Scoreboard!!

Jackpot!

22 convictions, all stackable.

Ding Ding Ding!...........

Child porn trial ends with 22 felony convictions

He could face up to 220 years in prison.
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

Jurors handed a San Antonio man 22 felony convictions Friday for what prosecutors described as one of the most egregious child porn possession cases they've seen at the state courts level.

Paul Joseph Lamarre, 43, now faces up to 10 years in prison for each of the convictions, which represent individual child porn images or movies he downloaded to his laptop.

Because the counts are stackable, he could get a combined sentence of up to 220 years when state District Judge Maria Teresa Herr determines his punishment next month.

The rest of the story:

Skin Job

"Skin Job"

Term used in Blade Runner for Replicants and in Battlestar Galatica for the human-like Cylons.

Seems like prudent conditions for his bond.

Doc in sex case to be monitored

By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A prominent San Antonio dermatologist accused of sexual misconduct by six women was ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device Friday, days after the Texas Medical Board suspended his license.

Calvin Day, 59, has been free on $175,000 in combined bonds since last month, when a Bexar County grand jury indicted him on two counts of sexual assault involving accusations by different patients.

Two other patients and two women who were not his patients have also accused him of sexual misconduct incidents at his office, according to Texas Medical Board documents. But because of Texas' statute of limitations, those complaints will not likely result in criminal prosecution, Assistant District Attorney David Henderson said Friday.

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A cautionary tale

If they can take down Monterrey they can pretty well take down anything.  In my opinion that would include small towns on our side of the Border.

Unless we start taking things more seriously.

Monterrey is 'slipping out of control'

By Dudley Althause - Express-News

MONTERREY, Mexico — The scrawled note left beside a woman's headless body in this already murder-mired city offered a simple promise.

“The worst is yet to come,” the killers' note advised, and it seems all but certainly so.

Gangsters and their local police cronies seemed determined this week to drown Mexico's third largest city and industrial juggernaut in terror and blood.

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That'll learn them

Can't have free enterprise you know.

It might give folks ideas.

Kids Lemonade Stand At U.S. Open Fined $500 And Shut Down By Montgomery County

wusa9.com -

BETHESDA, Md. (WUSA) -- You can make a fortune selling parking spots outside the US Open, but don't even dream of setting up a lemonade stand.

A county inspector ordered the Marriott and Augustine kids to shut down the stand they set up on Persimmon Tree Rd., right next to Congressional. And after they allegedly ignored a couple of warnings, the inspector fined their parents $500.

"This gentleman from the county is now telling us because we don't have a vendors license, the kids won't be allowed to sell their lemonade," Carrie Marriott told us, her voice trembling.

The kids can't seem to understand it. "I don't agree, I think the county is wrong." "We're sending the money to charity."

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When deer fly?

I've heard the expression when pigs fly.

There are of course horse flies.

But flying deer?  Not so much.

'Deer with wings' causes power outage in Montana

Associated Press -

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Montana resident says an energy company has identified the cause of a brief power outage as "deer with wings."

Lee Bridges says she was outside with her dogs around the time the power went out when a NorthWestern Energy truck pulled up, giving her a chance to ask the driver what caused the problem.

She says he pointed up and said, "Apparently, we've got deer with wings."

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Adult responsibility

I think he'll be certified to stand trial as an adult.

Teenager could face trial as an adult

He is accused of killing retired Army sergeant by stabbing him 42 times.
By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

A teenager accused of killing a retired U.S. Army sergeant last April — stabbing him more than 40 times in the torso, face, neck, head, arms and genitals — could face trial as an adult for the gruesome slaying, authorities said.

The boy, 16, remains unidentified because he's a juvenile. He was charged with murder after San Antonio police found him by following a blood trail from the second-story apartment of George Izer, 59, to a nearby residence, authorities said.

A hearing is set for July 1 to determine if the teen should be tried as an adult.

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Trial of the empty chair

Due process demands the presence of a defendant at every proceeding and at every phase of his or her the trial.

Unless, of course, they decide to absent themselves from it all.


Trial continues after defendant disappears
Helotes contractor doesn't return to court after lunch.
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

As jurors heard closing arguments Thursday afternoon in the felony theft trial of Helotes businessman Bruce Merryman, one key part of the proceedings seemed to be missing: Bruce Merryman.

Jurors deliberated for about an hour and a half before going home for the evening. They will return to the 175th state District Court today to continue deliberations.

Merryman, who could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of swindling an elderly couple out of about $48,000 in 2008 through his Care Construction Service company, started the day at the defense table as prosecutors called more dissatisfied customers to testify against him.

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I'm contemptuous of her too

What the hell?

What part of don't communicate with anyone involved in the case didn't she understand?

Facebook Contempt Juror Jailed For Eight Months 

SkyNewsHD -

The first juror to be prosecuted for contempt of court for using the internet has been jailed for eight months, after her online activities led to a retrial in a multi-million pound drugs case.

Mother-of-three Joanne Fraill, who admitted at London's High Court to using Facebook to communicate with a defendant in a drug trial, was distraught when sentenced.

The 40-year-old, who also has three stepchildren, used the social networking website to swap messages with Jamie Sewart, in the third of four trials.

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WHAT??!!! Rioting Canadians?

This looks like a job for Dudley Do-Right of the RCMP!

Violence in Vancouver after Canucks lose Stanley Cup finals

smh.com.au -

Vancouver Canucks supporters clashed with police after their team's home loss to the Boston Bruins in the deciding game of the Stanley Cup Final left at least 70,000 fans with nothing to celebrate.

Boston's 4-0 win at Rogers Arena sealed its first National Hockey League championship since 1972. Some Canucks fans broke windows, looted shops and set fire to cars, including at least two police vehicles, in downtown Vancouver after the loss, which extended the team's four-decade drought without an NHL title.

“It's absolutely disgraceful,” Mayor Gregor Robertson told reporters, adding that police were being brought in from outside the city to quell the violence. “We will deal with the troublemakers.”

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Ummmmm... okay?

Okay, is this like a Doris Day thing?

No, seriously, congratulations, great defense to murder charges.

Actress Susairaj is a virgin, claims her lawyer

By Rebecca Samervel - The Times of India


MUMBAI: The defence in the murder case of television executive Neeraj Grover, challenged the prosecution's claim that the accused, Kannada actress and model Maria Susairaj was sexually involved with the victim. Susairaj's lawyer Sharif Shaikh submitted that the actress is still a virgin.

"The police should have ensured that Susairaj was medically examined to ascertain if she was a virgin or involved in sexual activities before filing the chargesheet," he said.

Sharif was challenging the prosecution's version of the motive for the crime. According the prosecution, the actress who had come to Mumbai from Bangalore with the intention of getting a foothold in the entertainment industry, got involved with Grover, who was working with a popular production house. 


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Will dance for rain

Man it is getting bad out there.  How bad is it?  I wore a light blue shirt and khaki pants to work the other day and someone said I looked like Texas i.e. clear blue skies above and brown grass below.

I'm starting to see the effects of idiot drivers who toss their cigarettes out of their car windows setting the grass and brush on fire along the highways.

Are you folks stupid or what?

Stage 3 water limits looming

By Hollie L. O'Connor - Express-News

With no rain in sight and temperatures scorching, Stage 3 water-use restrictions could be announced as early as Monday, the Edwards Aquifer Authority said Wednesday.

When that happens, landscape sprinkling will be allowed only once every two weeks, rather than weekly, unless by a hand-held hose, and restrictions for hotels and golf courses would be tightened. All other Stage 2 restrictions would remain in effect.

Sweltering, triple-digit temperatures were forecast for the area through the weekend, with little to no chance of rain through next week, the National Weather Service said.

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Hating on the necklace

This from a country on the verge of having nuclear power and the ability to produce nuclear weapons.

Anyone else concerned besides me?

Necklace ban for men as Tehran's 'moral police' enforce dress code

More than 70,000 trained forces sent out to streets as part of effort to combat 'western cultural invasion'
guardian.co.uk -

Iranian men have been banned from wearing necklaces in the latest crackdown by the Islamic regime on "un-Islamic" clothing and haircuts.

Thousands of special forces have been deployed in Tehran's streets, participating in the regime's "moral security plan" in which loose-fitting headscarves, tight overcoats and shortened trousers that expose skin will not be tolerated for women, while men are warned against glamorous hairstyles and wearing a necklace.

The new plan comes shortly after the Iranian parliament proposed a bill to criminalise dog ownership, on the grounds that it "poses a cultural problem, a blind imitation of the vulgar culture of the west".

The rest of the story:

Its a start

The defendant committing document fraud and human trafficking is from Nigeria?

Shocking!!

Nigerian woman convicted of human trafficking in the U.S.

Odili.net

A Nigerian, Bidemi Bello, 41, has been convicted in the USA by a federal jury on charges of two counts of forced labour, two counts of trafficking for forced labour, one count of document servitude, one count of alien harbouring, and two counts of making false statements in a U.S. citizenship application. The trial lasted one week.

Theformer Suwanee resident was convicted Friday in Atlanta on charges involving two people recruited to the area from Nigeria.

U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a release: "The evidence showed that this was a case of modern-day slavery hidden within an expensive home in an upscale neighborhood. The two women who were abused here thought they were going to be nannies; instead they were treated inhumanely. The laws of the United States protect all victims from such abuse, regardless of where they came from or how they came to be in the United States."

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Dead Man walking

I wouldn't bet a plugged nickel on this fellow living long enough to see out the end of the year.

DNA test links suspect to rapes

By MUHAMMAD HUMAIDAN - ARAB NEWS

JEDDAH: A DNA test has proved beyond doubt that a 42-year-old Saudi elementary schoolteacher detained at Jeddah police station raped 13 young girls aged between 6-10.

The police also said seven of the victims recognized him, while five of them recognized his home furniture that included shisha pipes, two plasma TVs, an office computer and a rug.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) has said other students taught by the teacher should also be questioned to rule out the possibility they had also been raped or abused.

Speaking to Arab News, Fathiya Al-Qurashi, member of the commission, also called for behavioral tests for all male and female teachers, especially those working in elementary schools, and to make these tests a condition for employment.

The rest of the story:

Murdering war criminal murdered

Justice at last?

Many motives in Budanov murder

by Anna Arutunyan - The Moscow News

Investigators appear to be stumped over who gunned down former Colonel and war criminal Yury Budanov in Moscow on Friday – with speculation raging that his killing was revenge for atrocities in Chechnya, or perhaps linked to more recent events.

Budanov was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 18-year-old Chechen woman Elza Kungayeva, but released on parole in 2009. 

Since his death, far-right ultranationalists have already touted him as a martyr for their cause.

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