musicNEWS:
American "Convict" Idols - More Legal Problems For Contestants
04-1-03
antiGUY
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There is more legal controversy surrounding
finalist in Fox Tvs American Idol competition.
Last week it was discovered that finalist
Trenyce(aka Lashundra Cobbins) was convicted of felony theft in 1999.
Now it has been learned by the Smoking
Gun website that another finalist, Corey Clark, is facing charges in his
hometown in Kansas for assaulting his little sister and resisting arrest.
Smoking Gun reports that Clark is scheduled
to appear in court next month on these charges. According to the
Smoking Gun report, Clark was arrested last October after a neighbor called
the police to report screams coming from Clarks residence.
The police arrived and questioned Clark
and his 15-year-old sister. The 22-year-old Clark reportedly grew uncooperative
with police and began yelling at the investigating officers and according
to the Smoking Gun website, several police officers responded by wrestling
the wiry, 6-foot singer to the pavement. Clark was handcuffed behind his
back and placed in a Topeka Police Department cruiser.
The Smoking Gun report continues, While
sitting in the squad car, he was somehow able to get his cuffed hands in
front of him, causing police to yank Clark out of the car and attempt to
re-cuff him, the witness said. When he again struggled with officers, a
cop showed Clark a Taser and warned that if he continued to resist, he
would be shot with the stun gun. Clark then relented.
He was booked into the Shawnee County
jail and charged with a variety of misdemeanors, including battery on four
law enforcement officers, battery on his sister, and endangering a child.
After three days in custody, Clark was released on bond, a condition of
which probibited[sic] him from contacting his sister.
On December 4, just days after Clark
was tabbed as one of the final 234 Amercan Idol contestants, he was named
in a three-count misdemeanor complaint filed by prosecutors in Kansas District
Court. The complaint, which modified the original police counts, charged
Clark with resisting arrest, battery upon his sister, and criminal restraint.
If convicted of the charges, Clark faces a maximum of a year in prison
on two of the misdemeanors, and a max of six months on the third count.
Fox has responded quickly to this news
by kicking Clark off of the show. In a statement released on Monday, Fox
said that Clark "withheld information about a prior arrest which, had it
been known, might have affected his participation in the show."
"Due to his failure to disclose, compounded
by an error in a police report which misspelled Corey's name, the incident
was not discovered during a background check," Fox said. "The producers
and network feel that Corey's behavior warrants his disqualification."
This marks the fifth contestant from the
show that has faced controversy this season. First Frenchie Davis was kicked
off the show after it was learned that she posed for topless photos for
a website that promotes photos of women who appear to be underage. Davis
says she was of legal age when she posed for the photos.
Some people have been up in arms that the
American Idol Marine, Josh Gracin, has avoided serving on the frontlines
with his unit because he is part of the television competition.
The biggest American Idol controversy surrounds
Jaered Andrews who is current facing assault charges for a bar brawl he
was involved in where the other brawler lost his life.
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