Aiyana Stanley-Jones.

October 5th, 2011

Who was Aiyana Stanley-Jones?

She was a seven-year-old in Detroit. A SWAT team raided her home looking for a murder suspect; in the process of that raid, the police set her and her bed on fire with a flash-bang grenade. Then they shot her.

Sucks, right? But it was an accident, right? It may be the kind of accident that happens all too often these days, but still an accident, right?

Detroit Police Officer Joseph Weekley has been arraigned on an indictment on charges of involuntary manslaughter and careless and reckless discharge of a firearm causing death in the May 2010 slaying of Aiyana Stanley-Jones during a raid.

Well, okay, involuntary manslaughter and “careless and reckless discharge of a firearm” still carry the connotation of accident, right? Sure. But when was the last time you heard of a police officer being indicted for an accidental shooting? The Oakland BART shooting, perhaps? (And note that that officer was charged with second degree murder; the jury convicted him of less serious charges.)

But that’s not the only reason I’m noting this. You see, the SWAT team was being filmed by a crew from “The First 48”, a show on the A&E network. And…

Also charged in an indictment is Allison Howard, 42, of Boston. She is charged with perjury and obstruction of justice. Wayne County prosecutors said Howard was a photographer with “The First 48,” which had a crew following the Special Response Team the night of the raid.

So they’re charging the camera person as well. And note the charges: “perjury”, and “obstruction of justice”. Makes you go “Hmmmmmm”, doesn’t it?

(Hattip: Reason‘s “Hit and Run”.)

Posted in Clippings, Cops, Law, TV | Comments Closed

The Harris County Party Van.

October 5th, 2011

Harris County (which includes Houston) decided yesterday that they were going to get their breath testing services from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Previously, the county had a contract with Lone Star College.

“So what?” you say. “TXDPS must have made them a better deal.”

The contract with DPS, which began Tuesday, will cost the county $330,000 in the first year, which would be $12,000 less than Lone Star’s contract. State law reimburses the county $22.50 for each DWI conviction it obtains without using DPS technicians; Harris County collected $220,000 from the state from 2008 through 2010.

If convictions were to continue at similar rates, the DPS contract could end up being pricier than the Lone Star contract.

Well, maybe TXDPS has more experience and competence than Lone Star. That’s quite possible…

Because the DPS oversees the Texas’ breath-alcohol testing program, the agency has a broader knowledge base with more experienced personnel who focus solely on breath testing, Durfee said. The district attorney’s office also has a preference for larger regional and statewide institutions in forensic science, he said.

So what’s the issue here? Well, one of the people who works for Lone Star is Amanda Culbertson. Ms. Culbertson was also the person who brought out the problems with the BAT vans. Ms. Culbertson will apparently lose her job once Lone Star’s contract ends. Of course, everyone denies that there was any retaliation involved.

I’m torn. It actually does sound to me like there are good reasons to go with DPS. But the timing is, to put it mildly, suspicious, especially since Lone Star has had the contract for 20 years.

Murray Newman (a former prosecutor) over at the excellent “Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center” blog has some more to say on this, and he comes down pretty firmly on the “retaliation” side. Here’s the Lisa Falkenberg column he mentions.

Posted in Clippings, Cops, HCDA, Law | 1 Comment »

Case brief: Katz v. United States.

October 4th, 2011

Not that Katz. This one was Charles Katz, and he was a gambler who got caught “transmitting wagering information by telephone across state lines in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1084”. The Man had attached a recording device to the outside of the phone booth he was using, and his recorded conversations were used as evidence against him.

Katz said, “Foul!” and the Supreme Court agreed. This is actually an interesting and somewhat surprising case; it serves as a very nice example of the Supreme Court changing its mind in a very public way. The government argued that what they had done was A-OK, because the Court had ruled (in Olmstead v. United States, which I understand comes up in the Ken Burns thing) this this kind of activity didn’t violate the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court came back and said, “Yeah. You know something? We’ve changed our mind. Olmstead is no longer controlling. Too bad. So sad. You lose.”

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of information about Charles Katz, either before or after his conviction. One of his lawyers on the appeal says he never even met the man.

Anyway, here’s my case brief, for your reading and mocking pleasure.

Posted in Law, School | 1 Comment »

TMQ Watch: October 4, 2011.

October 4th, 2011

One of WCD’s favorite quotes is from the late Arthur Schlesinger Jr.:

The notion that authority is entitled to reverence per se is the most subvervise of all notions in a free society. “There is not worse heresy,” Lord Acton wrote, “than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.” Authority is entitled only to the respect it earns, and not a whit more.

After the jump, this week’s TMQ:

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Food, Guns, Neuroscience, NFL, Sports, TMQ watch | Comments Closed

Your loser update: week 4, 2011.

October 4th, 2011

NFL teams that still have a chance to go 0-16:

Miami
Indianapolis
Minnesota
St. Louis

Posted in Loser, NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

Sweet, sweet booze.

October 3rd, 2011

We are amused to note that tomorrow, October 4th, is:

Posted in Clippings, Mixology, TV | Comments Closed

Things I’ve missed.

October 3rd, 2011

Terry Francona fired by the Boston Red Sox.

Former Broward County Sheriff Nick Navarro passed away on Wednesday. Former Sheriff Navarro is probably most famous for two things:

  1. Being all over the early episodes of Cops.
  2. Trying to press obscenity charges against 2 Live Crew.

Posted in Clippings, Cops, Firings, Law, Obits | Comments Closed

Obit watch: October 1, 2011.

October 1st, 2011

Peter Gent, former Dallas Cowboy and author of North Dallas Forty.

Posted in Books, Clippings, NFL, Obits, Sports | Comments Closed

Quote of the day.

September 29th, 2011

“Now let me tell ya,” he continued, “On television they’re always hitting the cap of the gun and fanning it real fast so it looks good.”

“I always aim before I shoot,” O’Brian answered.

“Why, that’s right!” Jennings said. “A man couldn’t hit a flock of barns shooting the way most of them movie gunmen do. He’d be jerking the gun so much that he wouldn’t be able to aim at anything.”

Actually, this is just an excuse to link this historical piece from the LAT, featuring Hugh O’Brian (who played Wyatt Earp in the ABC TV series “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp”) and Al Jennings, “an admitted bank robber, train robber and cattle thief of the 1880s”.

What I like best about this piece is the huge photo at the top of Jennings and O’Brian shooting Colts, and the equally large photo at the bottom of Jennings, O’Brian, and two police officers.

“Jennings was showing Hugh O’Brian, TV’s Wyatt Earp, how Colts were handled in the old days when neighbors became alarmed, called police.”

Posted in Clippings, Guns | Comments Closed

Turn out the lights, the party’s over…

September 29th, 2011

…and the Astros finish the season at 56-106.

Their .346 winning percentage doesn’t quite qualify for the list of worst teams in history, but we’re sure the Astros tried their best to make the list. We salute their efforts this season, and hold out hope for 110 losses next year.

Edited to add: We would like to point out that the Texas Rangers, our gold standard for futility in baseball, had the following records in their early years:

1972: 54-100, .350 winning percentage.
1973: 57-105, .351 winning percentage.
1974: 84-76, .525 winning percentage.

Yes, even at their most rock bottom and pathetic, the Rangers have never lost as many games in a year as the Astros did this year.

Posted in Loser, Sports | Comments Closed

TMQ watch: September 27, 2011.

September 27th, 2011

Did TMQ spend the off season reading epic fantasy novels? (WCD wonders if Easterbrook is a big Game of Thrones fan. But we digress.)

Seriously, “great heroes”? “Muscular men with square jaws”? “gleaming heroes”? Who is TMQ talking about? After the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Geek, Neuroscience, NFL, Sports, TMQ watch | 1 Comment »

Case brief: Terry v. Ohio.

September 27th, 2011

Posted for your mocking pleasure.

Here’s what 1276 Euclid Avenue in Cleveland looks like today, according to Google Street View:


View Larger Map

Posted in Law, School | Comments Closed

What wine goes with an extra-long cheese coney and tots?

September 27th, 2011

Chain restaurants like Sonic (in one location) and Burger King (at least in their Whopper Bars) have started offering beer and wine. Unfortunately, this has turned into a great pain for little benefit:

“Candidly, they’re not utilizing those products very much at this point,” he said. “It doesn’t look like it’s a big deal to consumers — it’s clear they come to us to have an extra-long cheese coney or an all-beef hot dog.”

(Our first thought is a big mouth-filling Cabernet. Other suggestions welcome in comments.)

The LAT asks the same musical question the FAA is asking: how do you keep planes from going into the crowd at Reno?

And the FBI apparently paid a deputy in the LA County Jail $1,500 to smuggle a cellphone in to an informant. You’re telling me a government agency would do something illegal? Why, the next thing I know, you’ll be telling me that government agents used form letters from BATFE to buy guns with taxpayer money, and then provided those guns directly to the drug cartels!

(Edited to add: Fox News. Hattip: Snowflakes in Hell.)

Posted in Clippings, Cops, Food, Guns, Law, Planes | Comments Closed

Nasty, big, pointy teeth! (#2 in a series)

September 26th, 2011

In this case I don’t think carrying your gun will be much use, sadly.

Young girl goes fishing in Tom Bass Park. Young girl catches fish. Fish turns out to be Pygocentrus nattereri, aka the red-bellied piranha.

Chron takes the opportunity to get hysterical about invasive species (including the freshwater stingray) suggesting that it “might” be possible for piranhas to survive a Texas winter.

But all it takes to get a box holding a dozen live, red-bellied piranhas or a freshwater stingray or any of dozens of fish banned in Texas delivered to a door in Texas is an Internet connection and a credit card.

The Chron won’t tell you, but we will. Here you go. And here’s your freshwater stingray.

Posted in Clippings, Hysteria | 2 Comments »

Your loser update: week 3, 2011.

September 26th, 2011

NFL teams that still have a chance to go 0-16:

Miami
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Minnesota
St. Louis

Approaching the end of the season, the Astros are currently at 55-104.

Posted in Loser, NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

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