oddly enough

oddly enough

Judge holds self in contempt for smartphone

IONIA, Mich.

A Michigan judge whose smartphone disrupted a hearing in his own courtroom has held himself in contempt and paid $25 for the infraction.

Judge Raymond Voet has a posted policy at Ionia County 64A District Court stating that electronic devices causing a disturbance during court sessions will result in the owner being cited with contempt, the Sentinel-Standard of Ionia and MLive.com reported.

During a prosecutor’s closing argument as part of a jury trial, Voet’s new smartphone began to emit sounds requesting phone voice commands. Voet said he thinks he bumped the phone, and the embarrassment likely left his face red.

“I’m guessing I bumped it. It started talking really loud, saying, ‘I can’t understand you. Say something like Mom,’” he said.

Voet has used a Blackberry mobile phone for years, and said he wasn’t as familiar with the operation of the new touchscreen, Windows-based phone.

Police: Upstate NY man’s bad idea results in crash

JAMESTOWN, N.Y.

It turns out coasting an SUV with no brakes downhill to a scrap yard isn’t a good idea after all.

Police say a 28-year-old man found that out when he attempted to drive an SUV to a scrap yard in Jamestown, 60 miles south of Buffalo.

Officers tell The Post-Journal of James-town that the man told them he had disconnected the battery before coasting down a hill to get to a nearby scrap yard. Police say he also told them the 1995 Chevrolet Tahoe had no brakes.

Officials say he was unable to stop at an intersection and collided with another vehicle. He and the other driver suffered minor injuries.

The man was charged with reckless endangerment, failure to stop at a stop sign and having inadequate brakes.

Dubai adds Ferrari to police bling patrol

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates

Seems Dubai police have a thing for Italian speed: They’re making preparations to have a nearly $250,000 Ferrari join an even pricier Lamborghini as the flagship flash of its fleet.

Photos carried by the Emirates 24/7 online newspaper show the car getting the green-and-white colors of Dubai’s police force. Dubai’s police chief, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, recently said the Ferrari was on the way.

Dubai plans to have the two ultra-cars roll through tourist zones in yet another expression of the city’s endless pursuit of glitz.

Next up? Police say they are working on converting the Camaro, a classic American muscle car, into a fleet of regular squad cars.

Associated Press