Legal news
Michelle Branch’s Domestic Assault Case Dropped
Michelle Branch’s domestic assault case has been dismissed. The singer-songwriter was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic assault after allegedly slapping her estranged husband, Patrick Carney, on August 11th. The two apparently got into an argument after Branch learned about Carney’s infidelity. Now, the charge against Branch has been dropped “at the request of the state.” Following the arrest, Branch filed for divorce from Carney on August 15th, ending three years of marriage. “To say that I am totally devastated doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel for myself and for my family,” she said in a statement. “The rug has been completely pulled from underneath me and now I must figure out how to move forward. With such small children, I ask for privacy and kindness.” Re...
Gary Busey Pulls Pants Down in Public a Day After Being Charged with Multiple Sexual Offenses
Days after being charged with several counts of criminal sexual contact at Monster-Mania Con in New Jersey, Gary Busey was caught pulling his pants down in a public park in California. As Page Six reports, paparazzi caught Busey, 78, sitting on a bench at Point Dume Park in Malibu with his pants around his knees. He then stood up to pull his pants back up, and later smoked a cigar. On August 19th, Busey was charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact (4th degree); one count of criminal attempt/criminal sexual contact (4th degree); and one count of harassment (disorderly persons offense) after allegedly groping two people. The Monster-Mania convention took place the weekend before, from August 12th to 14th. Advertisement Related Video Busey, known for such films as The Budd...
Police Believe They Stopped Potential Mass Shooting at Bass Canyon EDM Festival
Police in Grant County, Washington believe they may have stopped a mass shooting Friday night (August 19th) during the Bass Canyon Music Festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre. The county sheriff’s department later identified the suspect as 31-year-old Jonathan R. Moody of Ephrata, a town about 100 miles east of Spokane. Witnesses said they saw Moody inhale an unknown substance or gas from a balloon inside his car before loading two 9mm pistols. With one pistol concealed in the rear of his waistband and the other in an outside-the-waistband holster, Moody then began approaching concertgoers, asking what time the concert ended and where people would be exiting the venue. Venue security detained Moody; he was not trying to enter the festival and wasn’t wearing a wristband. After investigation, p...
Mariah Carey’s “Queen of Christmas” Trademark Attempt Disputed by Other Singers
Mariah Carey is looking to cash in on her holiday music success by trademarking the title “Queen of Christmas,” but singers Darlene Love and Elizabeth Chan — who each have their own valid claim to the crown — are looking to prevent a monopoly on the term. After Carey’s March 2021 trademark claim was recently made public, Chan filed a formal declaration of opposition in court, and Love has hinted at doing the same. Along with “Queen of Christmas,” Carey also filed for exclusive rights to “QOC,” “Princess of Christmas,” and “Christmas Princess.” Back in 2019, her classic song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart 25 years after its release. Since then, it has become the first holiday song to reach one billion streams on Spotify. Chan, who exclusively ...
Angelina Jolie Sued FBI to Learn Why Brad Pitt Wasn’t Arrested for Domestic Violence
Angelina Jolie has been revealed as the Jane Doe behind an anonymous Freedom of Information Act lawsuit demanding that the FBI turn over information about why they didn’t arrest Brad Pitt after he allegedly “physically and verbally assaulted” both her and their children while traveling on a private plane “several years ago,” Puck News reports. The FBI investigated the case and declined to press charges. The FOIA request was first noted in a short piece in Politico Playbook this past April. The article reported that Jane Doe had retained an unusually famous and high-priced attorney, and that some of the allegations from the FOIA tracked with statements Jolie had made about her ex-husband Brad Pitt, whom she filed to divorce in 2016. Puck News has now confirmed that Jolie filed the lawsuit, ...
Angelina Jolie Sued FBI to Learn Why Brad Pitt Wasn’t Arrested for Domestic Violence
Angelina Jolie has been revealed as the Jane Doe behind an anonymous Freedom of Information Act lawsuit demanding that the FBI turn over information about why they didn’t arrest Brad Pitt after he allegedly “physically and verbally assaulted” both her and their children while traveling on a private plane “several years ago,” Puck News reports. The FBI investigated the case and declined to press charges. The FOIA request was first noted in a short piece in Politico Playbook this past April. The article reported that Jane Doe had retained an unusually famous and high-priced attorney, and that some of the allegations from the FOIA tracked with statements Jolie had made about her ex-husband Brad Pitt, whom she filed to divorce in 2016. Puck News has now confirmed that Jolie filed the lawsuit, ...
Shooting Shuts Down Pennsylvania Festival Musikfest
A shooting at Musikfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on Saturday resulted in a chaotic scene that saw several attendees get trampled. As The Morning Call reports, law enforcement, including FBI agents, arrived at the festival at around 11:00 p.m. local time after the shooting caused what witnesses described as a stampede. “I saw a lot of people falling and get stepped on,” one person wrote on Facebook. “I helped a young man who’s hands were bleeding pretty bad and couldn’t catch his breath (he’s ok).” Police described the shooting as an isolated incident, and Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle Kott said the festival was shut down as a safety precaution. “Law enforcement is on site and in control of the situation,” Kott said. “There is no known continuing threat to the public.” Advertiseme...
The Gun Fired by Alec Baldwin’s Rust Set Couldn’t Have Gone Off Without Pulling the Trigger, FBI Says
The gun fired by Alec Baldwin on the set of Rust — killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza — could not have gone off without Baldwin pulling the trigger, according to an FBI forensic report obtained by ABC News. In the incident, which occurred last October in Sante Fe, New Mexico, Baldwin believed he was handling a “cold gun,” or one without live ammunition, when it went off and struck Hutchins in the stomach. Baldwin insisted that he never pulled the trigger, but the FBI’s forensic research says otherwise. Using accidental discharge testing, investigators determined that the .45 Colt caliber F.lli Pietta single-action revolver “could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger.” The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator has classifi...
Britney Spears’ Ex-Husband Sentenced to 128 Days in Jail for Crashing Her Wedding
Britney Spears’ ex-husband, Jason Alexander, was sentenced to 128 days in a county jail after pleading no contest to aggravated trespassing and battery, both misdemeanors. The charges stemmed from Alexander’s attempt to crash Spears’ wedding to Sam Asghari back in June. Alexander was initially charged with trespassing, vandalism, and two counts of battery, but struck a deal with Ventura County, California prosecutors for lesser misdemeanor charges. Because Alexander already spent more than two months in a county jail, his sentence will require no additional time before bars. However, he currently remains in custody for an outstanding felony grand theft warrant. Alexander, who was married to Spears for 55 hours following a spur-of-the-moment Las Vegas wedding in 2004, illegally entered Spea...
Michelle Branch Arrested for Misdemeanor Assault After Allegedly Slapping Patrick Carney
Michelle Branch was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic assault after allegedly slapping her estranged husband, Patrick Carney, earlier this week. According to an arrest record reviewed by Consequence, police were called to the couple’s Nashville home around 2:00 a.m. local time on Thursday, after Branch allegedly slapped Carney in the face “one to two times.” Branch was booked on one-count of misdemeanor domestic assault and posted a $1,000 bond. She is due back in court on November 7th. Advertisement Related Video Hours after the arrest, Branch publicly announced that she and Carney were ending their marriage of three years. “To say that I am totally devastated doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel for myself and for my family,” Branch said in a statement. “The rug ...
Anne Heche: Toxicology Report Indicates Presence of Drugs at Time of Crash
Actor Anne Heche, 53, remains in a coma following a high-speed car crash into a Los Angeles home on August 5th. Law enforcement officials conducted a toxicology report from blood drawn at the hospital, and according to TMZ, Heche had cocaine in her system at the time of the accident. The blood sample also showed the presence of fentanyl. It’s unclear at this time if the drug was administered by hospital staff after the crash or taken by Heche beforehand. No evidence of alcohol was found, which is notable because TMZ obtained a photo that appeared to show a bottle of alcohol in the cupholder of her Mini Cooper. As a result of the toxicology report, Heche is being investigated for felony DUI, the Los Angeles Police Department told CNN. Advertisement Related Video Heche was driving throu...
Bob Dylan Calls for “Monetary Sanctions” Against Lawyers of Sexual Assault Accuser
A lawsuit claiming that Bob Dylan repeatedly sexually assaulted an unnamed 12-year-old girl in 1965 was dropped last month, and now attorneys for the singer are calling for “monetary sanctions” against the legal team that filed it (via Billboard). The suit was dated one day before the window closed on New York’s Child Protective Act, which opened the statute of limitations and allowed survivors of decades-old abuses to seek justice. Dylan scholars immediately called into question the filing’s timeline, which did not match the public record of his movements. Then, during the discovery process in July of this year, the woman failed to turn over text messages and emails, with Dylan’s attorneys saying her actions “strongly suggests Plaintiff has destroyed evidence directly relevant to the...
