NEWS OF THE WEIRD-35

Bizarre but true stories about real people collected by syndicated columnist Chuck Shepherd.

Updates:
Maxcy Dean Filer made News of the Weird in 1989 for his legendary relentlessness in that, after graduating from law school, he failed the California bar exam 46 times, finally passing in 1991. He now practices in Compton, Calif., but last year was put on probation for failing to file a particular document, and was scheduled to take an exam in March on ethics and professional responsibility. Though exams have not been good to Filer, the result of this one has not been reported.

Crime Really Doesn’t Pay: In July 2005, News of the Weird reported Jared Gipson’s extremely bad idea of trying to rob Blalock’s Beauty College in Shreveport, La. The 20 students and teachers inside (almost all women) beat him to a pulp with curling irons, hair dryers, chairs, a table leg, and their fists (leaving him with 21 cuts that had to be stitched). In March 2006, Gipson, 24, was sentenced for that attempted robbery, and as a recidivist, got 25 years in prison (and might have received more except that several of the women asked the judge for leniency).

Super-Compelling:
–John Melo’s lawsuit demanding re-sentencing was rejected in March by the Middlesex County, Mass., Superior Court. Facing a term of “10 years,” Melo had complained that a couple of “Feb. 29’s” were included in that time, and since a “year” is usually 365 days, he should not be serving 366 days during leap years.

–According to the Hartwell (Ga.) Sun, state Sen. Nancy Schaefer, speaking at an “issues day” event in February, said one reason illegal immigrants find work in the United States was because “50 million” abortions have caused a U.S. labor shortage: “We could have used those people.”
(Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa FL 33679 or [email protected]   or go to www.NewsoftheWeird.com.) NEWS OF THE WEIRD