The knives are coming out

Recent problems appear to point to potential need for prosecutorial oversight of some type?

How about enforcing the rules of ethics for one?

Also it is a few bad seeds not the whole bunch.  But even if it is only one it is one too much.

Policing prosecutors sorely lacking

By Patricia Kilday Hart - Houston Chronicle


As any fan of the popular television drama Law & Order can tell you, the series' prosecutors often have to rein in overzealous cops and defend the rights of the accused. On television at least, our fictional district attorneys frequently admonish their partners in law enforcement for engaging in unscrupulous investigatory tactics. Our primetime heroes don't cut corners.

If only life really imitated art! A new study by the Innocence Project has found that in at least 91 Texas criminal cases between 2004 and 2008, prosecutors themselves engaged in misconduct like hiding evidence that would have proven someone's innocence. And who polices the prosecutors? According to this research, no one. Not a single Texas prosecutor was held accountable for violating the rights of the accused.

The new data came as no surprise to University of Houston Law Center professor Robert Schuwerk, who also researched discipline cases against Texas prosecutors for not playing fair with criminal defendants. Like the Innocence Project, he came up with zilch.

The rest of the story:

Heroism comes pint-sized

God Bless Nicholas!

The is the boy in red, the boy he saved is the one with the glasses sitting nexst to him.

Boy who saved classmate is honored

By Jennifer R. Lloyd - Express-News

It was lunchtime when Jasiah Rubalcava noticed his friend choking on a nacho chip.

Soon Nicholas Carvajal was clutching his neck and turning red. Jasiah raced around the table and performed the Heimlich maneuver, which loosened the chip enough for Nicholas to cough — and breathe.

The difference between Jasiah and other Heimlich heroes is that he is 6, a kindergartener at West Avenue Elementary, who can't yet pronounce the name of the technique.

The rest of the story:

Rest in Peace

I wouldn't call it an act of deep devotion.

However, I cannot judge them or his actions.

My condolences to the family.

Man who wrote about Alzheimer's kills wife, self

Associated Press -

TREXLERTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania man who had recently written in The New York Times about his love for his Alzheimer's-stricken wife killed her and himself in what their family called an act of "deep devotion."

The bodies of Charles Snelling and his wife, Adrienne, both 81, were found Thursday in their home in Trexlertown in eastern Pennsylvania.

"Our father ended our mother's life and then took his own life as well," the family said in a statement. "This is a total shock to everyone in the family, but we know he acted out of deep devotion and profound love."

The rest of the story:

Strife everywhere soon?

You know what? 

I am beginning to get worried about what this Summer will be like.

Here, there and everywhere.

Anti-fascists mobilise against English Defense League summit in Denmark

By Kevin Rawlinson - The Independent



Hundreds of demonstrators will confront the English Defence League tomorrow as the far-right group holds its first ever European summit in a bid to set up a Continent-wide alliance of anti-Islamic organisations.


Danish activists claimed that as many as 4,000 anti-fascist activists would make their way to the town of Aarhus, where the meeting is due to take place tomorrow afternoon, from the UK, Denmark and Germany.

Organisers said they would march one hour before an EDL rally in the town, in what they predicted would be the country’s largest anti-fascist mobilisation in 15 years.

The rest of the story:

Why I hate Family Law cases

Because people just can't act right.

Why do this?  Just to annoy the ex-spouse?

Tennessee mother faces possible jail time for baptizing children

CBS Charlotte -

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Shelby County mother is facing contempt-of-court charges and possible jail time for baptizing her two children without the knowledge or consent of her ex-husband.

This week the Tennessee Court of Appeals said Lauren Jarrell must face a criminal contempt hearing for violating a court order that said major decisions regarding the religious upbringing of her two children should be made jointly with her-ex-husband.

The mother and her ex-husband, Blake Jarrell, are both Christian — he’s a Methodist and she’s a Presbyterian

The rest of the story:

Starting off on the wrong foot

Well if he went into a garage attached to a house and stole something it is indeed a burglary of a habitation.

But at least it will be in the Juvenile Courts.

Cops: 10-year-old charged with Felony after stealing bicycle

CBS Tampa -

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (CBS Tampa) - A 10-year-old child was arrested and charged with felony burglary after stealing a bicycle, temporarily leaving his tricycle at the scene of the crime in order to get away successfully.

According to the Fort Walton Beach Police Department, a local woman reportedly had her bicycle stolen, along with her son’s air rifle.

Responding officers found the suspect, Daryl Pitts, nearby in possession of a bicycle whose serial numbers matched those of the one he had to the one that was stolen.

The rest of the story:

Fox guarding the hen house

It worked for a little while apparently.

Don't these guys wonder that they will be caught?

Impound lot employee arrested on charges of vehicle theft

By Michelle Casady - Express-News

A 27-year-old employee of United Road Towing who police said helped a man steal a motorcycle from the impound lot remained in the Bexar County Jail Wednesday on $10,000 bail.

A total of seven vehicles have been stolen from the lot on Growden Road and police said more arrests are possible.

Robert Tenorio was arrested Wednesday after a warrant was obtained on one charge of vehicle theft.

The rest of the story:

Cowboys fan bites the dust

Shouting "Go Cowboys" he went.

Texas man executed for 10-month-old boy's death

By Michael Graczyk - Associated Press

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A convicted child sex offender was executed Wednesday for the beating death of a 10-month-old boy he was baby-sitting at a home in Dallas.

Jesse Joe Hernandez smiled and laughed at times before receiving a lethal injection for the slaying of Karlos Borja 11 years ago.

"God bless everybody. Continue to walk with God," the 47-year-old Hernandez said. Moments later, he shouted "Go Cowboys!" in honor of his favorite football team.

The rest of the story:

Now playing solitaire

A threesome?

How about a twosome?

You and yourself.

Man arrested in beating of woman who refused threesome

By Ana Ley - Express-News

Police have charged a San Antonio man in the beating of a woman who refused to partake in a sexual threesome.

Jack Lee Buck, 50, was charged late Saturday with enhanced family violence assault, a third-degree felony. Bail was set at $15,000.

Police responded to a domestic disturbance at a house in the 4000 block of Lord Road in December.

The rest of the story:

Acquittal!

Rightly or wrongly the jury spoke.

Man acquitted of kidnap and rape of student

By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

The second trial of a Universal City man accused of kidnapping and raping at gunpoint a 14-year-old Schertz student who had been walking to school has ended with an acquittal.

Alexander Joseph Castro, 26, was found not guilty by a Bexar County jury Wednesday afternoon. Had Castro been convicted of the two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated kidnapping, he could have faced up to life in prison.

A jury in Guadalupe County, where the case originated before moving to San Antonio because of publicity there, had deadlocked 11-1 in favor of conviction in September.

The rest of the story:

Would you let your kid write a convicted child sexual abuser in prison?

This was absolutely unbelievable.

He has been convicted, in Comal County, and sentenced to 50 years in prison for the offense of continuous sexual abuse of a child and she has her students writing to him.

Parents say school failed to protect children in inmate pen-pal project

Students communicated with a convicted sex offender
By Ryan Korsgard - Click2houston.com

HOUSTON -

A Houston family sued the Trinity Lutheran School claiming the school and its administrators failed to protect students as a teacher allowed students to correspond with a now convicted child molester.

"Just disbelief over the whole situation," said the mother, who asked that her identity not be revealed.

She said her 10-year-old son was corresponding with Rickey Rea Rowlett while he was in jail.  Last week, Rowlett was convicted of continuous sex abuse of a child under 14 years old.

The rest of the story:

The penultimate act of defriending on Facebook

Not only of her friends but of herself as well.

Did she get any likes?

Taiwan police: Woman kills herself while on Facebook

By Annie Huang - Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A woman in Taiwan killed herself by inhaling poisonous fumes while chatting with friends on Facebook and none of them alerted authorities, police said Tuesday.

Claire Lin killed herself on her 31st birthday, March 18, and family members who reported her suicide were unaware of the Facebook conversations that accompanied it, Taipei police officer Hsieh Ku-ming said.

Lin's last Facebook entries show her chatting with nine friends, alerting them to her gradual asphyxiation. One picture uploaded from her mobile phone depicts a charcoal barbecue burning next to two stuffed animals. Another shows the room filled with fumes.

The rest of the story:

Baby: The ultimate disposable item?

18 years for murdering his child?

Judge, what were you thinking?

BTW Momma got 12 years!

Father who abused infant daughter given 18-year term

By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A teen father accused of having slapped, starved, choked and given cocaine to his infant daughter before leaving her emaciated corpse outside a West Side firehouse was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Ramiro De La Rosa, now 21, was to be in court Tuesday morning for jury selection in the case, in which he was charged with injury to a child. Instead, he agreed to plead guilty in exchange for prosecutors seeking a sentence of no more than 25 years in prison.

Visiting state District Judge Phil Chavarria then agreed with the defense to give a lesser sentence, citing the defendant's youth. The offense, a first-degree felony, could have been punishable by up to life in prison had a jury found him guilty.

The rest of the story:

Duck and cover!

Family Law.

Always an adventure!

Attorney: 'All heck broke loose' during mother-son deposition

Herald-Zeitung -

A former state representative was caught in the middle of a custody battle that reportedly turned hostile Tuesday at Comal County Courthouse.

New Braunfels attorney Carter Casteel, who formerly represented District 73 in the state House, told the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung that she is “involved in a grandparent custodial case, and we were taking a deposition. We were proceeding with a civil matter there at the courthouse when all heck broke loose.”

The civil matter involves a paternal grandmother seeking custody of her grandson in a family law case, she said. The father in the case is Mike Reynolds, publisher and editor of the NB Citizen, an alternative publication launched late last year by opponents of the disposable container ban.

The rest of the story:

Congratulations Madam DA

Congratulations Jennifer!

It is a very well-deserved award.

I tell you sometimes I get dizzy just watching Jennifer go from meeting to meeting and always accomplishing so much.

If more of our elected officials were as dedicated to their work and as hard working as Jennifer Tharp our country would have less issues.


Tharp receives local lodge's Community Builder Award
By Dalondo Moultrie - New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung

NEW BRAUNFELS — What might have shocked few others in the area caught Comal County District Attorney Jennifer Tharp by surprise.

Tharp received the 2012 Community Builder Award during a Tuesday evening ceremony hosted by New Braunfels Masonic Lodge No. 1109. Presented by the lodge each year since 1991, the award is the highest honor the Masons can bestow upon a non-member.

When she learned she would receive the honor, Tharp said she was “blown away.”

The rest of the story:

Howdy and welcome to Amarillo, Texas!

Man!

Are you royally e'ffed when the pilot on your plane goes berserk or what?

JetBlue captain goes berserk on NYC-to-Vegas flight

By Bill Sanderson and Pedro Oliveira, Jr. - New York Post


A JetBlue captain went berserk on a flight from Kennedy Airport to Las Vegas today in an incident that forced the plane to make an emergency landing, passengers and authorities said.

“Say your prayers!” the crazed pilot screamed as he ran up and down the aisle, a passenger told The Post.


“Someone next to me said he was saying something about bombs,” recounted the passenger, Tiffany Lee, a 26-year-old Las Vegas resident. The Amarillo Globe-News also quoted passengers on board saying the pilot was screaming about al Qaeda.

The rest of the story:

Oops!

The lesson of this story?

Always get more than enough signatures!

Incumbent JP among three disqualified candidates

By John W. Gonzales - Express-News

Two Democratic candidates for justice of the peace — including an embattled two-term incumbent — and one district judge hopeful have been disqualified from the May 29 primary ballot due to insufficient petition signatures, party officials said Monday.

Precinct 1, Place 1 Justice of the Peace Monica Caballero; Precinct 2, Place 1 candidate Byron E. Barnett; and 57th District Court judge candidate Enacio B. “Buddy” Barretto each failed to submit the 250 valid signatures required, Bexar County Democratic Party Chair Choco Meza said.

The disqualifications resulted from specific challenges filed by opponents in their races, Meza said. Signatures were excluded for a wide range of reasons, she said.

The rest of the story:

Stung

Did they think they were acting as mercenaries for the Zetas? 

Apparently so; however it was a sting operation by the DEA.

Former soldiers caught in DEA sting

By Jason Buch - Express-News

A South Carolina man was gunned down by federal agents Saturday in Laredo after a sting targeting U.S. soldiers who wanted to work for the Zetas drug cartel went wrong, federal prosecutors said.

Former Army 1st Lt. Kevin Corley, 29; Army Sgt. Samuel Walker, 28, both of Colorado Springs, Colo.; Shavar Davis, 29, of Denver; and Jerome Corley, of South Carolina, drove into Laredo Saturday armed with two semiautomatic rifles, a knife and a .300-caliber bolt-action rifle equipped with a scope and a bipod, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.

They were in Laredo, prosecutors allege, to raid a ranch where the men believed they would find 20 kilograms of cocaine that had been stolen from the Zetas.

The rest of the story:

Farewell Judge Wiggins

I wish Judge Mike Wiggins all the best in his future endeavors and gets to put his mess behind him.

Also that his neuropathy pains ease up.


Guadalupe County Judge Wiggins' last day set for April 30

The Seguin Gazette

SEGUIN — Guadalupe County Judge Mike Wiggins has submitted his resignation effective April 30.

Today’s Commissioners’ Court will be the last one at which Wiggins presides. Although he will continue coming to work throughout the month, Wiggins does not plan to preside at or attend any of the court’s April meetings.

The rest of the story:

Gone too soon

Rest in Peace Randall and my prayers and condolences go out to your family and friends.

I hope the shooter is found and that Justice is swiftly rendered by the Courts.


SVHS grad dies after being shot
By Dalondo Moultrie - New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung

NEW BRAUNFELS — A recent Smithson Valley High School graduate died early Saturday after being shot during a fight at a house party a couple off miles off the University of Texas at San Antonio main campus, authorities said Monday.

Randall Perkins, 20, of San Antonio, died about 3:25 a.m. Saturday at University Hospital in San Antonio, according to a preliminary report released by San Antonio Police Department. Also shot and sent to University Hospital was Paul Benavides, 24, who lived at the address where the shooting occurred, the report stated.

The rest of the story:

Trying to take a bite out of the Apple

Sheesh!

I'm sorry you broke your nose walking into the glass door, but suing them for a Million Dollars?

Octogenarian sues Apple for collision related injury

CBSNewYork -

NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) –  A Queens woman is suing Apple for $1,000,000 after smashing her face on a glass door at a Long Island Apple Store.

Evelyn Paswall, 83, claims that the glass doors at the front of Apple Stores pose a risk to the elderly.

Paswall’s attorney Derek T. Smith told the Post that,“Apple wants to be cool and modern and have the type of architecture that would appeal to the tech crowd, but on the other hand, they have to appreciate the danger that this high-tech modern architecture poses to some people.”

The rest of the story:

Bye, have a nice trip!

Write to us after you get there.

Hippies head for Noah's Ark: Queue here for rescue aboard alien spaceship 

Thousands of New Agers descend on mountain they see as haven from December's apocalypse
By Oliver Pickup - The Independent

A mountain looming over a French commune with a population of just 200 is being touted as a modern Noah's Ark when doomsday arrives – supposedly less than nine months from now.


A rapidly increasing stream of New Age believers – or esoterics, as locals call them – have descended in their camper van-loads on the usually picturesque and tranquil Pyrenean village of Bugarach. They believe that when apocalypse strikes on 21 December this year, the aliens waiting in their spacecraft inside Pic de Bugarach will save all the humans near by and beam them off to the next age.

As the cataclysmic date – which, according to eschatological beliefs and predicted astrological alignments, concludes a 5,125-year cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar – nears, the goings-on around the peak have become more bizarre and ritualistic.

The rest of the story:

SSDD

Just another day in Drugville.

Man arrested after police find $1,000 worth of drugs

By Michelle Casady - Express-News

San Antonio police early Sunday arrested a man accused of possessing about $1,000 worth of drugs after he and others fled to an apartment complex just north of downtown.

Vincent C. Douglas, 44, is being held in Bexar County Jail on one count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of marijuana, between 4 ounces and 5 pounds. A judge set bail at $35,000.

Lt. Lee Rakun said an officer responding to a report of a possible gang fight around 9 p.m. Saturday on West French Place saw one man carrying what looked like an assault rifle. When he attempted to approach those involved in the fight, several ran to a nearby apartment.

The rest of the story:

Left lying in the road to die like a dog

This being San Antonio I am going to go out on a limb here.

Anyone NOT believe the hit and run driver was intoxicated at the time of the collision.

I hope this person POS gets found.

Woman killed in hit-and-run crash

By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

A pedestrian was fatally struck by a hit-and-run vehicle early Sunday on the West Side, according to San Antonio police.
The victim, whose name has not yet been released, was reportedly killed while walking on the exit ramp from westbound U.S. 90 to Cupples Road, police said.
She was pronounced dead at the scene, which took place around 3 a.m., officials said.

The rest of the story:

Stirring the pot

You mean as in makes you look like idiots?

White supremacist runs for sheriff in Idaho, raising hackles

By Laura Zuckerman - Reuters

SALMON. Idaho (Reuters) - White supremacist Shaun Patrick Winkler, a convicted batterer who once worked for an Aryan Nations leader, wants to add an unlikely notch to his spotty resume -- sheriff of Idaho's Bonner County.

He is vying for the Republican nomination for the post in a three-way race that will culminate in a May 15 primary, and a local party leader has likened his prospects at victory to the chances of "hearing a dying calf in a windstorm."

Local Republicans have expressed embarrassment by the bid, human rights groups are outraged, and others worry the run -- and the negative attention it garners -- will hamper efforts to dispel an image that the northern Idaho region is a haven for hate groups and extremists. "We haven't been able to shake that stereotype of white supremacists, and it's really unfortunate and unfair," said Janice Schoonover, co-owner of Western Pleasure Guest Ranch in the town of Sandpoint. "This just stirs the pot and makes us seem like something we're not."

The rest of the story:

Breaking News! Dick Cheney has had a change of heart!

To all of you on the Left who have doubted this for years.

Dick Cheney now officially has a heart.

Cheney gets heart transplant, in intensive care

By Phil Stewart - Reuters


(Reuters) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney was recovering on Saturday after undergoing heart transplant surgery, a once risky procedure whose survival rates have improved over the years.

The 71-year-old Republican, who wielded unprecedented power as vice president during the George W. Bush administration's war on terrorism, was in the intensive care unit at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia.

Cheney, who has suffered five heart attacks, the first at age 37, had been on the cardiac transplant list for more than 20 months before he received the heart from an anonymous donor.

The rest of the story:

Who knew?

Gee.

This would sort of tend to put the kibosh to the meme of "Who Knew" spouted by Penn State and officials.


At least as to the University Police, No?

It could've saved other kids from being sexually abused as well.

Sandusky labeled 'likely pedophile' in 1998 report

Psychologist warned university police, but they weren't able to prove abuse of boy
By Michael Isikoff - NBC News

More than a decade before former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky was charged with more than 50 counts of child sex abuse, a psychologist warned university police that his actions fit that of a “likely pedophile’s pattern.”

The finding by State College, Pa., psychologist Dr. Alycia A. Chambers, the therapist for one of Sandusky’s alleged victims, was contained in the internal Penn State files of a 1998 police investigation of the former coach for showering and bear hugging her client and another young boy in the school’s athletic locker room.

The Sandusky Files: Read the 1998 police report

NBC News has obtained the complete file on the investigation – the police report and assessments by two psychologists who interviewed the boys -- which provides new details about Sandusky’s behavior. It also could raise fresh questions about how school and local authorities handled his case.

The rest of the story:

High Noon at the High Court

This will be an interesting upcoming three (3) days of oral arguments in front of the US Supreme Court.

High Court set for showdown

By Don Finley Express-News

Two years after it was enacted, and with Americans still passionately divided, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments beginning Monday on President Barack Obama's landmark health care reform law.

San Antonio — where one in six workers is employed in health care or medical research and 24 percent of residents lack health insurance — has a big stake in the outcome. Texas is one of 26 states that have sued to overturn the law.

With a nod to the importance of the case, the Supreme Court has allotted six hours over three days to hear oral arguments, instead of the usual one hour. A ruling is expected by early summer.

The rest of the story:

Sexsomina?

Hmmm?

Sounds like a wee bit sketchy defense to me.

Sleeping man rapes sleeping woman

thelocal.se -

A 27-year-old man from northern Sweden charged with raping a sleeping woman has defended himself by claiming he too was asleep at the time.

The incident took place in June last summer in the village of Vilhelmina after the woman had passed out in a cabin following a night of heavy drinking.

The 27-year-old then began having sexual intercourse with the sleeping woman, according to the indictment, which was filed on Thursday in the Lycksele District Court.

As the woman was judged to be in a helpless state at the time of the incident, prosecutors have charged the man with rape.

Wanted Dead or Alive?

Have we come to this?

Are members of the New Black Panther party going to get away with posters calling for the alleged shooter of Trayvon Martin to be captured dead or alive?

Just a quick hypothetical, what if the KKK put out one calling for the capture dead or alive of an African-American for the alleged shooting and murder of a white teenager?

If we are a Nation of Laws, and we are, we cannot allow this kind of vigilantism of any color, stripe or persuasion to go unanswered.

We cannot, if we are to survive as a Nation of Laws.

Wanted dead or alive poster issued for George Zimmerman by New Panther Party

By Harold Michael Harvey - Allvoices.com

Yesterday afternoon at a press conference, the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense circulated a “wanted dead or alive” poster for George Zimmerman for shooting to death a Florida teenager four weeks ago.

Zimmerman, a self-proclaimed neighborhood watch captain said he accosted what he alleges was a suspicious looking black male walking through his neighborhood. He further contends the man punched him, and bloodied his nose, so Zimmerman fired a gun shot striking the man in the chest. The “man” was 17 year old Trayvon Martin, who would lie in the county morgue three days before police alerted his parents of their child’s death.

Minister Mikhail Muhummud led the press conference, calling for the firing of Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee, the arrest of George Zimmerman and some involvement from President Obama. Muhummud stated he is the southern regional director for the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense located in Jacksonville, Florida. While Minister Muhummud fired off a list of demands and expressed outrage over the handling of the shooting and subsequent investigation; a member of the group passed flyers to about 100 people who showed up for the press conference. Muhummud told the group he was not concerned with rumors of death threats to George Zimmerman, “He should be afraid for his life…” (SEE http://youtu.be/ZE_i9TELcfw)

The rest of the story:

Lawsuit!

Never a good idea to run against someone you work for.

Kendall County sued by former clerk

By Zeke MacCormack - Express-News

A former Kendall County clerk claims in a federal lawsuit that she was the victim of harassment, racial discrimination and wrongful termination by county officials, who she also claims interfered with her right to seek elected office.

Plaintiff Angela San Miguel, a former deputy county clerk, was terminated in May 2010 after going on a lengthy sick leave, during which she unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the post of district clerk.

San Miguel's suit accuses County Clerk Darlene Herrin of trying to dissuade her from running, saying she'd lose and likening it to abandoning her job.

The rest of the story:

When bad things happen

Why do these things happen?

Why must life be so full of pain and misery?

Why should a child have to go through this?

Man gets 5 years prison for child's fractured wrist

By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A San Antonio man accused of fracturing his developmentally delayed stepson's wrist during a punishment session was ordered Friday to serve five years in prison.

Omar McVae Rucker, who turns 32 today, pleaded no contest last month to injury to a child causing serious bodily injury in exchange for a maximum sentence of five years and a chance to ask for probation. State District Judge Lori Valenzuela denied his request.

Authorities said Rucker acknowledged slapping the boy's hands last September after the 5-year-old soiled himself on a bus home from school, but he said he didn't think the punishment got out of hand.

The rest of the story:

Stupid is as stupid did

How stupid is this?

Pretty stupid.

JP clerk accused of skimming fine payments

By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A former deputy clerk has been indicted on suspicion of pocketing fine payments while working in the office of Bexar County Justice of the Peace Monica Caballero.

The district attorney's white collar crimes unit began investigating Debra Ann Nuncio, 40, in the later half of 2010 after residents complained that they were getting notices of nonpayment or arrest warrants for fines that they said had been already collected by the Precinct 1, Place 1 court. It appears they were issued fake receipts, authorities said.

Nuncio, who was indicted earlier this month, appeared in court Wednesday for a pretrial hearing. She is charged with eight counts of tampering with a government record and one count of theft by a public servant between $1,500 and $20,000. Each is a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The rest of the story:

The faces of DWI victims

Both mother and daughter were killed by a drunk driver.

Someone who had two prior DWI convictions by the time he was 25 years old.

Was that enough to stop him form drinking and driving again?

Apparently not.  How many times had he done this before?  How many other times had he driven while drunk before he killed Jessica and her daughter Kaylee? 

May they Rest in Peace.

There is no story of redemption here.  Put him away.  Put him away for as long as possible.

Put him away to protect us all.

Mom's death stuns family

By Eva Ruth Moravec and Michelle Casady - Express-News

After more than a year spent grieving the loss of her father, things were finally turning around for young mother Jessica Rodriguez, her friends said.

Rodriguez and her 10-year-old daughter were killed early Thursday after the car they were in was struck by a drunken-driving suspect who had twice been convicted of driving while intoxicated.

Friends said Rodriguez had just finished working when her fiancé picked her up on Losoya Street to go home.

The rest of the story:

BREAKING NEWS

Rowlett convicted and sentenced to fifty (50) years in prison


Sorry I was out most of the day and did not have time to post.


But the Jury came back and having convicted Mr. Rowlett yesterday for the offense of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child; they sentenced him to 50 years in prison today.

Good Job Sammy McCrary and Laura Bates!

Re-trial continues

Will he be found guilty?

In retrial, witness describes rape horror

By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A high school student was barely able to speak through her sobs Tuesday as she described to Bexar County jurors in graphic detail her abduction three years ago while walking to school in Schertz and the rape that followed.

After the attack in a remote wooded area in Selma, “he told me to get on the ground on my stomach,” the student, now 17, said as testimony began for the change-of-venue retrial of Alexander Joseph Castro. “I thought he was going to kill me.”

Instead, she said, he drove away in his red pickup, leaving the then-14-year-old distraught and naked except for her shoes.

The rest of the story:

Judge, no more

I feel badly for Judge Mike Wiggins.

Neuropathy is a terrible side effect of Diabetes.  The pain can be intense and unrelenting at times but it was a poor decision on his part to self-medicate with an illegal substance.

Particularly after having been a DPS Trooper for many years.

Good luck to you Judge.

Guadalupe judge to step down 

By Zeke MacCormack - Express-News

Facing growing public pressure over his Feb. 6 arrest for pot possession, Guadalupe County Judge Mike Wiggins announced Tuesday that he plans to step down next week.

 “He did the right thing for the county,” County Commissioner Jim Wolverton said. “Now the healing process can begin.”

Wiggins had resisted earlier calls to leave the office he's held since 2007 over what he has apologetically explained as a poor choice of medications for chronic foot pain.

The rest of the story:

Trial Continues Today

He is facing, if convicted,  a sentence running from 25 to 99 years or life.


Alleged victim testifies at Rowlett Trial
By Dalondo Moultrie - The Herald-Zeitung
 
NEW BRAUNFELS — A 10-year-old girl confronted her alleged abuser in a Comal County courtroom Tuesday afternoon as she took the stand in his trial on a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a young child.

“He was touching me in private areas,” testified the girl, whose identity is being withheld by the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung. “It was kind of gross.”

The rest of the story:

Where the First Amendment meets the road

Hey! but its all okay because the Mayor of Chicago is Rahm Emmanuel.

Police handcuff NBC Chicago Photojournalist

By Zach Christman - NBC Chicago

Chicago police took two members of the media into custody Saturday, including an NBC Chicago photographer.

Photographer Donte Williams and WGN Reporter Dan Ponce were detained as they attempted to cover the story of a 6-year-old girl who was shot and killed. Crews were standing on a sidewalk outside Mt. Sinai Hospital, where the girl had been taken.

The hospital apparently called police, complaining of trespassers. The news crews, at the request of police officers, said they had already moved from a public sidewalk directly in front of the hospital, to a median halfway across the street.

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Going Greek?

Can Detroit be saved?

Or will it all become like Greece?

A city-wide Greektown, so to speak.

Dire finances leave Detroit stalled

Washington Times -

Despite assurances from Clint Eastwood and Eminem, Detroit’s rebirth may be on hold, as the city is on a Greece-like track to run out of money before summer, and things are getting increasingly testy between the state’s Republican governor and the city’s Democratic mayor.

Although the automotive sector and some other parts of the city’s business picture have bounced back in recent years, Detroit city government finances are still on an unsustainable course, and the city does not have a viable fiscal plan to avoid running out of money in May.

Last week, the city rejected a proposed consent agreement that would have given a nine-member state-appointed oversight board a voice in city government and started a war of words with the state government, which has its own deadline set for next week.

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Ready for delivery

All done, all error waived, if any.

Book 'em Danno.

Murder suspect takes 30-year plea offer

By Zeke MacCormack - Express-News

The Ingram man whose murder trial in Kerrville ended in a mistrial on March 9 pleaded guilty Monday under a sentencing agreement, receiving a 30-year prison term for the slaying, authorities said.

Attorneys for Bryan K. Crum, 41, accused of fatally stabbing girlfriend April Kerr Barr in their trailer on Dec. 20, 2010, had vowed to fight a retrial on the grounds of trial misconduct by Assistant District Attorney Brad McCullouch.

However, defense counsel Patrick O'Fiel said Monday that Crum opted instead to take the state's plea offer.

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Cranked up!

This sounds like something out of the movie Crank.

Only he doesn't get to come back for the sequel.

Cocaine, enlarged heart contributed to in-custody death

By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

A man who led police on a 15-mile low-speed pursuit, fought with officers during a cocaine-induced frenzy, was stunned with a Taser numerous times and bitten by a police dog died in part because of the physical struggle, a recently released autopsy report reveals.

Seven San Antonio police officers clashed with Pierre Tourell Abernathy, 30, in the early-morning hours of Aug. 4 in his neighbor's yard in the 10800 block of Deepwater Bay, reports state.

An officer had tried to stop Abernathy after seeing him driving the wrong way near Interstate 10 and La Cantera Parkway, according to an incident report.

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Don't lose your head, the Pope is coming to visit

Okay.

You can stop now the Pope is coming.  (See story below)

10 severed heads found in Mexico

By Robert Kolarik - KSAT

Authorities have discovered the severed heads of 10 people killed in suspected drug violence in western Mexico, a Reuters report on KSAT’s website notes.

The heads were lined up in a street outside a house in Teloloapan, a small city north of Acapulco and south of Mexico City, the report states.

The city is in an area where La Familia cartel and its offshoot, Los Caballeros Templarios are fighting for territory, Reuters states.

The rest of the story:

Violence Vacay

Perhaps the Pope should visit Mexico more often?

Mexican cartel says no violence during Papal visit

By E. Eduardo Castillo - Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Banners purportedly signed by one of Mexico's drug cartels and hung in Guanajuato promise there will be no violence during next weekend's visit to the state by Pope Benedict XVI, an official said Sunday.

At least 11 banners signed by The Knights Templar gang were found in five municipalities, including the city of Leon, where the pope begins his trip Friday, an official at the state Attorney General's Office said. The official agreed to discuss the events on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to disclose the information.

He said the banners were found Saturday hanging from pedestrian bridges and carried messages about "a sort of truce for peace and said they are going to keep the peace during the pope's visit."

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Back up please

Stupid is as stupid does.

There was no call to do this.

Enraged motorist runs over cop’s foot

By Robert Kolarik - KSAT

A case of road rage led to a police officer’s foot being broken, KSAT-TV reports.

Police officers were blocking intersections downtown Sunday for the Fight to the Finish Half Marathon when one driver became enraged that he was being directed to wait till the runners passed, the station says.

“He wanted to go through the barricaded area where the officer was blocking traffic,” police Sgt. Greg Brooks told KSAT. “The driver became belligerent and argumentative with the officer.”

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Potential capital murder

Obviously he chose the wrong "friends" to hang with that evening.

Man killed during robbery

By Nolan Hicks - Express-News

A man was shot during a robbery early Saturday near S.E. Loop 410 and Alma on the Southeast Side.

The victim, Gary Crayton, 31, was taken by paramedics to the San Antonio Military Medical Center where he died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Police report that Crayton was coherent and speaking when he arrived at the hospital. He explained that he had left his girlfriend's house in a car with two unknown men earlier that evening to go to a bar.

 

 

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He's not as easy to fix

My prayers for the little boy's boys recovery.

To his family as well.

18-month-old boy hit by truck

By Nolan Hicks - Express-News

The quiet of a residential West Side street was broken Saturday afternoon by an accident that left an 18-month-old child clinging to life at University Hospital.

The child was injured when his aunt accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake while moving a truck that the toddler was playing in front of, said San Antonio Police Sgt. David Perry.

One man, Leroy Vasquez, was driving by the house in the 900 block of Cincinnati Avenue when he heard a bang and loud screams. He pulled over and ran toward the house.

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