Another one of those stories of purely local interest, as a friend of the blog likes to say:
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Archive for the ‘Law’ Category
Well, isn’t THIS special?
Wednesday, May 13th, 2026Obit watch: May 13, 2026.
Wednesday, May 13th, 2026Betty Broderick passed away last week. She was 78.
Some folks may remember this from the late 1980s. Ms. Broderick’s husband dumped her for a younger woman.
On Nov. 5, 1989, Ms. Broderick entered the home of her ex-husband, Daniel T. Broderick III, a prominent malpractice lawyer in San Diego, and Linda Kolkena Broderick, a former flight attendant who became his legal assistant and, while he was still married to Ms. Broderick, his lover, and shot them in bed with a .38-caliber pistol.
Ms. Broderick, then about to turn 42, immediately turned herself in to the police, and never denied firing the fatal shots at her former husband, 44, and his second wife, 28. But she denied committing murder, claiming in media interviews and in the courtroom to have been a victim of years of psychological abuse.
It was one of those minor sensations at the time.
Ms. Broderick spoke to magazines and newspapers before and after her trials, and twice appeared from prison on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” angrily venting about her husband.
“He went off with the bimbo at 40, driving a red Corvette — haven’t we heard this before?” she told The Los Angeles Times three weeks after the killings.
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At her first trial, mental health specialists called by both the prosecution and the defense testified that Ms. Broderick was narcissistic and histrionic. Melvin G. Goldzband, a psychiatrist who testified for the prosecution, refuted her claims of emotional abuse.
“She wanted not to be rejected,” he said, adding that she would have been angry even if her husband had agreed to an extravagant monthly support settlement.
“People extend battles because it’s the only form of the relationship that they have,” Dr. Goldzband said.
Ms. Broderick was sentenced in 1992 to the maximum possible term: 32 years to life in prison. She was twice denied parole.
Rex Reed, noted (and I kind of want to say “notorious”) movie critic.
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You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#158 in a series)
Monday, May 11th, 2026Eileen Wang resigned as mayor of Arcadia, California, today.
She also took a Federal plea deal.
Eileen Wang agreed with prosecutors that she worked with the People’s Republic of China to boost propaganda with a fake news website on US soil between 2020 and 2022. She was elected to Arcadia City Council in November 2022 — the city is located in the San Gabriel Valley within LA County.
Wang, 58, worked with her then fiancé, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, on a web site called “U.S. News Center,” which claimed to be news source for Chinese Americans, according to court documents.
But in reality the pair were carrying out Beijing’s orders through the site.
Wang and Sun “executed directives” from the Chinese government, posting propaganda designed to boost China, all while reporting back to their masters with screenshots showing how many people viewed the stories, according to the plea agreement.
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Prosecutors in 2024 charged Sun with conspiracy and acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.
Wang said her relationship with Sun ended that year. Her ex-lover also served as campaign manager for her City Council run. The mayor of Arcadia is drawn from the Council on a rotating basis.
Wang tried to distance herself from Sun in 2025, saying she “not responsible for the action of others,” and would not resign from the post she then held on the City Council.
Sun in February was sentenced to four years in federal prison for acting as a covert agent of the PRC.
Here’s an example:
In one case, Wang’s spymaster ordered her to post pre-written news articles, including a PRC official-written essay in the Los Angeles Times, the plea deal states.
“There is no genocide in Xinjiang; there is no such thing as ‘forced labor’ in any production activity, including cotton production. Spreading such rumor is to defame China, destroy Xinjiang’s safety and stability,” wrote Wang’s master, according to the plea agreement.
And maybe there’s not a whole lot of difference between China and Buzzfeed:
Noted.
Saturday, April 11th, 2026Today is the 40th anniversary of the FBI Miami gunfight.
Mike Wood has a good piece up at the RevolverGuy blog. I have heard through the grapevine that he’s working on a book about the incident, but I haven’t confirmed that directly with him. I still recommend Edmundo Mireles’s FBI Miami Firefight: Five Minutes that Changed the Bureau as the best current reference on the subject, followed by Massad Ayoob’s Ayoob Files 1985-2011 collection (which includes multiple columns about the gunfight).
In other, more cheerful news, DACK Outdoors has shut down and is planning to file for bankruptcy. I never dealt with them, because Mike the Musicologist did, and they tried to screw him over. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Obit watch: March 30, 2026.
Monday, March 30th, 2026Dr. Henry C. Lee, forensic scientist. He may have been most famous for testifying at the OJ trial.
Dr. Lee testified for the defense, saying that there was “something wrong” with the way the Los Angeles Police Department had handled the blood that was collected as evidence.
His testimony supported the defense team’s suggestion that the evidence could have been tampered with and that officers might have planted Mr. Simpson’s blood at the crime scene.
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In 2007, the judge in the murder trial of Mr. Spector ruled that Dr. Lee, a consultant for the defense, had removed something from the crime scene and hidden it from the prosecution.
Prosecutors contended that it was a piece of fingernail that would have shown that the actress Lana Clarkson had resisted having a gun placed in her mouth before being shot at Mr. Spector’s California home. The defense claimed that she had shot herself.
The judge did not hold Dr. Lee in contempt, and Dr. Lee denied taking anything from the crime scene. After the first trial ended in a hung jury, Mr. Spector was convicted of second-degree murder in 2009.
In 2023, Connecticut’s attorney general agreed to a $25 million settlement with two men who had spent three decades in jail after being convicted of murder. Those convictions, which were overturned in 2020, had been based in part on testimony by Dr. Lee regarding the supposed presence of blood on a towel. A federal judge ruled that Dr. Lee had fabricated the evidence, saying that there was no corroboration that he had conducted any blood tests on the towel.
Dr. Lee defended himself in a statement, saying, “I have no motive nor reason to fabricate evidence.”
Mary Beth Hurt. Other credits include “Law & Order”, “Law & Order:SVU”, and “Lady in the Water”.
James Tolkan. Other credits include “They Might Be Giants”, “Bone Tomahawk”, “Serpico”, “Prince of the City”, and “The Hat Squad”.
Letizia Mowinckel, historical footnote. She bought clothes for Jacqueline Kennedy.
Among the clothes she bought: the pink Chanel suit.
Obit watch: March 24, 2026.
Tuesday, March 24th, 2026For the record: NYT obits for Valerie Perrine and Brian Doherty.
Burning in Hell watch: Kermit Gosnell. I have my own opinions about abortion, which I’m not going to impose on anyone here. But the Gosnell case, as I recall, made even people who were pro-abortion sit up and say, “Hey, wait a minute, this is going too far.”
Obit watch: March 23, 2026.
Monday, March 23rd, 2026Valerie Perrine, actress. Other credits include “Homicide: Life on the Street”, “Walker, Texas Ranger”, and “W.C. Fields and Me”.
For the historical record: Robert S. Mueller III. WP.
Vatican Justice!
Tuesday, March 17th, 2026Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, former chief of staff to Pope Francis, was convicted by the Vatican’s criminal court in 2023 of various financial crimes.
Today, his conviction was overturned on appeal.
The NYT article is mostly bullet points:
Most charges related to a London real estate deal that cost the Vatican millions of euros.
In a 16-page ruling, the appeals court said that Vatican prosecutors committed procedural errors that warranted a new trial.
The court ruled that the prosecutors had unfairly withheld evidence.
One of Pope Francis’s secret law changes let prosecutors act without judicial oversight. The appeals court said the defendants should have known of the change.
The NYPost also has a story that is less bullet-pointy and more sensational.
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The case had as its main focus the Vatican’s investment of $413 million in a London property. Prosecutors alleged brokers and Vatican monsignors fleeced the Holy See of tens of millions of dollars in fees and commissions to acquire the property, and then extorted the Holy See for $16.5 million to cede control of it.
The original investigation spawned two main tangents involving Becciu, once a leading Vatican cardinal and future papal contender. He was convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to 5½ years in prison. The tribunal convicted eight other defendants of embezzlement, abuse of office, fraud and other charges and imposed tens of millions of dollars in restitution to the Holy See.
This whole thing seems kind of crazy. And I’m looking forward to the true crime book.
By the way: Catholic Answers explains papal infallibility for you.
Flaming hyena update.
Wednesday, March 4th, 2026Misty Roberts, the former mayor of DeRidder, Louisiana: guilty of “carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior with a juvenile”.
Short random gun crankery.
Monday, March 2nd, 2026The Range in South Austin is involved in an ugly legal dispute.
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Shaw is going to court today to try to block a foreclosure sale of the 52,000-square-foot business and property along Interstate 35 in South Austin.
In a nearly 400-page court filing, he maps out the alleged “scheme” perpetrated by his former colleagues, which involves derailing an effort to refinance a longstanding debt while positioning a third-party to swoop in, foreclose and take over.
“Those are all untrue statements and desperate attempts to avoid foreclosure,” said Thomas Sansone, owner of the limited partnership TASAN, which had millions in equity in the company and Range Collection LLC, the company now tasked with collecting his debt. Sansone and both companies are named in the lawsuit.
Sansone, who is also Shaw’s former father-in-law, says the company owes him about $10 million from years of investments, capital calls and bailouts. He was described by another former investor as a “lifeline” for Shaw and the business. Sansone said he took on the bank loan when it came due years ago but hasn’t been repaid.
Fact I did not know, but find interesting:
I go to The Range from time to time. I’ve never shot there, and in terms of new guns, there’s very little there for me. But I do like the Collectors Firearms inside The Range.
In other news…
Much of this story is hysterical, ignorant, or both. But this jumped out at me:
“Flagged”?
Sounds to me like credit card companies are reporting online purchases of firearms accessories to law enforcement. Might be something to keep in mind. Perhaps make your purchases in cash at gun shows, if you can.
I also wonder if this is just a New York thing. For some reason, I have it my head that credit card companies aren’t allowed to do this in Texas, but don’t ask me for a citation to the specific law or regulation.
Obit watch: February 17, 2026.
Tuesday, February 17th, 2026Another one of those “it got busy up in here all of the sudden” days.
Other credits include “T.H.E. Cat”, “The F.B.I.”, and he was the original Frank Burns in “M*A*S*H.”.
Mike the Musicologist tipped me off to this tweet. I can’t find the “embed” function on X, but here’s the long version of the video.
Frederick Wiseman, documentary filmmaker.
This may just be a personal reaction, but “Titicut Follies” is the most frightening film I have ever seen in my life. (I actually saw it in a screening at the old Dobie Theater.)
Mr. Wiseman’s approach to his films — shot in what he wryly referred to as “wobblyscope,” thanks to his hand-held camera — was perhaps never better expressed than during a face-off with his fellow documentarian Werner Herzog, onstage at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
Mr. Herzog, who had been espousing a theory of “ecstatic truth” and a willingness to manipulate his nonfiction films to achieve something sublime, confided to the audience that a shot apparently made through a dewdrop in his film “The White Diamond” had actually been made through a leaf to which glycerin had been applied. Asked whether he had ever done anything similar, or would, Mr. Wiseman said he had not, but admitted that he might change a lightbulb if a room seemed too dark.
You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#157 in a series)
Thursday, January 29th, 2026Both Bugs and Daffy are wrong. It is forgery season! And what was that about “Forgery is uncommon among the hyenas“?
Sonya Jaquez Lewis was convicted yesterday.
Apparently, Colorado has a crime called “attempting to influence a public servant”? I was under the impression that “attempting to influence a public servant”, especially an elected official, falls under the heading of “democracy”. “Forgery”, on the other hand…
The former senator got crosswise with the state senate’s Ethics Committee last year. She was accused of “mistreating” some of her aides.
She stepped down when the committee announced that Jaquez Lewis had submitted at least one fabricated letter of support, purported to be from a former aide, to the panel. The aide whose name was on the letter told legislative investigators that she didn’t write it and that she had not been in touch with Jaquez Lewis for roughly a year before the missive was sent.
When confronted, Jaquez Lewis told legislative investigators that she was relaying information she had gathered from conversations with the former aide in years past. The letter, however, appeared on letterhead with the aide’s name on it and was written in the first person.
Prosecutors found that Jaquez Lewis had actually written multiple letters purporting to be from former aides.
During a three-day trial this week, Jaquez Lewis admitted to writing the letters of support. But she denied that they were fabrications, saying they were based either on information that was relayed to her previously and, in one instance, that she misattributed a letter to the wrong former aide.
More from the Denver Post:
Yeah, don’t mess with people’s pay.
Her attorney, Craig Lewis Truman, emphasized the stress that Jaquez Lewis felt in the Capitol, compounded by an ethics committee that Jaquez Lewis felt was biased against her.
“Do you think she would put it all on the line for a letter to these kangaroo courts? Or was it because she was under the gun?” Truman said to jurors before their deliberations began.
Just leaving this here:
And keeping with our theme for the day:
And, because Lawrence’s happiness is one of the fifteen to thirty-five most important things to me: the Colorado Sun mentions her party affiliation in the subhead and the second paragraph. The Denver Post waits until the third paragraph.
The state supposedly plans to ask for probation. Hattip to Mike the Musicologist again.
You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#156 in a series)
Thursday, January 29th, 2026It has been a minute since we had one of these, but this one is swell. Hattip to Mike the Musicologist on it.
Ayshia “Ajay” Pittman pled guilty to felony charges yesterday, and resigned from the Oklahoma House of Representatives. This moved fairly quickly: as I understand the story, her plea and resignation came just “hours” after she was charged.
She was charged with three felonies: conspiracy to commit a felony, second-degree forgery, and “violation of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act”. (Trena Byas, an executive assistant, was also charged. As far as I can tell, she has not taken a plea.)
What exactly did she do? Well, she forged a cashier’s check.
Forgery is uncommon among the hyenas, so this would be noteworthy by itself. But that’s not the best part. She forged a cashier’s check…
…and sent it to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.
The background for this is that former rep Pittman has a problem with campaign funds. Specifically, she has a problem with diverting campaign funds for personal use.
The Ethics Commission wanted to see proof she was making payments.
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Ms. Pittman agreed to a seven year probated sentence, with deferred adjudication. So if she keeps out of trouble, the charges won’t go on her record.
Her resignation was part of her plea deal.
While on probation, she cannot seek state office, cannot work in state government and cannot work for a government contractor. She must make restitution for misuse of campaign funds, with the money going to charity.
Under a separate settlement with the Ethics Commission, she agreed not to run for any state office, city office, county office, school board office “or any other elected position” in Oklahoma for 15 years.
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Obit watch: January 7, 2026.
Wednesday, January 7th, 2026Michael Reagan, Ronald Reagan’s son with Jane Wyman. He was 80.
As the chairman and president of the Reagan Legacy Foundation, he supported causes and topics his father heralded in working to preserve the former president’s legacy, according to the foundation’s website.
In a letter on the foundation’s site, Mr. Reagan said he was most proud of his father’s “steadfast dedication to individual liberty and global democracy and the positive impact these values had upon our nation and our world.”
He often worked as a radio host, sometimes filling in on the talk radio host Michael Jackson’s show and had his own program, “The Michael Reagan Show.” In addition, he wrote many columns for various outlets, including Newsmax, the right-wing cable channel and site.
This is a few days old, but I’ve been holding it until I had enough obits to do a round-up: Diane Crump.
On Feb. 7, 1969, Crump became the first professional female jockey to compete at a track in the United States where betting was legal. A month later, she won the first of her 228 career victories, which brought her mounts earnings of nearly $1.3 million.
She won 24 races that year, even though her reception in the male-dominated world of horse racing remained mostly unenthusiastic. She went on to become the first female jockey to ride in the Triple Crown’s most prestigious race, the Kentucky Derby, on May 2, 1970.
And, finally, last and least: Aldrich Ames is burning in Hell. LawDog.
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Obit watch: December 27, 2025.
Saturday, December 27th, 2025Robert Lindsey, author and NYT reporter.
He ghostwrote autobiographies of Ronald Reagan and Marlon Brando. He also wrote A Gathering of Saints (about the Mormon forgery murders). He may be most famous for The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage (which won the Edgar for best fact crime in 1980).
“Front Page Farrell” on the Internet Archive.
“With a notebook and a great deal of curiosity, I traveled the world, top to bottom, from the Arctic Circle to the South Pole,” he wrote in his memoir. “I hung out with murderers, spies, a president, mobsters, generals, movie stars and scientists who helped shape our future. I watched history unfold and wrote about it.”
He added, “What could be more fun than being a reporter?”
Annette Dionne, last of the Dionne quintuplets. I don’t want to seem like I’m giving her, or the very sad story of the quints, short shrift. But I wrote about this back in August when Cécile Dionne passed away, and the obit also does a good job of recapping the story.