Random Friday Morning Thoughts

STAAR testing snafu. 

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• The Tanner Horner case continued along yesterday just as if he hadn't pled guilty at all. That is, the State is providing all the evidence that they were prepared to give just as if Horner had not pled guilty.  The reason is to be able to argue later: "Don't give him credit for pleading guilty. With the mountain of evidence we had against him, he didn't have a choice."
• Horner had a lawyer by the time a week after the arrest he decided he wanted to talk to law enforcement on his own. Yep, that is his right. 
  
  
  
• FBI Special Agent Taylor Page testified about cellular data tracking. 
  
  
  
• Bruce Sherman with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
  
  
  
• FBI Special Agent Kurt Duross testified about Athena's clothing being found by the defendant's home. 
  
  
  
  

  

  Wise County Prosecutor Michelle Deuell.

  
  
• Horner was living in the shed to the left.  Athena's clothing would be found in a junk pile in located in the middle of the photo.  
  
  
  
• His living quarters were a mess, mess, mess. 
  
  
  
• The WFAA reporter Tanya Eiserer, who provides analysis during court breaks,  is not even attempting to be objective in her coverage : "If by some miracle the jury doesn't give him the death penalty . . . . " is just one of the things she said yesterday.  She might be right, but normally they try to stay in the middle. 
  
• When lawsuits like this are filed, they make big headlines.  Not so much when they get dismissed. Story.
  
  
  
• Crazy story. Over 100 cops showed up. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Melania held a surprise statement in front of the cameras yesterday where, of all things, she decided it was a good time to distance herself from Epstein. What prompted this?  And Trump didn't even know it was going down. 
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Schools and hospitals destroyed in Iran. Gift link.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Trump weird rantings yesterday: 
• Even he is admitting the Strait is not open. 
  
  
• They better not be!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  
  
• Who cares what he's rambling about here.  The man is not well. 
  
  
  
• Dateline Weslaco, Texas.  They might want to tap the brakes on that. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Business Second™.  Inflation numbers released this morning. Uh, oh. 
  
  
  
• Lauren Whitener Clock: 6 years and 281 days.

 

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

A guy was arrested on this but the case was later dismissed. 

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• A wild day in the Tanner Horner case as we met the defendant's alleged alter ego, "Zero."
  
  
  
• Game Warden Josh Espinosa was the first brief witness yesterday. He assisted in making the arrest of Horner who was on his delivery route at the time.  
  
  
  
• Texas Ranger Job* Espinosa spent most of the day on the stand as videos were shown to the jury. He managed to convince Horner to lead authorities to Athena's body. (*He is indeed named "Job, like the Good Book" he told them)
  
  
  
• "I'd rather die" than go away for a "long time" to prison, Horner told them in an interview at the Wise County Sheriff's Office.
  
  
  
• They let Horner smoke a cigarette before he would lead them to the body.  (If a person is cooperating in this situation, you would order them a lobster dinner if they wanted it.)
  
  
  
• Horner led officers to the Trinity River off of Bobo's Crossing. After her body was found, officer's told him "Thank you, Zero" and asked, "Zero, I need you. Can you come out?" 
  
  
  
• Side note: For a while, we got to the see the crowd milling around on the live stream during court breaks. 
  
  
  
• We won't get to see that any longer after this deputy told the video guy to have the camera face upwards when the trial isn't actually ongoing. 
  
  
  
• Quick hits on other things: 
• I can't make heads or tails out of this story.
  
  
  
  
• There was a shooting last night in far north Fort Worth yesterday evening. "Investigators determined the incident began as an argument between a man and a woman in a relationship near a parked car in a cul-de-sac. Neighbors who heard the commotion approached the vehicle to intervene. The situation escalated into a physical fight involving the couple and the residents. During the struggle, the woman involved in the initial argument pulled out a handgun and opened fire."
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
• Someone remind him that we bombed a school and killed over 160 girls. 

• By the time he's through with the film, he'll have the Mexican army being completely wiped out by Davy Crockett and his AR-15 while fighter jets made their way from Goliad.

• Messenger - Above the Fold

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

Let me abandon my "10 Years Ago" post to bring front and center an image that was shown yesterday in the trial of Tanner Horner.  Without question, it is already the most famous photo in Wise County criminal justice history. 

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• For detailed reporting on the Horner trial, the Messenger is providing updates throughout the day without a paywall. It's good. I'll just give you some images from yesterday: 
  
• A packed house as the trial was about to begin. Moments later, the DA will have to give an opening statement that only minutes earlier he thought would be about guilt/innocence instead of  "just" the death penalty.
  
  
  
• DA James Stainton gave the opening. “You’re going to hear what a 250-pound man can do to a 67-pound child. It’s horrible . . . . One thing that you can’t unhear is the level of fight in a 7-year-old girl when she’s facing certain death."
  
  
  

• The defense lawyer opened with a very strange NBA basketball analogy of a guy who tore his Achilles tendon. 
  
  
  
• Paradise first grade teacher Lindsey Thompson was the first witness. She did a fantastic job. 
  
  
  
• Elizabeth Strand, stepmom at the time of the abduction. 
  
  
  
• The jeans that Athena was wearing at the time of her abduction.
  
• The FedEx package that was actually delivered at the the time of the abduction. 
  
  
  
• If the photo at the very top becomes the lasting image at this trial, this photo by Amanda McCoy of the Star-Telegram is a close second.
  
• Lane Akin, the former sheriff of Wise County, was emotional on the stand.  
  
  
  
• James McGuire, an FBI agent, was the first person to contact Horner as the investigation was unfolding. 
  
  
  
• ADA Patrick Berry, who normally takes the lead in most murder trials, finally got into the action. I suspect we will see a lot more of him. 
  
  
  
• WFAA does commentary on its feed. 
  
  
  
• Today at the trial, videos of Horner police interviews will be shown. 
• The War.
• After saying he would probably wipe out an entire "civilization" -- the single worse utterance of words by a president in the history of the United States -- Trump caved last night.  So we learned we have a madman as president who is willing to bluff genocide as a negotiating tactic.  
  
  
  
  
• When people ask how could the Holocaust happen under Hitler, yesterday you saw how. We all sat around waiting for 8:00 p.m. EST to see if Trump would destroy millions and millions of people.  And we would have let it happen.
  
  
  
• Trump went from requiring an "unconditional surrender" to this . . . 
  
  
  
  
• This morning, it appears that Iran will continue to collect a toll for the ships they allow to go through -- something that didn't exist before our attack of Iraq. And overnight, Iran fired missiles at the UAE, and Kuwait.
  
  
  
  
• One local news quick hit. 
• A Johnson County sheriff's deputy was shot and injured last night.  Side note: Notice how this Twitter blurb begins with "Gemini said."  There is no person named Gemini in the story.  Gemini is, however, the name of Google's AI. 
  

• Back to the Horner trial, the in-truck video recording system of the FedEx truck captured the audio of the murder. It, understandably, will be horrific.  I don't know how the live video feed from the courtroom is going to handle that.