God bless you, Sgt. Munley

Kudos to you Sergeant Munley and our prayers for a speedy recovery.

You will be surprised at how well a knee replacement will work, although I do understand the limitations as I have one.

Think of all the lives you helped save that day.

Fort Hood cop says injuries cut career short

Associated Press - The Herald-Zeitung

FORT WORTH — One of two civilian police officers who brought down the Army psychiatrist accused of going on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood said her wounds from the attack will cut short her career as street police officer.

Sgt. Kimberly Munley said doctors have told her she needs a total knee replacement, a surgery set for January, but that her new knee is likely to wear out sooner if she runs or carries the 15- to 25-pound gear pack required by her job.

“I do want to stay in law enforcement. I’m not going to be able to do what I did before, which is basically work the street,” she told Wilmington, N.C., television station WECT on Wednesday. “It’s going to give me another avenue to look in as far as possibly teaching and instructing.”

Fort Hood officials said Thursday that Munley, 34, who was shot in the leg and hand, has not started the process to determine if she’s physically able to do her former job.

Munley and Sgt. Mark Todd, another civilian officer in Fort Hood’s police force, are credited with shooting Maj. Nidal Hasan to end the Nov. 5 shooting spree on the Texas Army post, about 150 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Todd, 42, was not injured and is already back at work.

Hasan remains hospitalized in a San Antonio military hospital but is paralyzed from his wounds, said his attorney John Galligan.

Meanwhile, the Army Reserve unit that Hasan apparently was supposed to deploy with plans to leave for Afghanistan as scheduled early Friday, Fort Hood officials said Thursday. Three soldiers from the Madison, Wis.-based combat stress unit died in the shooting and others were injured.

Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. Army officials have not said if they will seek the death penalty, but they plan an evaluation in the next 45 days to determine his mental state that day and whether he is competent to stand trial.

In a posting on her blog, Munley said she was lucky that she did not lose her leg, where a bullet hit an artery. She said she now has to use a wheelchair and walker, but “cannot complain one bit” because she feels she was given a second chance at life.

“I have addressed more or less every thought and emotion about what’s happened to everyone else — the injured and the ones that did not make it and their families,” Munley told the television station. “I can’t tell you if I have any thoughts towards what he’s done to me because I’ve been too overwhelmed with trying to come to terms with how everyone else has suffered through this.”

Munley, who previously was in the Army, worked as a police officer in Wrightsville Beach, N.C., from 2000-02.

Go directly to jail, do not pass Go

Let the appeal process begin.

I just know it will.

Man sentenced to 15 years for armed robbery

Eric J. Weilbacher - The Herald-Zeitung

It took a jury of 12 more than four hours to sentence Harold Lee Lloyd to 15 years in prison on Thursday.

In less than half that time the day before, the same jury found Lloyd guilty of aggravated robbery in connection to a May 30, 2008 robbery at the Rodeway Inn of I-35 in New Braunfels.

Lloyd will be eligible for parole in 2017.

During sentencing Thursday, Lloyd’s pastor, Robert Ambs of Comal Bible Fellowship, said that since his arrest, Lloyd has been studying the Bible and making changes while in jail.

“He wants to rise above that problem,” Ambs said of Lloyd’s troubles with alcohol.

Cheryl McCoy, Lloyd’s common-law wife, pleaded for leniency and probation.

“He is just a wonderful father and husband,” McCoy said. “Give him help and don’t just send him away.”

She broke into sobs when telling about the couple’s 3-year-old son asking when his father was coming home.

Prosecutors argued that Lloyd was not thinking about his family when he held a hotel clerk at gunpoint and grabbed about $250 in cash.

“Mr. Lloyd does what he wants to do when not in secure custody,” said Assistant District Attorney Steven de Lemos.

He called Lloyd a threat to society.

In earlier sentencing testimony, de Lemos had shown jurors the patrol car video of Lloyd cursing at a police officer during an arrest for public intoxication on Oct. 17, 2008. At the time, he was out on bond for the robbery charge.

Police allege that, while in custody, Lloyd threatened to shoot a New Braunfels officer the next time he had the chance.

“He’s talking about finding God now. He’s talking about changing his life. That’s easy to say when you’re locked up,” de Lemos said.

The DA recommended from 40 to 50 years for the robbery, or at least more than 10 years without probation.

Jurors sentenced Lloyd to 15 years.

Lloyd was taken into custody for transport to prison. He also faces up to an additional 10 years in prison if convicted of a third-degree felony retaliation charge for threatening New Braunfels officers on Oct. 17, 2008.

Stupid is as stupid does.....

Is this a classic or what?

You are installing a spy camera in the women's restroom at work, a pretty reprehensible act, and you video yourself doing the installation and learning how to use the device.

I'll bet there was plenty of laughter in the CID at the local PD.


Elgin man admits placing spy-cam in women's bathroom at work
By Charles Keeshan - Daily Herald

An Elgin man who hid a spy camera in women's bathroom at his workplace, but mostly recorded himself trying to figure out the device, is facing up to three years in prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to a felony charge.

Miguel Bribiescas, 25, of the 1100 block of Hiawatha Drive, admitted to a charge of unauthorized video recording stemming from the July 31 discovery of the pen-size camera in a washroom at Ridgefield Industries, near Crystal Lake.

The camera recorded one female co-worker using the washroom before it was discovered by an employee and turned over to police, authorities said. When police began viewing what else was on the camera, the first thing they saw was video of Bribiescas looking into the lens and learning how to operate the device.

The charge to which he admitted guilt is a Class 4 felony, punishable by one to three years in prison or probation.

Bribiescas' attorney, Mary Baccam, said she believes probation would be fair given her client's lack of criminal history.

"He understands that this was inappropriate and he is taking responsibility for his actions," Baccam said.

Bribiescas will remain free on a $1,000 bond until his sentencing Jan. 20.

I bet he'll be hearing from friends and relatives he never knew he had

WTF??

I mean sure he was injured, $70 million worth?? It was to punish the insurance companies I am sure who screwed with the fellow. That sure is a buncha bucks still.

I imagine it will get pared down a whole lot through the appellate process.

Hurt worker is awarded $70 million

By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A maintenance supervisor who fell with a chain saw while trimming trees at a San Antonio apartment complex six years ago was awarded what appears to be the largest amount of money in a verdict this year in Bexar County, $70 million, after suing the complex's insurance company.

A Bexar County jury this week found that Charles Tate suffered mental anguish when Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Company delayed paying him for his rehabilitative job training. The jury also found Tuesday that the Connecticut-based company, along with JI Specialty Services, which administered claims for Discover, knowingly engaged in an unfair and deceptive act.

On six occasions, the Texas Department of Insurance's workers' compensation division sided with Tate, who suffered severe neck and shoulder injuries that made manual labor impossible, said his attorney, Thomas Rhodes. The agency ruled that he had a right under the law to have the insurance company pay for him to be retrained as a real estate agent, a career he wanted to pursue.

The rest of the story:

Crazy like a fox?

I understand his attorney is complaining that the procedures are moving too fast.

This was in response to the upcoming mental competency matters and examination.

Of course since he is a psychiatrist how probative would the test results be? I would believe he certainly would be better able to game the system than most folks.

Fort Hood suspect charged

Associated Press - The Herald-Zeitung

FORT WORTH — An Army psychiatrist was charged Wednesday with 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the deadly mass shooting at Fort Hood that also injured more than two dozen soldiers and two civilian police officers, military officials said.

Maj. Nidal Hasan has already been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder after the Nov. 5 shooting in a building at the Texas base where soldiers must go before being deployed. Witnesses said he jumped on a desk and shouted “Allahu Akbar!” — Arabic for “God is great!” Army officials have said he was armed with two pistols, one a semiautomatic capable of firing up to 20 rounds without reloading.

The additional charges come less than 24 hours after Hasan’s civilian attorney was notified that the Army plans to evaluate Hasan to test his competency to stand trial as well as his mental state at the time of the shooting.

John Galligan, Hasan’s attorney, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Army officials had not returned his calls so he did not know when or where the “mental responsibility” exam would take place. Galligan said he had filed an objection to the evaluation pointing out that Hasan was still in intensive care at a San Antonio military hospital recovering from gunshot wounds that left him paralyzed.

“I’m incensed at the way the military is handling this, serving additional charges on my client when he’s in the hospital and defense attorneys are not present,” Galligan told The AP by phone from his office near Fort Hood. “And nobody will tell me what the plans are for the evaluation.”

The results of the mental evaluation could prevent Hasan from being sent to death row or even being tried at all, although those scenarios are unlikely, experts say.

The exam is done by a board of mental health professionals to determine whether the suspect had a severe mental illness at the time of the crime; if so, his or her clinical psychological diagnosis; whether that prevented him from knowing at the time that his alleged actions were wrong; and if he is competent to stand trial, according to military law.

The evaluation usually takes several days and involves psychological testing and interviews by the board, said Richard Stevens, an attorney who specializes in defending military cases but is not involved in Hasan’s case.

The board can review any evidence presented by prosecutors and defense attorneys, although the exam is closed to everyone except the doctors and Hasan, Stevens said.

“The government often requests a mental evaluation in cases where (insanity) may be the defense, because they want to know sooner rather than later what the doctors will determine about the defendant’s mental status so they feel comfortable proceeding,” he said.

If the board decides Hasan is not competent to stand trial, he would be hospitalized until he is found competent, Stevens said.

If it deems that Hasan had a severe mental illness but did not lack mental responsibility at the time of the crime, the military must decide whether to proceed with the case or drop the charges and have Hasan discharged from the Army based on his mental illness, Stevens said.

Prosecutors likely would dismiss the case if the board determined that Hasan lacked mental responsibility, because in a trial they would be faced with trying to discredit their own military health professionals, Stevens said.

If the case goes to trial, his defense attorneys can still use the insanity defense, which is rare, Stevens said.

A soldier being acquitted by reason of lacking mental responsibility also is rare and “can create great strains within the military behavioral health care system,” according to a 2006 paper by three military doctors in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. The military didn’t establish rules for what to do with such soldiers until 1996, according to the paper.

“He wouldn’t remain in a military facility at that point because he would have been found not guilty, so the issue now is his mental state,” Stevens said.

If a military jury were to acquit Hasan based on the insanity defense, he would be committed to a medical facility and evaluated to see if he poses a danger to society, Stevens said.

Then at a post-trial hearing, if the exam results revealed that he posed no danger, he could be released back to his Army unit, Stevens said. But the Army likely would have him discharged based on his mental illness and then he would be in the U.S. attorney general’s custody, which would also happen if he was deemed a threat, Stevens said.

The attorney general usually asks the state to take over and place him in a mental facility, according to military law. If the state refuses, the attorney general would have him confined to a federal facility.

It’s unclear if such a defendant would ever be released, but his case likely would be governed by the rules of the state or federal system on involuntary commitments.

Authorities have not said if they plan to seek the death penalty. If they do, and Hasan is convicted and receives that punishment, he would be sent to death row at the military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

There hasn’t been a military execution since 1961, though five men sit on the military’s death row at Fort Leavenworth. Before a military execution can be carried out, the president must personally approve. George W. Bush signed an execution order last year for a former Army cook who was convicted of multiple rapes and murders in the 1980s, but a federal judge has stayed that order to allow for a new round of appeals in federal court.

Guilty, punishment phase continues

Good job to the Steves.

Jury finds man guilty of aggravated robbery

Charles Agar - The Herald-Zeitung

After deliberating for about one hour and 40 minutes, a jury of 12 found Harold Lee Lloyd guilty on a charge of first-degree felony aggravated robbery on Wednesday.

Lloyd, 27, quietly pursed his lips, blinked rapidly and stared straight ahead as 207th District Judge Charles Ramsay read the verdict.

Lloyd faces from five to 99 years in prison for his part in a May 30, 2008 robbery at the Rodeway Inn off I-35 in New Braunfels. His sentencing hearing continues today.

Following a full day of testimony on Tuesday, prosecutors rested their case at about 9:40 a.m. Wednesday.

Starting at 10 a.m., defense attorney Willard Holgate of Austin called four witnesses, including Lloyd’s common-law wife, Cheryl McCoy, her mother, Shelia Warrington, and Warrington’s girlfriend, Regina Lawson.

All three women testified that Lloyd had been at home playing Cranium, a board game, with family and friends on the night of the robbery.

Warrington testified that as early as 2:30 a.m. May 30, 2008, she saw Lloyd on the couch in his pajamas, where he often listened to music into the early hours of the morning. Warrington and Lawson testified that they both awoke at 5:30 a.m. to make coffee and saw Lloyd still lying on the couch in the same pajamas.

The robbery took place some time around 5 a.m. that morning.

All three women said that with nine people living in a double-wide trailer with three dogs and a creaky screen door, they would have surely heard Lloyd if he’d left the house that night.

Defense counsel Holgate picked holes in conflicting reports by the victim, David Lee Murphy, night clerk at the hotel on the night of the robbery.

Murphy testified that his assailant was tall and lean, about 5 foot 9 inches and 180 pounds.

Lloyd is 6 foot 1 inch and 198 pounds, Holgate said.

Holgate tried to discredit the testimony of Lloyd’s neighbors, Brian Grider and Grider’s cousin, Cindi Harding, who said Lloyd bragged about his crime to them.

Holgate argued in his closing statements that Grider was racist and didn’t like Lloyd and that Harding only testified against Lloyd to ease her own marijuana possession rap (Harding was in the car along with two others the night Lloyd was arrested).

McCoy, Lloyd’s common-law wife, said during testimony that New Braunfels detectives deceived her during the investigation.

She said detectives claimed they had video evidence and fingerprints that proved Lloyd was the robber. McCoy said detectives asked her to get a confession from Lloyd in exchange for a lighter sentence.

That was why McCoy urged Lloyd to give up his accomplice during taped jailhouse conversations, she said.

She later found out that there were neither useable prints nor video of the robbery, she said.

Any admissions of guilt during the taped conversations referred to Lloyd’s alcohol problem, not the robbery, McCoy said. And other recordings about fingerprints referred to prints on the gun that Lloyd owned, not about prints at the scene of the crime, she said.

In his closing, Holgate said investigators prejudged Lloyd and molded evidence to pin the crime on him. Holgate said the skullcap recovered from Lloyd after the crime did not match the witness description and that the jailhouse recordings were not admissions but misconstrued to look that way.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Holgate said.

“All the evidence pointed and linked Mr. Lloyd but because he put himself there,” said Assistant District Attorney Steven de Lemos in his closing. “He talked too much.”

Any inconsistencies in Murphy’s description of his assailant during the May 30, 2008 robbery were a result of tunnel vision from having a gun pointed in his face, de Lemos said — a common occurrence, according to detectives.

And Murphy’s testimony only alerted police to the crime happening, de Lemos said; it was when Lloyd bragged about it that police investigated him.

Then there was the physical evidence, de Lemos said, including the gun and mask identical to the one described by the victim found on Lloyd days after the robbery.

Lloyd’s admissions on the jailhouse recordings are clear, de Lemos said, adding, “An innocent person doesn’t talk like that.”

The DA discredited defense alibi testimony as neither covering the hours of the actual crime nor credible.

“They’re lying and they’re trying to cover for him,” de Lemos said.

The jury convened at about 2 p.m. Wednesday, returning a guilty verdict shortly before 4 p.m.

After a short recess, jurors then heard the first testimony in the punishment phase of the trial, including a patrol car video of Lloyd cursing at police during an arrest for public intoxication on Oct. 17, 2008.

The arrest revoked Lloyd’s bond on the earlier robbery charge.

Lloyd also faces a second charge of felony retaliation at a later date for the incident after officers alleged Lloyd threatened them while in custody, saying he would shoot the next New Braunfels policemen he saw.

Sentencing continues today at 9 a.m. in the Comal County Courthouse Annex.

Their idea stank

What in the world was going on in their little teen-aged minds?

Knowing teen-agers probably not a whole lot as it seems that teens can't think beyond the immediate moment.


Teen "Skank Agent" In Craigslist Bust
www.thesmokinggun.com

Cops: Wisconsin gang robbed prospective johns lured to motel by ads

DECEMBER 1--A Wisconsin teenager who described herself as a "skank agent" is facing felony charges for allegedly using Craigslist to rob prospective johns looking for sex.

According to a Circuit Court complaint filed yesterday, Samantha Stubbe, 17, last month placed an ad in the online classified site's "Adult Gigs" section offering sexual favors in return for an apartment. After men were lured to a Fond du Lac motel for a purported liaison, Stubbe's male friends attacked them and stole their money.

Stubbe, pictured in the mug shot at right, was aided in the scheme by Stevi Smet, 18, who served as the female decoy outside the motel. Smet is pictured at left.

When questioned by police, Stubbe admitted orchestrating the strong-arm robbery scheme, but told Detective Steve Kaufman that "she would not consider herself a pimp but a 'skank agent,' meaning that she was an agent with skanky friends."

Since state criminal codes do not address skank agentry, Stubbe was charged with soliciting prostitution and armed robbery. Smet, also charged with armed robbery, is facing a prostitution rap for allegedly having sex with a man who answered the Craigslist ad. The man, 19, told cops that he paid for Smet's services with a $175 check.

Rolling the dice

Its a big, no huge risk, to walk away from a ten year deal to a 5 to 99 years, or life, exposure.

Would he have probably gotten probation on the original ten year deal?

I would have thought he probably would.

Tis a big gamble he's taking.


Ex-cop indicted in fatal wreck

By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A former San Antonio police officer involved in a high-speed wreck last year that killed a colleague has been indicted on manslaughter and aggravated assault charges.

David Seaton, 44, could face up to life in prison if convicted of either of the felony offenses — a stark contrast to the maximum 10-year sentence he faced last month before rescinding a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Seaton rescinded his no contest plea Nov. 12, the day he was scheduled to be sentenced on the manslaughter charge in connection with Officer Robert Davis' death.

State District Judge Sid Harle granted Seaton's last-minute request to back out of the plea agreement, saying he would allow it because the former officer's case had not yet been reviewed by a grand jury.

The rest of the story:

Giving of themselves

What a wonderful gift to these otherwise forgotten children.

God Bless them and the people who are working to make their Holidays a happy one.

No child left without

Eric J. Weilbacher -The Herald-Zeitung

Foster children, separated from or forgotten by their parents, will have Christmas presents under the tree this year.

On Tuesday night, volunteer members of the Comal County Child Welfare Board gathered at the neighborhood clubhouse in the Riverforest Subdivision, along with members of the New Braunfels Service League, to wrap more than 100 presents for children currently in foster care in Comal County.

“I think people presume that, because this is a nice area with nice homes, that these things don’t happen. We try to give these children dignity to their desperate situation,” said Mary Alice Altorfer, a volunteer with the Comal County Child Welfare Board (CCCWB).

CCCWB is an all-volunteer board that works in partnership with the United Way and Child Protective Services to provide emergency supplies to children in the immediate 24 hours between removal from an abusive home and placement in foster care.

The Child Welfare Board provides diapers, infant formula, clothes, canvas bags, blankets, pillows and other essentials that the state of Texas would otherwise not provide.

They do this by stocking the Rainbow Room, a small warehouse of goods accessible at the CPS offices so foster families and children have immediate access without needing to wait for child support checks.

The Christmas gifts were purchased with donations from the United Way, donated jury duty earnings and private donations.

“Right now, about 146 kids are in foster care in Comal County. Some foster parents said they don’t need help, but we are providing gifts for well over 100,” said Susan White, chair of the CCCWB.

“Three more court dates are scheduled for possible home removal this year,” she said, adding that last year at this time there were 52 children in foster care or who were about to be placed in care.

“It is really a big epidemic in Comal County, but it is not just here, it’s all over the state,” she said.

White said one reason might be both greater education and the enforcement of mandatory reporting laws, each of which contributes to a rise in reporting that may not be linked to a rise in abuse.

“I think the economy has had an impact, but child abuse has always been around. The numbers are scary, but people are calling it in. People know now that protecting children is everyone’s responsibility and that they are criminally liable for that,” White said.

Because of the high cost of providing all the Thomas the Train Engine, Indiana Jones and Granimals play sets to so many children, and because CCCWB spends most of its resources on stocking the Rainbow Room throughout the year, New Braunfels Service League members paid for all the gifts for children ages 5 and younger.

“For about 10 years, this women’s group (NBSL) has promoted volunteerism. Members sponsor a child and pay out-of-pocket,” said Elaine Weichsel, president of the NBSL.

Altorfer sees the service the two groups are providing as filling a gap in family relationships the children otherwise may never know.

“We’re like a good aunt and uncle, stepping in to fill a void,” she said.

Trial Day two

Day 2 of the trial resumes this morning.

The case is being tried by the "Steves" i.e. Steve DeLemos as lead attorney and Steven Harkins (a/k/a Sharkey)

Give 'em heck guys.

First day of testimony in hotel robbery trial

Charles Agar - The Herald-Zeitung

In the first day of testimony, prosecutors called a dozen witnesses Tuesday, making a case in the robbery trial of Harold Lee Lloyd.

Lloyd, 27, of New Braunfels, is charged with first-degree felony aggravated robbery in an alleged incident at Rodeway Inn off I-35 in New Braunfels on May 30, 2008.

If convicted by the jury of nine men and three women, Lloyd could face anywhere from five to 99 years in prison. 207th District Judge Charles Ramsay is presiding.

Assistant District Attorney Steven de Lemos called the hotel clerk on duty the night of the incident to the stand Tuesday. He also produced jailhouse recordings of conversations between Lloyd and his common-law wife that prosecutors allege are Lloyd’s admissions of guilt.

In Tuesday testimony, police said they received a tip that Lloyd had been bragging about robbing the hotel. New Braunfels officers arrested Lloyd just days after the incident in possession of a .45 caliber Ruger handgun, an empty clip in his pocket and a backpack with a mask and bandana similar to witness descriptions of what was worn by the man who robbed the Rodeway Inn.

In his opening statement, Lloyd’s defense attorney, Willard Holgate of Austin, asked jurors to “view the evidence closely,” and said that his client never admitted to the robbery.

SUB: The testimony

First on the stand Tuesday was David Lee Murphy, night clerk at the hotel on the night of the robbery.

Murphy thought it was a joke when a black male with a “gangster rapper look” — in a dark skullcap and blue bandana — entered the hotel lobby in the early morning hours of May 30, 2008.

Then the man pulled a gun.

“He came rushing the counter,” Murphy said.

Murphy warned the would-be robber about a surveillance camera and said there wasn’t much money in the cash register.

“How much you got?” Murphy reported the man saying.

And as Murphy counted out the bills, the man slid across the counter and grabbed the money, Murphy said.

The assailant left with less than $300, Murphy said.

The lobby surveillance cameras were not working at the time of the robbery.

Police arrived moments later but did not make any arrests that night.

On the stand Tuesday, Murphy said he could not identify the masked man.

“I couldn’t tell if it was my own brother,” he said.

But Murphy was able to identify the .45 caliber Ruger as well as the blue bandana police found in Lloyd’s possession just days after the robbery. Murphy said he wasn’t sure about the pattern on the Spider Man skullcap also found in the backpack, but said it was the same kind of head covering worn by the assailant.

In his cross examination, defense counsel Hogarth attacked inconsistencies in Murphy’s description of the robber as tall and thin, or about 5 foot 9 inches tall and 180 pounds.

Holgate asked Lloyd to stand up and show his tall, sturdy build.

Lloyd’s onetime neighbor, Brian Grider, took the stand and described how Lloyd liked to wear his .45 caliber on his hip and bragged about the robbery after it was reported.

Grider said Lloyd even tried to convince Grider to be the driver on his next job.

“It’s easy money,” Grider alleged Lloyd told him.

Fearing for his safety, Grider called police.

Prosecutors showed police video footage of Lloyd’s June 1, 2008 arrest. Lloyd was one of three passengers in a Mitsubishi Galant pulled over for a faulty taillight at a Tetco gas station on FM 306 after days of surveillance.

The driver of the car, Spencer Ervin, 31, was arrested on charges of drunken driving. Another passenger, Mac Jim White, 33, was arrested on charges of marijuana possession and had outstanding warrants.

Cindi Harding, 22, another passenger, was arrested on charges of marijuana possession. Harding, who was on probation for marijuana possession at the time, is the cousin of Grider, the neighbor who called police to alert them about Lloyd’s bragging about the crime.

A search of the car produced the .45 Ruger under Lloyd’s seat. Officers found an empty clip of the gun in Lloyd’s pocket following his arrest. No ammunition was found in the vehicle.

In fierce cross-examination Tuesday, defense attorney Holgate grilled Grider about longstanding gripes between the two neighbors.

“You don’t like blacks?” Holgate said.

“I didn’t say that,” Grider answered.

Holgate pointed to a time when Grider had flown a Confederate flag in front of his house and refused to take it down when Lloyd had asked.

Holgate also suggested that Grider only fingered Lloyd to try and take heat off of his cousin, Harding.

SUB: Audio evidence

With the jury in another room, defense attorney Hogarth argued to exclude audio recordings of conversations between Lloyd and his common-law wife, Cheryl McCoy.

Hogarth said that investigators misled McCoy with false promises of leniency for Lloyd if he admitted the crime and named his accomplice who allegedly drove the getaway car during the incident.

Judge Ramsay ruled the evidence admissible.

Visitors and detainees are told that they are being recorded during all jail visits.

In the recordings, McCoy is heard urging Lloyd to cooperate with investigators and give up the name of his accomplice in exchange for a lighter sentence.

Prosecutors said the recordings prove that McCoy lied to detectives in the case.

“I know exactly who it was, but I told the detectives I didn’t,” McCoy said on a recording dated June 7, 2008.

In a recorded conversation on June 10, McCoy urges Lloyd to plead his character and the fact that he has no criminal history in the case.

Lloyd replied on tape: “That’s the case … that’s what I done.”

Prosecutors will continue their case this morning at 9 a.m. in the Comal County Courthouse Annex.

From the Seattle Police Department blotter

I say good work.

Again, my heart goes out to the family and friends of the fallen officers.







Officer involved shooting in South Seattle
spdblotter.seattle.gov

At approximately 2:43 a.m. today, a uniformed patrol officer came upon a suspicious vehicle in the 4400 block of South Kenyon Street. The vehicle, an Acura Integra, was unoccupied. The engine was running and the hood was up. The officer stopped to investigate further and discovered that the Acura was a stolen vehicle.

The officer began doing the stolen vehicle recovery paperwork when something caught his attention. The officer turned around and noticed a subject walking in the street behind his patrol car, approaching on the driver’s side. The officer got out of his car and ordered the subject to stop and show his hands. The officer immediately recognized the subject as Maurice Clemmons, the suspect wanted in the murder of four Lakewood police officers. The suspect refused to comply with the officer’s commands.

As the officer was drawing his gun the suspect reached into his waist area and moved. The officer fired several times striking the suspect at least twice. The suspect went down near some bushes on the north side of the street. Shortly thereafter he was taken into custody. Seattle Fire Department medics responded and pronounced the suspect dead at the scene.

The officer involved was not injured. He was hired by Seattle Police in March of 2005. He has prior law enforcement experience and is also a military veteran. The officer will be placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure in an officer-involved shooting. A Firearms Review Board will be convened in the coming weeks to determine whether or not the shooting was within Department policy.

The suspect was armed with a handgun, located in a front sweatshirt pocket. This handgun has been verified by serial number as belonging to one of the murdered Lakewood police officers.

Seattle Police Homicide and CSI detectives responded to the scene. Seattle Police Homicide detectives will conduct the officer-involved shooting aspect of the investigation.

The Medical Examiner responded to the scene and collected the deceased suspect. The Medical Examiner has yet to identify him. Detectives on scene believe that this person is Lakewood murder suspect Maurice Clemmons.

The Acura Integra had been reported stolen at 1:50 a.m. from the 4800 block of South Chicago Street. It will be impounded and processed for evidence.

The Seattle Police Department continues to offer any and all assistance requested to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office and the Lakewood Police Department.

This is an active and ongoing investigation. This information is preliminary and subject to change.

A predator just the same

Another good riddance.

Thank you Judge Herr for not granting him probation.


Admitted swindler prisonbound
By Craig Kapitan - Express-News

A San Antonian once known for his high-profile investment firm and extravagant lifestyle was ordered Monday to serve two 20-year prison sentences for stealing more than $1.9 million from clients.

Jeremy McGilvrey, 32, was handed the concurrent prison terms just months after Hill Country Wealth, for which he was CEO, went out of business in June.

McGilvrey pleaded guilty in October to felony theft and misapplication of fiduciary property involving at least seven clients, most of whom are elderly. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to seek no more than 30 years in prison instead of up to life.

The rest of the story:

Here we don't go a wassailing

Damn lawyers and worries about potential lawsuits kills another lovely tradition.

Wait I are one.

A damn lawyer not a lovely tradition.

Perhaps the family can serve a release form wherein the recipient of a cookie vows not to sue the City of New Braunfels after they acknowledge the dangers of eating said cookie? Nah, not so much.

Still its a damn shame.

Family boycotting Wassailfest over cookies

By Chris Cobb - The Herald-Zeitung

The lights will be dim at 361 W. San Antonio St. during this year’s Wassailfest.

Santa and Mrs. Claus won’t be greeting visitors, passing out wassail and freshly baked homemade cookies, as they have for the past 15 years.

Instead, one of the most ornately decorated homes in New Braunfels each Christmas will sit dark on Thursday, as one family protests an event they’ve been a part of since it began in 1993.

Ken and Caren Lowery said there’s a good reason for their boycott — the city won’t let them serve homemade cookies if they aren’t prepared in a commercial kitchen.

“It’s just sad,” said Caren Lowery. “We do this for fun, and the city is taking all of the fun out of it.”

When Wassailfest started, Lowery donned a Santa costume to hear children’s Christmas wishes; Caren brewed wassail, and Mrs. Claus, Rosalie Brandt, baked 100 dozen cookies to pass out to visitors stopping by on their tasty tour of downtown New Braunfels.

It’s now an annual tradition, one that includes the Edelweiss Kinder Chor singing carols on their lawn. This past year, Brandt gave out 225 dozen cookies to passersby.

“It’s incredibly popular,” Caren said. “You just can’t imagine the volume of people we have here every year.”

The city, however, is clamping down on their holiday regimen by choosing to enforce a long-standing rule that home-baked goods cannot be given out to the public.

Joe Lara, the city’s environmental health manager, said treats baked in an uncontrolled and unsanctioned environment pose a potentially serious health risk, particularly at an event expected to have between 10,000 and 15,000 people in attendance.

He said home-baked goods have been prohibited at events for several years by both the city and county health officials, particularly because of the risk of spreading of hepatitis.

“This has been in effect for a number of years, for a number of good reasons,” Lara said. “Some people have just chosen not to follow it.”

This is the first year the city’s parks department is running Wassailfest, and he said that might be the reason that the city is just now enforcing the rule.

But for the Lowery’s, the new requirement means the end of a long and well-liked tradition of passing out cookies to Wassailfest visitors. They said no one has gotten sick over the past 15 years from eating their cookies.

Rather than not serve cookies, they’ve chosen not to participate at all.

“We’ve done this because it’s always been enjoyable for us and for everyone who comes by during Wassailfest,” Ken Lowery said. “This is just disappointing. It seems like we’re losing that spirit of giving that is really what this season is all about.”

Good bye and nice shooting

God forgive me for saying this, but good riddance to bad rubbish.

Why did then Governor Huckabee commute this jerk's sentence, despite the pleas of prosecutors not to do so?

Goodbye Huckabee don't bother showing up to run for the Presidency again. Your fingerprints are all over this decision and you can't pawn it off on somebody else.

Seattle police kill suspect in officer slayings

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer

SEATTLE (AP) -- The man suspected of gunning down four police officers in a suburban coffee shop was shot and killed by Seattle police early Tuesday, a sheriff's spokesman said.

Maurice Clemmons was shot to death in a working-class south Seattle neighborhood after police tracked him down using possible hiding spots supplied by Pierce County investigators, said Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the county sheriff.

Authorities say Clemmons, 37, killed the four Lakewood officers at a coffee shop Sunday morning in Parkland, a Tacoma suburb about 35 miles south of Seattle.

Police said they aren't sure what prompted Clemmons to shoot the officers as they did paperwork on their laptops. Clemmons was described as increasingly erratic in the past few months and had been arrested earlier this year on charges that he punched a sheriff's deputy in the face.

The rest of the story:

Man o' Law 2.0!!

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Man o' Law