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  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 Tv�s 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 Clark�s 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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