OKC Legal Briefs: April 24, 2008

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Apr 24, 2008 by Marie Price

A Romanian well digger has been fined $223 for making 6,442 profanity-laced calls to the emergency phone number in his village.

A police spokeswoman said an examination showed the 24-year-old man to be mentally sound.

The calls were made from a prepaid mobile phone.

It looks like the caller may not be alone in tying up the phone lines.

According to an Associated Press report, Romanian authorities say more than 90 percent of calls to the 112 emergency number are either bogus or concern non-emergency situations.

The European Union has threatened Romania with legal action over problems with its emergency system, especially for failure to locate callers using cell phones.

Romanian officials say their system will be able to trace those calls beginning in the summer.

Paying for $4 gas takes an ugly turn

Two men who ran out of gas in Athens, Tenn., got into an argument over who should pay for the fuel.

They started a fight that left one of the men with minor stab wounds inflicted by a pocket knife.

One of the men said they were walking away from their stranded vehicle when they started arguing about who should pay.

A woman told police she saw one man punching the other.

Perhaps not surprisingly, David Lundsford and Roger Gifford have been charged with public intoxication.

For those who think one vote doesn't matter

Doh! So close!

One of Massachusetts' last dozen or so dry towns will stay so, at least for now, due to lack of a single vote.

Residents of Tisbury split 690-690 on whether to allow restaurants and inns in the Martha's Vineyard community to sell beer and wine.

Town clerk Marion Mudge told AP that supporters of the idea are seeking a hand recount.

Voting machines may not pick up things like check marks, she said.

Hells Angels founder takes umbrage

Hells Angels founder Sonny Barger has sued HBO, which he claims cut him out of a pilot that he helped develop about a motorcycle club.

The pilot reportedly centers on the Arizona chapter of a fictional motorcycle club, to which a California biker has been dispatched to bring the chapter under control.

Barger claims that he helped pitch a similar story idea to HBO, along with the Michael Tolkin, who has been pegged to create the series.

Barger is seeking joint credit with Tolkin, a ban on sale or telecast of the program and compensation for exploitation of his publicity rights.

Potter fan/lexicon publisher weeps at trial

The 50-year-old former school librarian who wants to publish a Harry Potter Lexicon cried on the witness stand recently at a hearing over author J.K. Rowling's copyright-infringement lawsuit against him.

Rowling is suing RDR Books over plans to put out a lexicon based upon Steven Vander Ark's Web site, which indexes the contents of the Potter books.

Vander Ark said that he has read each book 30 or 40 times.

He broke down when asked about what the case has done to his relationship with other fans.

Noting criticism he has encountered, Vander Ark said his only goal was to celebrate Rowling, adding that "This has been an important part of my life for the last nine years or so."

Rowling said that she is working on her own Harry Potter encyclopedia, which she does not expect to complete for two or three years.