5.21.2021

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




The scandal of the so-called Mineola Swingers Club is just another sad chapter in the history of the Texas criminal justice system falsely accusing people. (The pleas were to simply get out of jail and get away from the justice-be-damned sorry excuse for a D.A.'s office and the judges in Smith County.)  Texas Monthly was indeed all over the injustice. Its collection of articles about the cases, including later pieces interviewing "victims" who recanted, are here. The facts are wild. 


  • If you live in Frisco next to a member of the offense of the Dallas Cowboys who just happens to have a dog, be careful. 

    From 2019

    • Zeke has a tattoo of one of those dogs. (Did you know there's a website which breaks down 14 of his tattoos, but I know there are more than that?)

    • Zeke lives in the "Starwood neighborhood" in Frisco. You know it's exclusive when Google Streetview can't get to it because of the locked gates. 

  • After watching the video of the attempted abduction and how quickly it began and ended, I doubt that this update to the story is true at all. And who plays with "blue dye" that doesn't easily wash off? The story is sensational enough without tricking up the facts. 

  • Los Angeles deputies are unhappy:


  • Ransomware wouldn't be successful but for Bitcoin. 
  • This guy has filled in as host of the Mark Davis radio show, and he's as dumb as a box of rocks. While on the Farmer's Branch city council, he lead the charge to adopt an ordinance preventing private apartment companies from renting to undocumented aliens -- an ordinance which was struck down by the courts and cost the city $6.6 million in legal fees (with a lot of it paid to scam artist and failed politician Kris Kobach). More recently, O'Hare also "founded the Southlake Families PAC, an organization formed to counter the Critical Race Theory in Southlake schools." With Tarrant County already border-line Blue, his love of Jim Crow might be the final straw if he leads the GOP.

  • I stumbled upon a random murder case affirmed on appeal on Wednesday arising out of an incident in a Burleson hotel.  It sounds pretty salacious factually and pretty interestingly legally. Part of the dissent is reproduced below. A Facebook page dedicated to the victim is here.  News story when the defendant testified is here

  • Legal nerd stuff: Yesterday the Fort Worth Court of Appeals affirmed a Wise County conviction of 35 years for sexual assault of a child occurring in Rhome. There's nothing "unusual" about it, and the Defendant's brief is really good without much to work with. For some reason the State's brief isn't available online -- the Fort Worth court is really bad about not posting briefs when they should. 
  • I just finished this book about a man taking a former Indian hostage back home -- a journey which begins in Wichita Falls and then moves through Montague County and on to San Antonio. Verdict: I love the author's style but, honestly, not a whole lot happens. 

  • Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 686 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold