4.21.2026

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




A movie about him got him a new trial, but that new trial didn't work out too well.

  • I missed the Elon Musk weighed in on the Athena Strand trial. 

  • The mayor of Haslet called the sheriff's office after he and the City Administrator got into an argument about who gets to prepare the city council meeting agendas. Story.

  • The husband was arrested on manslaughter charges which means that police believe the shooting was not intentional.  Link. 

  • The congressman representing the southern part of Wise County got attention yesterday for some unbridled racism. 


  • The place is at 2526 Manana Drive, Ste. 101 in Dallas  Gift link.  



  • Story.  One of the many videos is here.



  • Good lord. 



  • More negative national news.  This happened at 10:00 in the morning. The two dead are teenagers "and five other victims, between the ages of 14 and 19, were also hit by gunfire."

  • Trump called into CNBC this morning and started lying very early.

  • The Press Secretary got our hopes up yesterday after a poorly worded tweet. 

  • The Business Second™:

     

  • Very legal nerdy stuff: The Supreme Court issued a weird per curiam opinion yesterday summarily reversing a case below on the issue of reasonable suspicion to stop. It didn't really add anything to the law in that area, but just seemed to get into the weeds about the facts of the case. There were two dissents which included this: 

  • Very legal nerdy stuff #2: A Texas case was reversed on appeal late last week for the rare reason that the judge should have struck a potential juror for cause.  The hard part for that as a lawyer is preserving error in the trial court -- it's tricky. But it was accurately done in that case by attorney Abel Reyna who I criticized to no end for the Waco Biker Shootout cases while he was D.A. 

at 8:30 AM

4.20.2026

Random Monday Morning Thoughts





It became know as the "Tax Day Flood" since it occurred on Monday, April 17th. 

  • Good lord. 

  • That school was up near Robson Ranch.
  • Oh, no. 

  • Police said the dope was valued between "$1 million and $3 million." I'd tap the brakes on that. I'm guessing Walter White wasn't the one making it. 


  • Is it just me, or did all the passengers seem just a little too chill about all this? Any chance all this was staged? Video. Edit: And when you see the video from one of the passengers, I'm even more suspicious. 


  • Gift link. 


  • In case you are confused on the state of the Iranian War, join the club. Here's a handy chrono list. 
    • On Friday,. Iran said the strait is open and an agreement on the war was pending. 
    • Trump agreed, and even said that Iran would hand over their "nuclear dust" to the U.S.  But then he followed it up with the surprise that the Iranian ports will remain under blockade.
    • Iran then responded and said the Strait was closed again.
    • Iran fires on two ships (non-American) trying to navigate through the strait.
    • Yesterday, the U.S. fired on an Iranian cargo ship trying to get to port and seized it. 

    • On Sunday, Trump threatened that if “If Iran doesn't sign this deal, the whole country is getting blown up”
    • But he added that his "peace team" was headed to Pakistan to meet with the Iranians again.
    • In the last few hours, Iran says they aren't going. 
  • Dateline China. We're doomed. 
  • We are really doomed. 

  • Trump spoke at the Charlie Kirk founded Turning Point meeting on Friday evening and made a weird comment about a "widow's peak." Video.
  • Are there odds on whether he goes off script?


  • At the beginning of its spring football game, a sky diver crashed into the big screen at Virginia Tech and dangled in the air until rescued.  Video of impact. Video of rescue moment. 
  • The Ticket's George Dunham made the front page of the Dallas Morning News yesterday with quite the accompanyin headline. Gift link to the story.


at 8:30 AM

4.17.2026

It's Friday -- Let's Get Out of Here

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts





That was from 12/5/22.  


  • Horner trial:
    • The audio of the murder of Athena Strand was played yesterday in court.  If you want a detailed review of it -- and it is beyond shocking -- go to this WFAA link and scan down to "Here are some notes from Rebecca Lopez." She was in the courtroom yesterday as the audio was played. (That portion of the trial was not live-streamed, and I'm glad it wasn't.)
    • Gift link to the Dallas Morning News story about the day.

    • Video of Horner on the phone immediately after the killing and smoking a cigarette. 


    • Here he is preparing to wipe down the back of truck after the murder. He's at Love's in Rhome/Aurora and had gone inside to borrow the roll of paper towels.  Video

    • In another stunning video shown yesterday, Horner actually drove down the road of Athena's home the day after the killing.  He almost got trapped on his way out because of all of the police and search team traffic.  A woman informs him that a girl is missing. "Are you serious?" he replies. Video.

    • Athena's father took the stand yesterday.

    • If I heard everything correctly, the jury won't return until next Wednesday.  I think there will be non-streamed court hearings regarding the qualifications of the expected defense witnesses on those days. The defense is up next because the State rested yesterday.
    • The entire defense in this case is, "Give him life in prison without the possibility of parole instead of the death penalty." But I don't know how they can recover from yesterday. 
  • In other Wise County news.
    • Story.

    • The Messenger story about this, with a photo, is free. 

  • Pop culture death: Best known for that unforgettable car-wash scene in Cool Hand Luke (1967), Joy Harmon has died at 87 

  • There were a million crazy Trump quotes yesterday, but this might have been the funniest. 

  • Breaking: Iran just announced that the Strait of Hormuz is now open since Israel and Lebanon have called a truce.  It will remain that way, according to Iran, so so long as the truce is in effect.  So, good news, we are back where we started before the war. 
  • The Business Second™. 

  • Dateline Waco. A big factor was the State already tried him once and got a hung jury. (The AG's office, who were representing the government due to a DA conflict, offered one day in jail, credit for time served, but the judge was going to balk at it. That's why they came up with the 30 day offer.)


  • Extremely nerdy legal stuff: Yesterday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that the art. 14.01 et. seq. statues which allow a warrantless arrest for offenses occurring within the “presence or view” of an officer, actually means what it says.   Barber v. State, PD-0510-25 (Tex.Crim.App, 2026) That means the officer must “perceive the offense through one of his five senses” and not simply arrive at the scene afterwards and talk to civilians.  It's application seems to be pretty limited (i.e. DWI wreck where person transported to hospital before any officer arrives?)
  • Lauren Whitener Clock: 6 years and 288 days.


at 8:30 AM
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