Welcome to Court Watch #150. We have a lot of breaking news in this week’s issue, but if you’ll bear with us for a moment, let’s first quickly explain how the Justice Department can now launch grenades – and not just the proverbial procedural ones.
It all started with a man driving a yellow sports car who got into a fender bender in an Indianapolis suburb. Rather than offer up a half-hearted apology or exchange insurance information with the other driver, Doug Rees reportedly got into a shoving match before pulling his gun on the other driver, ordering him to the ground, punching him, and then driving away.
Yellow sports cars aren’t generally the most inconspicuous possessions, as local police were able to track down Rees to his residence that same day, on October 4th, 2023, where a damaged car sat in the driveway. When the police knocked on his door, Rees reportedly refused to speak with them and fetched a shotgun, which he pointed at officers. SWAT was then called, beginning a standoff that would last until 6 AM the next day after Rees surrendered, according to court records.
As local law enforcement searched Rees’ home, officers said they identified multiple firearms lying around the house in plain view. One of the weapons the officers apparently noticed was a grenade launcher – the same kind used by Allied forces fighting the Japanese in the Pacific during World War II. The government filed a forfeiture complaint last week to formally seize it. Rees’ case is currently set to go to trial in March, according to Indiana’s state court database.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Southern Indiana did not respond to a request for comment on their newly acquired weaponry. Yes, we asked.
The Docket Roundup
Judge Rodriguez of Texas has a striking dismissal in his 40-page order on a immigration-related arrest .
A former police officer being investigated for threatening to murder judges was tracked in part by his rear windshield, where he reportedly wrote “f*** the fbi”.
We humbly submit that there is no other news organization that has the foresight and reporting chops to spot scoopy exclusives about aging bananas.
The city of brotherly love is suing CVS over opioids.
“I’m fixin’ to come shoot” might be the most Georgian way to get arrested for communicating a threat.
A magistrate judge recommended a partial dismissal of Elliott Broidy’s lawsuit against American Express for debanking him.
Another interim U.S. attorney’s appointment was shut down by a federal judge as improper. This time in California’s Central District.
A search in a child abuse case in Nebraska went sideways when the man federal agents were investigating allegedly began firing at them.
We’re at a loss for words about the case of a man who was interviewed by the FBI for a series of threats and then allegedly proceeded to create a troll social media account of an “FBI professional,” complete with a picture of the agent who interviewed him.
Cam’Ron is beefing with J. Cole. For the record, we’re still beefing with him for trying to rhyme “Suzuki wheels” with “my boo be’s real”.
It’s a state-level case, but one of our favorite Alaska reporters digs into a Monty Python-inspired fraud.
A man was arrested for threatening ICE agents after he reportedly grew frustrated over the process to file paperwork for his Colombian fiancé’s visa.
Laura Loomer asked a judge to sanction Bill Maher and his attorneys.
In case you missed it, we tracked down the motivation behind an attempted arson on a local Fox News station in Utah.
A lot of y’all signed up for a yearly Court Watch subscription around this time last year. Just a friendly reminder, if you don’t want to auto-renew, make sure to change your status. We hope you don’t. We like having you around.
Fifteen people in Mississippi were charged with running a dog-fighting ring.
The courts are so terrified of people having the ability to record what they do inside their hallowed marble walls that they have a detailed list of what electronics are allowed for each court reporter.
Immigration reporters may have a lot of questions about this case.
Prosecutors can’t get what they want for sentencing due to the guidelines on a church bomb hoax case, so they’ll begrudgingly settle for the maximum possible.
A federal judge wants to make it clear that he thinks the Supreme Court is wrong.
Illinois voters will decide if they want to elect a congressional candidate who was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly impeding immigration agents.
CBP used air surveillance to track a person accused of selling fraudulent Social Security cards.
Law enforcement says a California man who ran a prostitution and human trafficking ring also took the federal government for half a million dollars in COVID fraud.
Cameo is mad at OpenAI for creating Cameo.
A Pennsylvania man was charged with threatening a federal judge over a judgment payment.
A Texas federal judge denied a defense motion to exclude the word ‘antifa’ from a case involving antifa members.
Speaking of which, a self-described antifa supporter was acquitted of charges involving threats to the President. The judge precluded DOJ prosecutors from identifying him as antifa.
“As the saying goes, the show must go on,” says one federal judge after denying a fifth mandamus relief attempt. Also, the judge has had it with the plaintiff’s lawyer.
A former FBI analyst says she was fired during the Biden Administration, in part, for supporting President Trump.
Here’s your sovereign citizen-inspired court filing of the week.
There’s a fight over who gets to use the picture of Jeffrey Epstein taking a walk with Woody Allen.
A conservative talk radio host is suing social media companies over purportedly shadow-banning him.
A Virginia couple that brought a sure-to-be-quickly dismissed lawsuit (chiefly due to their lack of standing) against the demolition of the East Wing dropped their case. Congrats to all the news organizations that got clicks from filing stories on the immediately doomed lawsuit.
A predictions gambling market firm is suing the New York gambling regulator for regulating predictions gambling.
A judge is as annoyed by excessive footnotes in court filings as we are.
As a general rule in life, we’ll listen to anything Eddie Vedder puts out. So your song of the week is a great cover of a 1982 new wave song. Also, in a first, a subscriber suggested a song of the week; here’s his choice. Our inbox is open for additional suggestions from readers.
Honestly, we were quite surprised that no reporter picked up this filing.
A Georgia professor is suing his university for allegedly being terminated for complaining about his students’ plagiarism.
We’d strongly suggest not reading any links in this bullet but the worst group the Internet ever created continues to get arrested in recent weeks. Starting first with this case late last week in California. Yesterday, an Arizona man, who among other depraved things, encouraged a 15 year old to carve swastikas on her body with a knife, is now facing a superseding indictment.
We need mental floss from those court dockets. Thankfully, Mutual of Omaha is suing…<checks notes>... Gangsta Dog.
A former South Carolina sheriff who went viral last year after criticizing the federal response to Hurricane Helene pleaded guilty to public corruption charges.
Using a company’s online comment form to purportedly threaten to kill them is never the best idea.
It’s the aggressive misspelling of a Somali terrorist group to rob a bank that did it for us this week.
After being placed on the federal courts’ list of folks banned from filing documents because they’re repeatedly nonsensical, a man files a new document that starts with an adorable picture of his dog. Alas, it quickly goes downhill after that.
A group of Kenyan victims and their family members is suing Iran for its purported ties to al-Qaeda and the 1998 Nairobi embassy bombing.
A federal judge said “costumes are optional” for an October 31st hearing.
Thanks for reading. On this Halloween, we’re dressing as the scariest thing possible for a struggling news organization startup: our PACER bill.
(editor’s note: 10/31/2025 10:30AM, we edited the first bullet to be more clear)