Man Says Jasmine Tea Drove Him Crazy

ABCNEWS.com : "Criminal charges were dropped against Walker last week as a result of one of the more bizarre defenses used in recent memory.

His defense lawyer claimed Walker became temporarily insane after drinking jasmine tea.

The judge dismissed aggravated assault and burglary charges after receiving a report from a toxicologist confirming that jasmine, when taken in high doses and combined with other chemicals, could cause psychosis.

Walker's attorney, Mike Hunter, says he believes it was the tea that made his client temporarily insane.

'His bizarre behavior was brought on by some sort of outside agent, in this case, the tea,' Hunter said. 'Mr. Walker could not form the requisite mental capacity to tell right from wrong.'

Walker, a rocket scientist with no prior criminal record, said he had been drinking jasmine tea to soothe an aching stomach. He said he drank 10 cups a day for at least a week before the attack."

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New York Post Online Edition

news : "December 29, 2003 -- WASHINGTON - Startling new Army statistics show that strife-torn Baghdad - considered the most dangerous city in the world - now has a lower murder rate than New York. The newest numbers, released by the Army's 1st Infantry Division, reveal that over the past three months, murders and other crimes in Baghdad are decreasing dramatically and that in the month of October, there were fewer murders per capita there than the Big Apple, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. The Bush administration and outside experts are touting these new figures as a sign that, eight months after the fall of Saddam Hussein, major progress is starting to be made in the oft-criticized effort by the United States and coalition partners to restore order and rebuild Iraq. 'If these numbers are accurate, they show that the systems we put in place four months ago to develop a police force based on the principles of a free and democratic society are starting to

Forum: The fish that threatened national security : "At La Guardia we proceeded to security and the X-ray inspection point run by the Transportation Security Administration. I have learned by now that, post-9/11, a traveler is better off safe than sorry when proceeding through security. I wasn't prepared, however, for the TSA to stop me right at the entrance, proclaiming that no small pets, including fish, were permitted through security. I had, however, just received the blessing of the ticket agents at US Airways and pre-assured MJ's travels with Pittsburgh International Airport security weeks before our travel date. I tried to explain this to the screener who stood between me and the gates, but she would have none of it. I was led back to the US Airways ticket counter, stocking-footed and alone, where the agents reasserted that they did not see a problem for me to have a fish on board, properly packaged in plastic fish bag and secured with a rubber band as MJ was.

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