Archive for the ‘Law’ Category

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You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#29 in a series)

Monday, April 11th, 2016

Okay, maybe not flames, since this is a civil suit. But I run an equal opportunity blog here, and there are also criminal charges involved.

The SEC is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

According to the SEC, Paxton recruited investors for Servergy Inc. in 2011 without disclosing that the company was paying him to drum up support and without trying to confirm Servergy’s claims that it had developed a revolutionary new server that was, in reality, based on outdated technology.

The SEC claims that Paxton was paid $100,000 worth of stock, and, when asked about it by the SEC, claimed the stock was a “gift” from William Mapp, who was Servergy’s chairman at the time. Mapp is also accused of fraud, and a third man (“Caleb White, a Tyler businessman”) is also accused of failing to disclose commissions he received. According to the HouChron, “Servergy and White already have settled their cases by paying a combined $260,000 in penalties.”

More from the Chron:

The complaint alleges that Paxton told the SEC that he intended to pay for the shares and even offered to pay $100,000 to Mapp during a meeting at a Dairy Queen in McKinney, Texas.
According to Paxton, Mapp then said, “I can’t take your money. God doesn’t want me to take your money.” So, Paxton took the shares as a gift.

I think the important question here is: what did AG Paxton order at the Dairy Queen? Is he a Blizzard man? Maybe some sort of sundae, or possibly even a banana split? A Peanut Buster Parfait? Or is he just a humble dipped-cone sort of guy? The people demand to know!

(Damn it. I went to the DQ web site to check spellings. Now I want a S’Mores Blizzard, and the nearest DQ is miles away.)

Posted in Law, Politics, Texas | 2 Comments »

You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#28 in a series)

Monday, April 11th, 2016

I probably should have covered this last week, but it got past me. Work’s been kind of rough. Anyway:

The NYPD reassigned three deputy chiefs and a deputy inspector:

Two of the four officers were placed on modified duty, stripped of their guns and badges and limited to administrative duties, Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said. The other two were transferred from their current assignments to less prestigious positions.

Meanwhile, a prominent NYC restaurateur was arrested and charged with running a Ponzi scheme:

The restaurateur, Hamlet Peralta, who owned the now-closed Hudson River Café in Harlem, misappropriated more than $12 million from investors for use in what he said was a wholesale liquor business, according to the complaint, which was unsealed on Friday in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The business was, in fact, fictitious, prosecutors said.

What do these two things have in common? Glad you asked. They both seem to be tied to a federal investigation involving two of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s fund-raisers:

A federal grand jury in Manhattan has begun hearing evidence in the case, according to several people briefed on the matter. The inquiry has come to focus on the two fund-raisers: Jona Rechnitz, who raised money for Mr. de Blasio’s campaign and was also a donor to both the campaign and to a nonprofit group that supported the mayor’s agenda; and Jeremy Reichberg, who held a fund-raiser for that nonprofit.

More:

Two of the people briefed on the matter suggested that investigators were trying to determine whether Mr. Rechnitz and Mr. Reichberg benefited from some type of favorable municipal action, or the promise of some action, in exchange for their donations, their fund-raising or some other gesture. But the precise allegations under scrutiny by federal prosecutors in Manhattan and agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation are unclear. The two people, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the case publicly.

…

In recent months, agents and prosecutors investigating Mr. Rechnitz and Mr. Reichberg learned that they were both also in close contact with roughly a score of high-ranking police officials, and may have lavished gifts upon them, some of the people said. This tangential discovery led the police commissioner, William J. Bratton, to reassign four senior police officials to desk duty last week. Two were stripped of their guns and badges and two others were transferred to less prestigious posts, a rare public rebuke.

Mr. Rechnitz and Mr. Reichberg were also investors in the Peralta Ponzi scheme.

Like I said, I’ve been kind of behind the 8-ball, so here’s another one I should have blogged before now: Paul Tanaka was convicted of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice last week.

Mr. Tanaka was the undersheriff of Los Angeles County: basically, he was Lee Baca‘s second-in-command.

The criminal charges centered on allegations that in 2011 Tanaka orchestrated a scheme to derail the FBI’s jail investigation by intimidating the lead agent in the case, pressuring deputies not to cooperate and concealing the whereabouts of an inmate who was working as a federal informant.

Dumber than a bag of hair.

The LAT claims that Mr. Tanaka could get “as long as 15 years in prison”: as we all know, such claims should be taken with soy sauce and wasabi.

Posted in California Über Alles, Cops, Law, NYPD, Politics | 1 Comment »

Obit watch: April 5, 2016.

Tuesday, April 5th, 2016

Winston Moseley is burning in hell.

If that name doesn’t ring a bell with you, and you think I’m being harsh: Moseley is the man who killed Kitty Genovese.

Mr. Moseley, a psychopathic serial killer and necrophiliac, died at the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y., near the Canadian border. He had been imprisoned for almost 52 years, since July 7, 1964, and was one of the state’s longest-serving inmates.

I apologize for quoting at length from the NYT obit, but there are some interesting things in it that deserve to be called out. For example:

While there was no question that the attack occurred, and that some neighbors ignored cries for help, the portrayal of 38 witnesses as fully aware and unresponsive was erroneous. The article grossly exaggerated the number of witnesses and what they had perceived. None saw the attack in its entirety. Only a few had glimpsed parts of it, or recognized the cries for help. Many thought they had heard lovers or drunks quarreling. There were two attacks, not three. And afterward, two people did call the police. A 70-year-old woman ventured out and cradled the dying victim in her arms until they arrived. Ms. Genovese died on the way to a hospital.
But the account of 38 witnesses heartlessly ignoring a murderous attack was widely disseminated and took on a life of its own, shocking the national conscience and starting an avalanche of academic studies, investigations, films, books, even a theatrical production and a musical. The soul-searching went on for decades, long after the original errors were debunked, evolving into more parable than fact but continuing to reinforce images of urban Americans as too callous or fearful to call for help, even with a life at stake.

(Previously.)

Captured five days later during a burglary, Mr. Moseley confessed to the murders of Ms. Genovese and two other Queens residents: Annie Mae Johnson, 24, who had been shot and burned to death in her South Ozone Park apartment in February, and Barbara Kralik, 15, who had been stabbed in her parents’ Springfield Gardens home the previous July. Both women had been sexually assaulted.
Mr. Moseley was never tried for murdering Ms. Johnson or Ms. Kralik, though he recited details only the killer could have known, the police said. He testified at the trial of Alvin Mitchell, who had already been charged in Ms. Kralik’s murder. The conflicting accounts left a hung jury. Mr. Mitchell was convicted in a second trial.

Well. I wonder what happened to Mr. Mitchell. (I tried a Google search, but “Alvin Mitchell” is too common a name.)

In 1968, on the visit to a Buffalo hospital for treatment of a self-inflicted injury at Attica, Mr. Moseley overpowered a guard, took his gun and fled. In his several days on the loose, he took five hostages and raped a woman before he was finally recaptured by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He received two 15-year terms, to run concurrently with his life sentence.

That’s something I didn’t know. (It is perhaps worth noting that Moseley was originally sentenced to death for the Genovese murder, but had his sentence reduced to life imprisonment on appeal.)

Also among the dead, and one I’ve been meaning to note: Adrienne Corri, actress, perhaps most famous for her role in “A Clockwork Orange”.

Erik Bauersfeld.

Posted in Clippings, Law, Movies | Comments Closed

Things: April 1, 2016.

Friday, April 1st, 2016

You know something? I still don’t like bullies.

Obit watch: Bill Green. Mr. Green worked as a newspaper editor, public affairs officer for NASA, and university professor at Duke.

He also worked for the Washington Post as their ombudsman from late 1980 to 1981. If you’re thinking, “Hey, that period sounds historically significant.”: yes, yes it was. “Jimmy’s World” was published shortly after Mr. Green became ombudsman, and he conducted the paper’s investigation when it fell apart.

Since it fell off the front page, I wanted to also note here that I updated the “Use of force” post: now with pyramids!

Posted in Clippings, Guns, Law, Media, Obits | Comments Closed

Interesting times (part 2).

Thursday, March 24th, 2016

Great and good friend of the blog RoadRich is taking the CPA class with me. Actually, the whole thing was his idea, so now you know who to blame for the blog posts.

And as far as blaming people for blog posts, he also sent a thoughtful reply to the use of force post. I liked it enough that I asked him for permission to use it here, which he granted. What follows after the jump are his comments, with a few personal asides edited out.

(more…)

Posted in Austin, Cops, Law, Politics | Comments Closed

Interesting times (part 1).

Thursday, March 24th, 2016

Earlier this week, I wrote about the Austin Police Department, use of force policies, and the officer who was fired for shooting a naked unarmed 17-year old male.

I have two followups to that.

Austin has an organization called the Office of the Police Monitor. This is an organization independent of the APD; the basic idea is that they serve as a civilian oversight organization for the police. They’re the ones who issued that report on stops and searches I touched on a while back.

Part of what they do is monitor Internal Affairs investigations, and make recommendations as they see fit. You might correctly guess that they were involved in the shooting investigation.

The Stateman published a story late yesterday afternoon about one of the OPM’s recommendations as a result of this incident: they want a trainer at the police academy reassigned.

Yes, a trainer. Why? I’m going to put a break here because this is running long…

(more…)

Posted in Austin, Cops, Law, Politics | Comments Closed

Random notes: March 23, 2016.

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016

Let’s play a little game: fill in the blank in this headline. (No fair peeking.)

New York Police Increase Patrols Around 20 Clubs to Combat [Blank] Violence

Did you say “gun”? Bzzzzzt! Sorry. Understandable, but wrong. We were looking for “knife”. “Knife”.

Police officials said on Tuesday that they would increase enforcement around 20 bars and clubs in New York City with a disproportionate share of the stabbings and slashings that have resulted in a surge in knife violence this year.

I just like pointing out the use of “knife violence” here.

And speaking of things I just want to point out:

The plan called for establishing a site where people could legally shoot heroin — something that does not exist anywhere in the United States.

“There’s never been a paper bag for drugs…until now.”

Sourdough starter!

Some people name their starters: William Butler Yeast, Herman, Sarah, Sky Pilot, Ms. Tippity, Eleanor, Roxanne.

I have to admit, “William Butler Yeast” is clever.

The latest additions to the National Recording Registry came out today.

A few random notes:

  • You can find the W.H. Stepp version of “Bonaparte’s Retreat” on YouTube if you want to compare and contrast to Copland.
  • I rather like the note on Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, putting it into the context of 1938.
  • I want to hear those two “Destination Freedom” episodes. I haven’t had a chance to go looking for them yet.
  • Dixie McCall for the win!
  • Yeah, I can accept both versions of “Mack the Knife”. You know who did a really good version of that song? Sting, believe it or not, with Dominc Muldowney on the Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill album, which does not appear to be available digitally.
  • As everyone knows, I am not a basketball fan, but I do acknowledge the significance of Wilt Chamberlain.
  • Damn, “Mama Tried” is a great song.
  • I have to agree Carlin belongs on this list, if for no other reason than the legal significance of the “Seven Dirty Words” routine.
  • “I Will Survive” is a good song, but I prefer the Cake version. (I also prefer girls with a short skirt and a long jacket.)
  • One of my coworkers and I have been joking back and forth about how metal I am. This is how metal I am: I’ve never heard “Master of Puppets”. Perhaps I need to fix that.

Posted in Bread, Cops, Food, Knives, Law, Music, NYPD | 1 Comment »

Use of force, Luke.

Monday, March 21st, 2016

How much force can police use?

The first answer to that question probably ought to be another question, “Under what circumstances?”

For example, if someone’s passively resisting – just goes limp, doesn’t fight back – should a police officer whip out his issue sidearm and kill them? Perhaps if the officer is a member of the Chicago Police Department (where apparently officers can get away with anything) but in a normal police department, such behavior will get you fired and criminally charged.

Is this okay?

Is it okay to shoot an unarmed, naked, 17-year-old male? Is it okay to pepper-spray someone in the back of a police van? These last two questions are ones the city of Austin has been dealing with recently.

(more…)

Posted in Cops, Law | 2 Comments »

Short random notes: March 18, 2016.

Friday, March 18th, 2016

I absolutely hate the BuzzFeed inspired headline on this story. But the story itself is worth reading:

Twenty-seven years ago, on a drug raid conducted by an elite special operations team with the same county police department, Sommers had shot and killed his best friend, a fellow squad member named Mark Murphy. In the days afterward, one of the few people who could reach Sommers, locked away in private torment, was another officer who had also accidentally killed another cop.
And now Sommers was being asked by his friend to do the same thing for the officer who had killed Colson — just as he has done for cops across the country who have suddenly found themselves at the center of unfathomable circumstances.

Obit watch: James Sheldon has passed away at the age of 95. The name didn’t ring a bell with me, but wow, what a career:

Mr. Sheldon directed episodes of some 100 series in virtually every genre, including classic episodes of “The Twilight Zone” (among them “I Sing the Body Electric” and “A Penny for Your Thoughts”), 44 episodes of the hit series “The Millionaire” and a full season of “The Bing Crosby Show,” a short-lived family sitcom.

Larry Drake. You know, I remember being fond of “L.A. Law” when it was first running; I wonder how it holds up today.

Posted in Cops, Guns, Law, Obits, TV | Comments Closed

Obit watch: March 17, 2016.

Thursday, March 17th, 2016

Frank Sinatra Jr.

Later that year Frank Jr.’s name was in headlines nationwide when he was kidnapped at gunpoint from a casino in Nevada. He was freed, unharmed, a little more than two days later, after his father paid $240,000 in ransom.

Three men, Barry Worthington Keenan, Joseph Clyde Amsler and John William Irwin, were convicted of the kidnapping, despite defense lawyers’ claim that it had been a publicity stunt. “The criminals invented a story that the whole thing was phony,” Mr. Sinatra said in an interview with The Guardian in 2012. “That was the stigma put on me.”

Apparently, Barry Keenan was involved in a project to build a casino in downtown Austin? How did I miss that?

Posted in Law, Music, Obits | Comments Closed

Police now give you no break…

Wednesday, March 16th, 2016

During stops that resulted in a citation or an arrest, African-Americans had a 1 in 6 chance of being searched in the same type of stops, which was the same rate since 2012. Hispanics had a 1 in 9 chance of being searched, which also was the same rate from the previous two years, the report found. Whites had a 1 in 22 chance of being searched.

I wanted to take note of this story, and the complete report from the Office of the Police Monitor.

Chief of Staff Manley, who is quoted extensively in the Statesman report, addressed our Citizen’s Police Academy class last week and spent about 30 minutes going over the report. I feel comfortable saying that pretty much everything he told us, as far as APD’s response to the report, made it into the Statesman‘s article. But I’m glad to get the OPM’s side, too.

(A representative from the OPM did address our CPA class, and I think the CPA deserves some credit for having him there. However, his presentation came the week before the OPM report was released.)

There are some things that Chief Manley said in his presentation that bother me a bit, but I’m having trouble articulating exactly why; this may be the subject of a longer post later, along with one I’m trying to write about “response to resistance”.

(As we all know, resistance is a) futile, and II) voltage/current.)

Posted in Austin, Cops, Law, Politics | 1 Comment »

The past is another country.

Friday, March 4th, 2016

They did things differently there.

The San Francisco Chronicle used to give out firearms as subscription premiums.

I am well pleased with the gun, as it is all that is represented to be. I did not expect to get a $100 gun for $13.50.

You could also get a Colt rifle plus a one-year subscription to the paper for $14.50. (“$15 of 1887 dollars would be worth: $362.50 in 2015.”)

Peter Hartlaub for the win:

We were like Leland Yee, but with more follow-through.

(Hattip: Jimbo.)

Posted in California Über Alles, Colt, Guns, History, Law, Leland "Uncle" Yee, Media | Comments Closed

Uncle quickie.

Wednesday, February 24th, 2016

One more quick Leland “Uncle” Yee thought that I didn’t have time for in the previous entry:

Sen. Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) said Wednesday that the Yee case shows the need for stronger controls of campaign financing. She has introduced a bill aimed at closing a loophole in campaign finance law that was exploited by Yee. Her measure would extend contribution limits that apply to candidates’ campaigns to also apply to ballot measure committees formed by elected officials.

“Today’s sentencing of a former elected official underscores the need to close campaign finance loopholes wherever they exist,” Bates said in a statement. “My bill will help restore the spirit of the Political Reform Act of 1974 that sought to end the culture of corruption that many believe is pervasive in politics.”

Yes, folks, you read that correctly. Campaign finance reform is the only thing standing between you and your elected state senator smuggling guns to Islamic terrorists and rebel groups in the Philippines.

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Law, Leland "Uncle" Yee, Stupid | Comments Closed

You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#27 in a series)

Wednesday, February 24th, 2016

Convicted former California Democratic State Senator Leland “Uncle” Yee was sentenced today.

As you may recall, convicted former California Democratic State Senator Leland “Uncle” Yee pled guilty to one count of racketeering:

Yee admitted in a plea deal that he was part of a racketeering conspiracy that involved exchanging official acts for money, conspiring to traffic in weapons and money laundering. Specifically, Lee promised an undercover FBI agent favors in return for campaign contributions.

And what did he get for all this?

Five years in prison and a $20,000 fine. He’s also apparently going to have to give up $33,000, at least some of which will come out of his political campaign accounts.

During the hourlong proceedings, Yee asked the court for leniency in light of his public humiliation, his wife’s severe illness, his admissions of wrongdoing and his past record of public service.

Speaking of “his past record of public service”, as a convicted felon, convicted former California Democratic State Senator Leland “Uncle” Yee, who was a prominent advocate of gun control and received an award from the Brady Campaign, will no longer be allowed to own firearms. Legally, anyway.

Edited to add: more from the SF Examiner.

Keith Jackson, a political consultant and former San Francisco school board president who pleaded guilty to the same racketeering conspiracy charge as Yee, was also sentenced Wednesday to nine years in prison.

According to the same article, Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow’s sentencing is scheduled for March 23rd.

SFGate:

He then sentenced Jackson’s son Brandon to 4 1/2 years in prison, and sports agent Marlon Sullivan to 5 1/2 years, for separate racketeering charges. Both men admitted plotting with undercover agents, who posed as criminals, to deal drugs and firearms and take part in the murder-for-hire scheme.

Breyer told Yee on Wednesday that his willingness to traffic in guns, while publicly trumpeting his support for gun control, was “inexplicable … hypocritical … the most venal thing and the most dangerous thing you’ve done.”

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Law, Leland "Uncle" Yee | 1 Comment »

Notes on historical notes.

Wednesday, February 24th, 2016

We’re coming up on at least two significant anniversaries this year.

One of those is the 100th birthday of John D. MacDonald on July 24th. I plan to write more about this closer to the event. In the meantime, here are a couple of links I like:

From the “National Post”: “Sunbelt Baroque: How John D. MacDonald invented a subgenre that’s no longer his own”.

(Well, of course it’s no longer his own. He died almost 30 years ago.)

Stephen King’s Sarasota Herald-Tribune essay about MacDonald. I think Big Steve and I first encountered John D. at about the same age. This may explain some things.

(I really wish the Herald-Tribune would make it easier to find these columns. It looks like this link will bring them up, along with some unrelated stuff.)

And the other significant anniversary? June 25th will mark the 110th anniversary of the murder of Stanford White by Harry Kendall Thaw. That’s something I want to write more about as well, but it needs research. I’d appreciate book recommendations, if folks have them.

(You know, you would think you could find this on the Internet, but I’ve had no luck: what was the weapon Thaw used? The only description I’ve been able to find is that it was a “pistol”.)

(Teaser.)

Posted in Books, History, Law | Comments Closed

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