending the woman's three children into the Mojave Desert as punishment without shoes or water. The 7 year old girl, 6 year old boy, and 5 year old boy did not require medical treatment because a resident spotted them near a road and called authorities. It was 94 degrees when the children were found. Deputies found the mother, Mary Bell, and her boyfriend, Gary Cassle,  a short distance up the road near Twentynine Palms. They were in sight of the children, but were obviously not keeping track of them. The pair said that they left the kids to discipline them. San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cynthia Bachman estimates that the children had been wandering for approximately 45 minutes. Bachman said that the family had been living out of their car. The children were taken by the Child Support Services department. The couple were arrested on suspicion of child abuse, and their bail was set at $100,000. Comments from Alle...

Four teen suspects were arrested for armed robbery on July 10 in Missouri. They have allegedly used the Pokémon Go app to lure unsuspecting victims and trap them in a specific location. The suspects tried to get rid of their handgun, but the officer noticed it as he approached their vehicle. The officer noticed that they had also been suspects in a string of similar robberies in St. Louis and St. Charles counties. All were arrested. The adult suspects were charged with first degree robbery, a felony, and their bonds were set at $100,000 each.. Pokémon Go is a virtual reality game that allows players to catch fictional creatures from the popular Pokémon game from the late 1990's. The group of teens managed the robbery by adding a beacon to a Pokéstop to attract more players. At a certain level of the game, players can meet at landmarks to join teams and battle. The goal is supposed to attract more Pokémon and users, so they can collect items and level up faster. Some players h...

Thomas Munson, former superintendent of Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa, was sentenced to one year of home detention, 10 weekends in jail, and 100 hours of community service for stealing ancient remains of Native Americans in 1990 and stashing them in his garage for the duration of the time they were in his possession until 2012. He removed bones from more than 40 individuals, and lied about their whereabouts for two decades. The Native Americans were not allowed to rebury their ancestors, which outraged them. The Effigy Mounds National Monument sits along the Mississippi River and many tribes consider the site sacred. The monument includes hundreds of burial and ceremonial mounds, most in the shape of animal, which were built by Native Americans around 700- 2,500 years ago. Excavations began in 1950, and scientists found bones and skeleton fragments considered historically significant. In 1990, Munson ordered one of his employees to put the remains in a cardboard box. He l...