We have often discussed how prosecutors rarely are held accountable for botched trials due to misconduct or sending innocent people to jail. There remains a body count mentality with many prosecutors that tends to fuel such violations. One former prosecutor has proven the exception, however. Attorney A.M. Stroud III has written a letter, later published in the Shreveport Times, that took responsibility for sending away Glenn Ford (left) for the 1983 murder of Isodore Rozeman, a Shreveport jeweler — a murder he did not commit. Stroud’s letter expressed shame with his own conduct as a prosecutor and further called for an end to the death penalty in Louisiana.
Category: Criminal law
One of the clerics at the Wazir Akbar Khan mosque in Afghanistan warned police not to punish anyone for the brutal murder of a woman by a mob after she was accused of burning a Koran (Quran). Despite the fact that the rumor that the woman burned the Koran appears false, even the local police chief appeared to defend the mob as just being good Muslims irate at an act of blasphemy. Police are accused of doing nothing during the attack.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Criminal Cases resulting from speeding offense probable cause may be in jeopardy due to improper colors used variable speed limit signs. If courts determine that these signs violate statutory signage standards, exclusionary rules may apply resulting in dismissals of numerous criminal cases.
An example of this is found on Interstate 90 straddling Snoqualmie Pass in Washington State. Over a decade ago, the Washington State Department of Transportation installed Highway Advisory Beacons, near the mountain pass to warn driver of upcoming hazards along with incorporation into the state’s variable speed limit statute. An example of these types of signs is pictured above.
We have yet another motorcyclist who have gained Internet fame for his dangerous antics in a chase with police. The suspect even took selfies and slowed to taunt California highway patrol officers in pursuit.
Jose Antonio Santiago, 33, had a difficult time convincing police that he did not hit anyone with his car last week. First, there was the heavily damaged car sitting outside. Second, there was what police thought was human remains on his clothes. Finally, even if those facts could be dismissed, there was the human torso left on the passenger side floor of the car. Santiago is now charged with killing Anna Lewis (left), 62, and then fleeing the scene of the accident. Unless there was another driver, it would seem that a plea request might be the first priority for counsel.
Mexico appears to have found a solution to the aversion of tourists and businesses in going to the coutnry with rising drug-based violence, kidnappings, and corruption: they are bribing movie moguls to scrub the image of the country in major movies. MGM and Sony reportedly ordered changes to the new James Bond movie to give positive views of Mexico and drop the image of a Mexican villain. Now that is product placement.
We have another story of a Muslim mob murdering a person for offending Islam. A woman named Farkhunda, 32, in Kabul had reportedly burned a copy of the Koran inside a riverside shrine. She was then set upon by a huge mob that burned her alive and then threw her into the Kabul river. This was deemed the moral response to an immoral act by the crowd. [Update: It turns out that the accusations against Farkhunda may be untrue and that she was actually defending what she viewed as the degrading act of selling amulets in a mosque when she was attacked]
Continue reading “Afghan Mob Burns Woman Alive For Burning A Copy Of The Koran in Kabul [UPDATED]”
This morning I will be testifying in the House of Representatives before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the Committee on the Judiciary. The hearing is entitled “Child Exploitation Restitution Following the Paroline Decision” and addresses a long-standing controversy over the limits on restitution in such cases. My testimony is below.
Continue reading “Turley Testifies Before House Committee On Restitution For Child Pornography”
Pennsylvania State University Associate Professor Karen Bettez Halnon, 52, took her students on a memorable field trip this month to Nicaragua that ended in witnessing her reported meltdown and arrest on an American Airlines flight that landed in Miami. In addition to reportedly raving about how the United States was setting up Venezuela for “military aggression,” she also lit up a cigarette to reportedly show symbolize the United States as a “smoking gun.” She was charged with disorderly-conduct and breach-of-peace. She has accused the FBI and airport security of abusing her after her arrest. Her two research assistants reportedly made it home safely.
Continue reading “Penn State Professor Arrested After Incident On Airplane”
There is an interesting study out that a relatively small number of officers are responsible for over half of police abuse claims. We have seen similar results in studies of malpractice cases of doctors. Yet, this small group of officers not only tarnish the reputations of all officers but cost massive amounts of money. Marketplace reports that Chicago paid out more than half a billion dollars over 10 years in police misconduct cases. This is a city that is facing junk bond status and the threat of insolvency.
Continue reading “The Usual Suspects? Study Finds Majority of Police Abuse Cases Involve Same Small Group Of Officers”
There is a bizarre case in North Carolina where Dorian Harper, 58, and Wanda Larson, 58, were arrested after police found an 11-year-old boy chained to a porch with a dead chicken around his neck as punishment for killing a chicken on the farm. What is interesting is that the couple turned down a plea agreement to felony child abuse, false imprisonment and maiming. It is not clear where the maiming charge comes from in the case, but a trial will expose both to years in jail.
It has been years before anyone seriously in the Administration has claimed that it is “the most transparent Administration” ever — as President Barack Obama once pledged. The Obama Administration instead has set new lows for its pursuit and prosecution of whistleblowers and reporters as well as classifying and withholding information on potentially embarrassing actions or programs. For that reason, there was not much surprise that the White House chose this week — with the National Freedom of Information Day and the Sunshine Week — to remove a federal regulation that subjects its Office of Administration to the Freedom of Information Act.
Below is today’s column in USA Today. The column was actually written after I went to Chicago for Christmas and experienced firsthand the speed traps created by the city to trap drivers. My home town is a case study of the twisted logic that goes into fleecing citizens. Chicagoans are paying the highest cost for parking in the nation after outgoing mayor Richard Daley Jr. signed away a 99-year-lease to all city meters (and later accepted a job with the firm that negotiated the deal).
Illinois also has the second highest property tax rates in the country; the highest cell phone taxes in the country; and the highest restaurant taxes of any major city. Even if you try to flee the city taxes, you are hit with the nation’s highest airport parking fees in the country.
To put it simply, citizens are tapped out. Instead of raising taxes further, the city decided to find a way to generate revenue and actually blame the citizens. It installed a system of cameras that would make Kim Jong-Un blush combined with the shortest yellow lights in the nation.
Now Emanuel has backed down after years of his Administration dismissing complaints from citizens. His close reelection rather than decency appears the motivation. In the past, his government has defended the patchwork system of lights. Chicago officials insisted that other cities are also using the three-second light, including Boston and New York City. However, in New York, no red light camera tickets are issued until 0.3 seconds into the red light and Boston does not have red light cameras at all (and use the three-second yellows only downtown). However, Chicago is not alone in this perverse revenue grab.
The column is below:
Continue reading “Playing Red Light, Green Light With Citizens”
There is an old criminal defense saying that “one day on the cover of Time, next day doing Time.” That appears to hold for Robert A. Durst, who recently agreed to be interviewed for a documentary for HBO, “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,” on his suspicion for the murder of his wife and two other people. The producers uncovered new evidence and Durst was arrested in New Orleans after checking into a hotel under an assumed name.
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor
The Obama Administration has been pressuring members of Congress to pass the bill that will give President Obama the “fast track” authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP) agreement without any debate in Congress. Fast track authority would not allow for any amendments and the bill would remain secret until just before it is voted on.
“President Obama is currently pressing members of Congress to pass Fast-Track authority for a trade and investment agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). If Fast Track passes, it means that Congress must approve or deny the TPP with minimal debate and no amendments. Astonishingly, our lawmakers have not seen the agreement they are being asked to expedite.” Nation of Change Continue reading “If The TPP is Such a Great Idea, Why Keep it a Secret?”