xxxNews Of The Weirdxxx
Bizarre but true stories about real people collected by syndicated columnist Chuck Shepherd.
In February, a 38-year-old Disneyland worker was killed when he fell from a three-part parade float and became trapped between the second and third sections. Disney’s float was termed a “serious” workplace violation by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and in August, it fined the multibillion-dollar company $6,300.
Day-care operator Ronald G. Lesniak, 60, on trial in September in West Chicago for allegedly sexually molesting a child, said that it was legally impossible for him to have committed that particular crime because brain surgery 30 years ago left him with no sex drive and that his wife would testify to that.
In New York City in September, a state Supreme Court justice ruled that a criminal conviction could not be overturned merely because a juror was tipsy during deliberations (the result of sipping from a 16-ounce water bottle that was half-vodka). (The juror was reported by his colleagues as “overly effusive,” “scatterbrained,” and “inappropriately forthcoming with opinions and directions,” but the justice pointed out that New York has no law against a juror’s drinking.)
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Copyright © 2001 by Chuck Shepherd
NEWS OF THE WEIRD