TEXAS JUSTICE IS BECOMING AS PERVERTED AS BRITISH JUSTICE

The victim as offender. I would have thought that defences of either provocation or self-defence would have succeeded. The ignoramus concerned seems to have got off Scot-free



An Australian woman charged with assault after trying to shush an American moviegoer who was on a mobile phone has been fined $176. Pauline Clayton was in Texas on holidays when she decided to catch Australian actor Heath Ledger's movie Brokeback Mountain last week. Halfway through the picture, a woman film patron took a mobile phone call, and began talking. Annoyed by the disruption, Ms Clayton, a former Sunshine Coast councillor, put her finger to her mouth, signalling to the woman to shush, then touched her on the shoulder twice.

The other woman then stood up and started shouting expletives at Ms Clayton before storming out of the cinema. Police arrived and escorted Ms Clayton out of the theatre. The maligned woman told officers Ms Clayton had been "invading her private space" and accused the Australian of assault. Police subsequently arrested Ms Clayton and charged her with assault.

Ms Clayton was fined $176, the Seven Network reported today. Seven showed vision of a smiling Ms Clayton leaving what appeared to be a court building but it was unclear whether she had paid the fine. "If I don't have a traffic violation or touch anyone again in 90 days, there's no conviction," she said.

Report here





India: Man released after 38 years, no trial

A man who was accused of murder and languished in prison for 38 years after becoming lost in India's bureaucracy was reunited with his family today after finally being freed by a Supreme Court order. Jagjivan Yadav, 70, was greeted by around 700 people as he arrived in his village in Uttar Pradesh state, but said the only member of his family he recognised was his wife. "I can hardly recognise anyone. They say they are my relatives, but I do not remember," he said. The only person Yadav recognised was his wife, Patto Devi. Devi said she had thought her husband was dead, having lost touch with him after his arrest for the murder of a woman in 1968.

Among the welcoming crowd were people whose evidence had led to his arrest, but one, Deo Dutt Yadav, said police had forced him to testify against Yadav. After his incarceration, Yadav's family fell upon hard times and his wife went to live with her brother.

His trial on murder charges had opened briefly but the authorities forgot about him after he was moved to another city for a medical check-up. Thirty-five years later he was transferred to a prison in Faizabad district, 150 kilometres southeast of state capital Lucknow, where his case came to light when a local official sought information about the status of the trials of all inmates. The Supreme Court took note of the case after a few lawyers rallied for Yadav's release, and he was granted bail on Monday. Yadav's lawyer said he would seek compensation.

Report here




(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)