Man o' Law

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

More Xmas Cheer!

Good God, there must be a connection between golf, Christmas and murders!

Mother beat five-year-old son to death at Christmas

A WOMAN pleaded guilty yesterday to bludgeoning her five-year-old son to death with a golf club on Christmas Day before jumping 30ft from the window of her flat.

The High Court in Glasgow was told that on the day of the tragedy, Alison Gorrie, 36, begged ambulance crews not to treat her as she lay seriously injured in the cobbled courtyard in Leith, Edinburgh, outside her home. “I’ve done something terrible. Don’t treat me, I want to die,” she told them.

Upstairs, her son Brendan lay dead under the duvet in his bedroom. He had been hit at least six times and died of head injuries.

Gorrie, who attended court in a wheelchair, was originally charged with murder but pleaded guilty yesterday to the lesser charge of the culpable homicide. The plea was reduced due to diminished responsibility resulting from mental illness.

Paul McBride, QC, for the defence, told the judge, Lord Macfadyen, that the case was “one of the saddest and most tragic” to come before the court, heightened because it happened on Christmas Day.

The court was told that Gorrie and her son had spent Christmas Eve with her estranged husband, Bruce Gorrie. Hours before the killing she was wrapping Christmas presents. During the night, however, she rang a doctor because she felt suicidal. The doctor visited in the early hours and an ambulance was called to take her to hospital. For some reason she decided not to go, however, and turned the ambulance away.

Her friend, Jacqueline Sloan, 27, who had already arrived to look after Brendan, went to sleep in the sitting room at around 4.45am. Miss Sloan woke at 7am and at 7.30am she heard a “metallic banging noise” and thought that Brendan was playing with one of his toys. An hour later a neighbour found Gorrie lying injured in the courtyard. The police arrived to find Brendan dead in his room.

Friends said Gorrie was a devoted mother who was never heard to raise her voice to her son. She met her husband at school in Hamilton and went on to study philosophy and psychology at Edinburgh University, while he went to Oxford to study literature. They lived in Oxford for a time before returning to Scotland.

A year before the tragedy, and before the marriage broke up, she left a note on the Friends Reunited website in which she suggested a happy marriage. “We have a son, Brendan, who has just turned five. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me,” she wrote.

Yesterday the court was told that she was still receiving psychiatric treatment. Sentence was deferred until August 14 at the High Court in Edinburgh for more medical reports.

Topanga, Stop!

Aww, she seemed like such a nice kid.

Topanga from Boy meets World gets a DUI

From CeleBitchy

In the last two or three years it’s become apparent that a DUI is the new… crap, what did washed up, former D-list celebrities do to get attention before the DUI craze? I really do think it’s a craze. There’s no way so many celebs have just suddenly started “accidentally” drinking too much and getting behind the wheel. If anyone can afford a cab… or a driver… it’s these morons we keep reading about. Apparently former child stars you barely remember are hopping on the bandwagon. “Boy Meets World” star Danielle Fishel, aka Topanga, got arrested on a DUI warrant last Thursday.

Danielle Fishel, the erstwhile tween costar of ABC’s Boy Meets World, was picked up last week in Orange County for a warrant in a drunken-driving case. The 26-year-old actress, an O.C. native, was pulled over shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday morning in Newport Beach for a warrant that had been issued in Los Angeles. “It was a pretty simple arrest,” Sgt. Randy Querry of the Newport Beach Police Department told the local Daily Pilot newspaper, adding that Fishel was not drunk at the time of her arrest.

She was booked into the Newport Beach jail and released several hours later. No further details of the warrant or original drunken-driving case were immediately available.

Aside from “Boy Meets World,” Fishel is most known for “secretly” dating Lance Bass when he was in Nsync. I say “secretly” because the band members weren’t allowed to officially have girlfriends, lest they drive their teenage fans away. I’m guessing Lance might have had a few reasons of his own for keeping the relationship under wraps. I’m not sure if Danielle Fishel just didn’t know Lance was gay or if she made him gay. And if this led her to drink is also a matter of speculation. Just kidding, just kidding, don’t yell. I love it when washed up stars do bad things.

Oy Vey! Santa

A cross-dressing drunk Santa to boot!

Racy 'Santa' cited for DUI

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- A beefy gent wearing a red Santa hat and purple G-string in Los Angeles this holiday season not only didn't pass for Santa but failed a Breathalyzer test, too.Rick Carroll, 53, of Long Beach, Calif., who also sported a blond wig, black leg warmers and red, lace camisole, allegedly registered just over the legal blood-alcohol limit of .08 percent when officers tested him after he pulled up in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater Sunday night, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

The 6-foot-4, 280-pound Carroll was booked on a misdemeanor DUI charge and released on $5,000 bail, the newspaper said. His car was impounded.Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Chief Ken Garner said officers were "pretty sure this is not ... Santa Claus.""There was no Mel Gibson treatment for him," Garner added, referring to the help the actor received from deputies after his drunken driving arrest last year. "He had to sober up and find his own reindeer."

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Down with the fat red capatalist!!??

Is the next Spanish-American War brewing?

Will Remember the Santa! now replace Remember the Maine?

Spain's Holiday Cry: Down With Santa!

What's the beef with Santa? In Spain, where manger scenes are still the Christmas holidays' major decoration, few feel the need to "put the Christ back in Christmas." But while Jesus's place remains secure, the three kings — the wise men who followed the Star of Bethlehem to his manger — may need some help. In Spain it is these three, who, upholding the tradition they began when delivering gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus's bedside, bring presents to children on the Epiphany, January 6.

The fat guy in the red suit who visits on Christmas Eve (Papa Noel as he is called here) is a foreign import, promoted by Hollywood and international companies eager to expand the gift season. And for many Spaniards, Santa — and the cultural imperialism he represents — must be stopped.

La Despensa, a local boutique marketing firm, appears to be leading the charge. The company's small band of Santa-detractors has blanketed the city with posters bearing slogans like "Down with the Fat Red Capitalist." They have issued a blunt manifesto (example: "Reindeers don't fly. Camels do walk. Enough already with the fraud.") and urged Kings' defenders to sign it. They have also filmed a rap video that features Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, in full bling, dropping lines like "Santa — you think you're on the crest of the ola [wave], but you're just product placement for Coca Cola" — which Spaniards can buy as a ringtone for their cell phones.

Merry Christmas from Man o' Law

Merry christmas and Happy New Year to you dear reader and yours.

Again, thank you for joining me at this blog.

P.S. click on the my stations Pandora radio link for christmas and holiday music.

Kicking the Habit

When I was a Judge one of the the most frustrating things to see were the defendants who kept coming back for either new drug charges or drug problems while on probation. The short-term programs were of little to almost no benefit and an overworked underpaid probation department was hard-pressed to combat the situation and keep the probationers on the clean and narrow.

I hope this newer and more intensive program helps to alleviate some of the problems. Even if it ultimately only solves 50% of the problem it would be a huge success.

New court may help substance abusers

By Chris Cobb: The Herald-Zeitung

Comal County voted to establish a Felony Drug/DWI Court Program Thursday, which will provide an avenue for substance abusers to not only keep their criminal records clean, but also overcome their addictions.

The “Challenge Court,” put forth by 433rd Judicial District Judge Dib Waldrip, is a voluntary program open to third-degree felony drug or DWI offenders. It is designed as a treatment alternative to normal prosecution and hopes to address the county’s drug problems in a more effective manner.“It’s basically to obtain swifter justice, as well as have increased evaluations of the folks that are subjecting themselves and others to their illicit substance abuse,” said Waldrip.

Those arrested for a third-degree drug-related felony can now enter into a rigorous treatment and rehabilitation program as an alternative to jail time, deferred adjudication or regular probation.

The benefits for the county, according to Waldrip, are that it can obtain a larger share of court costs in program-related cases, and it speeds up the judicial process, requiring all defendants to accept responsibility and plead guilty within 60 days.It also takes a more personal approach to the judicial process by having those who choose to take part in the program set their own goals toward rehabilitation.

“It’s an opportunity for certain individuals to take ownership of their drug problems and tell the court how they’re going to change their lives,” said Comal County District Attorney Geoff Barr.

Waldrip stressed that the program, while it may appear more lenient, is actually quite the opposite. Among other things, the defendant is required to make constant court visits, take frequent urinalysis tests and go to group and individual counseling for up to 28 months.

“They get the ability to keep their record clean,” Barr said. “If they do that, great, it’s better for society. If not, the court comes down on them with the full hammer of the law.”The program will be funded in part by the defendants, who could pay up to $1,000 for a substance abuse evaluation, and by the additional money taken in from court costs. Also, the county can apply for state and federal grants for more funding.

Drug courts are an increasingly common system of justice, with over 1,800 similar programs around the country, according to Waldrip. Drug courts are already in place in Guadalupe and Bexar Counties.

“I think there’s no doubt in the world that it has been proven to be successful in other counties,” said Pct. 3 Commissioner Jan Kennady. “Not only does it help those people that have drug problems, but it also helps us in terms of jail time and recidivism. I’m all for it.”

Initially it will be implemented as a start-up program. Waldrip expected to have it in place by February and anticipated having 25 or 30 people in the program in the first year.“If we can help them in any way, it’s not only a good thing for them, but it’s a good thing for the country,” Kennady said.

Naughty, not nice

Okay, this has got me really annoyed. The local New Braunfels, Texas paper runs an article featuring the Christmas decorations put up by a local grandmother and some yobs come and vandalize them. Slicing them up with box cutters or knives.

Hello whoever, can't wait to prosecute you.

Vandals deflate Christmas decorations

The Herald-Zeitung

The vandals who destroyed inflatable Christmas decorations outside a Ridge Street home overnight Saturday could face the long arm of the law if they are caught. “Vandals took a razor blade or box knife to them and sliced them all up,” said Cheryl Scott, whose snowman, carousel and tree decorations were mentioned in a Herald-Zeitung story on Dec. 16.

“That’s $500 worth of ornaments down the drain — and it was the day before everyone got together at my house,” she said.Scott, a grandmother of 10, decked her yard for the holidays after undergoing major surgery in September. She hopes to offer a reward for information about the theft, which she says occurred between 10:30 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday morning.“It’s pretty devastating,” Scott said, “but it’s not going to ruin my Christmas.”

Monday, December 24, 2007

Santas go on drunken rampage!

This kinda conflicts with the whole naughty or nice list gimmick don't it?

My oh my!

Fathers Christ-mashed

A 50-STRONG gang of rampaging drunken Santas ransacked a cinema frightening customers, damaging property and swearing.

Police believe the Santas, who went on the rampage in New Zealand, were a group of university students.

They ran amok for through Hoyts Cinema complex in the South Island city of Christchurch on Saturday, manager Derek Rive said.

“As they ran through the complex they wrecked everything they could, the Christmas tree - they bowled everything over ... (they were) just absolute fools,” he said.

He added that the “hooligans" abused astonished cinema-goers, chanted obscenities, ripped down posters and knocked over cardboard figures advertising films.

“How often do a bunch of Santas just go and wreak havoc?” Rive said.
“It was a random act of stupidity that upset moviegoers."

Security cameras caught the action, but Rive said with their hats, white beards and suits, the rampaging Santas cannot be identified.

Film-fan Kate Gorman, 35, was waiting to see the movie Enchanted with her two children when the group arrived.

She said: “They were kicking things over, ripping down posters and smashing everything in sight.

“They were all dressed as Santa and shouting ‘Ho (expletive) ho.’"

Her children, Gabriella, 6, and Jackson, 7, had been confused by the incident.

She said: “They asked me, ’Are they Santa’s helpers gone crazy?’ and I said ‘No, they are just idiots.’"

As they left, the Santas triggered a fire alarm, forcing several hundred patrons to evacuate the complex for half an hour.

Juror surrenders, I give up he cries

We suspect it happens, we joke about it as we wait for the verdict, i.e. they'll deliberate , go to lunch on the county, then come back with a verdict. We voir dire on it, both sides, follow the evidence only, hold your opinion, do not be pressured into an acquittal or pressured into a conviction.

Well, now we know I guess, and depending on the law in New York, perhaps a point of error on appeal. Although I would think it unlikely.

Of course the guy juror who said he surrendered has a French name, Francois Larche, why does this not surprise me as well? BTW how did the Judge pressure him? or was it because he thought Kahn was a German name?

All kidding aside I think we ask and expect a lot from our jurors.

Juror: Judge and jury pressured me to convict man

RIVERHEAD, New York (AP) -- A juror who helped convict a black man of fatally shooting a white teenager said he felt pressured by other jurors and the judge to change his vote to guilty during a marathon deliberating session.

The Cicciaro family after John White was found guilty in the death of Daniel Cicciaro.

The jury convicted John White of second-degree manslaughter Saturday in the August 2006 shooting of 17-year-old Daniel Cicciaro Jr.

White, 54, remains free on bail and plans to appeal. He faces a prison term of five to 15 years.
The case drew national attention after defense attorneys argued that he feared a "lynch mob" had come to attack his family when a group of angry white teenagers gathered outside his home.

The teens wanted to confront White's son.

Juror Francois Larche, who is white, said he and another juror changed their votes after enduring "a lot of psychological tactics" from fellow jurors during an unusual weekend session ordered by the judge over jurors' protests.

"It was a huge burden to bear," Larche, 46, told the New York Post in Monday's editions. He added, "I took a lot of heat."

Jury forewoman Maureen Steigerwald denied that the judge, a 12-hour deliberating session on Saturday -- the fourth day of deliberations -- or the holidays played a role in the jury's decision.
"The jury did a very careful, conscientious deliberate job," she told Newsday in Monday's editions.

Judge Barbara Kahn said the jury would have to return on Sunday if they didn't reach a decision. Larche told the Post the judge told them a mistrial would burden the families and the next jury.

"I thought about my family and the families of the other jurors," Larche said. "It was not worth it in the end."

The tax man goeth?

Okay. At first blush it sounds reasonable, then you realize that everything you buy is taxed at a 23% tax rate!

Buy $100 of groceries and add $23 to that bill, fill up your car fro $50 and pay an extra $12.50 for the tax. Buy a new computer and printer for a $1,000 and add $230 to that price and buy a modest car for $20,000 and pay an extra $4,600 in taxes.

Not so nice now is it? Plus think of the drag it will make on the economy, who will want to spend the money to buy discretionary items because of the 23% added tax?

Huckabee campaigning for 23% sales tax

Political suicide? Quite the opposite for the GOP White House hopeful -- so far. But many call the plan for a national levy 'crackpot' (even if it would shut down the IRS).

By Janet Hook, Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON -- Mike Huckabee, one of the most conservative Republicans in the 2008 presidential race, has embraced one of the most radical ideas on the campaign trail: a plan to abolish all federal income and payroll taxes and replace them with a single 23% national sales tax.The idea -- dubbed the "fair tax" by proponents -- has been a political asset for Huckabee; its well-organized backers have helped catapult him from the back of the presidential pack to its top tier.

Sales tax proponents have tapped into seething voter hostility toward the Internal Revenue Service to become a below-the-radar political force, popping up at campaign events and candidate forums in Iowa and elsewhere.The efforts on Huckabee's behalf by sales tax advocates helped spur his surprise second-place showing in an August Iowa straw poll -- the breakthrough that marked the beginning of his rise in the state and nationwide.He is the only major presidential candidate to make the idea central to his campaign. "The first thing I'd love to do as president: Put a 'going out of business' sign on the Internal Revenue Service," he said at one debate.Some wonder, however, whether his embrace of the plan eventually could turn into a liability.The sales tax proposal has been around for years but languished on the fringes of practical politics and policy.

Tax professionals generally regard the idea as impractical, regressive and even "crackpot," as one critic puts it.It has gone nowhere in Congress. The 2005 Presidential Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform soundly rejected the idea. And many politicians shy away from it because it is easy for opponents to portray it as a huge tax increase -- as Democrats did in a 2006 Senate race in South Carolina.

The front-runner, Republican Jim DeMint, faced an unexpectedly stiff contest because of his support for a national sales tax. "DeMint wants an extra 23% on nearly everything -- gas, food, clothing," one Democratic ad said.DeMint responded that his position was being misrepresented, but he still suffered a sharp decline in the polls. He won in the end, but what many thought would be a cakewalk for him turned into a cliffhanger.Grover Norquist, a conservative activist who, as head of Americans for Tax Reform, pushed candidates to take a no-tax-hike pledge, said promoting a national sales tax in the presidential election would be "political poison.

"Still, the proposal inspires grass-roots passion, in large part because it would replace or abolish the Internal Revenue Service, one of the most hated federal agencies and a symbol of intrusive government in some conservative circles.Among the early advocates of a national sales tax were members of the Church of Scientology, a group that battled the IRS for years to gain recognition as a legitimate religious institution eligible for tax-exempt status. Church leaders backed the establishment of Citizens for an Alternative Tax System in 1990 to advance the cause of replacing the income tax with a national sales tax.Eventually, the church won tax-exempt status and the group faded.

But the issue was taken up by another group, Americans for Fair Taxation -- better known as Fairtax.org -- founded in 1995 by a group of Texas millionaires.Proponents of a national sales tax say it would be an improvement over the current system because it would increase the incentive to save, by taxing money spent instead of money earned.

Also, the proposal would rid the tax code of its myriad loopholes and would free taxpayers and businesses from the time-consuming, often costly task of preparing annual tax returns."What we would do with the fair tax is to eliminate all the taxes on productivity, which means you could earn anything you want," Huckabee said. "You wouldn't be penalized for saving, earning, for having a capital gain, making an investment."Huckabee and Fairtax.org call for a 23% tax on virtually all purchases in place of federal income taxes, as well as payroll taxes to fund Social Security and Medicare.To ease the effect on the poor, they propose a "prebate" -- a monthly cash payment to every family -- to cover sales taxes on spending up to the federal poverty level.

Do not open until Xmas, II

Merry Christmas California!

Schwarzenegger mulls mass prisoner release in California:

[JURIST] California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger [official website] is considering a mass release of more than 20,000 nonviolent prisoners in hopes of staving off a projected $10 billion to $14 billion budget deficit over the next two fiscal years, the Sacramento Bee reported Friday. Only prisoners with less than 20 months remaining in their sentence would be eligible for early release; sex offenders would not be eligible. The reported proposal would free 22,159 inmates and save the state $256 million in the fiscal year beginning July 1. AP has more. The Sacramento Bee has local coverage.

In the past, Schwarzenegger has considered early release [JURIST report] as a way to alleviate the burden on California's overcrowded prison system [JURIST news archive]. In July, two federal district judges separately ordered the formation of a special three-judge panel [JURIST report] to supervise and reduce California's prison population after finding that overcrowding is preventing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) [official website] from adequately providing mental health care.

In May, Schwarzenegger signed off on a $7.7 billion program to construct facilities [JURIST report] to provide 53,000 new prison and jail beds over the next five years. The construction program and release plan failed to persuade the federal judges, who were not convinced that the measures would bring compliance with the Eighth Amendment guarantee of constitutionally adequate mental health care for individuals suffering from serious mental illnesses that are incarcerated by the CDCR.

WTF color is Vermillion?

Okay, just what color is vermillion? At the risk of offending anyone I guess if I were a gay man I would know what color vermillion is.

Why didn't they just call it red?

Damn, I just noticed. Aren't Santa's clothes vermillion? Hmmm.

Nepal ordered to end discrimination against gays

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the government on Friday to end discrimination against gays and guarantee sexual minorities the same rights as other citizens.
Nepali men and women who identify themselves as transgender say they are discriminated against in jobs and education, and do not get government identification certificates with their gender as the "third sex" instead of male or female.

Gay rights activists say they have difficulties in inheriting property in the Hindu-majority nation because they belong to neither the male or female category.
Supreme Court judges Pawan Kumar Ojha and Balaram K.C., in response to a petition by Nepal's main gay rights group, Blue Diamond Society (BDS), ordered the government to scrap or amend laws that discriminate against the sexual minority.

"It is a huge victory for us," said Sunil Pant, founder of the BDS.

Hours after the decision about two dozen lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people sprinkled vermilion powder on themselves and marched in a victory parade near the Supreme Court.

Now, education, citizenship papers and jobs could be given to individuals without identifying them as males or females and by mentioning their gender as "third sex", Pant said.
In conservative Nepal, "unnatural sex" can fetch punishment of up to one year in jail

Giving the finger to the police

Wow, that's a lot of data needlessly being put into the database.

Is it going into the national AFIS (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFIS ) database too?

Police Begin Fingerprinting on Traffic Stops

By Sarah Thomsen

If you're ticketed by Green Bay police, you'll get more than a fine. You'll get fingerprinted, too. It's a new way police are cracking down on crime.

If you're caught speeding or playing your music too loud, or other crimes for which you might receive a citation, Green Bay police officers will ask for your drivers license and your finger.

You'll be fingerprinted right there on the spot. The fingerprint appears right next to the amount of the fine.

Police say it's meant to protect you -- in case the person they're citing isn't who they claim to be.

But not everyone is sold on that explanation.

"What we've seen happen for the last couple of years [is] increasing use of false or fraudulent identification documents," Captain Greg Urban said.

Police say they want to prevent the identity theft problem that Milwaukee has, where 13 percent of all violators give a false name.

But in Green Bay, where police say they only average about five cases in a year, drivers we talked with think the new policy is extreme.

"That's going too far," Ken Scherer from Oconto said. "You look at the ID, that's what they're there for. Either it's you or it's not. I don't think that's a valid excuse."

"I would feel uncomfortable but I would do it," Carol Pilgrim of Green Bay said.

Citizens do have the right to say no. "They could say no and not have to worry about getting arrested," defense attorney Jackson Main said. "On the other hand, I'm like everybody else. When a police officer tells me to do something, I'm going to do it whether I have the right to say no or not."

That's exactly why many drivers are uneasy about the fine print in this fingerprinting policy.
Police stress that the prints are just to make sure you are who you claim to be and do not go into any kind of database; they simply stay on the ticket for future reference if the identity is challenged.

Big Brother will be watching, coming soon

On a similar note the FBI is preparing the all-time Big Brother is watching Mother of All databases. Kind of reminds me of the system seen in the movie Minority report where everyone is scanned on streets and shops by the all-seeing eyes of the computer and checked against a database of known fugitives and sounds the alarm. Hence why Tom Cruise's character had his eyeballs changed to fool the system when it did a retinal scan.

FBI Prepares Vast Database Of Biometrics

$1 Billion Project to Include Images of Irises and Faces

By Ellen Nakashima: Washington Post Staff Writer

CLARKSBURG, W. Va. -- The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world's largest computer database of peoples' physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad.

Digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns are already flowing into FBI systems in a climate-controlled, secure basement here. Next month, the FBI intends to award a 10-year contract that would significantly expand the amount and kinds of biometric information it receives. And in the coming years, law enforcement authorities around the world will be able to rely on iris patterns, face-shape data, scars and perhaps even the unique ways people walk and talk, to solve crimes and identify criminals and terrorists. The FBI will also retain, upon request by employers, the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks so the employers can be notified if employees have brushes with the law.
"

Bigger. Faster. Better. That's the bottom line," said Thomas E. Bush III, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division, which operates the database from its headquarters in the Appalachian foothills.

The increasing use of biometrics for identification is raising questions about the ability of Americans to avoid unwanted scrutiny. It is drawing criticism from those who worry that people's bodies will become de facto national identification cards. Critics say that such government initiatives should not proceed without proof that the technology really can pick a criminal out of a crowd.

The use of biometric data is increasing throughout the government. For the past two years, the Defense Department has been storing in a database images of fingerprints, irises and faces of more than 1.5 million Iraqi and Afghan detainees, Iraqi citizens and foreigners who need access to U.S. military bases. The Pentagon also collects DNA samples from some Iraqi detainees, which are stored separately.