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September 19, 2008

Friday follies: "Woman Faces Federal Jail Time Over Spilled Soda"

Thanks to this story from FOXNews, we apparently need to thank federal prosecutors for trying to keep our country safe from radical soda-pop terrorists that have started to infiltrate parts of our military establishment:

An Idaho woman is facing federal charges and possible jail time after refusing to pay for a soda and then spilling it on a counter in a case she calls a waste of taxpayer's money.

U.S. Attorney Tom Moss plans to bring two charges against Natalie Walters, 39, stemming from an Aug. 20 incident at the Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Idaho Statesman reports.  If convicted, she could face up to six months in federal prison.

Walters, who routinely takes her father to the Boise hospital for treatment, said there is no posted price for soda refills at the center's cafeteria, and she's typically charged between $1 and $1.50 for filling her mug, according to the paper. On Aug. 20, she was charged $3.80, which lead to the dispute and Walters dumping the soda on the cafeteria counter.

Moss' office refused to speak to the Statesman about the case until after Walters' Oct. 8 arraignment. Walters didn't learn of the charges until she was contacted by a reporter for the story. "My father is a veteran. It is a federal facility for veterans. This should have been handled differently," she told the paper. "This is extreme. This is totally extreme. Well, if they have that much time on their hands, go for it."

The full story from the Idaho Statesman, which is headlined "Dumped diet pop lands Idaho woman in federal court," can be found at this link.

September 19, 2008 at 09:23 AM | Permalink

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Tracked on Sep 21, 2008 10:15:04 PM

Comments

One would think that given this is a veteran's institution, the federal prosecutors would think about the PR aspect of arresting a woman who brings her father to the medical center. Should they follow through with this nonsense, he will be without his caretaker and the prosecutor (as well as the federal government) will look like an ass.

Posted by: JT | Sep 19, 2008 10:50:20 AM

Just think... this AUSA went to law school and was thought he was going to serve the country or some BS like that.

Stories like these really demoralize prosecutors.

Posted by: s.cotus | Sep 19, 2008 11:09:49 AM

demoralize prosecutors

I think it's just making them look like the heartless opportunistic conviction-generating tools they are. U.S. Attorney Tom Moss obviously has no clue what his job entails, or if he does, he's not very good at it.

To quote a semi-retired Judge Bertelsman: You don't have to make a federal case out of every federal case.

Posted by: babalu | Sep 19, 2008 11:29:14 AM

How do you remove a idiot like this from his job. There is no way he should be in a power position as he does not understand the first thing about the responsibilities of power. You hit it right on the head an ASUA is a robot with one goal in mind conviction. What a waste of tax payer dollars. The only re couse is when the Bush admin is ousted in 55 days the new team might take a different approach

Posted by: | Sep 19, 2008 2:29:35 PM

What she needs to do is file a commercial lien on the Prosecutor, Judge, this way they can't hide behind the "FICTION".

She is the one being damaged here, there was no damage prior to this, she spilled or knocked over a soda;so what!

Sovereign, Secured Party
"When the King comes through make way."

Posted by: KWAME-EL | Sep 21, 2008 9:19:29 AM

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