7.27.2017

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




  • A funny moment occurred in a DPS video that I was watching yesterday of a traffic stop in Wise County. The trooper, frustrated when a person wasn't following instructions, said, "Do you not understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" The guy being spoken to was black. But by the end of the video they were almost best friends. 
  • The insured Chico church that burned started a an effort to raise $50,000 on GoFundMe. It will fall a bit short. They seemed to have stalled at $4,500. 
  • At the same moment the Decatur Reunion is going on there was a death and injuries at a ride at the Ohio State Fair.
  • A teen was indicted for making up a kidnapping story. Back in the 1990s,  a false story was told in Wise County by a teenager which caused law enforcement to scramble. In the aftermath, law enforcement was not pleased. I was D.A. at the time. You know what I did? Wrote her, told her to give the letter to her parents, told her to consult with a lawyer if they wished, and then said she could avoid an arrest, indictment, and conviction if she would enter into a pre-trial diversion program and stay out of trouble for a year. She did it. She avoided embarrassment and a criminal record. It was the right thing to do. She was a good kid.
  • Justin Bieber hit someone leaving his weird new church (which is believed to be behind his decision to cancel his world tour) and it was caught on tape.
  • The Tarrant County D.A.'s office has indicted a former Southlake swim teacher after a 13 year old girl on the swim team drowned in the school pool a many months back. The charge is Endangering a Child By Criminal Negligence.  Prediction: There will never be a conviction. (Remember when I said a few weeks ago that very few criminal practitioners understand the definition of "criminal negligence."?) And if you are in the Tarrant County D.A.'s office, pray you aren't assigned to that case because you might be being set up for failure. Extra reason to fear: Dan Hagood is her lawyer.  
  • The Wise County Sheriff was making the DFW news last night for taking on DPS.
  • Weirdest headline of the morning: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions flies to El Salvador to talk about gang violence."  Huh?
  • White House Chaos: Late last evening the bombastic, take-no-prisoners new White House spokesman amazingly identified the White House Chief of Staff as the leaker. He then deleted the tweet. Drudge immediately jumped on it. Preibus will be gone. Bannon will be gone.  You are watching history.
    Screen shot
  • In a bizarre moment, Sarah Huckabee at the White House Press Conference yesterday read the following letter from "Dylan" and then released the letter.  There are so many questions. (And a Fourth Grade boy embracing the name of "Pickle" is one of them.)
  • And to think it was even part of a prostitution police sting
  • Lucky Whitehead was claimed by the Jets.