Dennis Rodman showing up inside North Korea after they were conducting their first nuclear tests is still weird.
- That's dust in the air this morning.
- From crazy dust storms in west Texas, to high winds here, to snow on Ventura Beach, to rains causing flooding and RVs to become afloat, there's been some wild weather. Video
- sbrutal beating of teacher
- I expected the lawsuit surrounding the Lake Worth drunk driver death which was back in the news again last week, but I just didn't expect General Motors to be one of the named defendants.
- Wise County made the Daily Mail, but not in a good way.
- One crazy narrative about the East Palestine train wreck was that there was no national coverage (there was) because it was in "Trump country", and the dirty liberal media didn't care about them. But it may very well be because 24 hour coverage wasn't warranted because there's yet to be any proof of any water or air contamination that serves as a threat to the residents. But one of the great ironies is that a town, which overwhelming supports deregulations and tort reform, are now flocking to try and get free money.
- The Dilbert author, who has flirted with hot opinions for years, has been dropped by every single paper and his syndicator after he decided to go on a racist rant on his podcast. It should have been dropped years ago for simply being a bad cartoon.
- Here's a profile of the Trump appointed federal judge in Amarillo who almost certainly will outlaw an abortion pill(s) this week after it has been safely used with FDA approval for over 20 years.
- The Alabama player who supplied, perhaps unknowingly, a handgun that was used in a murder was introduced in the starting lineup this weekend to a roaring crowd. And he thought it would be a good idea to have a teammate mockingly "pat him down." Video
- This is bugging me.
- Jason Kidd after the Mavs blow a 27 point lead yesterday: "I'm not the savior here... I'm watching, I'm not playing, I'm watching just like you guys."
- Colorful trees always seem to bloom around March 10th every year. With the rain and warm weather this week, they'll come early.
Yep, I actually wrote that on February 12, 2013. The list is now only a "Top 12" which, oddly, has 13 cases listed. None are from Wise County.
- The troubled sheriff to the north was suspended yesterday.
- Here are the money lines from the story:
- And in nearby Wichita County, a deputy pled guilty in another sex scandal which may or may not include a bondsman as a co-conspirator.
- The cross-examination of Alex Murdaugh continues this morning. (Live feed.) This is good stuff. I think the prosecutor is good. But I think Murdaugh is doing a really good job, too. And I loved how the first question out of the box from Murdaugh's own lawyer was "Did you brutally kill your wife?"
- I checked on the video this morning and got to see his lawyer hanging out with the deputies waiting for Murdaugh to arrive from jail in the paddy wagon.
- I told you Tarrant County would change with far right wing Tim O'Hare as County Judge. Yesterday he broke the tie as the county did away with mandatory county employee training for harassment and "unconscious bias." You know, that "woke" stuff like treating others with respect.
- Oddly, they also did away with, of all things, security training across the board. The sheriff addressed the commissioners opposing the training because he didn't want his deputies "running" or "hiding." “We want them charging in with the gust of a hound dog to absolutely neutralize that.” That's great, but I'm not sure how that's going to help, say, the county clerk staff in a different building.
- Speaking of the Tarrant County Sheriff, it was a slow start to the year, but he is back to having people die in his care again. There were at least 11 who died last year. This one occurred last week.
- Whenever you see "task force", you know (1) it will be absolutely ineffective and (2) is being done, first and foremost, for show.
- Let's check in on Wise County's crazy and troubled Congressman.
- The more I think about it, the more I like this legal maneuver.
- Nerdy legal stuff: There was a criminal case reversed on appeal out of Collin County yesterday because the judge told the jury panel during jury selection that "beyond a reasonable doubt" is like the prosecutor getting the nose of a football over the 50 yard line. Good lord. The opinion quoted the trial judge:
- I would have jumped out of my chair saying, "Judge, I'm going to have to respectfully object . . . ." when I really meant, "Are you out of your freaking mind!!!"
- The judge was Andrea Thompson out of the 416th Judicial District Court in Collin County.
- Amazingly, the defense lawyer didn't object to the judge's obviously wrong comments. That normally waives any error. But the appellate court really went out on a limb to help the defendant by saying that the due process error was so bad that he didn't have to.
- How did they solve it? You guessed it: By using a commercial site like 23andMe and finding relatives of the unmatched DNA profile.
- Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office, despite having a full male DNA profile, has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 3 years, 235 days.
The jury had found the drunk guy 30% responsible and the club 70% responsible. That didn't make any sense then and doesn't make any more sense now.
- If you haven't seen the video of this guy running and being chased down seconds after the crash, here you go. He received 15 years in prison.
- And before the crash, there's footage of him at the bar. Actually, he wandered behind the bar.
- They are still trying to kick the indicted Clay County Sheriff out of office. There's a big hearing today.
- I've mentioned lately about the trend of having defendants testify in their own defense. If this morning's post below, from the lead investigative reporter of South Carolina's leading newspaper, is correct, we've got a big day ahead. The live feed of the trial is normally on YouTube here.
- I had forgotten he was in jail. Here he is getting out of the jail van this morning.
- Man, that foreperson of the Atlanta election-interference grand jury is giving a cringe-worthy performance during her ill-conceived interview tour. She is doing herself no favors. Video. And the grand jury system in general is taking a hit as well.
- One of my favorite Insurrectionists received 38 months yesterday. It's not enough.
- I've got a faithful reader which for years has fed me scoops on Texas counties to the north. He sent a missive yesterday where he predicted a "Not Guilty" verdict in this Wichita Falls case which has been transferred to Tarrant County. If I've got my facts right, one of the defense lawyers is Terri Moore who has recently agreed to take a job for the new Tarrant County D.A. Mark Daniel is trying the defense case with her.
- The fighter jet photo of the Chinese Spy balloon.
- Texas Monthly has a new story about what happens when the extreme far right wing takes over a city council.
- Say what?
- The back of Cowboys wide receiver C.D. Lamb.
- Legal nerdy stuff. I was always told you can't do this during appellate oral argument. But some guy did it, and pulled it off, in the Supreme Court yesterday.
- Messenger: Above the Fold
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