Woman Dogged by Staring Charge Gets Arf

Lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, accused of tax evasion, died in police custody

(NEWSER) - For the first time in its history, Russia plans to prosecute a dead man. Police intend to bring to trial the tax-evasion case of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in custody in 2009, reports the New York Times . Russian authorities claim they reopened the case so Magnitsky's supporters could exonerate him. The real reason, assert the supporters, is so the government can intimidate them and perhaps clear the name of the officials Magnitsky had condemned for corruption. More»

Days of both camps could be numbered

(NEWSER) - Two men were killed last night on separate coasts after shots were fired in or close to the Occupy Oakland and Occupy Burlington encampments. Protesters clashed with police as cops tried to close part of the Vermont camp, and local politicians were calling for the California protest site to also be shut down. Six shots were fired in a gunfight at an Oakland BART station near the camp in the early evening. An Occupy Oakland spokesman said the dead man did not appear to be part of the protest movement, but may have hidden out in the camp before he was shot dead. "I have been very vocal on the fact that this cannot continue," City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente told ABC7 News . "I think fear has become a reality. They should pack up and leave—if not, we should take whatever action is necessary." More»

She faces up to two years in prison if convicted

(NEWSER) - A Brooklyn teenager has been arrested and charged with animal cruelty for slamming her little brother's pet hamster to the floor, killing it instantly, according to authorities. Monique Smith faces up to two years in prison if convicted of the charges. Anti-cruelty laws apply to creatures of all sizes, noted a spokesman for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “It may be a fish, it may be a hamster, it may not be the type of a pet that people commonly hold dear,” he told the New York Times . “But to the people who own them, they are.” More»

Humane Society in Canada is not amused

(NEWSER) - A website known for outrageous products has hit a nerve with its latest: a piggy bank made from an an actual piglet. The description of the item on TheCheeky.com notes that the "taxidermied" bank is made only from piglets that have died of natural causes. Nonetheless, it's a "demeaning exploitation of a baby animal's dead body," said the Winnipeg Humane Society. "It trivializes the life (and death) of a sentient being." More»

(NEWSER) - A 17-year-old girl has pleaded guilty to baking her former roommate's cat to death in a 500° oven and will serve a year in jail, reports the New York Daily News. The girl and a younger accomplice trashed the woman's Bronx apartment, stole DVDs and food, and fled, leaving the cat to die. After the plea, Cheyenne Cherry stuck out her tongue at animal lovers protesting outside and snapped, "It's dead, bitch!" More»