PYTHON PARENTS GUILTY IN SNAKE DEATH OF DAUGHTER

A FLORIDA couple have been found guilty of manslaughter in the grisly death of the woman's daughter--strangled in her crib by a pet python in 2009. Stupid idea, right? We thought so. The jury in Sumter County found Jaren Hare, 21, and Charles "Dummy" Darnell, 34, guilty of manslaughter, 3rd degree murder and child neglect. Both Jaren and "Dummy" rejected plea deals that would see them out in a 10 spot--now they face 35 big ones in the crowbar hotel. Hare sobbed as the verdict was read.


Court was told that Dummy's 8-foot, 6-inch albino Burmese python wrapped itself around the head of Jaren's daughter, Shaianna, on July 1, 2009. Cops busted the couple within hours of the child's death.
Oh, and the snake had not been fed for a month before the tragic attack. They'll be sentenced August 24.
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MICHAEL JACKSON'S LAST DAYS MAY BE SEEN IN COURT

JUST BEFORE HE DIED

MICHEAL JACKSON'S last days captured on hundreds of hours of videotape will have to be admitted as evidence in the trial of his doctor Conrad Murray a judge ruled yesterday.
Raw video of the King of Pop was bought by Sony Pictures after his death and used to produce their "This is It" video after his death.
But defense lawyers want to use footage left on the cutting room floor, arguing it would help them with their case to prove their clients innocence.
Since Sony was under a contractual obligation with the estate to not use anything that showed
Jackson in "a negative light," the unused video may be helpful to the defense, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor said.

The judge gave Sony a week to work out technical details with the defense for a way they can view the raw video without the risk of it leaking.
Jackson hired video photographers to record his rehearsals as he prepared for his comeback concerts in London, scheduled for July 2009.
His estate later sold the video and documentary rights to Sony for about $80 million.
Murray, who was hired as Jackson's personal doctor in the months leading up to the concert, was later charged with involuntary manslaughter in his death after an autopsy ruled that he had overdosed on propofol.
But his lawyers suggested that a frustrated and sleepless Jackson may have self-ingested the fatal dose while the doctor was out of his bedroom.
Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney David Walgren said in his final arguments at Murray's preliminary hearing in January: "Michael is not with us today because of an utterly inept, incompetent, reckless doctor, the defendant Conrad Murray."

JAMES ARTHUR RAY'S TRIAL MUST CONTINUE: JUDGE

SELP help guru James Arthur Ray will continue to stand trial for the death of three people in an Arizona sweat lodge after a judge refused a bid by his attorneys to cut his manslaughter trial short.  Kirby Brown, James Shore and Liz Neuman all died at his "Spiritual Warrior" retreat and the bestselling author of The Secret is accused of being reckless in their deaths.
Prosecutors say Ray conditioned participants through breathing exercises, sleep deprivation, a 36-hour fast and lectures to ignore their bodies' signs of danger.
And as a result in the huge temperatures in the lodge, they died of dehydration.  But Ray's attorneys argued that prosecutors hadn't proved their case and that Ray had no legal duty to check on participants during the sweat lodge ceremony and they moved for the case to be thrown out of court.

In a written motion they wrote: "There is no evidence that Mr. Ray knew the three individuals were dying.
"Ms. Brown, Mr. Shore and Ms. Neuman were all breathing, talking with participants around them, specifically telling others they were `OK' or `fine' and moving until the end of the ceremony."
Arizona Judge Warren Darrow  however refused their request and the defense will have to call their witnesses in the case.

BILLY BOB THORNTON'S DAUGHTER GUILTY IN TOT DEATH

MONSTERS BALL

MONSTER

FILM star Billy Bob Thornton's daughter has been found guilty for the horrifying death of her best friend's daughter, who she supposed to be looking after at the time. Amanda Brumfield, who is estranged from her Hollywood dad was supposed to be looking after Olivia Madison Garcia when she died from serious head
injuries in her Orlando home. She claimed that the tot fell from her playpen, smacking her head, but as she appeared fine she didn't seek any help until two hours later, by which point it was too late.
Orange County Medical Examiner Dr. Jane Garavaglia who also performed Caylee Anthony's autopsy, disputed her claims and testified that the death of Olivia Garcia was intentional.
She said there was no way the baby could have suffered such serious injuries by falling from a playpen.
She said: "That is my opinion. Over 25 years. Backed by literature. That is not how the child died." Garavaglia said.
Olivia's mother, Heather Murphy, said she just wants to know what really happened to her daughter.
Brumfield, 32, who had faced the death penalty if convicted of murder, was instead found guilty of manslaughter. 
She is expected to be sentenced in July.

TIFFANY STARTZ KILLS MAN WITH PARTY-TRICK PUNCH

HOW'S THIS for piss-poor luck? Meathead John Powell, 25, is at a party. Playing games. Sez to blonde party girl Tiffany K. Startz, "for $5 you can punch in the face." Good clean fun, right? Well, our 22-year-old heroine popped him all right. Poor John collapsed and died. In an Illinois courtroom, a judge ruled Tiff must stand trial after a judge refused to drop charges against her and the party host. His mom Theresa Guy says: " She can't walk away." Her lawyer says (and we agree) that Startz didn't commit a crime.
According to cops, Jimmy E. Mounts, 27, offered guests at the Sept. 25 party $5 to take a punch from Startz, 5-foot-5 and 142 lbs. Powell, 5-foot-8 and 140 lbs., accepted the offer. He took the punch, collected his money and continued talking with friends. He collapsed a few minutes later and the coroner said he died of a
brain hemorrhage caused by blunt-force trauma. Well, okay not really our kind of bash but still, he literally asked for it. She's back in court June 16.

NANCY KERRIGAN'S BROTHER JAILED IN DAD'S DEATH

MORE TEARS

OLYMPIC figure skater Nancy Kerrigan's brother was sentenced to the maximum two-and-a-half year jail term for the assault that led to the death of their 70-year-old father. 
Mark Kerrigan put his hands around Daniel Kerrigan's neck with such force that he broke cartilage in his father's larynx and triggered his heart failure after the pair fought in their Woburn, MA home. 
He was acquitted of manslaughter but convicted of assault in his father's 2010 death. Tearfully, Nancy Kerrigan pleaded with the judge not to send him to jail, telling the him that her large family supported
her brother and calling his prosecution in the death of their father "a long and trying experience."
She said: "Any sentence for Mark would only serve to extend an unnecessary situation that already seems as if it has been never-ending.
"We ask that you please send him home with us today so that he can rejoin our family." 
 But the judge imposed the maximum penalty citing his lengthy criminal record and alcohol problem.