Jeronimo Yanez, the Minnesota pig who, in July, opened fire on Philando Castile and killed him during a traffic stop for no reason, has finally been charged with something called second degree manslaughter. His girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, streamed the incident on Facebook, for the entire world to see. Yanez not only was completely unconcerned about the innocence of Castile and Reynolds, he also did not care about the safety of Reynolds's four year old daughter, who was also in the car and watched the shooting.
While manslaughter is not as serious of a charge as first or second degree murder, there have been problems in the recent past in gaining convictions of these police officers who feel that a badge is a license to commit murder. For that reason, it was probably a better guarantee of accountability for for a black victim's life to charge the killer with a lesser charge, and at the same time, a better guarantee that this defendant will never prowl the highways as a police officer again.
Above is Jeronimo Yanez, who kept the peace by committing a murder in front of a woman and a child, in his police get-up; and Philado Castile, who, unfortunately, crossed the path of a racist cop who felt like pulling the trigger for no reason.
To follow up with some earlier posts on this site about Miranda Cain, the Marysville, Kansas teenage madam, it seems apropos to state that on Tuesday, Citizen Cain appeared in court, after pleading no contest to the charge lodged against her, and was sentenced to about ten years in prison. This is a bit sad, as the arrest took place within weeks of Citizen Cain's graduation from high school. But then, Cain trafficked an eighth grader, whom she met at school, for sex; this is the sentence one might expect.
This leaves some unanswered and very unsettling questions about the city of Marysville and Marshall County, Kansas. Marshall County has only about 10,000 people; Marysville has about 3,200. This makes Marshall County a very small community. Most of the small towns within Marshall County are not home to even as many people as were in attendance at both of the high schools attended by your ever-lovin' blogger; 1,500 students in one school, and 2,500 in the other. The school that had 1,500 students was considered a "small" school. There were students in both of these schools who drank, used recreational drugs, fought with each other, got pregnant, and skipped classes. No one was perfect. At the same time, however; yours truly was able to find friends at both schools who did not do any of the above mentioned things, but just went to class, did their homework, and otherwise led normal lives. The "problem children" were actually in the minority, not the majority. Most of them also had enough sense to straighten up and fly right by the time they graduated. At no time did yours truly ever encounter a teenage madam, pimping underclassmen! In fact, such a thing was unheard of! Keep in mind, these are schools in the suburbs of a major city on the East Coast, yet.......no teenage madams. It would not have been well received or accepted, and prosecution would have taken place without any expectation of favoritism. In the tiny city of Marysville, Kansas, there were some folks, arguing both in favor holding Cain accountable and against holding Cain accountable, who thought that Cain would not actually go to prison, because of "small town politics". Why would anyone think a thing like that, when human trafficking, prostitution, and trafficking a child for sex, are all against the law? It's almost as if..........some people have lived lives that are so isolated and removed from the real world that they think state and federal laws do not apply to them! That's a notion from which Marshall County should really try to recover. Kansas is in the very center of our great nation, and is not in a very good position to secede, in order to legalize teenage prostitution and all the other unlawful things a lot of Marshall County parents allow.
Back to those unlawful things Marshall County parents allow; a second question is brought up, here. It really seems extremely unlikely that a high school senior would wake up one morning and think to herself, "Hmm. I need money. I also enjoy taking risks and having fun. I wonder how many of the junior high kiddies would like to sell sexual favors to railroaders and others who travel and use local hotels?" Your blogger is of the opinion that an adult hand maneuvered in this whole situation, somewhere and somehow, giving Cain the idea and helping her "advertise" her services. While the sentence of ten years for Citizen Cain's role in this operation is appropriate, the fact that no one is asking about others involved, or even if others knew about it, is disturbing. She could not possibly have managed such a "business" alone. How could a high school student involved in very serious crime escape the notice of all of the adults with whom she came in contact? And who were the adults who knew about this? There must have been at least a few. Didn't this raise any eyebrows before the police put a stop to it?
Citizen Cain is not the only high school student in Marshall County, Kansas who has either committed or been involved in a serious crime. Frankfort High School, also in Marshall County, had three arrests during the 2014-2015 school year, and three of its students and one of its alumni caused a serious accident by drinking while driving during the summer of 2014. In fact, the graduating class of Frankfort in 2015 had only one child, out of twelve or thirteen children, who did not drink alcohol or use recreational drugs. A child in that class would be literally unable to surround himself with children who are not involved in crime at one level or another. A community that is demographically as small as Marshall County, which has schools that have fewer then 150 students, in some cases, should not have any problems keeping control of the schools or the students. So, where are these students learning these behaviors, and why do they think that crime is "normal"? Has Marysville or Marshall County taken a look at itself? Miranda Cain grew up in Marshall County, for the most part. She is a product of the community. How did the community produce this situation? If Marshall County refuses to seek an answer to that question, the factors that created the elements of the question will only repeat themselves.
According to the Marysville Advocate, Tom Bennett, of an engineering company called B.G. Consultants, has stated that Marshall County, Kansas has more "holy" stop signs than any other county in Kansas. He also informed the county attorney, Laura McNish, that each stop sign will cost $80.00 to replace. McNish responded with the observation that Marshall County is spending money to put up new signs that could be "vandalized the very next day". Imagine that, in a county where the magistrate judge turns a deaf ear to complaints about drunk teenagers who drive on sidewalks! One would almost think McNish actually cares about destruction of property!
While taking shots at road signs is definitely a form of entertainment for less intelligent types, and unacceptable behavior anywhere, Laura McNish has certainly got a lot of nerve to complain about either destruction of property or the waste of government funds. This quotewas made at a Marshall County Council meeting in 2013:"EQUAL PROSECUTION. CM
spoke about an example of a juvenile crossing private property cutting
donuts with a vehicle. She talked about prosecution and restitution and
asked why some people are singled out for the exact crime and some are
not. CA McNish said Municipal Court has no jurisdiction over juveniles.
CM asked CA McNish to comment on fair and equal prosecution in town. CA
McNish said he has been more than fair. No decisions were made." A council member had found it odd that the son of the Marshall County attorney had driven the Marshall County attorney's vehicle through a farmer's cornfield, destroying property, and had largely gotten away with it. The young man later boasted in school, to all who would listen, that he could do whatever he pleased because his parents are elected officials in Marshall County. He was not charged with a crime, as other juveniles are in those situations. His classmates have also expressed surprise that he felt perfectly comfortable using a vehicle to plow into mailboxes in Marysville. He was even a bit of a behavioral problem in school, but never sanctioned or assisted, because his parents did not want him "labeled". That said, what's good for the county attorney's family is probably what many parents in Marshall County feel is good for their own families, and when a kid destroys government property, responsibility is the last thing many of the parents take. Can anyone blame them? Look at the example set by Marshall County's attorney!
Any taxpayer who is concerned about the waste of tax dollars should be aware that Laura McNish is extremely fond or perusing the internet while sitting in her taxpayer funded chair in Marysville's taxpayer funded office. At times when there are actual issues which require the attention of a county attorney, she is so enamored of social media that entire days slip by, while she engrosses herself in one person's Facebook or Google media. Does this sound unbelievable? Click this link! Any real problem, from a murder to a bullet-ridden stop sign, will take a back seat to Laura's interest in matters online. "The rest of us have to pay so someone can have a childish moment", she whines, states the Marysville Advocate. How many childish moments has Marshall County funded for the county attorney? According to the tracker for this site, on April 18, 2013 taxpayers paid the bill for 1,380 childish moments for Laura McNish.
Hopefully, the future will see no more vandalism in Marshall County and many more responsible uses of guns, government property, and taxpayer funded time.
The video above shows a deadly encounter with law enforcement during May of 2014, in Long Beach, California, after a twenty-three year old man named Noel Aguilar was stopped for the infraction of riding his bicycle while listening to music with earbuds. As you can see, the threat posed by a cyclist with earbuds necessitated grabbing Noel off of his bike and throwing him on the ground, followed by his subsequent arrest. (sarcasm....these policemen are really pigs) If you watch the slow play, around 1:06, you will see one pig grab HIS OWN gun and shoot the other pig in the stomach! The pig who is shot in the stomach begins to scream like a victim, and both cops blame Noel, whose hands never touched a gun during this encounter!
The pig who shot his partner then proceeded to unload at least three shots into Noel's back and one more into his neck. Next, of course, came the obligatory order from the pigs to all bystanders to "get back inside their houses." This was done to eliminate the possibility of truthful testimony and cell phone video from uninvolved witnesses. Both pigs, and their cohorts on the police force, lied about the incident on their reports. Below is more on this incident, along with some cell phone video taken by one of the witnesses, despite the command from police to turn away.
Albert Murad and Jose Ruiz, the two pigs involved, proceeded to slam their weight into Noel's back until he was fatally injured. Noel Aguilar succumbed to his injuries and died at the scene. Both pigs are back on the job, after their paid vacation. Your tax dollars at work, California.
After waiting over two weeks to finally divulge why they arrested Freddie Gray, the six police officers in Baltimore, Maryland, who ended up killing him, have been charged with various crimes, ranging from false imprisonment to second degree murder. One of the officers finally explained that Gray was arrested for "making eye contact" with a police officer, and since that is not a crime, it was determined that police had no probable cause to arrest Gray in the first place. Imagine that!
Marilyn Mosby, the state's attorney in Baltimore, acted immediately when she received the report from the medical examiner, stating that the cause of death was homicide. The fact that the homicide was committed by a police officer was not important, and with no provocation of any kind, it should not be important. She decided that accountability is important, however; and is insisting that the six officers answer in court for their conduct. This is very significant, because nationwide, police tend to get away with false arrest, perjury, intimidation of witnesses, violence of all kinds, and murder on a regular basis. The advent of cell phone cameras and video has finally had an effect on the accountability of police officers.
There are those who are not in favor of this sudden non-selective application of the law. After all, police officers, particularly white police officers arresting black defendants, have enjoyed privilege and carte` blanch to behave as violently as they please since the Revolutionary War. How can a cop adjust to the sudden demand for justice and fair practice? And it WILL be an adjustment, too, just like being subject to impromptu professional and amateur photography is proving to be an adjustment for police officers. But here's the thing: it should not be an adjustment. There should not even be a discussion about it, or a court case. Police officers should never do anything in the line of duty that they would not want seen on camera by everyone on the internet, and police officers should never falsely arrest or imprison anyone and they should certainly never commit murder.
Many thanks to Marilyn Mosby for setting a new precedent of accountability in this country for law enforcement. It makes yours truly very proud of her connections to the East Coast. She is a brave and brilliant attorney.
Dallas Bond, a Northeast Kansan, is only twenty years old, but he has a more impressive arrest record than most career criminals. His most recent arrest was in Jackson County, Kansas, earlier this week, alleging that he persuaded a child under the age of fourteen to accompany him to a hotel room in Holton, Kansas, where he allegedly assaulted the child. This stems from allegations that were made while he worked as a dispatcher in Brown County, Kansas! Another disturbing side to this whole thing is that in conjunction with the sex crimes against children, Bond also faces charges of identity fraud and aggravated kidnapping, and felony theft. Wanna know what he allegedly stole? Handcuffs, leg irons, a taser, a radio, and police department shirts, apparently from his place of employment!
Bond is behind bars now, not out on bond. The incident from which one of the charges stem took place in August of 2013, which means that for over a year and a half, someone with an unhealthy interest in children, handcuffs, leg irons, and tasers was scouting around in Northeast Kansas, looking for children to kidnap and assault. It also means that the school board of USD 380, which has two schools in Northeast Kansas, Frankfort and Centralia, was very foolish to allow staff at Frankfort to continue to leave their building unlocked and even more foolish to continue to allow teachers to leave students by themselves in random locations away from the town. What will it take to convince the school board to dismiss the teacher who does this? And why would the teacher do something so sinister to a child?
Most of the news articles on the internet concerning this incident are dated February 2 or 3, but Dallas Bond was arrested on January 23. Only one of the articles, the one cited here, explains all the charges in detail. The theft charges are very significant in this case because of what this man unlawfully "acquired". In conjunction with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a child, what could Bond have possibly intended to do with handcuffs, leg irons, and a taser? If Frankfort wants to keep teachers who make children vulnerable to kidnapping, perhaps the parents who support this teacher should be the ones whose children get kidnapped by the man with handcuffs and leg irons. But in reality, if teachers are careless enough to extend an open invitation to this by transporting children to other locations and forgetting about them, it could happen to any child.
To put this in language that even the folks in Northeast Kansas will understand, suppose a child is dropped off alongside the highway for cross country practice and gets lost because she is new to the area, and someone wearing a stolen police department shirt, who also has a stolen police department radio in his vehicle, stops and picks the child up? Police gear and uniforms are very convincing, when you've been dumped on the highway by your teacher and forgotten. Then what, Frankfort? It's exactly the same position in which you placed a high school freshman several years ago. If you frankfurters want school to be an open invitation to wacky-assed perverts with stolen handcuffs to pick up children and molest them, federal and state funding should be discontinued for your public school and you should fund it yourselves.
Stories like this one should receive more publicity. Men who kidnap children and schools who enable them by leaving the children alongside highways to be kidnapped do not deserve the community protection that comes with hiding incidents like this.
November 10 is the day the grand jury is expected to announce a decision about charging Officer Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri this past August. The date is right around the corner. It has been reported, via juror indiscretion, that no charges will be brought. Unfortunately, this is believable, not only because law enforcement and government seem to want to fan the flames of anger and force racism and injustice on Ferguson, which is mostly black; but there have been tweets from someone allegedly serving on the grand jury stating the intention to allow Wilson to get away killing an unarmed man. Not only does Missouri feel entitled to it's racism, it feels entitled to divulge statements made during proceedings that were directed to remain under seal until the date of the announcement. Missouri may not understand any of this.
Two year old Jacob Hoggle and Three year old Sarah Hoggle are missing from Montgomery County, Maryland. Jacob was last seen on Sunday afternoon, and Sarah was reportedly last seen on Monday. Their mom, Catherine, was also missing, as of Monday afternoon, but has been located and arrested. Allegedly, she has given conflicting accounts concerning the whereabouts of her children, and Montgomery County Police have charged her with criminal neglect. Hopefully, they will get some reliable information from her, as searches have turned up nothing for the past week. Below are pictures of them, if you know where these children are or think you have seen them, please call Montgomery County Police at 301-279-8000.
How long does Kansas take to investigate a complaint about a daycare? How many reports of abuse, injury, or untimely death do they need in order to justify the expenses involved in gathering information and making a quality decision about who gets a license to operate a daycare, and who does not? According to the latest information, brought to us by WIBW, the death of a child will bring an investigation and a decision in about a year and a half. That's how long it took Child Protective Services in Kansas to substantiate the charges, concerning a wrongful death, finally brought against Tara Johnson, the home daycare provider; and Destiny McClusky, a random friend of Tara's who had no real business in Tara's workplace.
In February of 2013, five month old Caleb Stewart was dropped off at daycare by his mom, Misty Durham. Later that day, he died. Tara Johnson was not on the premises, which she should have been, and her boyfriend, Russel Morris and the aforementioned friend, Destiny McClusky, were watching the children. Anywhere besides Kansas, this would lead to charges and a lawsuit. As is stands, Johnson, Morris, and McClusky probably do not have the assets to settle a lawsuit for wrongful death, and since Kansas was allowing this daycare to operate without a license and failing to substantiate the complaints that led to the situation that cost Caleb his life, Johnson's daycare was not covered by insurance, either. But then, about ninety-five percent of public schools in Kansas did not have insurance when school started in 2013, either.
Chad Taylor, the prosecutor in Topeka, Kansas, has declined to press any charges at all in this case. He presses charges when the children of richer, better connected parents die in daycares, but not Caleb Stewart's death. Taylor even retaliated against Misty Durham by having her arrested for an old traffic violation when she called his office to ask about the status of the case! Does he think that forcing different social classes to exist in Kansas and denying justice to people he simply doesn't like are going to get him elected again? And is child protective services in Kansas really attempting to protect children? Or do they only respond when they find children who are alive and marketable, and whose parents don't know their rights and cannot afford legal representation? How many other children have been in harm's way during the eighteen months it took them to glance at Caleb Stewart's case?
What does one do when one's lawyer and the judge get into a fistfight? On the surface, it appears quite funny, and everyone in this Brevard County, Florida courtroom cheered and clapped when the judge challenged a defense attorney to a physical fight, and the two of them went out into the hallway to settle their differences like kindergartners. Sure, it's amusing, but even though neither of them has been charged with a crime, as of yet, they were separated from each other, kinda like sparring siblings, separated from each other by Mom. That means that a client represented by this particular defense attorney in a case heard or tried by this particular judge had to either hire a different attorney or ask for a change of venue. This could have the unfortunate effect of delay of trials and all other court decisions, as Judge John C. Murphy is now on a temporary leave of absence so he can attend anger management classes, and all of his cases have been reassigned to other judges.
Prior to committing assault, the judge was in the process of scheduling a trial date for someone facing two charges of assault. Won't it be awkward if Judge Murphy encounters a former defendant from his own courtroom at anger management class?
Chad Taylor, prosecuting attorney in Topeka, Kansas, pretends that he is really fighting crime by ignoring student safety issues and other problems in Kansas schools, then charging seventeen year old Brendan Steven Moore, of Topeka, with four counts of solicitation of first degree murder as an adult. When a baby actually died last year, in a Topeka home daycare, he could not even bother to read the reports and statements made about the incident. To this day, anyone who calls Chad Taylor's office in Topeka Kansas and asks about the investigation of the death of Caleb Stewart will not get an answer. His secretary generally hangs up on anyone who asks that question. If Chad Taylor really cares about crime, why doesn't he find out why Caleb died, shut down all daycares and schools that do not take child safety seriously, and question the last adult to have any contact with Caleb before he coded and was rushed to the hospital?
Why is one Topeka child's death important enough for legal action, while another's is not? Where does Chad Taylor draw the line? Does he only care about the children of parents whose jobs are white collar? Is it college graduates, but no one else, who elicits his concern when a baby dies? Does it matter how long the baby's parents have lived in Kansas, or how likely they may or may not have been to vote for him? Because other cases, involving similar deaths, have been investigated, and tried in court. According to information that is courtesy of the Kansas Child Death Review Board, daycare deaths of children in Caleb's age group usually occur because of sleeping arrangements. Caleb was sleeping in a dog bed, which had, according to one witness, been placed in a closet! Has Chad Taylor even taken an afternoon to sit down with Caleb's parents and discuss the opinions of the Kansas Child Death Review Board with them? It's really starting to look as if he is only willing to jump on whatever bandwagon will net him the most publicity. A child creating a ruckus at school with threats faces Taylor in court, tried as an adult, on charges of solicitation of first degree murder, because this type of case has been in the eye of the media, nationwide, lately. Not quite as many cases involving babies who do not survive daycare while both parents work become photo ops for folks like Chad Taylor.
At least sit down and talk to the other children who were at the daycare that day, Chad.
Addison Mikkelson, who was arrested over the holiday for obstruction of justice because he took some videos and pictures of Kansas law enforcement in action, returned to the police station in Topeka the following day. He wanted a copy of the video captured by law enforcement of his arrest. While he is, in fact, entitled to the video, his arrest changes the auspices of his entitlement. Information pertaining to or resulting from an encounter with a government entity that is just an encounter, and nothing more, can usually be obtained by written request citing the most recent update of the Freedom of Information Act. Unfortunately, Addison was charged with a crime here, and law enforcement's video record of the event has become evidence. Addison, or his lawyer, must now subpoena this evidence, and if the case against him goes forward, Addison will be allowed to examine it. The court, rather than either party, has a certain amount of control over the evidence and it's uses until the charges are disposed. The uninvolved officer with whom Addison spoke has no authority to release evidence in the case to anyone. Ah.....kids!
If the police station in Topeka Kansas seriously wishes to forbid or limit any filming, a sign should be posted on their wall, stating that permission must be granted prior to filming or recording. It seems that a lot of police officers lately, despite the public aspect of the job, have been extremely camera-shy. While the interest in footage of abusive cops is undoubtedly growing, most civilians do not take exception to police officers caught doing their jobs professionally and courteously. When an officer is caught on camera behaving like a thug, and proceeds to behave even more like a thug upon finding out that he has been caught on camera, there's a problem. Addison Mikkelson obviously has a pastime, and hopefully a passion, for catching police in action on video; hopefully, he has the heart, soul, and good fortune required for this type of activism.
Shooting a documentary of the "history" of the police station in Topeka, Addison? Seriously? That's the most amusing thing I've heard all weekend! You should have just said, "Smile! You're on Candid Camera!"
Amazing. One would expect a circuit court judge to be mature enough to find an eligible bachelorette with whom to spend time after work, or at least be discreet when he has an affair with someone who is not a bachelorette; but not the "Honorable" Michael Thornsbury. What an embarrassment to Mingo County, West Virginia, where he served, until recently. Judge Thornsbury not only had an affair with his married secretary, but apparently was so forlorn and upset when she changed her mind about dating him that he decided to get even with her husband, simply for being her husband! He tried to get a friend to plant drugs in the man's vehicle, but the friend decided against it at the last minute, leaving the unsuspecting man not in possession of illegal drugs, rather than in possession of same, for the planned drug bust, which did not go as planned. Next, His Honor successfully convinced a state trooper to arrest his secretary's husband on bogus theft charges. The charges have since been dismissed, but it is still, always, an unpleasant surprise when a prosecutor or judge has a silly-assed personal problem with an unsuspecting, innocent constituent and abuses his or her position to play a sophomoric game of "get-backs". Is it any wonder that the American people are losing respect for all parts of the judicial system?
What is going on with stupid prosecutors these days? In Colorado, there is a young and inexperienced prosecutor named Todd Risberg, who requested discovery of all the evidence in possession of all parties involved in a case he tried. Everyone complied, but Risberg still felt somehow cheated, so he filed a motion about it. During court, the judge ruled that the prosecution had all the evidence it needed, and that the defendant's attorney did not have to supply the prosecutor with any more so-called "evidence"; which, in this case, was a penned letter to one of the defendant's friends. Had the judge ruled otherwise, and had the defense still refused, someone would have been in contempt of court then and there; but no one was in contempt of court, because all of the judge's orders were followed. So what does Risberg do? He files criminal charges against the defense attorney for not handing over the letter the judge said he did not have to hand over! He feels that this step is necessary to "send a message" to defense attorneys in his area. Where's the eye-rolley when I need it?
I do not believe Risberg's dumbass case will go anywhere. No defendant, represented by an attorney or not, has a legal obligation to fork over evidence, including written or oral statements, to help the State prosecute a case. The fourth and fifth amendments to our Constitution are quite clear about this. Many of the defense attorneys in Risberg's area are in solidarity against this case, and against these tactics, and it will not surprise me a bit if the case is dismissed with prejudice. Sadly, it will also not surprise me a bit if Risberg finds a way to take his nonsense to civil court, when criminal court fails to give him his own way.
This is the kind of stuff about which ethics complaints are written to Bar Associations. And I would certainly write one if I were involved in this case.
