“Texas lawyer gets 3 years, shot at census worker“.
Seems to me that Ms. Barnes has already had her shot (shots?) at the census worker, so why is the court giving her another one?
(Also: I told you so.)
Archive for the ‘Law’ Category
Unfortunate headline of the day.
Wednesday, June 12th, 2013From the legal beat.
Tuesday, June 11th, 2013I have previously written about the strange case of Carolyn Barnes, the local lawyer who was accused of shooting at a census worker, sent to the state mental hospital (where she continued to represent at least one client) and was later ruled competent to stand trial.
Ms. Barnes was convicted yesterday of assault with a deadly weapon.
She could be sentenced to up to 20 years in jail, though I have serious doubts that she will be given that much time.
In other news, the Statesman is reporting that Governor Perry is threatening to withhold funding for the “state’s Austin-based ethics-enforcement unit” unless Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg resigns. As you may recall, Ms. Lehmberg was convicted of DWI back in April and sentenced to 45 days in jail.
I apologize that the link stinks. The Statesman‘s new paywall goes into effect today, and I have been unable to find a link to this story elsewhere. (Edited to add: Link? What link? Seriously, I griped about the Statesman link but forgot to actually include it. Here’s a story from the HouChron “Texas Politics” blog that reports the same thing: the HouChron blogger suggests that this is part of an effort to cut off “a criminal investigation into the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas”.)
I haven’t decided what I’m going to do about the Statesman yet. Paying for digital access would give me a tax write-off for Low Fat Heavy Industries. On the other hand, the cheapest subscription is $9.99 a month. I already subscribe to the NYT and LAT for you, my readers, and I find it hard to justify $10 a month for the Statesman.
Quick notes: June 8, 2013.
Saturday, June 8th, 2013John Donne never met Richard Ramirez.
George Karl of the Denver Nuggets was this year’s NBA coach of the year.
George Karl of the Denver Nuggets was fired on Friday. He was 423-257 over nine seasons.
(Thanks to Lawrence for the hattip on this. I was away from the computer pretty much all day yesterday.)
Quickies: June 5, 2013.
Wednesday, June 5th, 2013Omar Bradley will not be the new mayor of Compton. (Previously.)
Former NYPD officer Ali Oklu could have had…
What happened?
Bad week for the APD.
Friday, May 31st, 2013Another one down,
Another one down,
Another APD officer bites the dust…
Second firing in two days. Why did this one get the ax?
…
…
Random notes: May 31, 2013.
Friday, May 31st, 2013Obit watch: Catholic priest and author Andrew M. Greeley.
Also:
I was not aware of this. What a lousy way to end your life.
Also: LAT obit for Jack Vance.
Police have made an arrest and filed charges in the case. The twist: the accused is a deputy sheriff.
The law of unintended consequences, continued: the city of Austin banned single-use bags effective March 1st.
(It is worth pointing out that reusable bags were common here even before the formal ban, and that there are no actual statistics as of yet showing an increase in shoplifting.)
Said it before. Say it again.
Thursday, May 30th, 2013If you’re going to scam, make it worth your while. Seven figures in front of the decimal point is a good start.
Don’t lose your job as a police officer for something stupid, like trying to scam free movie tickets.
(Especially at the Regal Westgate Stadium 11. But, as I’ve said before, I’m an Alamo Drafthouse snob.)
Scanners live in vain!
Monday, May 27th, 2013A comment by friend of the blog Jake over at Curses, Foiled Again led me to check out the Broadcastify web site. I think this had been bubbling somewhere below the surface of my conscious mind anyway, but Jake provided the kick I needed.
Broadcastify basically collects radio feeds from scanners and organizes them by location. So you can browse the site, find your local area, and (assuming Broadcastify has a feed) click the bunny to listen to your local police or fire department traffic. There are several player options, including web-based players as well as iTunes, Real Audio, Windows Media, and Winamp.
Not every locality is there; there are some large gaps in coverage for Texas, to take one example. There are feeds for Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop counties; however, there’s no feed for the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department or Round Rock PD. On the other hand, this is free, and you get what you pay for.
For reference purposes, here’s the Travis County feeds page, which includes Austin/Travis County Fire and EMS and Austin Police and Travis County Public Safety.
Back a long time ago, I was an avid shortwave and scanner listener; I still have the equipment, but my scanner isn’t capable of following the newer trunked radio systems. I’ve flirted from time to time with the idea of purchasing a newer scanner, but now I don’t have to.
Thanks, Jake!
More on Kimber and LAPD SWAT.
Saturday, May 25th, 2013Last August, I noted an LAT article about allegations that LAPD SWAT members were purchasing specially made and marked LAPD SWAT Kimber pistols at a steep discount and reselling them on the open market. At that time, it was unclear if this violated any regulations or laws; LAPD conducted one investigation, which was badly botched, and had just started a second investigation when the LAT ran their report.
Today’s update: the investigation has expanded to include LAPD’s Special Investigative Section (SIS), who also had custom Kimber pistols made for them. And the FBI is involved.
Yeah, I remember the Kimber SIS guns. I thought they were kind of neat looking, but:
- I need another .45 like I need another hole in my head. Not that that stops me from looking and drooling, but
- I already have one Kimber (from prior to 2000), and…
- This was the period when I heard bad things about Kimber’s quality control, especially on the smaller guns. (I understand the person who was in charge at Kimber during this time has since left and gone over to Sig Sauer. I don’t know if Kimber’s QC has gotten any better.)
Yeah, see my previous entry for more details on the LAPD SWAT gun. As for the SIS gun, here’s an example from GunBroker. N.B.: I am not the person selling this, I have no connection to that person, and the GunBroker link is for illustrative purposes.
I’m sorry. Did the LAT, which has been calling for more gun control, just refer to Federal gun laws as “arcane” and “complicated”?
And here’s a small note that amuses me: this month’s American Handgunner (July/August 2013) has an article on the new LAPD SIS gun: the Glock 30S, which was custom built for LAPD SIS, but:
More from the Glock website. I suspect this won’t be quite as controversial as the Kimber, only because Glock seems to have eschewed adding the “SIS” logo to the slide.
(And is there anyone out there who can explain to me why Glock’s .380 pistols are law enforcement only?)
Random notes: May 24, 2013.
Friday, May 24th, 2013Obit watch: Steve Forrest. NYT. A/V Club.
Forrest knocked around movies and TV for a long time, but he is perhaps most famous for this:
I am not ashamed to admit: I loved that show when I was a kid. And I still think it has one of the greatest themes ever, right up there with the original Hawaii 5-0 and Mission: Impossible.
NYPD blues, part 1:
Part 2:
That part seems easy to me. In the wrongful convictions I’ve read about, a recurring theme involves the wrongfully convicted being offered a chance at parole, and being turned down or refusing because they are expected to admit their crime and show remorse. If you didn’t do the crime in the first place, but you’re offered a shot at getting out of prison, do you maintain your innocence even if it costs you that chance? Or do you tell the parole board what they want to hear?
Yo, Dog, we heard you like funerals…
Thursday, May 23rd, 2013Much of this comes from a story on the A/V Club; I recap here because I don’t think any of my readers read the A/V Club, and it hasn’t shown up on FARK yet as far as I know.
Once upon a time, there was a rapper named “Tim Dog” (real name Timothy Blair). Tim Dog was a little better than aspiring; he apparently had a minor hit with something called “F–k Compton” back in the NWA days.
Sadly, Mr. Dog fell on some hard times. He was supposedly working on a comeback album, but, in February, his death was announced and reported on by such news outlets as the A/V Club and The Source.
Earlier this week, a judge in Mississippi issued an arrest warrant for Tim Dog.
“What?” you say. “How do you arrest a dead guy?”
You don’t. Evidence is accumulating that Tim Dog actually faked his own death.
And why would he do that? Spending a year dead for tax purposes? Close: a woman he met online is owed $19,000 as a result of Tim Dog being convicted of grand larceny. This woman, as well as other women, claim that Tim Dog scammed them out of money, claiming it was to produce the comeback album mentioned above.
Apparently, there is no death certificate for Tim Dog. There is some question as to whether there was a funeral; one report says that there was, and that Tim Dog’s best friend refused to speak at it (the whole “no death certificate” thing). Another report says there was but that Tim Dog’s family didn’t even show up, and they don’t believe he’s dead either. If you’re going to fake your own death, I figure you pretty much have to show up at the funeral (heavily disguised, of course) so you can hear all the good things people say about you. I wouldn’t call that rule #1 of faking your own death, but it would be in my top ten list.
If your own family refuse to show up, however, maybe there’s no point.
Banana republicans watch: May 22, 2013.
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013Lawrence linked to an amusing list from USA Today of ten California cities most likely to file for bankruptcy.
The list includes such banana republican favorites as the notoriously corrupt city of Vernon, Compton, and Mammoth Lakes (which, as previously noted, already filed for bankruptcy, but USA Today reports they withdrew that petition).
Not on the list, but should be: Bell. You may recall that one of Bell’s many issues was the collection of illegal taxes from residents. The city has to refund the illegally collected tax dollars to residents…
And by the way:
Random notes: May 22, 2013.
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013Back in October, I wrote about the defunct art gallery Knoedler & Company and their troubled relationship with a dealer named Glafira Rosales. Many of the works Ms. Rosales supplied to Knoedler are now considered fakes.
Yesterday, Ms. Rosales was charged with tax fraud.
And:
In other news: the LA County DA plans to retry the Bell city council members. As you may recall, the jury in the first trial completely acquitted one council member (Luis Artiga), convicted the other five members on some charges, acquitted them on other charges, and ultimately hung on the remaining charges.
Texas gun legislation update: things are getting interesting. The concealed carry on campus bill, and the ban on enforcing any new Federal gun laws, are tied up in the Senate. However, the Senate has approved…
This same bill also prevents local governments from outlawing BB guns and Airsoft guns.
My understanding is that the bill to cut back the number of hours of class time required for a concealed carry permit has also passed both houses, and is awaiting the governor’s signature.
More here. I was previously unaware of the TSRA PAC site; the front page summary of legislative events is very useful.
Random notes: May 18, 2013.
Saturday, May 18th, 2013Not news: New York State Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez (D-Brooklyn) has been accused of sexually harassing several women.
News: Assemblyman Lopez is resigning rather than fighting the charges.
FARK: Soon to be former Assemblyman Lopez plans to run for a seat on the NYC City Council.
The Assembly has not expelled anyone since it ejected five socialists in the early 1920s.
About a month ago, I noted the money laundering and gambling charges against Hillel Nahmad, a prominent member of the NYC art scene. Over the past two days, the NYT has run two longish articles going into more detail about the Nahmad accusations:
- Shocked, shocked I am to find out that high-stakes gambling goes on in NYC.
- “Information about how the family’s art business actually works has been difficult to pin down. In several settings, the Nahmads have described a company called the International Art Center as their base of art transactions. But in a federal suit last year the Nahmads sought to deny any legal connection between themselves and the center. Lawyers for the other side in that case said they were not even able to determine where the International Art Center was incorporated. A Christie’s invoice in the case showed the center’s location as Switzerland, but the auction house redacted the city and precise address before entering the document into court records. In a deposition in another lawsuit, Helly Nahmad said the International Art Center was based not in Switzerland but in Panama.”
Meanwhile in Utah, the West Valley City Police Department has problems.
It all started when two undercover officers shot and killed a 21-year-old woman.
More:
And:
Quote of the day #2.
Friday, May 17th, 2013As Say Uncle once said, it is my damn blog and I can have more than one quote of the day if I want.
-Ken @ Popehat
If I ever take a class where I have write my own operating system, it will be comma-based and called “Ken”.