When A Robbery Gets Personal

"When A Robbery Gets Personal"*

*WEST MEMPHIS, Arkansas - It wasn't hard for police
to find the suspect in a cafe robbery: He left in a
wheelchair and wrote a threatening note on the
back of his personal check. The man made a
gesture as though he were hiding a gun under his
jacket, police said Tuesday, and the waitress quickly
gave him $120. He quickly wheeled out of the restaurant.

Police were able to capture the suspect, but they
already had a pretty good idea who he was. The
note he allegedly passed to the waitress was on
the back of a personalized check bearing his name,
address and telephone number. Edward Bohanon,
42, was charged with aggravated robbery.

In South Carolina, it is a capital offense to
inadvertently kill someone while attempting suicide.

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"The Punishment Should Fit The Nut"*

*A Texas prosecutor is defending his aggressive
handling of the case against a man who was
sentenced to 16 years in prison for stealing a candy car.

Smith County District Attorney Jack Skeen tells
The Dallas Morning News he bumped the theft
charge against Kenneth Payne to a felony
because of his 10-year record of 10 convictions
-- including theft, assault and possession of drugs.

One of the convictions was for stealing a bag of
Oreo cookies. The current case involved the theft
of a $1 Snickers bar from a grocery last December.
Payne was on parole for felony theft at the time.

Payne's attorney is promising to appeal the
sentence. University of Texas law professor
Robert Dawson says prosecution of the 29-year-
old Payne as a habitual criminal seems harsh. He
notes that it costs $14,000 a year to keep an inmate
in prison in Texas, and over 16 years "that probably
comes out to about $800 a peanut. That seems a little high."
Received on Fri Nov 14 08:25:47 2008