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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| No, the unicorn wasn't driving after all... |
| 2007-03-14 |
| BILLINGS, Mont. - It turns out there are no such things as unicorns — and even if there were, they wouldn't drive trucks. Just because they're magical doesn't mean they have opposable thumbs. On Tuesday, a Billings prosecutor had told a district judge that Phillip C. Holliday Jr., 42, claimed a unicorn was driving when his truck crashed into a light pole earlier this month. But on Wednesday, the chief prosecutor said it was all a misunderstanding. Apparently, Holliday told police an unnamed woman was driving when his truck hit the pole — not a unicorn. "Mr. Holliday has other serious problems, but this is not one of them," County Attorney Dennis Paxinos said of the unicorn alibi. The mixup occurred when a deputy prosecutor misunderstood an e-mail from a colleague who used the phrase "unicorn defense," thinking it was an actual statement from Holliday, Paxinos said. "Unicorn defense" is a slang term used by prosecutors when a defendant blames some mythical person for a crime, he said. I love lawyer slang! "It's kind of a code (between prosecutors) and the code was misinterpreted," Paxinos said. Just a bit. Paxinos apologized "to the public, the court and to Mr. Holliday" for the confusion and said he has chastised the prosecutors involved. Holliday has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of criminal endangerment and drunken driving. He is being represented by a public defender. Kristina Copenhaver-Landon, director of the public defender's office in Billings, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. |
| Posted by:Free Radical |
| #5 Clearly, as part of their court-mandated probation for running over Grandma every Xmas, Santa's reindeer have been allowed to moonlight and drive trucks to earn income. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-03-14 20:41 |
| #4 ... a deputy prosecutor misunderstood an e-mail from a colleague who used the phrase "unicorn defense, I forsee merciless taunting in the deputy prosecutors future. Do lawyers have gofer jokes like the typical machine shop? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2007-03-14 20:28 |
| #3 ahh, but his public defender is a known Hydra |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-03-14 19:47 |
| #2 The roach syndicate was holding all the cards in that deal, sad, yet even in em True Bible Stories you can see the invisible hand. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-03-14 19:34 |
| #1 They don't exist. Tried to negotiate a mega-bucks apperance deal with Noah. Didn't work out. Left standing by the boarding plank looking for tickets. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-03-14 19:30 |