Top Stories Memphis

FAST FACTS:

• New questions surrounding former Oakland Officer truthfulness
• Man charged for robbing officer says he’s innocent
• Former officer failed to show up for court numerous times

(Memphis 03/11/2030) There are new questions surrounding allegations made by a former Oakland police officer.

It was called a miracle this past Christmas Eve when Joshua Smith said he survived being shot by two men during a traffic stop. He said his badge saved him.

News Channel 3 has learned not everyone believes that story now.

A Fayette County grand jury is expected to hear the case in a couple of weeks. There are now even more questions about the former officer’s truthfulness and one man says he’s paying the price for it.

“I was very shocked. They said I had something to do with it. Something like that anyway. I’m normally the kind of person that works for whatever I want or whatever. So, I’ve never done anything like that,” said Larry Duncan, Jr.

Duncan claimed from the moment he was arrested on aggravated robbery that police had the wrong man.

“I’d never seen him. I didn’t know if he was black or white. I didn’t even know who he was until after I went to court,” said Duncan.

Smith worked for Memphis Light Gas and Water before he joined the police force in Oakland. He said he was robbed of $5 and his meter reading equipment while at work.

He picked Duncan out of a police photo line up as the man driving a purple Ford Crown Victoria used as a getaway car. Smith told police Duncan yelled at him out the driver’s window.

However, Duncan says his car window doesn’t even work and his car is blue not purple.

Duncan said, “My window can’t let down. The only way I can holler or do anything is if I open the door.”

It’s also aggravating to Duncan’s lawyer that Smith often ignored subpoenas failing to show up for court in the case. He once said he was too busy, because he was a police officer.

We caught up with Smith Wednesday. He wouldn’t answer questions about the MLGW incident or the badge controversy. However, Duncan’s lawyer is asking not only to have the photo line up thrown out as evidence but also maybe the case.

“Initially I thought it would be a case of mistaken identification. I question whether this robbery ever occurred,” said Juni Ganguli, Duncan’s attorney.

Smith said he suffered emotional trauma after the robbery. He collected worker’s comp pay from the utility and left after they refused to reassign him to another neighborhood.

Today I asked a spokesperson for the utility if they ever doubted his story. He said they did not. Another court date has been set for March 31.

FAST FACTS:

• New questions surrounding former Oakland Officer truthfulness
• Man charged for robbing officer says he’s innocent
• Former officer failed to show up for court numerous times

(Memphis 03/11/2030) There are new questions surrounding allegations made by a former Oakland police officer.

It was called a miracle this past Christmas Eve when Joshua Smith said he survived being shot by two men during a traffic stop. He said his badge saved him.

News Channel 3 has learned not everyone believes that story now.

A Fayette County grand jury is expected to hear the case in a couple of weeks. There are now even more questions about the former officer’s truthfulness and one man says he’s paying the price for it.

“I was very shocked. They said I had something to do with it. Something like that anyway. I’m normally the kind of person that works for whatever I want or whatever. So, I’ve never done anything like that,” said Larry Duncan, Jr.

Duncan claimed from the moment he was arrested on aggravated robbery that police had the wrong man.

“I’d never seen him. I didn’t know if he was black or white. I didn’t even know who he was until after I went to court,” said Duncan.

Smith worked for Memphis Light Gas and Water before he joined the police force in Oakland. He said he was robbed of $5 and his meter reading equipment while at work.

He picked Duncan out of a police photo line up as the man driving a purple Ford Crown Victoria used as a getaway car. Smith told police Duncan yelled at him out the driver’s window.

However, Duncan says his car window doesn’t even work and his car is blue not purple.

Duncan said, “My window can’t let down. The only way I can holler or do anything is if I open the door.”

It’s also aggravating to Duncan’s lawyer that Smith often ignored subpoenas failing to show up for court in the case. He once said he was too busy, because he was a police officer.

We caught up with Smith Wednesday. He wouldn’t answer questions about the MLGW incident or the badge controversy. However, Duncan’s lawyer is asking not only to have the photo line up thrown out as evidence but also maybe the case.

“Initially I thought it would be a case of mistaken identification. I question whether this robbery ever occurred,” said Juni Ganguli, Duncan’s attorney.

Smith said he suffered emotional trauma after the robbery. He collected worker’s comp pay from the utility and left after they refused to reassign him to another neighborhood.

Today I asked a spokesperson for the utility if they ever doubted his story. He said they did not. Another court date has been set for March 31.

FAST FACTS:


Oscar Winner Sandra Bullock Thanks Memphis Family
Bullock Says The Tuohy Family Gave Her A New Opportunity
Oscar Award Is Dedicated To Special Mothers

(Memphis 3/8/ 2010) She was always “Miss Congenitality” in the movies.

Now Sandra Bullock is an Oscar winner for her work inspired by a real life Memphis family.

Bullock said, “To the family that allowed me to play them, the Tuohy family, I know they’re here and you’ll probably hear her in a minute, maybe not(laughter).

Bullock won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of high powered Leigh Anne Tuohy in the movie “The Blind Side.”

In her acceptance speech, Bullock explains what the Tuohy family met to her.

Bullock, “Thank you for giving me the opportunity. The family that made this film that gave me the opportunity to do something different.”

Memphian Molly Smith is the excutive producer of the film. When we spoke with her Monday afternoon, she had the post Oscar Glow.

Smith said, “We were all so excited we were screaming in the audience. Her win is a win for the movie.”

“The Blind Side” is about a woman who, with uncommon love and acceptance, took in Michael Oher, a once homeless young man and nurtured him to football stardom. Oher is now a standout football star with the Baltimore Ravens.

Smith said, “You knew it was a movie that would touch people’s hearts. I didn’t clearly know how a big a financial success it would be and I never knew we would be talking Oscar. I just knew it was a movie with a wonderful message and a lot of heart.”

It’s also a story that inspired an Oscar worthy performance by Sandra Bullock who dedicates her award to special mothers everywhere.

Bullock said, “So I would like to think what the film is about for me, which are the moms that take care of their babies and the children no matter where they come from(clapping).”

“The Blind Side” has generated almost a quarter of a billion dollars at the box office. It’ll be released on DVD in a couple of weeks.

FAST FACTS:


Oscar Winner Sandra Bullock Thanks Memphis Family
Bullock Says The Tuohy Family Gave Her A New Opportunity
Oscar Award Is Dedicated To Special Mothers

(Memphis 3/8/ 2010) She was always “Miss Congenitality” in the movies.

Now Sandra Bullock is an Oscar winner for her work inspired by a real life Memphis family.

Bullock said, “To the family that allowed me to play them, the Tuohy family, I know they’re here and you’ll probably hear her in a minute, maybe not(laughter).

Bullock won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of high powered Leigh Anne Tuohy in the movie “The Blind Side.”

In her acceptance speech, Bullock explains what the Tuohy family met to her.

Bullock, “Thank you for giving me the opportunity. The family that made this film that gave me the opportunity to do something different.”

Memphian Molly Smith is the excutive producer of the film. When we spoke with her Monday afternoon, she had the post Oscar Glow.

Smith said, “We were all so excited we were screaming in the audience. Her win is a win for the movie.”

“The Blind Side” is about a woman who, with uncommon love and acceptance, took in Michael Oher, a once homeless young man and nurtured him to football stardom. Oher is now a standout football star with the Baltimore Ravens.

Smith said, “You knew it was a movie that would touch people’s hearts. I didn’t clearly know how a big a financial success it would be and I never knew we would be talking Oscar. I just knew it was a movie with a wonderful message and a lot of heart.”

It’s also a story that inspired an Oscar worthy performance by Sandra Bullock who dedicates her award to special mothers everywhere.

Bullock said, “So I would like to think what the film is about for me, which are the moms that take care of their babies and the children no matter where they come from(clapping).”

“The Blind Side” has generated almost a quarter of a billion dollars at the box office. It’ll be released on DVD in a couple of weeks.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jeff Bridges has won the best-actor Academy Award for his turn as a boozy country singer trying to clean up his act in “Crazy Heart.”

The Oscar marks a career peak for Bridges, a beloved Hollywood veteran who had been nominated four times in the previous 38 years without winning.

Supporting-acting Oscars went to Mo’Nique for “Precious” and Christoph Waltz for “Inglourious Basterds.”

The Iraq War thriller “The Hurt Locker” has the lead with four awards, including original screenplay and film editing. The science-fiction blockbuster “Avatar” has three, including visual effects and cinematography.

“Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” came in tied for the lead with nine nominations each.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Villainous roles snatched the supporting-acting prizes Sunday at the Academy Awards: “Precious” co-star Mo’Nique as a contemptible mother and “Inglourious Basterds” co-star Christoph Waltz as a sociable Nazi fiend.

Both performers capped remarkable years, Mo’Nique startling fans with dramatic depths previously unsuspected in the actress known for lowbrow comedy and the Austrian-born Waltz leaping to fame with his first big Hollywood role.

“I would like to thank the academy for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics,” said Mo’Nique, who plays the heartless, abusive welfare mother of an illiterate teen (Gabourey Sidibe, a best-actress nominee in her screen debut) in the Harlem drama “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.”

Mo’Nique added her gratitude to the first black actress to win an Oscar, Hattie McDaniel, the 1939 supporting-actress winner for “Gone With the Wind.”

“I want to thank Miss Hattie McDaniel for enduring all that she had to so that I would not have to,” she said, adding thanks to Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, who signed on as executive producers to spread the word on “Precious” after it premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival.

“Precious” also won the adapted-screenplay Oscar for Geoffrey Fletcher.

“This is for everybody who works on a dream every day. Precious boys and girls everywhere,” Fletcher said.

Waltz’s award was presented by last season’s supporting-actress winner, Penelope Cruz, who gave Waltz a kiss as he took the stage.

“Oscar and Penelope. That’s an uber-bingo,” Waltz said.

Though a veteran stage and TV actor in Europe, Waltz had been a virtual unknown in Hollywood before Quentin Tarantino cast him as the prattling, ruthless Jew-hunter Hans Landa in his World War II saga.

“Quentin with his unorthodox methods of navigation, this fearless explorer, took this ship across and brought it in with flying colors, and that’s why I’m here,” Waltz said. “This is your welcoming embrace, and there’s no way I can ever thank you enough.”

The Iraq War drama “The Hurt Locker” won four prizes, including original screenplay for Mark Boal, who spun a story about the perils and pressures of a U.S. bomb unit in Iraq.

The science-fiction blockbuster “Avatar” won three Oscars, for visual effects, art direction and cinematography, beating “The Hurt Locker” for the latter. “The Hurt Locker” won out over “Avatar” for film editing, sound editing and sound mixing.

With nine nominations each, “The Hurt Locker” and “Avatar” came in tied for the Oscar lead. The evening’s last two categories, best director and picture, marked the two films’ main rivalry, which is spiced up by a personal connection between “Hurt Locker” director Kathryn Bigelow and “Avatar” director James Cameron. They were married from 1989-91.