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Monday, July 30, 2007
Ind. Courts - "Judge dismisses defendant's 'uppercase' case as 'frivolous'"
Andy Grimm of the Gary Post-Tribune writes today:
Larry Cochran will never get the chance to face LARRY COCHRAN in court.In a bizarre twisting of the notion of "capital" crimes, federal drug defendant Larry Cochran has apparently begun to annoy the judge presiding over his case.
Hoping to take advantage of a common practice of listing parties' names in legal filings using all capital letters, Cochran last month filed a lawsuit against the "fictional" LARRY COCHRAN whose name appeared in an indictment for drug dealing.
"Who is this (defendant) fictitious entity (LARRY COCHRAN)?" Cochran queried in his motion. "How can the Plaintiff (Cochran) a real live flesh and blood man, be an involuntary party ... to an action and/or claim involving ... fictitious and artificial entities?"
U.S. Judge James Moody, who also is presiding over Cochran's criminal case and the flurry of similar motions, letters and requests Cochran has filed from his cell in the Metropolitan Correction Center in Chicago, dismissed the case.
"Cochran is not as delusional as this sophomoric word game makes him appear," Moody wrote in his ruling. "He fully understands that he is LARRY COCHRAN and that he is in jail defending himself from a serious felony crime.
"Cochran is abusing the legal system in an attempt to waste judicial resources and harass (prosecutors)."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 30, 2007 11:57 AM
Posted to Ind Fed D.Ct. Decisions