Cowboys On Sunday Night Football

I'm pretty sure he cares a little more than I do.

Body Slam Of The Day By Ohio State Assistant Coach

The crowd cheers, but I bet the administration was none too pleased. He might want to leave that to the security folks next time.

After A 50 Yard Fake Punt By Arkansas, This Aggie Girl . . .

will have to suffer from people walking up to her and saying, "I'm so confused!" for the rest of the year.

"Ugly Kardashian"?

The only person who I wanted knocked silly more that the QB was his coach.

Above The Fold

Horrible Saturday News

DFW: Bus carrying North Central Texas College softball team members crashes, 4 killed http://t.co/6dII51Wk8v
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) September 27, 2014

Through twitter posts I was able to find this picture believed to be the #NCTCSoftball victims #PrayersForNCTC pic.twitter.com/FaEWeIscER
— Joangel Concepcion (@JOANGELFOX4) September 27, 2014

Bridgeport vs. Decatur

The start of Battle of Big Sandy pic.twitter.com/NUvb32y75Q
— Richard Greene (@WCM_RGreene) September 27, 2014

Empty seats? Is is now a thing to be fashionably late to a high school football game?

An Example Of Courthouse Compassion

Video link.

HOUSTON (KTRK) --A man charged with capital murder passed out in his first court appearance in the case. Dalton Deune Jones, 26, is charged with the fatal assault of Alejandro Gonzalez-Alonzo, 43.

Either Insurance Fraud Attempt or A Zombie Attack

Index - 1970

Man, what an awful, awful wreck. That had to have rocked Chico.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• The father of Wise County Judge In Waiting J.D. Clark was killed yesterday in a wreck on FM 1810. Awful. Eerily, I already prepared a post of a 1970 Index front page -- scheduled to go up in a few minutes -- about another wreck back in the day. I had written, "That had to have rocked Chico." 
• And it wants me to rethink my comment the other day that I felt sorry for the Update writer who had to lead off with "Trail Ride-"  Maybe that's a good thing when that's the biggest news of the day. 
• I don't want to hear your kid in a radio ad: Current violator is Gilley's which is advertising on The Ticket. If a ten year old tells me how great the food is on a menu, I'm not impressed. 
• "BREAKING: Economy grew at 4.6 percent rate in April-June quarter, strongest pace since late 2011."  We've come a long way since being on the brink of an economic disaster.
• Let's see, Iraq used to be ruled by Saddam Hussein who was a Sunni and consequently put other Sunnis in power underneath him. We invaded under false pretenses, captured him, allowed him to be tried in a farce of a trial where he didn't even get to see or know who was testifying against him, and then allowed him to immediately be hanged. Then new "elections" occurred under our watch and the Shiites took power. And we wonder why the Sunni based ISIS group is pissed off and invaded Iraq? (And recall that it is widely believed that George W. didn't even know the difference between the two sects at the time of the invasion.)
• Texas Tech: What's the deal with those helmets from last night? I still don't know what that imagine is on the side. 
• Last night I looked up and The Sixth Grader In The House crawled by on her hands and knees with the normally spastic Family Cat riding on her back. (I started singing the old Jack In The Box commercial about tiny cowboys, but that reference was so obscure I only heard crickets chirping.)
• Questioned posed the other day on the radio: Do kids still play in a backyard "sand box"? I loved my sandbox (which was actually full of soft dirt instead of sand.)
• The lead prosecutor in the Black Widow trial in Fort Worth is Jack Strickland. Fascinating history that guy has. He was a prosecutor on one of the famous Cullen Davis cases back in the 1970s, was then a successful criminal defense lawyer (with an occasional trip to the Wise County Courthouse), and then returned to the prosecution side a few years ago. 
• The number of executions originating by county in the entire United States since 1976: (1) Harris County (Houston) with 122, (2) Dallas County with 53, (3) NOT TEXAS!!!: Oklahoma County (Oklahoma City) with 40, (4) Tarrant County with 38, and (5) Bexar County (San Antonio) with: 37
• You can actually visit the prison where Shawshank Redemption was filmed
• I'm sick of hearing about Derek Jeter but even I appreciated a double in his first at bat and a walk off single on his last at bat in his final game in Yankee Stadium.  But I was reminded of how boring baseball was when I watched his entire first at bat online. Get bat ready. Get glove ready. Step into batting box. Get feet right. Acknowledge to pitcher you're ready. Then Ball. Pause. Ball. Pause. Ball. Pause. Strike. Pause. Double. 

There Was A Report That NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Was Going To Meet With UT Coach Charlie Strong

And the Internet wasn't mature enough to handle it.

FBC Dallas

There's gotta be a better way to say "Why the Jew Is Important to You," First Baptist: http://t.co/yl4sseTy1i pic.twitter.com/WjvDNgVHpX
— D Magazine (@DMagazine) September 25, 2014

My Periodic Rant About JP Courts And Municipal Courts In Texas

JP courts and Municipal courts in Texas handle Class C offenses. Class C means no jail time is possible and the offense is punishable by fine only. Almost all of the offenses those judges handle carry with it a maximum of a $500 fine.

A judge is not a prosecutor. They should be "detached and neutral" which mean he/she should not know a single thing about any criminal case filed in the court other than there is an allegation. They should not advocate one position or another. If called upon, they will preside over a trial to keep it fair.

A prosecutor is the individual which should decide whether a case should be prosecuted. And he should decide what a plea bargain offer should be.  In any Class C case, he has the right to offer a plea bargain of anywhere from a $0 fine to a $500 fine.

But in Texas, every JP or municipal court judge has a fine chart.  You call the court, learn the standard fine, pay it, and you are done. That is clearly illegal under any number of theories. The judge has theoretically pre-judged the case, determined you are guilty, and offered a punishment as a resolution. That's not exactly due process. In essence, the judge is acting as a prosecutor and making a plea bargain offer. Now if the offer came from a prosecutor, that's fine. But a judge can't legally do it despite every JP or municipal judge doing it.

One of these days, the system will be declared illegal.  (Unfortunately, there will be a simple work-around. A citation will be rewritten to read, "Please call the prosecutor's office at [number] if you are interested in a plea bargain." There will then be an employee in that office who will field the call, look at a fine chart, and make the offer. It's the same result, but at least it has the appearance of some semblance of fairness.)

And Another - Jersey

Link.

Hey, You Can Buy Charles Whitman's Gun

Seriously:

This is especially interesting because I've been (oddly) talking about the incident with Decatur lawyer Carol Ann Carson over the last month. She even just recently gave me the book, The Sniper In The Tower. And if you want chills, read the Texas Monthly excerpt from the recent book named, Monday, Monday.

"Let Me See Your License" So I Can Shoot You For Retrieving Your License

HP - A South Carolina state trooper was fired last week and arrested on Wednesday after a dashcam video showed him shooting an unarmed man during a routine traffic stop. Former officer Sean Groubert, 31, is seen in the newly released video pulling over Levar Edward Jones. The clip, which was recorded on Groubert’s dashcam on Sept. 4, shows Jones getting out of his vehicle at a gas station in Columbia. Groubert asks Jones for his driver’s license. As Jones reaches into his vehicle to retrieve it, Groubert shouts, “Get out of the car!” When Jones complies and starts to back away from the vehicle, Groubert opens fire. Three shots can be heard; Jones was hit at least once, in the hip. “I was just getting my license,” Jones says. He also apologizes repeatedly, and asks, “Sir, why was I shot? All I did was reach for my license. I’m coming from work.” “Well, you dove head-first back into your car,” Groubert says. “Then you jumped back out, I’m telling you to get out of your car.” Groubert was charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, a felony which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, according to a news release from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. The complaint states that Groubert “did without justification unlawfully shoot Levar Jones which produced great bodily injury or was likely to cause great bodily injury. Audio and visual recordings, as well as written statements, obtained are further evidence to indicate the shooting incident was without justification.”

And I think we are all asking the same question: That's either the lowest caliber gun in the history of ever or the trooper is the worst shot in the aforesaid history.

I also don't think, "Sir, why was I shot?" would be my reaction. 

I Thought I Just Felt A Right Wing Earthquake Of Happiness