Dipity
Today’s post title is an exercise in puns that I am exceedingly delighted by. If you actually get the pun, then you are an internet dork like myself. If not, the story should still be fairl...
DNA Swabs Solve Crimes in Pennsylvania, Arkansas finds a way to reduce prisoners, and North Carolina goes after gangs.Pittsburgh Post-GazetteCan Swabbing For DNA Go Too Far?In the settlement around...
The Lykos Administration took affect last week with District Attorney Ken Magidson extending the professional courtesy to Jim Leitner of hiring him on to do Pat Lykos' bidding prior to her taking o...
Here is an interesting article about high speed police chases in Kansas. It comes on the heels of a high speed police chase that ended in a fatality recently in Kansas. There is a good blog that de...
I wish everyone from our Little CJC Family a very Happy Thanksgiving!It's been a tumultuous and crazy year, but we've all got so many things to be thankful for.I'm thankful for every last one of yo...
There is not a whole lot to talk about today. Things were fairly uneventful at the office. I spent most of my day working on a response to a defense motion that really did not require all t...
Hello again readers. The new laptop is up and running, and all is well in the Land of Speezy. I know this is the first post I have made in a little while, and I hope that it makes up for th...
I happened to stumble across a new blog (as in created yesterday) that is written from the perspective of a new prosecutor. I look forward to reading it in the days to come and I've linked to it in...
Tomorrow will be Felony Trial Bureau Chief Lyn "Big Poppa" McClellan's last day in office.To say that his departure from the Office will be a tremendous loss is like saying that the Titanic took on...
For those of you who had not heard, Dick Wheelan passed away this morning after a courageous battle with cancer.I'm hesitant to post the notice of a person's passing on something as impersonal as t...
Greetings readers. Many of you probably noticed that I disappeared right around election day, and I never made the follow-up post that I had promised. I have an explanation, so bear with me...
The final votes were tallied today, and C.O. Bradford conceded the race for District Attorney, making former Judge Pat Lykos the new boss at the D.A.'s Office.And immediately around the Office, rum...
Interesting article by Lisa Falkenberg this morning on her analysis of the 351st Judicial Race. Um. not quite sure what to say about it, so I'll let you guys do the talking.On an unrelated side no...
I've made mention in several of my posts that I'm hardly anonymous anymore. When asked if I'm "The Blogger", I never deny it [anymore]. I just don't officially state on the blog who I am for variou...
From Ellis McCullough today after a particularly hectic day of fighting with the CJC Elevators:"I hope I live long enough to see this building imploded."Well said, Ellis. Well said.
I've gotten a couple of comments on why I haven't posted lately.No particular reason. Just didn't have a lot to say. I'm still taking in all of the ramifications of the November election and still ...
Wow.What a wild night. At the moment, I'm still rather speechless at the county-wide rejection of some of the finest Judges in the Country.It is incredibly sad to me that Judicial Races still carr...
Election season is always tense, and this year is certainly no different. A lot of my friends are constantly discussing hot button issues with such fervor that it becomes exceedingly hard to...
As you can see to the right, I have made my endorsement for President in 2008. Despite his rumored association with a dead terrorist, I think this is the best man for the job.
For the past several weeks, I have felt an utter lack of energy while at work. Everything feels like a struggle, and everything seems to drag endlessly throughout the day. It is a terrible ...
Once again, nothing particularly exciting happened today. I managed to get one or two small things done, but nothing of any major significance. One of the unfortunate hazards of my job is f...
Sitting in Court a few weeks back, I had a defendant come in for a Felony Strangulation case for a second appearance. With a temporary restraining order in place, he had to vacate the home of the ...
"I am obviously disappointed in the verdict but not surprised given the repeated instances of prosecutorial misconduct in this case. The prosecutors had to report themselves to the Justice Departme...
1) Heart attack linked to cocaine. 2) Immigration official and marijuana smuggler. 3) Don't tip the lap dancer with cocaine. 4) Burning the house down while growing marijuana. 5) Cracking down ...
1) There are some places you shouldn't be a thief. 2) If you nap during the break-in . . . 3) Even if it's not locked up, stealing a bike is stealing a bike. 4) You can't sell your weapons when ...
Sorry for not posting anything for the past few days. There really has not been much to report. Friday was relatively uneventful, even for a Friday. I had a bit of an extended weekend as w...
1) Idiots and Obama. 2) 1st Amendment trumps when Palin involved.
Okay, I had to drive home thru a blizzard last night and come back to work this morning over a frozen snow covered mountain. IN OCTOBER!!!!!!!! Where's my global warming? I was promised global w...
This man is old school. A Japenese sword. A gun would be quicker, no?Man slashed with sword after argument heats upVictim hospitalized By FIONA STOKES Monday, October 27th 2008ST. CROIX - One man...
1) A British student, a Japanese vampire comic and an Italian prosecutor. 2) In Japan you can get charged with killing someone virtually. 3) Life in an Italian jail for a woman charged with murde...
1) LAPD swamped with untested rape kits. 2) Why would a porn actor commit rape? 3) Won't be legal to paint nude kids in Australia much longer.
It's been over six months now since Judge Pat Lykos defeated Kelly Siegler in the Republican Primary for the District Attorney's race, leaving her to face Democratic candidate and former Houston Po...
The Chronicle made it's judicial endorsements in today's newspaper on the 9 races up for grabs in the CJC.I disagree with them on their endorsement of Reuben Guerrero over Bill Moore for reasons I'...
Discovering the shocking reality that when times are tough people break more laws.
On a personal note, today is my little boy's third birthday.In a world that is often very dark, he is truly a Bringer of Light.I wish a very Happy Birthday to my Reason for Being, my Best Friend, a...
The race for the 351st District Court has Republican incumbent Judge Mark Kent Ellis facing Democratic candidate and defense attorney Mekisha Walker Murray. In this instance, my personal knowledge...
Pretty soon the warmup season will be over and the real sport will begin. Looks like a good year. My alma mater, Centre, is ranked 13th preseason DIII, which is interesting since that's the exact...
When I wrote my post early this morning, I had no how appropriate it was going to be to work today. Long story short, there is a case I inherited that has been ongoing for over a year now. ...
From the Washington Post comes this article"A Maryland program designed to prevent domestic violence-related homicides will soon be replicated in other parts of the country with the help of a new f...
I failed to make a post yesterday, not because I had nothing to talk about, but because I was too busy with other projects once I got home from work. But here I am, awake and unable to get b...
This is the story of a felony trial in District Court. Happened about three months into my practice (quite a while back from today). It’s hard to imagine some kid out of law school doing a Distri...
The first horse of the apocalypse revealed itself last week—Thai food is coming to Rural District, the small town of 9,000 cowboys, ranchers, and hunters. That's right, competing with the McDonal...
Steal a truck, steal a flatbed, steal a forklift - still fail at the crime.
Yesterday someone from the University of Szeged (Hungary) apparently stayed on my site for 366+ minutes and 147 page views. Dang, even I don't spend that much time on my blawg.
Okay, somebody from NY please explain to me criminal possession in the 7th degree. Here's how I picture possession in the 7th degree: A person in Idaho thinks about someone in NY who knows someone...
Before I get into the actual post today, I just want to share some insight that I came up with earlier: The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is the knowledge that somewhere the sun is s...
In all of the political contests involving the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, there is probably no greater disparity between the candidates' qualifications and ability than there are betwee...
The 338th District Court Judicial Race has two candidates that I can actually say were still working as prosecutors back when I started at the Office. The Republican candidate is incumbent Judge Br...
I got an e-mail bright and early this morning from my old friend/arch-Nemesis (kidding!)Alan Bernstein checking to make sure I had seen that the Chronicle had endorsed Pat Lykos for District Attorn...
Brady is the name given to a series of cases which stand for a basic principle: if there is evidence that someone is innocent the person accused should be given access to that evidence. At its core...
Japan seems to be having problems with seniors committing more and more crime.
District Attorney Ken Magidson provided an editorial piece to the Chronicle in today's Sunday Edition, which outlines the positive changes made in the D.A.'s Office during his short tenure.One of t...
Greetings readers. I meant to post yesterday, but never quite had the chance to do so. A good friend of mine came up to visit me from Seattle, and so we spent the entire evening entertainin...
Name that pic: The only rules are the same ones as always - No Politics - Civility (no cursing or name calling) - No Politics (with thanks to the long gone Commonwealth Conservative whose I am ...
Today’s post topic is in reference to multiple things today. Most obviously, I have made some minor changes to the layout of this blog, by adding in links to other blogs I read and a search ...
Back to Business today.The race for the 337th District Court Judicial Race has Republican incumbent Judge Don Stricklin running against Democratic Candidate and defense attorney Herb Ritchie. I che...
Note to self: it is extremely hard to write one of these while talking to several people on the phone in rapid succession. It is no secret that I talk too much. Ask anyone who knows me...
Mr. Popavich was a Russian-Israeli with a thick accent that did not seem to quite understand everything that was going on: “Vat am I charged wiz Mr. Prozecutor?” “Driving...
Today was a relatively productive day at the office, despite the fact that I did almost no work at all. This morning, I did sentencing on three separate cases involving two different defenda...
I had an epiphany today. It took a very special person to make me realize what was happening in my life. Someday, I hope I can thank her properly for giving me the wake up call that I neede...
I know that I just previously said that there would be no more posts for a while, and honestly, I did not think I would be able to post anything. Then I discovered how much support I have fr...
Every once in a while, I will sit down and write about things that have absolutely nothing to do with the CJC. Kind of self-indulgent topics, I suppose, that I'm not really thinking are relevant t...
Singleton v. Commonwealth: An attorney who sends a letter to court saying he will not be able to come and tells his client not to come to court is in contempt, even if the Commonwealth Attorney has...
This was not a post I ever wanted to have to write, but I am afraid I must announce that there will be no further posts for the foreseeable future. I cannot explain the reasons, nor do I par...
The race for the 179th District Court features 20 year veteran Judge Mike Wilkinson as the Republican Candidate against Democratic challenger Randy Roll. (NOTE: There were some technical difficulti...
At random intervals over the last week or so, I've been checking to see what people are searching for to bring them to CrimLaw. On six occasions I printed out the twenty most recent searches. Tabul...
I got an e-mail from R.J. MacReady today, mentioning his blog, The Court of Criminal Appeals Blog. I wasn't aware of it until today (some days I'm just a really bad blogger in the Blawgosphere).He...
Apparently in Ohio you can even vote in violation of the State's own constitution.
By attempting to force a girl to drink turpentine.
At least if you give it to him to share with his buddies.
. . . you might run into your putative sister-in-law.
. . . you should get more than a cell phone and a little money.
At least the lady who fought this ticket did.
. . . you might be invited to stay.
Rose-tinted Sunglasses - $120Fashionably Questionable Tie - $150Ostrich Skin Briefcase - $900Messing With Prosecutors - FunnyForgetting Your Umbrella - Priceless
"The bottom line is, if you are charged with a federal crime, you are probably going to go to prison. If you have been charged with a federal crime your first thought should not be whether you are ...
The race for the 178th District Court has the newest Judge in the CJC, Republican candidate Judge Roger Bridgwater, defending his bench against Democratic attorney David Mendoza, Jr. (who does not ...
City councilwoman, Defense Attorney, and part-time Super Hero Jolanda Jones, along with Houston Mayor Bill White (who after everything he's done through Hurricane Ike is a Super Hero in my book, to...
On Tuesday, Mr. Jeffrey Rock came into my office to negotiate a plea bargain for his driving under the influence of drugs case. The exchange was a little nerve-racking for my white blood cells:”He...
Unfortunately, China's pilot space incarceration program is being shut down because there are cheaper alternatives:
"[L]ocal talk radio shows have been flooded with calls demanding that the iPhone's owner be prosecuted."
By popular demand, here's the award for being a top five on LX:
Before Hurricane Ike, I had a plan to write one profile a week on the Judicial Races. Unfortunately, I'm in a bit of a time crunch. I'm trying to double up here and cover all of them before the Ear...
In a year that has pretty much roundly stunk, I did get a little bit of good news last weekend when I got an e-mail from my friend, Jim, who I had previously written about here and here.He told me ...
We're told over and over again that what sets prosecutors apart from other lawyers is the duty to seek justice. No other lawyer has that duty. The pertinent question then is "What is justice?" I...
You really shouldn't sneak away from your lawyer and into a police LT's office to steal her pistol.
"The biggest growth industry on Wall Street these days is the white collar criminal law firm."
Tories trying to push greater protections for those who help.
I was really excited about the prospect of having a new post for everyone to enjoy this week, but sadly, that is looking less and less likely. As I type this, I am sitting upright in my bedr...
Y'know, as a guy, I admire certain aspects of the female anatomy too, but I just can't see plotting this . . .
Judge lets man out of service because his friends figured out he was serving.
Okay, I got a little sidetracked on my election profiles by some dude named Ike. But, I'm back again.Back in January, I posted an article making note of the fact that if it weren't for the Rosentha...
Alan Bernstein wrote an article today recapping a debate between D.A. Candidates Pat Lykos and Clarence Bradford. (NOTE: Thanks for the head's up on that, Muck.)We are rapidly approaching the elect...
This week is already shaping up to be a bad week. Unfortunately, I do not feel that I can elaborate as to why at this juncture, but try to understand that there is a great deal of tragedy in...
In addition to the mind-numbingly short-sighted policy regarding the Administrative Assistants, the employees of the CJC also got a warning today not to utilize county e-mails as a way of solicitin...
One of the often overlooked positions within the Harris County District Attorney's Office (absurdly) is the position of the Administrative Assistant (aka the Secretary). Sadly, the Administrative A...
Rural District got all dressed up to come to the Rotary Club's annual dinner. I showed up in a jeans, tennis shoes, and a hand-me-down sweater, thinking that this would be proper attire. Much to ...
It has been quite some time since I last saw a defendant get riled up in court to the point of sheer entertainment. It was a regular occurrence when I worked in District Court, but things ar...
Sorry I haven't been updating regularly. I've been having trouble getting a wireless connection which is kind of necessary when you've got no power or cable.Here's the deal for tomorrow for those ...
Since there's no official site that appears to be updating CJC employees on what's going on, I will keep posting what I know. Hopefully it will be of some help to somebody.This morning, about 15 t...
For those of you who can't access your work e-mail or don't have a BlackBerry (c'mon and join the 21st Century folks), Bert Graham sent the following e-mail out to all DA Employees:Regarding tomorr...
Apparently Judge Don Stricklin is asking for 10 felony District Court Chiefs (or above) to report to intake tomorrow at 8 a.m. dressed for court (NOTE: Not real excited about the "dressed for court...
Hurricane Ike has come and gone now.As a trained speaker and communicator, I would like to issue my following description of the experience in two words:Holy crap.I'm from a nice little landlocked ...
Okay, let's just put it all out on the table here -- the year 2008 has freaking sucked.From the Rosenthal scandal on down, there hasn't been a dull moment for those of us whose lives tend to cente...
Here is an interesting article from msn.com about the financial implications to the U.S. Economy of legalizing all drugs. While interesting, I have two critiques of the article. # 1: With the exc...
I apologize to those who come to this blog for its prosecution/law focus, but I could not help but post this video from Chris Cilizza's Washington Post Fix.
The great thing about being a small town prosecutor is seeing the case from start to finish—from charging to sentencing. Often times, when you charge, you start backwards. What does this person u...
Last Wednesday I took an hour off in the morning to go to the Dentist. I never told anyone that I was going to the Dentist, per se, just that I had an "appointment." When I came back to Court at ...
So, Google has put out a new browser: Chrome. I won't bother linking to it because if you've used Google in the last week you've had the link pushed at you. I've tried it and now I'm going to infli...
First off, I just want to say that I’m glad to be back writing. For the past two weeks, I have been extremely busy; first I had the Assault case I mentioned last week, and then immediately a...
The race for the 174th is the one race in this year's round of Judicial Elections that doesn't have an incumbent involved. Judge George Godwin is retiring from the bench after a long and distinguis...
Before I start off on my court by court previews of the Judicial races in Harris County, Texas, I think it only fair that I go ahead and admit some of my biases on the front side.I've been working ...
Just thank goodness you can't actually hear me singing the song. I'm traveling for the next couple days, so don't expect much in the way of posts. First, I'm going to go watch my High School play ...
Recently, I've gotten two requests from friends to do a notification to our little Criminal Law community, which I'm more than happy to do! If anyone has a event or something big that affects us an...
So, I check to see who has linked here and I see that Gideon has tagged me.The rules are simple: name 5 blogs I read and tag 5 blawgers. Note the subtle difference: 5 blogs, not blawgs.Ok here goes...
So, you're at your local court clerk's office getting your license plate replaced. You see the picture of the special license plates up on the wall and it has your college on it; it's actually a fa...
People v. Steven Candle was set for a most interesting motions hearing on Tuesday—a motion to suppress Defendant's actions during the issuance of his summons. Mr. Candle is one of our honor roll ...
Even when I don't have to go and work at a courthouse I end up at one. I had some business today at the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg, Kentucky. Here's the road leading up to the courtho...
The first horse of the apocalypse revealed itself last week—Thai food is coming to the Rural District, a town under 10,000 people best known for its pick up trucks and gun owning small town folks. ...
The Clock was the first masked hero/crime-fighter to ever appear in a comic book. In those days he wore a three piece suit and the above is a somewhat reimagined, modern version. There are a n...
Over the long Labor Day weekend, I had the opportunity to go back to my hometown and spend some quality time with my family -- both extended, nuclear, and otherwise.Now, I've always considered myse...
Ah, poor Mark Bennett.The polls closed on the "Guess the Age" vote I did in honor of his birthday last week, and the majority of you (29%) guessed that my friend was older than 46 years of age, whi...
Dawgonit, yet another crimlaw blawg is falling into political mode. Well, there's only one real solution for this.
With the price of gas in the modern day, I've looked around at scooters/mopeds a little bit. An interesting thing out there is the 3 wheelers. I pretty much fell in love with the Piaggio MP3 at fi...
Every time I get on Facebook it tries to set me up with someone. Now, not to be too cynical about things, but girls who looked like that weren't too interested in me when I was young and in far...
From Cartoonstock. There are more; I just grabbed the ones which most tickled my fancy.
I've been playing around with Animoto. It's a site to which you upload pictures and it mixes them with music and effects. Here's an example using various logos I've used over the years: ...
I am searching for a framed copy of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights to hang in my office. I have found it can be particularly helpful in explaining things to both defendants and ...
In yesterday's CLTV, I proposed that juries be given three options: guilty, not guilty, and innocent. Scott doesn't cotton to this at all.It shifts the burden of proof from the prosecution to the d...
Why presumption of innocence is a poor concept, levels of proof, and allowing jurors to decide innocence. Larger CLTV version here.
In the past couple of weeks, I've come across two addendums to my Elevator People article that I did awhile back.Addendum # 1 - The "Chain of Consciousness Elevator Rider" - this is the guy who see...
How much does it pay?"Salaries for full professors vary widely and remain undisclosed by most private schools. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean annual salary in 2006 for l...
Previously on CrimLaw:2) Should the Denver Chief of Police be fired for enforcing the laws he's sworn to enforce? ----- Comment: well that Denver comment is certainly pure sound-byte spin. are you ...
When he's Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, a German who tried to kidnap his daughter.
The problem with refusing to let a Supreme Court Justice publish his dissent is that there are plenty of other places to publish it and it gets more attention than it ever would have.
If you plan to kidnap your virtual boyfriend you probably shouldn't leave your real dog behind.
Over the next couple of weeks, I plan to start doing a profile on each of the contested criminal court races that are going to be on the November ballot. My is to start with the 174th District Cour...
Y'know it's bad enough that the Reds have been so bad this year and engaged in a fire sale that has even their most hardbitten fans contemplating abandoning them:One last thing: I said I’d rename...
1) Places to hide drugs: pigeons, entertainment center, mouth, bra. 2) Should the Denver Chief of Police be fired for enforcing the laws he's sworn to enforce? 3) Don't file a false police report...
1) You may be able to sneak in using the air ducts, but you also need to be able to fit on the way out with your ill-gotten gains. 2) Sometimes when you jump into a river in an attempt to escape y...
What makes Rural District, America another great place to practice prosecution is the chance to become familiar with violations not found in a criminal statute. I speak of the hundreds of hunting ...
I've never been a lawyer that suffered from much trial anxiety.I really enjoy being in trial, actually. I love voir dire. I like the feeling of getting stuff done with every witness I get on and ...
Greetings readers. I have nothing particularly special to talk about this week, but I am gearing up for a big case next week. Trial should begin with jury selection Monday morning, followed...
Those of you who know me, also know that I happen to be a deputy coroner in addition to being a deputy prosecutor. In a county as small as my own, it is common for prosecutors to serve in mu...
Only one problem:"[S]ubject to the availability of appropriations."As someone who could really, really, use some relief, I most definitely hope Congress decides to fund this.
Most of this episode is a scattershot of about what tactics, etc. a prosecutor should consider during a jury trial. It ends in a demo of what you have to do when your riding mower breaks down - you...
Assuming the upload continues without problem and conversion to Flash goes okay, a new CLTV about the way a prosecutor should view and do a jury trial is going to be up later today.
I touched on yesterday being underpaid as a possible reason for prosecutorial burn out. Finally, the federal government is doing something about the high cost of loans for prosecutors coming out of...
I was driving along the Westpark Tollroad this afternoon, when I noticed that there were numerous pylons along the raised exit that merges it into Highway 59. I figured there had probably been an ...
(in my best Thurston Howell the Third accent) Some of us just happened to have graduated from superior schools. Centre, my beloved undergrad, has been ranked by Forbes as the 13th ranked college...
It is quite common in the prosecution world for prosecutors to spend no more than 2, 3, 4, or 5 years in the profession before moving on to some other type of job. Many others stay in the position...
The video below has been bandied about as something which can be seen subjectively, either as police or the man videotaping acting improperly. After they have removed him from the building:"This...
I apologize for the lack of updates lately, but there really has not been much to talk about since the last trial. Luckily for you, faithful readers, I just finished another trial today. An...
Islamic Penal Laws "like adultery . . . like drinking alcohol . . ." At first it's Arabic, but about 20 seconds in it changes to English.
The following ten people are the ones that elevator riders at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center deal with everyday -- much to their chagrin:10. The "Going Up?" Guy-this is the person who cl...
