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Archive for the ‘Nutcase Judges’ Category
San Francisco California Computer Engineer Pleads Not Guilty To Locking City’s Network - Excessive Bail Set At 5 Times That Of Someone Charged With Murder
July 18th, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - The city computer engineer accused of orchestrating a cybercoup of San Francisco’s high-tech network pleaded not guilty Thursday to four counts of computer tampering and remained behind bars on $5 million bail.
Terry Childs, 43, of Pittsburg was appointed a new attorney after the public defender’s office declared a conflict of interest in the case, in which Childs is accused of creating a single password and denying any other administrator access to the system. He has refused to give anyone else the password, authorities say.
After the arraignment before Superior Court Judge Paul Alvarado, Childs’ lawyer, Erin Crane, called the case a big misunderstanding that has been blown out of proportion in the media.
Crane said there is no danger to the city’s computer network, which stores such items as officials’ e-mail, payroll documents and law enforcement and jail records.
Read MoreCook County Illinois Judge Says Chicago Illinois Police Officer William Cozzi Can’t Be Fired After Beating Elderly Handcuffed Man In A Wheelchair - Caught On Video
July 14th, 2008
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - The Chicago Police Board made the correct decision in suspending — and not firing — an officer who was videotaped beating a 60-year-old man handcuffed and shackled to a wheelchair, a Cook County judge has ruled.
Officer William Cozzi still faces criminal charges in federal court in the beating of Randle Miles on Aug. 2, 2005 at Norwegian American Hospital in Humboldt Park.
A hospital surveillance tape shows Cozzi hitting Randle Miles about 10 times, prosecutors said. Miles does not appear to resist, but he was charged with resisting arrest — a charge that was later dropped.
On Friday, Cook County Circuit Judge William Maki upheld the Chicago Police Board’s two-year, unpaid suspension of Cozzi, 51. In November, the Chicago Police Department had appealed the board’s suspension, asking the court to fire Cozzi.
Read MoreWashington DC Chief Judge Issues Blanket Warrants For Arrest Of People Missing Jury Duty - Even Those Who Were Out Of Town
July 14th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - For the first six months of the year, Laurette M. Piculin lives with her elderly parents in Rockland County, N.Y. While she’s gone from her house in Northwest Washington, a friend gathers her mail and sends it along.
Piculin’s friend might have missed a key piece of mail last year: a second notice requiring her to appear for jury duty. That omission put the 51-year-old retired federal mediator at risk of arrest.
Hoping to send a message about the importance of jury service, the chief judge at D.C. Superior Court recently issued warrants calling for the arrests of 92 District residents who failed to show up. Twelve people have been arrested or turned themselves in this month for contempt of court, and marshals are canvassing the area for more. Those taken into custody had to pay $25 bonds and were given dates to report back to court for a final chance to explain themselves and get back on the calendar for jury service. The penalty for contempt of court could be as high as seven days in jail and a $300 fine.
Read MoreUK Decides It Will No Longer Send Burglars To Prison
July 8th, 2008
UK - Britain’s soft justice system hit a new low yesterday with plans to scrap prison sentences for burglars.
Hundreds of thousands of crooks could escape jail every year under the proposals by advisers to the Lord Chief Justice.
Those sentenced to short, sharp shock jail terms of less than 12 months for “less serious offences” – including burglary – should be handed community penalties instead, they said.
Even those who are likely to reoffend could walk free from court if it is believed they will go on to commit “non-serious offences”.
And in a further blow, while courts must not be swayed by victims demanding harsher punishments for offenders, the advisers said that judges should listen if they call for leniency.
Critics said the proposals would do nothing to calm the fears of law-abiding members of the public who have lost their faith in the criminal justice system, and would not deter those intent on crime.
Read MoreAurora Illinois Police And Assistant State’s Attorney Divya Sarang Take Stupidity To New Heights - Innocent Woman Faced Bogus Stolen Credit Card Charges, Prosecution’s “Credible Witness” Identified An Innocent Trial Spectator As Culprit Instead Of Defendant - State’s Attorney John Barsanti: “How Did We Ever Get To Trial On This One?”
July 6th, 2008
AURORA, ILLINOIS - Kimberly Flores promised her mother in West Virginia a Chicago T-shirt, so she stopped in at a Walgreens.
But when she went to the counter to pay for it, the 47-year-old Aurora woman became the suspect in a stolen credit card case that ended up costing her 18 months of aggravation and $11,000 in legal fees.
All because of a less-than-strong case that hinged on an even weaker eyewitness. The witness was so weak, in fact, that when asked to identify the perp in court, she passed over Flores at the defense table and pointed at a woman in the audience — who didn’t look like Flores except for the dark blond hair and the fact they were both middle-aged and white.
Kim Flores’ ordeal began at the Walgreens at the corner of Indian Trail and Illinois 31 in Aurora on Jan. 12, 2007.
Read MoreDisgraced Former Bridgeport Connecticut Police Officer Douglas Bepko Will Be Allowed To Carry A Gun If Rehired - Despite Domestic Violence Conviction After Beating And Choking His Former Girlfriend - Our Tax Dollars At Work
July 3rd, 2008
BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT — A former city police officer, fired after he was charged with choking a former girlfriend, will be allowed to carry a gun if he is rehired by the Police Department, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Douglas Bepko, a 13-year veteran of the police force, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Brian Fischer to a one-year suspended term followed by two years probation for the misdemeanor charge of breach of peace.
Despite the objections of Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Dunn, the judge agreed to allow Bepko to resume carrying a handgun if he is employed as a police officer. But he would have to surrender his weapon when his shift ends.
The 40-year-old Bepko was fired by the Board of Police Commissioners last year at the recommendation of Police Chief Bryan Norwood following Bepko’s arrest for third-degree assault, second-degree unlawful restraint, criminal possession of a firearm, violation of a protective order and threatening.
Read MoreNew Law Will Prevent Crazed California Judges From Jailing Domestic Violence Victims Who Refuse To Testify
July 2nd, 2008
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed into law a bill that will prevent judges from jailing domestic violence victims who refuse to testify against their abuser, giving those victims a protection similar to that already afforded to victims of sexual assault.
The bill, authored by state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, had pitted women’s and victim’s rights groups against many state prosecutors, who argued the threat of incarceration is useful to successfully prosecute domestic violence cases often complicated by the abuser’s financial or personal ties to the victim.
“Some have argued that incarceration of domestic violence victims is an important tool in compelling victims to testify,” Schwarzenegger said in a signing statement accompanying SB 1356. “However, I believe that the victims in these cases have suffered enough.”
Read MoreTexas Supreme Court Rules Exorcism Is Protected By Law - Next Up, Human Sacrifices?
June 28th, 2008
FORT WORTH, TEXAS - The Texas Supreme Court on Friday threw out a jury award over injuries a 17-year-old girl suffered in an exorcism conducted by members of her old church, ruling that the case unconstitutionally entangled the court in religious matters.
In a 6-3 decision, the justices found that a lower court erred when it said the Pleasant Glade Assembly of God’s First Amendment rights regarding freedom of religion did not prevent the church from being held liable for mental distress triggered by a “hyper-spiritualistic environment.”
Laura Schubert testified in 2002 that she was cut and bruised and later experienced hallucinations after the church members’ actions in 1996, when she was 17. Schubert said she was pinned to the floor for hours and received carpet burns during the exorcism, the Austin American-Statesman reported. She also said the incident led her to mutilate herself and attempt suicide. She eventually sought psychiatric help.
Read MoreFederal Appeals Court Rules That Illegal Alien Invader Dishwasher Pedro Zapeta Will Get Some Of His Siezed Money Back - Was Fined $49,000 For $5,000 Offense
June 25th, 2008
MIAMI, FLORIDA - An illegal immigrant dishwasher who lost $49,000 to the U.S. government as he tried to take it home to Guatemala will get some of the money back, his attorney said Wednesday.
Pedro Zapeta, an illegal immigrant, managed to save $59,000 while working as a dishwasher for 11 years.
Pedro Zapeta was “very, very happy” when he learned about a federal appeals court ruling that says he is entitled to recover some of the money, said attorney Robert Gershman, who handled the financial end of Zapeta’s case.
Zapeta was carrying $59,000 in cash when he was stopped at a security checkpoint at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in 2005. He told authorities he was returning home to Guatemala with the money he had saved working illegally as a dishwasher over 11 years.
Read MoreMan Sentenced In Kennebec County Maine Superior Court To 9 Months In Jail After Women Visits Him In Jail - Judge And County Officials Seen Standing Around A Huge Bonfire Watching Our Tax Dollars Go Up In Smoke
June 25th, 2008
AUGUSTA, MAINE — As soon as an inmate from Vassalboro had a visitor at the Kennebec County jail in Augusta, he was violating a court order.
Marshall Crandall IV, of Vassalboro, was sentenced to serve nine months in jail Tuesday at a Kennebec County Superior Court hearing after he pleaded guilty to three counts of violating conditions of release for having contact with the visitor.
Crandall, 39, had been arrested April 4 and charged with domestic assault. That charge was dropped Tuesday in exchange for his plea to violating the court order.
A condition of release on the domestic assault charge banned him from contact with the woman — the same woman who visited him at the jail.
The violations occurred April 5, 10 and 15, when the woman named as the assault victim visited Crandall, according to jail records.
Read MoreU.S. Supreme Court Sides With Child Rapists - No Executions For Those Who Deserve It The Most - Our Tax Dollars At Work
June 25th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC — The Supreme Court has struck down a Louisiana law that allows the execution of people convicted of a raping a child.
[BCN: Despite the fact that child molesters and rapists must be killed or otherwise permanently segregated from society the do-nothing justices on the Supreme Court will go any distance to see that it doesn't happen.]
In a 5-4 vote, the court says the law allowing the death penalty to be imposed in cases of child rape violates the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Elsewhere:
Court rejects death penalty for raping children
WASHINGTON, DC - The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a law that allows the execution of people convicted of a raping a child.
Read MoreState Supreme Court Rules That Tennessee Police Officers Can Now Stop Motorists For Driving SLOWER Than Posted Speed Limit - Our Tax Dollars At Work
June 24th, 2008
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - The state Supreme Court ruled that police can stop a vehicle for driving too slowly.
Chattanooga police arrested three people for possession of cocaine and marijuana with intent to sell or deliver after they were pulled over in 2005 for driving 20 miles an hour in a 35-miles-an-hour zone.
The trial court judge in Hamilton County had earlier ruled that the stop and subsequent search were illegal because the car didn’t come to a complete stop and impede traffic.
The state argued that the slow-moving vehicle did impede traffic because other cars had to brake quickly and move into another lane to avoid the car.
In a unanimous ruling filed Monday, the Tennessee Supreme Court sided with the state. It reversed the lower court’s ruling and sent the drug case back for a new hearing. Appeared Here
New Jersey Supreme Court Rules That Drunk Driving Defendants Cannot Face Or Question Their Accusers - Breath Test Machine Certificates Can Be Used Against Citizens, But Procedures And Individuals Behind Them Are Suddenly Protected From Appearing In Court - In Other Words, No Accountability
June 23rd, 2008
NEW JERSEY - The state Supreme Court ruled today that drunk-driving defendants do not have the right to cross-examine technicians who certify the reliability of breath test machines.
The ruling upholds similar decisions by lower courts and validates the current practice in which judges allow certificates to be admitted as evidence but do not require the author of the certificate to appear in court for cross-examination.
Many police departments across the state use the Breathalyzer to gauge the blood alcohol level of suspected drunk drivers. The machines are periodically inspected and certified by the State Police.
During drunk-driving trials, the “certificate of operability” is presented as evidence that the machine was in proper working order at the time of testing.
Many drunk-driving defendants seek to challenge that certification and cross-examine the person who produced the certificate, but courts do not allow them to do so. Defense attorneys have said the practice violates the constitutional right of defendants to confront evidence against them.
Read MoreNot Equal: U.S. Supreme Court Strips Mentally Ill Criminal Defendants Of Their Guaranteed Constitutional Right To Self Representation - Competent To Stand Trial, Yet Incapable Of Acting As Their Own Lawyer
June 20th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - Mentally ill criminal defendants don’t have the same constitutional rights as everyone else, the Supreme Court said Thursday in carving out an exception to the right to represent yourself.
The justices said that a mentally ill defendant can be judged competent to stand trial, yet incapable of acting as his own lawyer. The 7-2 decision said states can give a trial judge discretion to force someone to accept an attorney to represent him if the judge is concerned that the trial could turn into a farce.
“The Constitution permits states to insist upon representation by counsel for those competent enough to stand trial … but who still suffer from severe mental illness to the point where they are not competent to conduct trial proceedings by themselves,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in the majority opinion.
The court has previously declared that self-representation is a constitutional right, although it is not absolute.
Read MoreCrazed New Jersey State Supreme Court Judges Rule That Palimony Applies To Couples Who’ve Never Even Lived Together
June 17th, 2008
NEW JERSEY - The state Supreme Court today ruled that living together is only one of many factors judges should consider when determining palimony for unmarried couples.
The unanimous ruling is expected to broadly impact New Jersey palimony lawsuits.
The justices found the basis for palimony is not cohabitation. Rather, “It is the promise to support, expressed or implied, coupled with a martial-type relationship, that are indispensable elements to support a valid claim for palimony,” the judges ruled.
Palimony is a court-ordered allowance paid by one member of an unmarried couple following a breakup. Alimony payments involve married couples.
Today’s ruling overturns a 2007 state appeals court ruling that found there is no basis for a palimony suit unless an unmarried couple lived together.
The case involved a 47-year-old North Bergen woman who wanted palimony from a 75-year-old married man with whom she had a 20-year affair.
Read MoreU.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly Hands The White House A Free Pass
June 16th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC — A federal judge ruled today that a White House office that has records about millions of possibly missing e-mails does not have to make them public.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly says the Office of Administration is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, enabling the White House to maintain the secrecy of a lengthy internal paper trail about its problem-plagued e-mail system.
The decision came in a lawsuit filed against the administration by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a private group that has been trying to find out the extent of the White House’s e-mail problems for more than a year.
The functions of the Office of Administration “are strictly administrative,” Kollar-Kotelly ruled.
Kollar-Kotelly said the Office of Administration has no authority over others in the executive branch and that the office is exclusively dedicated to providing services to the Executive Office of the President.
Read MoreCollier County Florida Judges Predetermining Sentences For Traffic Court Cases - Drivers Punished More Harshly Than In Other Counties
June 14th, 2008
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA - Drivers who fight their cases in traffic court in Collier County are getting punished more harshly than motorists in other counties.
That’s what attorneys Mark Gold and Ted Hollander of The Ticket Clinic in West Palm Beach determined while traveling statewide representing motorists in traffic cases. And they’re accusing Collier County judges of conspiring to prejudge cases to whittle down their increased caseloads.
The dispositions grew even more severe after state budget cuts eliminated hearing officers, resulting in Collier County judges presiding over traffic cases beginning on April 1, adding to their caseloads.
The lawyers reviewed their cases and statewide statistics, determining that about 86 percent of those who contested their cases in Collier County were found guilty of speeding, compared with 5 percent statewide.
And 40 percent here were hit with license suspensions.
Read MoreCollier County Florida Judge Mike Carr’s Kangaroo Traffic Court
June 14th, 2008
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA - Alexandra Mora of Miami got a ticket in March for doing 91 in a 50 mph zone as he returned to Miami along the Tamiami Trail after applying for building permits in Lee County.
The building contractor hired attorney Mark Gold of The Ticket Clinic in West Palm Beach to represent him in Collier traffic court because he couldn’t take time off from work.
“It was my first ticket ever,” Mora said. “I’ve had a spotless record for more than 12 years.”
His license was suspended for four weeks. Mora was shocked.
He and his wife, who have two children, struggled to pay the bills because he couldn’t drive to work.
“Thank God I didn’t lose my job,” he added. “It was very painful and embarrassing for me and my family. … I felt like a criminal for the first time in my life.”
Read MoreTexas District Court Judge Jack Skeen Jr. Sentences 17 Year Old To 8 Years In Prison For Threatening Phone Call To Rival High School - Our Tax Dollars At Work
June 7th, 2008
TYLER, TEXAS - A 17-year-old who phoned his rival high school on a school bus and threatened to open fire on students has been sentenced to eight years in state prison.
An attorney for Terrance Taylor said Saturday he was surprised by the sentence and had recommended probation for his client, who was a junior at John Tyler High School in Tyler.
Taylor pleaded guilty Thursday to making a terroristic threat. Don Davidson, the student’s attorney, said state District Judge Jack Skeen Jr. used the phrase “the times we live in” in handing down the sentence.
Police found no weapons belonging to Taylor after he made the call in January. Davidson said another student initiated the call on the bus and that his client was “gullible” in taking part.
Read MoreAnderson County South Carolina Magistrate Judge Mike Smith And Sheriff’s Detective Gene Brock Arrested, Charged After Sports Bar Brawl
June 7th, 2008
ANDERSON COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA - An Anderson County magistrate judge and an Anderson County sheriff’s detective have found themselves facing assault charges in relation to a barroom brawl that occurred early Sunday morning in Williamston.
Judge Mike Smith, 45, of Pelzer was charged by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division with one count of simple assault and has been released on a $1,087.50 personal recognizance bond, officials said Thursday. Smith was charged with public disorderly conduct Sunday.
Detective Gene Brock, 45, of Fair Play was charged with one count of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and has been released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond.
Jared Roberts, 24, of Pelzer was charged with two counts of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and was released on a $20,000 personal recognizance bond.
Read MoreNew York State Supreme Court Upholds Removal Of Nutcase Niagara Falls City Judge Robert Restaino After He Jailed Courtroom Full Of People When A Cellphone Rang
June 5th, 2008
ALBANY, NEW YORK - New York’s top court has upheld the removal of a Niagara Falls city court judge who jailed 46 people after no one would own up to a cell phone that rang in court.
The state Commission on Judicial Conduct concluded in a November decision that Judge Robert Restaino “snapped” during the March 2005 session. It voted 9-1 for his removal.
Restaino was hearing domestic violence cases when the phone rang. He released everyone later that day.
He says he was wrong and under personal stress at the time. He says his record was otherwise unblemished and there would be no similar incidents.
The New York State Court of Appeals on Thursday unanimously upheld his removal. It calls punishing innocent people “inexcusable.”
Former Blount County Tennessee Magistrate Dustin Hatcher Pleads Guilty To Sexual Exploitation Of A Child - Girl Awarded $45,000 In Civil Action
June 4th, 2008
MARYVILLE, TENNESSEE - A former Blount County magistrate has pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual exploitation of a 17-year-old girl.
Dustin Hatcher entered his plea Tuesday as part of an agreement with the prosecution.
According to the terms of the agreement, the 26-year-old accepted the maximum sentence for the felony, up to four years imprisonment. He also waived his right to appeal the sentencing, which is scheduled for August.
The girl, identified only as Jane Doe, claimed Hatcher summoned her to his office in the Blount County Justice Center on Nov. 30, 2006, and used his position to force her into putting on lingerie and perfume in his presence.
The suit claimed Hatcher took digital photographs of the girl. Some pictures showed her bare breasts.
The girl was awarded $45,000 last year in the settlement to a civil lawsuit over the incident. Appeared Here
Crazed Chicago Illinois Judge Vincent Gaughan Threatens To Issue Warrant For Sun Times Reporter After His Refusal To Testify And Appeal Based On 1st Amendment
June 3rd, 2008
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS ― The judge in the R. Kelly child pornography trial has threatened to issue an arrest warrant for Chicago Sun-Times reporter Jim DeRogatis.
DeRogatis, the pop music critic for the newspaper, got hold of the sex tape that is at the heart of the trial against Kelly in 2002. DeRogatis was expected to appear in court on Tuesday morning, but did not.
Attorneys for the Sun-Times argued that DeRogatis was not required to appear in court while they appealed Criminal Court Judge Vincent Gaughan’s ruling that DeRogatis must testify.
An angry Gaughan told an attorney for the Sun-Times he’d give him 15 minutes to find something in Illinois law that gives DeRogotis the right to defy an order to appear in court. He said he would issue an arrest warrant for DeRogatis.
Read MoreCocke County Judge John Bell Must Pay His Own Legal Expenses - Accused Of Probation Sentencing That Required People To Pay Money To His Brother-In-Law’s Company
June 3rd, 2008
NEWPORT, TENNESSEE - A Cocke County judge apparently wanted taxpayers to pay for his alleged misconduct but that won’t happen.
A temporary restraining order has been placed against the county government, forbidding them from paying General Sessions Judge John Bell legal expenses.
Bell has been accused of sentencing folks to probation terms that required them to pay money to his brother-in-law’s probation company. Appeared Here
Texas Police And State Agents Are Looking Really Stupid As 440+ Illegally Snatched Children Return Home - Massive Lawsuits And Settlements Loom On The Horizon
June 2nd, 2008
TEXAS - A judge in Texas has signed an order allowing parents to take home more than 400 children who had been removed from a polygamist sect.
Parents have started collecting children from foster care facilities. They were seized from the sect’s ranch by state authorities in April.
Officials had accused sect members of forcing young girls into under-age sex.
But last week the Texas Supreme Court said officials had failed to prove the children faced immediate danger.
Following Monday’s ruling the first parents had emotional reunions with their children, the Associated Press news agency reported.
“It’s just a great day,” said Nancy Dockstader, as she was reunited with the first of five children near San Antonio.
‘Grateful’
The ruling placed conditions on the parents, including prohibiting them from leaving the state without court permission and ordering them to take parenting classes, AP said.
Read MoreNot Yours! Children Return Home - Massive Fail By Texas Police And State Agents After Illegally Snatching 440+ Children From Their Parents In Armed Raid Based On Prank Call From Out-Of-State Negress - Dumbass Cops
June 2nd, 2008
TEXAS - Women from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have begun to show up at a Brazoria County foster care facility today to pick up their children, hours after a judge approved the release, ending a public, two-month impasse between members of the polygamist church and state welfare over where the children should live while the agency continues investigating child abuse allegations.
[BCN: Hopefully these families have sense enough to get the hell out of Texas, regardless of whatever agreement they were forced to sign by this bad judge.]
State District Judge Barbara Walther signed an agreement that was hammered out over the weekend between about 20 attorneys for Child Protective Services and the parents of nearly 450 children.
Read MoreDisgraced Cross-Dressing Federal Bankruptcy Judge Robert Somma Will Remain Resigned After Drunken Wreck Leaving Gay Bar - Arrested For Drunk Driving In Cocktail Dress, Fishnet Stockings, Purse, High Heels (With Purse)
June 1st, 2008
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE – The cross-dressing judge will no longer wear a robe.
Robert Somma, the federal bankruptcy judge caught drunk driving in the Queen City, was reconsidering the resignation he tendered after he was arrested in a cocktail dress, fishnet stockings and high heels in February.
But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit announced yesterday that Somma “is leaving to pursue other endeavors.”
It was described as a mutual agreement. “The court appreciates the service that Judge Somma has rendered,” the two-sentence statement concluded.
Deputy Circuit Executive Susan Goldberg said last night she did not have anything to add to the announcement. She said she did not know where Somma is going, or what endeavors he would be pursuing.
Somma, of Newbury, Mass., resigned after being arrested Feb. 6 for crashing his Mercedes-Benz E320 into the back of a truck stopped at a red light on Elm Street. No injuries were reported.
Read MoreMinnesota State Supreme Court Tosses Residents Rights To Be Secure From Unreasonable Searches And Seizures By Police
May 31st, 2008
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA - Minnesota law enforcement officers have more power to order blood tests without a warrant in cases where a suspected drunken driver kills or seriously injures someone else.
By a 5-2 ruling Friday, the state Supreme Court reversed previous decisions that supressed blood-alcohol evidence obtained from a woman without permission soon after she was involved in 2006 head-on collision in Burnsville.
The majority held that waiting for a warrant could have caused key evidence against the woman to disappear because alcohol levels can drop as time elapses. She faces seven criminal charges, including several felonies.
Justice Christopher Dietzen says an officer’s finding that there was probable cause of alcohol impairment was enough to justify the blood draw done at a hospital within 45 minutes of the crash.
In her dissent, Justice Helen Meyer warns that the ruling ”erodes the right of citizens in Minnesota to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures.” Appeared Here
Crazed Texas District Court Judge Barbara Walther Walks Off Bench Without Returning Illegally Snatched Children To Their Parents
May 31st, 2008
SAN ANGELO, TEXAS — The devil was in the details.
Discussions about a proposed order involving the return of children taken from the Fundamentalist LDS Church’s YFZ Ranch broke down late this afternoon when attorneys for the families wanted to review proposed changes with their clients.
Judge Barbara Walther announced the attorneys had better get all of their clients’ signatures before she would sign the agreement and abruptly left the bench late this afternoon.
A lawyer for the families, Laura Shockley, said she expected attorneys would return to an Austin appeals court Monday to push for an order returning the children. It was the 3rd Court of Appeals that said Walther should not have ordered the children to be removed from the ranch and warned that if Walther failed to act, they would do it for her.
Read MoreCrazed Texas District Judge Barbara Walther Refuses To Sign Order Returning Children Illegally Snatched By Police And State Agents To Their Parents
May 31st, 2008
SAN ANGELO, TEXAS ― A Texas judge refused on Friday to sign an agreement that would have paved the way for the first large batch of children taken from a polygamist sect’s ranch to return to their parents, dashing hopes raised by a Supreme Court ruling in the case.
Texas District Judge Barbara Walther wanted to add restrictions to the parents’ movement and broaden the authority of Child Protective Services to monitor the more than 400 children in foster care before signing an agreement by CPS and the parents that would have reunited the families.
When several parents’ attorneys objected and argued that Walther didn’t have the authority to expand the agreement, she said she would only sign the initial document after all 38 parents whose case was considered by the Supreme Court signed off — a provision attorneys said would ensure the children stayed in custody at least through the weekend.
Read MoreState’s Highest Court Ruled That Texas Illegally Snatched 440+ Children From Their Homes - State Now Demands Illegal Restrictions Before They Will Return The Children - Common Sense Should Tell Parents To Get Their Families Out Of State ASAP
May 31st, 2008
SAN ANGELO, TEXAS - Parents’ hopes of quick reunions with more than 400 children removed from a polygamist sect’s ranch were dashed Friday after their attorneys and a judge clashed over proposed restrictions.
A decision by Texas District Judge Barbara Walther means that to regain custody, the 38 mothers whose filed the complaint that led the Texas Supreme Court to reject the state’s massive seizure must personally sign an agreement their attorneys and state child-welfare officials have proposed.
That could add days to the process, attorneys for the mothers said, because the women are scattered across the state to be close to their children in foster care.
“It’s not as simple as going across the street and setting up a booth,” said attorney Andrea Sloan, who represents several young FLDS women and minors who contend they should be reclassified as adults.
Read MoreCrazed Texas Police And State Agents Illegally Snatched 440+ Children From Their Homes In Armed Raid - State Supreme Court Says Children Should Be Returned - Stupid Cops
May 29th, 2008
AUSTIN, TEXAS - The Texas Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that children who were separated from their parents following a raid on a polygamist ranch should be returned.
The ruling effectively ends one of the largest child custody cases in U.S. history.
Officials with Texas’ child protective services ordered the children be removed from the “Yearning For Zion” ranch following a raid there last month — fearing that the kids might be in danger. CPS officials said that separating the kids from their parents was necessary to end sexual abuse at the ranch, where young girls were forced to marry and have sex with older men.
But in its ruling on Thursday, the Texas Supreme Court said that child welfare officials overstepped their authority by pulling the children from their homes and that the kids should be returned.
Read MoreCall From Nosey Businesman Steven Ceballes Gets Phoenix Arizona Police To Charge Non-Drunk Woman With Felony Drunk Driving And Two Other Felony Charges - Blood Alcohol Level Was 0.02 (Very Low) - Our Tax Dollars At Work
May 26th, 2008
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - The businessman was meeting with clients for lunch at Mimi’s Café when he noticed the woman. Sitting a few tables over with her 4-year-old boy, she seemed groggy — yet she was drinking a mimosa.
It got worse. The woman ordered a glass of white wine, then another. She was so out of it, the businessman would later write in a statement to police, that she looked ready to fall asleep at the table.
When the woman paid her bill and left the restaurant, the businessman was right behind her, cell phone in hand. When she ran a stop sign in the parking lot, he called the police.
By the time the cops showed up a few minutes later, the woman already had parked at the Chandler Mall, less than a mile from Mimi’s. She was buying bath salts when the businessman pointed her out to the cops.
Read MoreHarmful To Children: Bradenton Beach Florida Police Officer Timothy E. Matthews Quits In Disgrace After Attack On Girl And Her Brother - Teen Blew Officer A “Suspicious” Kiss - Crazed Prosecutor Pursues Bogus Charges Against Teen
May 24th, 2008
BRADENTON BEACH, FLORIDA — A boy who authorities say blew a kiss at a police officer and ended up in jail on a felony battery charge after pushing the officer has pleaded not guilty.
[Video describing attack and arrest by crazed cop HERE.]
Prosecutors charged Lance Lewis, 14, with disorderly conduct and felony battery on a police officer following the tiff in April involving Officer Timothy E. Matthews of the Bradenton Beach Police Department.
Lewis, authorities say, blew a kiss to Matthews, who was patrolling Coquina Park one Sunday afternoon.
Matthews said he thought the kiss was suspicious and confronted Lewis, who was at the beach with his sister Veronica.
During questioning, Lewis reportedly cursed at Matthews. The officer decided to arrest Lewis for disorderly conduct because there were children in the area who may have heard the swearing.
Read MoreCriminal President G.W. Bush And Courts Ditch U.S. Constitution - Bush Administration Tells Court It Can And Will Use Military To Sieze And Hold Anyone In Jail Without Charges Or Trial Forever
May 24th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - If his cell were at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the prisoner would be just one of hundreds of suspected terrorists detained offshore, where the U.S. says the Constitution does not apply.
But Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri is a U.S. resident being held in a South Carolina military brig; he is the only enemy combatant held on U.S. soil. That makes his case very different.
Al-Marri’s capture six years ago might be the Bush administration’s biggest domestic counterterrorism success story. Authorities say he was an al Qaeda sleeper agent living in middle America, researching poisonous gases and plotting a cyberattack.
To justify holding him, the government claimed a broad interpretation of the president’s wartime powers, one that goes beyond warrantless wiretapping or monitoring banking transactions. Government lawyers told federal judges that the president can send the military into any U.S. neighborhood, capture a resident and hold him in prison without charge, indefinitely.
Read MoreSuspended Clarke County Circuit Judge Stuart DeBose Arrested, Faces Federal Weapons Charges
May 24th, 2008
CLARKE COUNTY, ALABAMA - A suspended Alabama judge was ordered to jail Friday on a federal charge of possessing as many as 30 guns in violation of a restraining order.
Clarke County Circuit Judge Stuart DuBose was jailed pending grand jury action on the charge next week. DuBose w