As for the beer...I suppose Russian citizens can deal with that. Now if they try locking up the VODKA, it's Revolution time ;- )
There's got to be a Dale Earnhard, Jr. angle to this story....just give me a minute....
They will be fined $10,000 and docked 25 points in the Nextel Cup standings. ;^)
June 11, 1999
JOHN FLESHER, Associated Press Writer
STANDISH, Mich.
With four-letter words ringing in their ears, jurors must decide whether a man illegally cussed a blue streak after tumbling out of his canoe or is wrongly being made into a fall guy.
The prosecution rested its case this morning in the trial of Timothy Boomer, charged with violating Michigan's century-old ban on swearing in front of children. If convicted of the misdemeanor, he could be jailed for 90 days and fined $ 100.
The defense began presenting its case later this morning after motions were argued outside the presence of the jury.
The trial began Thursday in Arenac County District Court, with three prosecution witnesses graphically repeating a string of expletives they said an enraged Boomer shouted after his Aug. 15, 1998, mishap on the Rifle River.
"He was screaming," said Kenneth Socia, the former deputy sheriff who ticketed Boomer. The tirade lasted five to seven minutes, during which Boomer yelled a particular word and its derivatives perhaps two dozen times, Socia said.
"The language was indecent, the language was vulgar, it was insulting," Assistant Prosecutor Richard Vollbach told the jury of four women and three men during his opening statement.
Defense lawyer William Street acknowledged his client may have uttered a profanity or two but said his companions on the weekend canoe trip would present a vastly different account of what happened.
"Timothy Boomer did not disrespect anyone's rights that day," Street told jurors, contending the 25-year-old computer programmer from the Detroit suburb of Roseville did not know children were nearby. "You cannot in good conscience label him a criminal."
The first defense witness called this morning was Boomer's fiancee, Courtney Kageff, 23, of Warren. She offered conflicting testimony, first saying that she didn't remember Boomer using any profanity.
"None that stick in my mind that I can remember to this day," she said.
But when pressed by the prosecution, she testified that she remembered him using some foul language, but didn't recall how many words he used.
"I don't remember what he said," Ms. Kageff testified.
When the court broke for lunch, the defense said it had five more witnesses to call. Attorneys said they hoped the jury would get the case this afternoon.
Street said Boomer was being unjustly blamed for years of misconduct by others on the river about 130 miles north of Detroit, a popular attraction for tourists from southern Michigan.
"Timothy Boomer should not be made a scapegoat for the boisterous behavior ... the rowdyism, the real crimes that some real disorderly people who do come in to use your Rifle River some days commit," Street told jurors.
Curious spectators and reporters packed the cramped basement courtroom for the trial - broadcast live by Court TV - in a case that has drawn nationwide attention as an example of the clash between free-speech rights and the struggle for a more courteous society.
Street is defending Boomer on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, which contends the 1897 anti-profanity law is unconstitutional and is promising to challenge it on appeal if Boomer is convicted.
Michael and Tammy Smith of North Branch supported Socia's version of events, saying they came up behind Boomer's canoe as it struck a rock, sending him into the water.
Instructed by the prosecutor and judge to repeat Boomer's exact words, a visibly uncomfortable Michael Smith yelled a string of expletives followed by, "I'm tired of this ... place. I want off this ... river. Get that ... canoe back here."
Boomer continued the barrage for several minutes as he trudged through the waist-deep Rifle River in pursuit of his companions, who were riding in five canoes tied together with bungee cords, Smith said.
Mrs. Smith told jurors she covered her 2-year-old daughter's ears and admonished her 5-year-old son not to listen to Boomer as her husband paddled around him and sped away.
"I think Mr. Boomer looked like he was going to hit somebody," Mrs. Smith said.
Socia, the former sheriff's deputy, testified he was among several officers patrolling the river the day in question. The patrols were at the request of businesses and property owners concerned about rowdy behavior along the river.
Socia testified that Boomer continued cursing as Socia wrote him a ticket, accusing him of ruining his vacation.
During cross-examination, Street asked Socia if there were attractive women in the canoes. When Socia answered in the affirmative, Street asked if he had ordered one of them "to stand up so you could check out her bathing suit."
Socia denied it as Vollbach angrily objected to the question.
But Street persisted, asking Socia if he had asked the women their ages and told them to rise "so you could see their bodies."
Judge Allen Yenior sharply ordered Street to drop that line of questioning, warning him at one point he was close to being cited for contempt.
Before the jury was called back into court this morning, Street asked the judge to declare a mistrial, but the judge denied it.
Street wanted to pursue the angle about the women in the canoes to demonstrate Socia's character: "Potentially the harassment of women," Street argued.
When Yenior denied that motion, Street replied, "I feel the court is biased in favor of the prosecution."
I was driving to work this morning, listening to the radio, whena news story on it reminded me of this article. Seems a teenage boy in NC got a misdimenor and will do jail time for cursing at his teacher. Not just a fine but JAIL TIME. Guess we've got a few mots in our eye.