Rating Agencies Overrun Houston Crime Lab

"Consultants who re-tested fingerprint analyses in nearly 4,300 criminal cases found no erroneous identifications despite technical errors by Houston Police Department examiners in 62 percent of the cases, HPD officials said Tuesday. ... 'It seems like what we're doing with this contract [to Ron Smith & Associates, RSA] is buying some time while we figure this out,' said Council Member Melissa Noriega, who chairs the [Public Safety and Homeland Security] committee. ... 'The good thing about that audit is there were no erroneous identifications,' [HPD Assistant Chief Timothy] Oettmeir said. 'That means we did not find any instance where a person was put in jail or prison because of a mistake made in a fingerprint.' Troy McKinney, past president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyer's Association, said it was 'almost statistically impossible' for the lab to have such a high rate of technical errors and not have made any false identifications. 'Having 62 percent of cases having problem with methodology of the analysis is an indication there are fundamental flaws in that lab,' McKinney said", James Pinkerton at the Houston Chronicle, 26 May 2010, link:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/7022293.html. .

What did the HPD hire RSA to do? Review HPD's fingerprint analyses practices or cover up false identifications? Finding about 2,650 cases with "technical errors", RSA found no false positives. If "techncial errors" do not produce real errors, should HPD's crime lab redefine the concept of a "technical error"? Did RSA, Moody's or S&P do this "audit"? The HPD must have studied in the Vampire Squid school, i.e., you can almost always find an "expert" to say whatever you want.

Three Strikes And California's Out

"Williams, who is 46, was a homeless drug addict in 1997 when he was convicted of petty theft, for stealing a floor jack from a tow truck. It was the last step on his path to serving life. ... Still, for the theft of the floor jack, Williams was sentenced to life in prison under California's repeat-offender law: three strikes and you're out. In 2000, three years after Williams went to prison, Steve Cooley becaume the district attorney for Los Angeles County. Cooley is a Republican career prosecutor, but he campaigned against the excesses of three strikes. 'Fix it or lose it,' he says of the law. In 2005, Cooley ordered a review of cases, to identify three-strikes inmates who had not committed violent crimes and whose life sentences a judge might deem worthy of second looks. His staff came up with a lost of more than 60 names, including Norman Williams's. ... In 1994, the three-strikes ballot measure in California passed with 72 percent of the vote, after the searing murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, who was kidnapped from her slmuber party and murdered while her mother slept down the hall. When the killer turned out to be a violent offender recently granted parole, support surged for the three-strikes ballot initiative, which promised to keep 'career criminals who rape women, molest children and commit murder behind bars where they belong.' The complete text of the bill swept far more broadly. ... But in California, 'serious' is a term of art that can also include crimes like Norman Williams's nonconfrontational burglaries. After a second-strike conviction for such an offense, almost any infraction beyond jaywalking can trigger a third strike and the life sentence that goes with it. One of [Michael] Romano's clients was sentenced to life for stealing a dollar in change from the coin box of a parked car. ... Now California is in the midst of fiscal calamity", Emily Bazelon at the NYT, 23 May 2010, link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/magazine/23strikes-t.html.

My favorite three-strikes criminal stole three 75 cent candy bars from a convenience store. At $62,000 a year, California's taxpayers will spend about $1.6 million to incarcerate him for the next 25 years. Over $2.25! Really! The Mikado's Lord High Executioner would not be pleased. As a practical matter most three-strikers will be parolled; eventually. My barber opposed this law. I asked him why. He said because it would make witness murders "free". Why not kill the witness? It won't add to your time. I told him strictly speaking it would cheapen witness murders as robberies accompanied by murders would be more likely to be investigated than "straight" robberies. He thought about this for a minute, said I was right and still opposed the law. My barber was a college dropout who took one economics class at NYU in the late 1940s.

Mike Nifong Does Texas

"A Texas nurse who was brought up on criminal charges for filing an anonymous complaint accusing a doctor of unethical conduct was acquitted by a jury Thurday in a case that watchdog groups warned could have a chilling effect on health care workers and patients. ... After the jury returned its verdict, [Anne] Mitchell siad her complaint 'had nothing to do with perosnal feelings,' and she would continue to report doctors if she believes they are not gicing patients proper care. ... Dozens of nurses filled the courtroom throughout this week's trial, and many wept when the verdict was announced. ... 'Whether Ms. Mitchell was convicted or exonerated, was largely irrelvant to the long-term impact her prosecution will have on Texas patients,' [Allen Winslow of Texas Watch] said in a statement. 'The very fact that she was prosecuted will make individuals who could have information that could save lives wuill think twice before speaking up, putting Texas patients at risk.' ... Mitchell's complaint filed in April acused [Rolando] Arafiles of improperly encouraging patients to buy herbal medicines and wanting to use hospital supplies to perform a procedure at a patient's home", Betsy Blaney at the Houston Chronicle, 12 February 2010, link:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6862938.html.

"Now it's time for the sherriff who investigated her and the district attorney [DA] wwho prosecuted her to be brought to justice. We can only fantasize. ... The Medical Board [MB] already knew Arafiles. In 2007 it had placed him under certain restrictions for three years. Two days after receiving the anonymous letter, the board notified him of the complaint and some of its details. ... In addition, according to testimony at trial, he joined in pushing doc's $40 bottles of herbal supplement, even holding meeting at Pizza Hut to recruit other salesmen. ... [MB] offficials assumed he was investigating the doctor, according to a spokeswoman. In a letter to him, they said that under the law the letter could not be released except to a law enforcement official 'conducting a criminal investigation of a license holder of the TMB.' Nurses are not licensed by the [MB]. ... Instead of coorrecting the board's assumptions, the sherriff used the letter to identify the nurse who was over 50 and had been with the hospital since the 1980s. He obtained a search warrant of her computers and found a copy of the letter. ... Within weeks however, [DA] Mike Fostel offered a deal: The indictment would be dropped if the women agreed not to sue the county or its hospital. Smart man, but it didn't work. The nurses filed a federal lawsuit. ... Meanwhile the Texas [MB] has expressed its 'grave concern' about the indictments to Fostel and Tidwell. And national nursing organizations, outraged, raised $40,000 for the women's defense according to the [New York] Times", my emphasis, Rick Casey at the Houston Chronicle, 12 February 2010, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/casey/6863319.html

"A West Texas jury took but an hour Thursday to acquit a nurse who had been charged with a felony after alerting the state [MB] that a doctor at her hostpital was practising unsafe medicine. ... The jury foreman said the panel of six men and six women voted unanimously on the first ballot, and questioned why Mrs. Mitchell had ever been arrested. ... The prosecution has so polarized the small town of Kermit, where the hospital is located, that the judge moved the trial to a neighboring county. The case was investigated by Sherriff Robert L. Roberts Jr. a friend and admiring patient ot Dr. Arafiles, and tried by the county attorney, Scott M. Tidwell, a political ally of the sherriff and, according to testimony, Dr. Arafile's personal lawyer", Kevin Sack at the NYT, 12 February 2010: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/us/12nurses.html.

This case shows why we need juries. The jury deliberated less than an hour to acquit Mitchell.

Amazing. A 2009 version of a "traveling medicine show". Well, how about an indictment of Fostel and Tidwell for "extortion under color of right", 18 USC 1951?

Quoted without comment.

Sentencing Stupidity

"Judges are looking skeptically at prosecutors' requests to give 15- to 25-year sentences for viewing sexual images of minors, handing down more sentences of five to 10 years, or in some cases probation. The movement has been gaining steam over the past two years even as the Justice Department has made child pornography and other child-exploitation prosecutions a top priority, leading to more than 2,300 cases last year, the highest figure since the department began tracking the statistic. ... The shift has upset advocates of abused children who say the sentences won't deter future misconduct. ... Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Misisng & Exploited Children ... says the dissemination of such images encourages behavior that hurts children, not least the production of those images. Some child-porn viewers still get sentences of 15 or 20 years from judges who follow the guidelines. That's greater than punishments meted out to some child molesters and other violent criminals", my emphasis, Amir Efrati at the WSJ, 20 January 2010, link:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704363504575003271494106644.html.

Absurd! 15+-year sentences for viewing child pornography? Hasn't the DOJ anything important to do? AUSAs love these cases. Why? They almost invariably result from sting operations, true no-brainers. I would repeal the laws against child pornography. Viewing an existing film is not making it, disagreeing with the DOJ. Making the film would almost invariably be criminal. California penal code (PC) section 266j provides 15-years to life for sexual battery on a child. California PC section 311.11 gives up to one year for child porn possession. Federal law is absurb! Allen, get lost. Grow up. No judge should sentence anyone to prison for viewing child porn. The more time the DOJ spends on these cases, the less time it has to prosecute the Vampire Squid. Even if reading about murders "encourages" committing them, doesn't the First Amendment say read?

Who do I blame for this? Those who brought us: prohibition and the drug laws, i.e., groups like the Women's Christian Temperance Union. After all, the Master said, ""You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment", Matt 5:21-22 (NIV). He also said, "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery,' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart'." Matt 5:27-28 (NIV). Here's the Christian-Jewish rub. Judaism focuses on acts; Christianity on thoughts. Jesus may have meant: since the thought preceeds the act, guard your thoughts. If so, much Christian doctrine collapses.

Why Only 5-4?

"Virginia Hernandez Lopez admitted to knocking back two shots of tequila with Sprite chasers on an August night in Julian, Calif., a couple of years ago. But she said she was not drunk when her Ford Explorer collided with an oncoming Toyota pickup truck later that night, killing the driver. In May, a California appeals court affirmed Ms. Lopez's conviction for vehicular manslaughter. Her blood-alcohol level two hours after the accident was, according to a report presented to the jury, just over the legal limit of .08 percent. But the appeals court reconsidered the case after a decision in June from the [US] Supreme Court that prohibited prosecutors from introducing crime lab reports without testimony from the analysts who prepared them ... But now, in an unusual move, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on Jan. 11 in a new case that raises questions about how lower courts may carry out its six-month-old precedent. Many state attorneys general and prosecutors are hoping the court will overrule its decision in the earlier case, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, before it can take root, saying it is a costly, disruptive and dangerous misstep. ... Since the Melendez-Diaz case, the State of Massacusetts told the [US] Supreme Court last month that it now faces 'daunting volumes of cases to manage'," my emphasis, Adam Liptak at the NYT, 20 December 2009, link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/us/20scotus.html.

This is a disgrace, the case should have been a 9-0 no-brainer. The Sixth Amendment seems clear enough to me. Prosecutors don't like having their "oath helpers", sorry, "experts" cross examined. Why? "Costly, disruptive and dangerous" boo-hoo. No one should believe anything a prosecutor's expert says. Roberts and Alito apparently have reading comprehension problems. But they went to Ivy League law schools. So did Obama. Hahahahahahaha.

Jakarta On the Hudson

"They have long worked illegally in the shadows of Indonesia's police stations, attorney general's office and courts, the common link in what is called Indonesia's 'judicial mafia.' Called 'markuses,' they are middlemen who can persuade corrupt police officers, prosecutors and judges to drop a case against a client for the right amount of money. ... President Susilo Bambang Tudhoyno said he would make eradicating the judicial mafia of markuses and corrupt officals a priority of his second term. ... But lawyers, officials and watchdog groups warn that uprooting the so-called judicial mafia wll require an overhaul of the country's law enforcement and justice systems. They say that Mr. Yudhoyno, who shies away from confrontation, is unlikely to push through changes inside the nation's powerful police force, attorney general's office and courts, institutions that are considered among Indonesia's most corrupt. ... Kuntoro Mangkusubroto [KM], the leader of a new presidential task force to reform the justice system, said Indonesia's criminal justice system was fertile ground for middlemen representing moneyed clients. 'We want to have a system that is fair for everybody, not dependent on whether he or she has power or money,' [KM] said in an interview, adding that cleaning up the current system would take years. ... Last month, wiretapped conversations revealed a plot by a prominent businessman, along with police officials and prosecutors, to fabricate a case against officals at the Corruption Eradication Commission, the nation's chief anticorruption agency. ... What shocked most Indonesians was not the brazenness of the speakers but the fact that the practices mentioned in the wiretaps seemed routine. By contrast, Indonesians without money have seemed increasingly at the mercy of a legal system that metes out severe punishment for seemingly harmless offenses. ... In dealing with the police, the markuses--who are typically relatives of police officials, lawyers, journalists or anyone with contacts in law enforcement agencies--bribe police officials on behalf of a client in trouble with the law. With money, they persuade the police to change evidence or drop a case, according to watchdog groups, police officials and lawyers. ... So far, attempts to reform or monitor the police, prosecutors and judges have been largely cosmetic, experts say. ... Indonesia's Supreme Court, which oversees the conduct of all the nation's courts, has mostly ignored the commission's recommendations, choosing instead to protect colleagues, Mr. [Busyro] Muqoddas said", my emphasis, Norimitsu Onishi at the NYT, 20 December 2009, link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/world/asia/20indo.html.

Welcome to Jakarta on the Hudson. Look at some of the sweetheart deals we've seen: Ashcroft, Deloitte, Debevoise, my 31 December 2008 and 17 May December 2009 posts, links: http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2009/05/ashcroft-exposed.html http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2008/12/justice-department-extortion-racket-4.html. US markuses are "former" SEC and DOJ officials. We do things differently here.

Whose Drug War?

"Starting next year, the Harris County [DA's] office no longer will file state jail felony charges against suspects found with only a trace--less than a hundreth of a gram--of illegal drugs, [DA] Pat Lykos [PL] said Thursday. ... Not surprisinly, the pending change was hailed by defense lawyers, but criticized by police officers. ... Gary Blankinship [GB] president of the Houston Police Officers' Union [said] ... Lykos said there were several reasons to change the policy, including the inability of defense experts to re-test drug residue that is destroyed when it is analyzed. To be tested twice, there has to be more than a hundrweth of a gram, she said. ... Lykos said the move 'gives us more of an ability to focus on the violent offenses and complex offenses. When you have finite resources, you have to make decisions, and this decision is a plus all around.' ... Of more than 46,000 felony cases filed last year, almost 30 percent, 13,713, were for possession of less than a gram of drugs", my emphasis, Brian Rogers at the Houston Chronicle, 9 December 2009, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6760384.html.

"Harris County [DA] [PL] will re-evaluate a new policy downgrading crack pipe residue charges in response to conerns raised by Houston Police Department [HPD] officials. ... 'She met with the command staff of [HPD], and everyone on the command staff urged her not to do this policy because of the burglaries that were going to increase,' said Ray Hunt, vice president of the Houston Police Officers' Union. 'This is about decreasing the caseload of the [DA's] office and decreasing the number of people in jails.' ... The minimum weight, one-hundreth of a gram, is equivalent to half a grain of rice. ... 'Addicts may become so addicted to the drug that they engage in thefts, burglaries, prostitution, and other crimes in an effort to support their habit. By arresting a suspect for a small amount of crack cocaine, HPD may be preventing that suspect from committing a burglary later, for example,' according to the [HPD] release", my emphasis, Brian Rogers at the Houston Chronicle, 10 December 2009: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6762482.html.

We might reduce the number of HPD officers and see if GB still sings this song. GB reminds me of a Big 87654 partner praising Sarbox.

Hunt, why not just tell truth: few HPD officers are capable of investigating crimes. It's summary arrest or no arrest. Why not legalize drugs to reduce crime? The drug war is revealed to be a policemen and prison guards make work program.

Oxford in Boulder

"But this Halloween, one of its wackiest traditions is under siege: the Naked Pumpkin Run [NPR]. ... For nearly a decade, naked pumpkin runners did their thing unmolested, stampeding through the frigid dark past crowds of admirers who hooted, hollered and tossed cady. ... All [police] have orders to arrest gourd-topper streakers as sex offenders. ... The American Civil Liberties Union has fired off a letter accusing the police of violating citizens' consitutional rights to express whatever it is they're expressing when they slip hollowed-out pumpkins over their heads and race buck naked down the Pearl Street pedestrian mall. ... Oleg Abramov, a 31-year-old planetary scientist, says it's an excruciating choice. He loves the run; he calls it a 'liberating and somewhat surreal community arts project.' But being labeled a sex offender could ruin his career. ... More recently, Boulder has played host to an annual Naked Bike Ride to protest dependence on fossil fuels. And the Boulder Daily Camera, the local newspaper, serves up a steady diet of stories about clothes-free joggers and nudist gardners. ... Given that the [NPR] starts at 11 p.m., long after young trick-or-treaters have retired, and given that the route is packed with fans who come out specifically to see the event, runners argue that it's absurd to think that their prank is causing either affront or alarm. ... Police acknowledge that they have not been flooded with pumpkin-run-related complaints, but say that's beside the point. A throng of naked people with jack-o-lanterns on their heads is by definition, an alarming sight, Chief [Mark] Beckner says. Therefore, it's illegal. Those convicted of indecent exposure rarely get jail time, but they must register as sex offenders, just as rapists do. Which seems a bit excessive to Boulder County [DA] Stan Garnett", my emphasis, Stephanie Simon at the WSJ, 31 October 2009, link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125693458626119361.html.

In 1968 or 1969 I attended a lecture by Commander Whitehead of Schweppes Tonic Water fame. He spoke of two Owford dons who swam naked in a lake. A few co-eds went by. One wrapped his "privates" in a towel. The other wrapped his head in a towel. The first said to the second, "That's extraordinary". The second replied, "Not at all. On this campus I am generally recognized by my face". So it is in Boulder. Laugh! A law which does not distinguish streakers from rapists should be repealed. Boulder has too many cops. It should fire some. Starting with Beckner.

Texas Bad Man

"Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday defended his actions in the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham [CTW], calling him a 'monster' and a 'bad man' who murdered his children. Perry has been embroiled in a national firestorm over whether he has tried to block an investigation into the quality of the forensic scinece that led to Willingham's conviction in the 1991 arson deaths of his three children and his 2004 executuion. ... 'This is a bad man. This is a guy who in the death chamber in his last breath spews an obscenity-laced triad (sic) against his wife,' Perry said. ... [Sam] Bassett has said he felt pressured by Perry's staff to back off of the investigation and was told that a scientific report on the house fire that killed the children was not worth the state's expense. ... Perry's GOP rival in next spring's gubernatorial primary, US Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, said the debate should not be about 'one man or one case' but about Perry politicizing the forensics commission. She said Perry has created a 'cloud of controversy' that looks like a cover-up. 'The only thing Rick Perry's action have accomplished is giving liberals an argument to discredit the death penalty,' said Hutchinson, a death penalty supporter. ... Willingham's first lawyer, David Martin of Waco, told the Houston Chronicle in August that Willingham was a 'textbook psychopath'," RG Ratliffe at the Houston Chronicle, 15 October 2009, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6667460.html.

"Yes, by most accounts, [CTW] was a 'bad man,' as Gov. Rick Perry declared Wednesday to reporters. But being a bad man isn't a crime punishable by death, even in Texas. ... The state's expert found no evidence that the fire was arson. ... The new chairman promptly canceled the public hearing, saying he needed time to study the case. ... But the story isn't just about [CTW] anymore. It isn't about guilt or innocence. ... It's about whether Perry is purposefully trying to subvert the law in [CTW's] case, and potentially obstruct justice in countless other arson cases that could benefit from the commission's review, all for political gain during a hotly contested primary. ... And the case looks clearer every day. ... The [CTW] investigation may have been prompted by a complaint by the New York-based Innocence Project, but it was never concerned with determining [CTW's] guilt or innocence. ... The probe was only concerned with the validity of the forensic science in [CTW's] case, and, eventually, how many other arson investigations may have been conducted in the same way. ... So, whether or not [CTW] was a bad man, or even a 'monster,' as Perry also called him, is immaterial to the chief question being asked of the governor: What's his problem with a science commission that investigates science?," my emphasis, Lisa Falkenberg at the Houston Chronicle, 15 October 2009, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/falkenberg/6668380.html.

I agree with Hutchinson. Even if CTW was all Perry claims, that does not make CTW a murderer. If Texas did not prove the threshhold question: did an arson occur, there was no crime.

Not even in Texas? I'm crushed. I suspect Perry knows much expert testimony used by DAs stinks. OJ is a bad man and Marcia Clark and Chris Darden (C&D) spent months proving it. So? The OJ jury was not impressed by the C&D case. Neither was I.

Justice Smells

"Dogs have occupied a special place in law enforcement for decades thanks to their heightened sense of smell, and their role has only grown in recent years because of use in explosives detection and the newly popular practice of 'scent lineups'. ... The Innocence Project of Texas agrees. A group that works on behalf of the wrongly accused, the project issued a scathing report last week on both [Keith] Pikett and the practice of getting courtroom evidence from scent lineups, in which a specially trained dog matches a suspect's scent to items from a crime scene. ... It's the next step that bothers them--the eagerness of police to use scent results as the basis of a criminal charge and prosecutors to accept them as evicdence. It has called on the state Attorney General's Office to investigate other cases in which Pikett's dogs were crucial to getting a conviction. ... Other dog trainers have attracted scrutiny. In Florida, John Preston occupied a niche similar to Pikett's in the 1980s. Three men he helped imprison have since been released after other evidence showed the convictions were wrong. ... As publicity spread about Pikett's work, more and more police agencies and prosecutors began to use him. He has said he has no idea of how many cases his dogs have been involved in, but it numbers in the thousands. He also has testified that his dogs have almost never been wrong. One of them, 'Clue,' erred once in 1,659, he has testified, while 'James Bond' made one mistake in 2,266 tries. ... Three experts hired by the Innocence Project criticized Pikett's work. ... 'This is the most primitive evidential police procedure I have ever witnessed,' [Bob] Coote stated. 'If it was not for the fact that this is a serious matter, I could have been watching a comedy.' ... 'In some counties, police are abandoning nornmal police work in favor of Pikett and his dogs,' [Curvis] Blackburn said. 'We believe it is becoming ... a widespread and pervasive problem'," my emphasis, Mike Tolson at the Houston Chronicle, 27 September 2009.

How do you cross-examine a dog? It's the Vincent Broderick Syndrome, i.e., cops lack the brains to investigate anything. So they have 'experts" testify as "oath helpers" of old. Dogs testify? Why not? Most DAs today would accept goat entrail examinations as evidence. I've been a juror four times. I did not see what you see on "CSI New York". Pikett's statistics are amazing. Did anyone reproduce them in a "double-blind" experiment? Will police consult Ed McMahon's hermetically sealed mayonnaise jar next? How did Pikett determine Clue's and Jame Bond's error rates?

Which Mob?-3

"The latest indictment to hit the New York City Buildings Department taps into the usual themes of bribery, corruption and compromised inspections. But it also introduces a new criminal element into the agency: the mob. Manhattan prosecutors on Thursday accused the Luchese crime family of infiltrating the Buildings Department, saying that three of the family's associates found jobs as building inspectors and that others in the family, including top bosses, committed a wide range of crimes. ... Robert M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney, said 27 of 29 people named in the indictment had been arrested; the other two remain at large. Those indicted include bosses and associates of the Luchese family, officials of four corporations, real estate officials and the six building inspectors. ... 'These former inspectors are accused ot betraying the public and this department for their own selfish gain, and they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,' [said Robert LiMandri, buildings commisioner]. Morgenthau said the largest known bribe was $44,000, paid by a real estate company to Carmine Francomano Jr. for 'favorable dispositions' of building inspections. Altogether, Mr. Francomano accepted $82,500 in bribes, Mr. Morgenthau said. ... In an unrelated gambling indictment announced almost simultaneously on Thursday, a dozen other people connected to the Luchese family were among 19 people charged. The announcement was made by Preet Bharara, the [US] attorney in Manhattan, and Andrew M. Cuomo, the state attonery general", Christine Hauser, at the NYT, 2 October 2009, link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/nyregion/02building.html.

Bharara, you learned well at Mary Jo White's knee. Forget the Lucheses. Find something to indict Vikram Pandit for. If you lack the brains, I'll explain the "Old Lane Scam". Pro Bono. But I have no law degree, lest an Ivy League one. So? You tell criminals "ignorance of the law is no excuse", don't you? Find something to indict Lloyd Blankfein (LB) or John Mack for. Invoke Laverntiy Beria's, 1899-1953, spirit, "Show me the man, and I'll find you the crime". Are the SEC and DOJ "mob infiltrated" organizations. Ben Stein, my 21 December 2007 post, was so right: http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2007/12/mortgage-fraud-whose.html. $44,000? Is that LB's monthly cigar bill? Why is "Lady Justice" depicted wearing a blindfold? Because she's blind to only certain types of crimes?

Texas (In)Justice?

"The Harris County Medical Examiner's office has quietly rewritten the results of a 1998 autopsy, prompting renewed innocence claims on behalf of a baby sitter sent to prison nearly a decade ago for allegedly shaking a 4-month-old infant hard enough to cause fatal injuries. ... But the modified autopsy report made public calls the cause of death 'undetermined' and found no evidence of 'trauma' in the postmortem exam. Those changes came five years after local officials announced a review of problematic autopsies conducted by a former Harris County associate medical examiner, Dr. Patricia Moore. ... Assistant District Attorney Lynn Hardaway said prosecutors remain confident about their case based on other 'evidence presented at trial from doctors who thought [Aubrey Clements] was a victim of shaken baby syndrome'," Lise Olsen, at the Houston Chronicle, 14 September 2009, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/moms/6617198.html.

Another Harris County DA's office stinker. Hardaway, get lost. Reverse Cynthia Cash's conviction. Now. This case shows one of the many things wrong with our criminal justice system, it's run by criminals. DAs can have any supposed "expert" say anything to secure convictions. Like OJ's case in Los Angeles. Some of Marsha Clark's "expert" testimony was absurd. So? What does out Texas Court of Criminal Appeals do about this? It spews forth nonsense about not "lightly" overturning convictions. If the cause of death is not proven beyond a reasonable doubt, there is not enough evidence to sustain a conviction. Shame on you Hardaway. Nowadays DAs use "experts" as "oath helpers" because they are too incompetent and too lazy to assemble circumstantial evidence cases. If one criminal case in 10,000 get the "Gary Sinese" treatment, it's a lot. DAs like "summary arrest" cases. Why? They take no brains to prosecute. If the jury believes the cop, you get a conviction. It's that simple.

Arson? Murder? By Whom?

"More than five years after his final act from the Texas death chamber gurney was a profanity-filled tirade, the murder case of executed inmate Cameron Todd Willingham refuses to die. ... An arson finding by investigators was key to his conviction in the circumstantial evidence case. ... The prosecutor in the case still believes Willingham is guilty but acknowledges it would have been hard to win a death sentence without the arson finding. ... In 2006, Scheck's group gave its review of the case to the state commission, which later hired Baltimore-based arson expert Craig Beyler. Byler concluded the arson finding was scientifically unsupported and investigators at the scene had 'poor understandings of fire science.' ... Douglas Fogg stands by his conclusions as the former assistant fire chief who helped investigate the deadly blaze. 'The bleeding hearts that are against the death penalty are trying to stir everything up again,' he told The Dallas Morning News last month. 'They finally got someone who would say what they wanted to hear'," Michael Graczyk at the Houston Chronicle, 27 September 2009, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6638592.html.

Is that so Fogg? Or did you just say what the DA wanted to hear? Like most Texans, I like a good hanging as much as the next guy. That's a good hanging.

Through Texas Looking Glass

"One of the most disturbing legal trends in recent memory is the contention of some conservative jurists that a person's actual innocence is not automatically grounds to overturn a conviction. An echo of this pernicious doctrine popped up this week in the case of a former Houston nurse and baby sitter, Cynthia Cash, convicted of the 1998 shaking death of a 4-month-old-baby. ... That autopsy has now been rewritten to label the cause of death undetermined, and notes no evidence of trauma to the victim. ... In response, the Harris County [DA's] office opposed the appeal, citing a Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruling that a conviction resulting from an error-free proceeding should not be overturned lightly based on new evidence, and that the burden on a defendant claiming innocence 'is exceedingly heavy.' It also noted that other evidence supported a conviction. ... For the layman, it's difficulty to understand why a jury verdict based in part on an erroneous ruling of homicide should not be re-examined", my emphasis, Editorial at the Houston Chronicle, 17 September 2009, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/6622562.html.

Pat Lycos, you just got a Nifong nomination. I hope you're proud of it. If judges and attorneys want to know why we hold them in contempt, look at this. What nonsense, to say the trial was "error-free" begs the question. It wasn't. The DA had the coroner find a homicide took place. Now the coroner says it didn't. No homicide, no crime. What's so difficult? The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is a joke. Did you know nationwide 97-98% of all criminal appeals are denied? However, about 15% of civil appeals are granted. I suspect corporate defendants percentage is higher. Criminal appeals are frequently denied under the "harmless error" doctrine. Which means? The appeals court sustained the conviction no matter what are the facts or the law. Read some criminal appeals. You may be shocked with what appellate courts will let prosecutors and trial judges get away with.

Wait Listed By Jail-10

"Jeffrey Woods, warden of the Hiawatha Correctional Facilty here at the eastern end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, was vacationing on Lake Huron when his cellphone rang on July 1. The message was from his boss: Hiawatha, which had been slated to shut down in October as part of a sweeping downsizing of the state's prison system, would have to close by Aug. 7. That meant he had just five weeks to ship out 1,100 inmates and 207 staff. ... The scramble to empty Hiawatha prison is part of a rapid shift in thinking about how many people should be locked up in the US, and for what crimes. ... Now the recession and collapsing budgets are forcing an about face. Prisons are one of the biggest single line items in many state budgets, in part because nearly five times as many people are behind bars as in the 1970s. ... At least 26 states have cut correctional spending in fiscal year 2010, and at least 17 are closing prisons or reducing their inmate populations, according to the Vera Institute on Justice, a criminal-justice reform organization in New York ... Inmates here on average serve 127% of the court-ordered minimum sentences, well beyond the sentences of inmates in other states that offer parole, according to the Council of State Governments Justice Center. ... Earlier this year, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm expanded the parole and clemency board from 10 members to 15 and announced the state's prison population of 48,000 would be cut by 4,000 inmates. ... At the end of 2008, there were 12,000 prisoners in the Michigan prison system who were eligible for parole, but hadn't been released. In recent months, 3,000 of them have been paroled", my emphasis, Gary Fields at the WSJ, 5 September 2009, link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125149123499467721.html.

"After decades of pursuing lock-'em-up policies, states are scrambling to reduce their prison populations in the face of tight budgets, making fundamental changes to their criminal justice systems as they try to save money. ... California, with the nation's second-largest prison system, is considering perhaps the most dramatic proposal--releasing 40,000 inmates to save money and comply with a court ruling that found the state's prisons overcrowded. ... Russ Marlan, a spokesman fior the Corrections Department in Michigan ... [said] 'When you're not having budget troubles, that's when we implemented many of these lengthy drug sentences and zero-tolerance policies [that] really didn't work.' ... State Atty. Gen. Jack Conway sued to overturn the thousands of early releases, arguing that a retroactive change to sentences is illegal and risky. The case was heard before the Kentucky Supreme Court in August. ... Still, Conway said that he too was concerned about the prison population, and that he wanted to bring it down by targeting nonviolent offenders for early release and expanding drug courts", my emphasis, Nicholas Riccardi at the LAT, 5 September 2009, link: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-prison-release5-2009sep05,0,5705309.story.

"The wheels of justice in Georgia are grinding more slowly each day. Cuts in spending for the state court system have led to fewer court dates available for hearings and trials, creating a growing backlog of cases. With serious criminal matters being heard first, delays are stretching to months for many civil, domestic and minor criminal cases. The state court system, which handles more than 150,000 cases a year, had to slash spending by almost 15% in the past fiscal year, and more cuts loom. The state's budget shortfall widened to $3.7 billion over the past 18 months. ... According to a July survey by the Washington-based National Center for State Courts, at least 28 state court systems have imposed hiring freezes, 23 have frozen salaries and seven have planned or imposed salary reductions. ... In April, a group of attorneys with the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human rights filed suit against the public-defender system, law-enforcement officials and state revenue officials. The suit, filed in the Superior Court of Elbert County on behalf of five plaintiffs and 'all those similarly situated,' alleges that many poor defendants are 'left to languish in jail' and that 'some have been without counsel for over six months' ... Bert Brantley, spokesman for [Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue said], 'every piece of government believes its spending is the most important, but clearly when you're governor you have to look at the state's overall responsibilities'," Paulo Prada and Corey Dade at the WSJ, 8 September 2009, link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125236538620490881.html.

Michigan looks like inmate paradise compared to Texas. 12,000 of its 48,000 inmates are parole eligible, 25%. Texas has 91,000 of 156,000 imates parole or mandatory supervision eligible, 58%. Our inmates serve about 250% of their minimum time. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) does not report the actual percentage but I estimated it from a TDCJ 2008 report. Michigan, with 10.0 million people has a .0048 incarceration rate: Texas with 24.3 million has a .0064 rate, 25% higher. We should follow Michigan's lead.

Conway's understanding of the US Constitution's "ex post facto" clause is not mine. Kentucky should consider following Mexico too. Only starving the beast will make it change. Kill the Fed, starve Uncle Sam. Marlin, what do you mean didn't work? They enabled contractors to get paid to build prisons and increased the number of prison guards. They worked fine.

Brantley hits on a big truth, economic calculation is impossible under socialism. Georgia might consider repealing some of its criminal laws. William Anderson has a comment on the impossibility of economic calculation under socialism at William Anderson, 31 August 2009, link: http://williamlanderson.blogspot.com/2009/08/mises-human-action-and-economic.html.

No Ham Sandwich for Lycos

"A grand juror who sat on one of the two panels to indict the wife of Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina on suspicion of setting their home on fire said Saturday he was disappointed that charges against her had once again been dismissed. ... Harris County [DA] Pat Lycos denied politics had anything to do with her decision Friday to dismiss charges against Francisa Medina. Instead, she said it was strictly new evidence that earned her approval. ... Expert evidence recently given to [Steve] Baldassano by the defense team--and agreed upon by at least one official from the Harris County Fire Marshall's Office--indicates it could have been an electrical fire. ... Arson cannot be ruled out either, said Baldassano, who emphazied that the defense's expert witnesses were 'highly regarded' in the field and also serve as experts for the state in other cases", my emphasis, Paige Hewitt at the Houston Chronicle, 30 August 2009, link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6593152.html.

Aren't we impressed? How many "experts" did Lycos have look at the evidence to find one to say the fire could have been electrical. So? It could have been arson, or Martians. Let the jury decide. This stinks. Did Medina give Lycos anything to quash this indictment? Hey Lycos, has the moon anything to do with the tides? I last commented on this stinker 23 February 2008: http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2008/02/harris-county-justice.html. Ham sandwich, see my 1 December 2008 post: http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2008/12/sol-wachtler-was-right.html.

Viva Mexico!

"Mexico decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin on Friday, in a move that creates one of the world's most permissive narcotics markets and that opponents say could complicate President Felipe Calderon's war against illegal drug cartels. ... Mexican prosecutors say the law will help the war on drug gangs by letting federal prosecutors focus their attention on major traffickers rather than small-time users, and by allowing state and municipal police to tackle local dealers. ... Still, Mexico's move could anger some allies in Washington. ... Mexico joins a growing list of countries in Europe and Latin America that are rethinking parts of the decades-long war on illicit drugs. ... Early this year, three former presidents of Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia blasted the drug war as a failure that threatened the stability of countries throughout Latin America and called for the decriminalization of marijuana. ... But rates of drug use have risen steadily, while corrupt Mexican cops have used the law to shake down casual users for hefty bribes", my emphasis, David Luhnow and Jose de Cordoba at the WSJ, 22 August 2009, link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125086054771949269.html.

I applaud Mexico's decision. The losers: corrupt Mexican cops and our DEA. We should follow Mexico. Among other things, our drug war is a foreign policy nightmare. Calderon's next move: repeal all Mexican drug laws! The Mexican prosecutors statement makes no sense. They could always have declined to prosecute possession cases.

Free the Prisoners!

"The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was one of Congress's more notable efforts to get tough on drugs. ... Unfortunately, the law was rooted in ignorance about crack's potency, how the drug trade actually worked--and even about the cause of [Len] Bias's death. He actually died from an overdose of powder--not crack-cocaine. ... Why are the penalties for crack and powder so disparate? Largely because legislators were told--and believed--that small-time crack dealers were somehow on a par with big-time powder dealers, recalls Eric Sterling, former counsel to the House Judiciary Committee. ... Sincce 1995 the Sentencing Commission has been trying to set things straight--partly because the law makes no sense and partly because it has hit black communities particularly hard. More than 80 percent of federal crack prosecutuions are of African-Americans, despite evidence that crack use is only slightly higher among blacks than among whites or Hispanics. ... The Supreme Court ... in 2007 ... noted the absurdity of hitting crack dealers harder than the cocaine distributors who supplied them. ... Congress, [Sterling] points out, never intended that so many precious federal resources go toward prosecuting small-time crack dealers", my emphasis, Ellis Cose at Newsweek, 20 July 2009.

Crack prosecutions are like SEC and DOJ white collar criminal prosecutions, the feds prosecute nobodys. Obama can do something now. He can end this nonsense. How? Pardon 1,000 small-time crack dealers. This will subtly tell the DOJ: ignore future crack cases. Let the states prosecute. Instead Obama shills for Skip Gates. Apparently "His" class solidarity trumps "His" race solidarity.

Shaken Baby Baloney

"So-called 'shaken baby syndrome' is another area where it increasingly appears that flawed forensic testimony helped secure numerous false convictions over the years. ... According to an essay by Maurice Posley at The Crime Report: ... 'If research shows that the physical conditions that once automatically resulted in a prosecution could actually have been the result of an accident, the implications are enormous. "Given the scientific developments ... we may surmise that a sizeable portion of the universe of defendants convicted of SBS-based crimes is, in all likelihood, factually innocent," [Deborah] Tuerkheimer writes, adding that a far greater number of defendants among the group were likely convicted on legally insufficient evidence.' ... Convictions are still being obtained based on this forensic theory even though 'there is no consensus among medical professional as to whether the symptions that have traditonally been attributed to SBS are necessarily indicative of intentional shaking'," Grits for Breakfast, 22 June 2009, link: http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2009/06/science-undermining-shaken-baby.html.

The real world is not that of CSI NY's Gary Sinese. Much "forensic evidence" is nonsense which prosecutors get "made as instructed". Lawyers are among those least capable of detecting such nonsense. That's why we have cases like Massachusetts' Amirault and California's McMartin preschool case. It's shameful what prosecutors can get away with.

Mike Nifong Does Miami

"How does a court arrive at a 30 day sentence for someone who was driving drunk and killed a pedestrian? Simple: the drunk-driver arrives at a multi-million dollar settlement with the family of the deceased. ... Last year, [Donte] Stallworth signed a 7 year, $35 million contract with the a $4.75 million signing bonus. Although charged with DUI Manslaughter for the March 14 incident, the 28 year-old wide receiver pled guilty is a plea-bargain agreement last week that included a 'confidential' financial settlement with the Reyes family. The 'bargain' also included 30 days (24 days with good behavior) in jail, 1000 hours of community service, drug and alcohol testing and a lifetime suspension of his driver's license", Bob Weir, 21 June 2009 at: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/06/money_talks_justice_walks.html.

If anyone wonders if justice is for sale, look at this case. Miami DA Katherine Rundle (KR), I nominate you for 2009's "Nifong". Florida 782.071 indicates Stallworth is guility of Vehicular Manslaughter, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Why a "Nifong" for you KR? Because of Florida 843.14, Compounding a felony, "Whoever, having knowledge of the commission of an offense punishable with death or by imprisonment in the state prison, takes money or a gratuity or reward, on an engagement therefor, upon an agreement or understanding, expressed or implied, to compound or conceal such offense, or not to prosecute therefor, or not to give evidence therof, shall when such offense of which he or she has knowledge is ... guilty of a felony of the third degree". A third degree felony is punishable by up to five years in Florida prison. KR, if I found Florida 843.14 in about two minutes, why were you apparently party to an illegal agreement? What a DA's office! It aids and abets felonies! Why did the judge permit this? What a country, all the "justice" money can buy. I'll guess KR. You are using Stallworth to get a New York BigLaw partnership. It shows you know how the system works. You need not even move as Miami is New York's "sixth borough".