Flip Flop Struggle

And just when he gets it on ..........

How Much? From Who?

Someone sent me the link to check for "unclaimed property" that might possibly be held by the State on my behalf. (You know, you hear about it all the time.) I hadn't checked in a number of years so I filled out the online form for the heck of it.

I found $100! And here's the weird part: It's a Men's Wearhouse gift certificate. They handle gift certificates?

Edit (15 minutes later): What the heck!!!! They sent me a claim form by email (already prepared) with an attachment setting forth the needed items for proof of verification. This is item #4: "Attach the original unredeemed gift certificate/card issued by the Reporting Company"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• My car's air conditioning compressor went out. You guy's might want to hang around me since I'm bleeding money right now.
• Despite spending a fortune on legal fees in defense of it's anti illegal immigrant ordinances, the City of Farmer's Branch city council voted last night to appeal a federal district judge's adverse ruling to the Fifth Circuit. They've lost every step of the way. Dumb, dumb people.
• Blogger Denny Crane claims to have pictures of a guy "roughed up" during a Wise County arrest.
• Being in the criminal defense business is weird. I have lots of clients wrap up with the relationship with, "Thanks so much. I hope I never see you again."
• There was a crazy shooting rampage in public in Wichita Falls last night. Six shot. Two dead (including shooter.) And one report on the radio this morning claimed the guy was yelling, "White power!"
• Cowboys and Washington open up their season on a Sunday night with McNabb as 'skins new QB. Pretty good stuff.
• The Evil Empire had another football player arrested for DWI over the weekend.
• The Supreme Court ruling yesterday throwing out a statute designed to outlaw "fetish videos depicting animal cruelty" wasn't very important. The statute was simply written so poorly that in some circumstances it would have made it a federal crime to possess a deer hunting video in Texas. But it'll make news because we've got the weird combination of "fetish" and "animal cruelty" appearing in the same sentence.

Bad Trooper / Acquitted Trooper

Today in South Texas:

A few years back in Denton:

Assuming No Foul Play . . .

. . . a 48 year old dying suddenly in his sleep creeps me out to no end.

You never know. You just never know.

(CNN Breaking News.)

Edit: News reports are now saying the death is from "natural causes."

Hey, The Bridgeport Index Called Me A "Future World Builder" One Time

So you guys better start paying attention to what I say! I've got to start working on my New World Order.

(Thanks, emailer.)

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• It smelled smokey in Decatur this morning.
• The family truckster is back in the shop. It wouldn't surprise me if the mechanic doesn't tell me to remove life support.
• That volcano in Iceland, which has caused so many airport closings, is bizarre. And did you know the last time it erupted in the 1800s it lasted for two years?
• With all the lakes full, if we had another two day hard rain it would be Flood City. But we'd get to see the big flood gates at Lake Bridgeport fully opened which is a heck of sight.
• It's 4/20. For most of my life I had no idea about the hidden meaning of those numbers.
• The Space Shuttle landed moments ago (8:08 a.m.) And there was a time when that was news. But, thankfully, there are only three more missions left.
• The news out of Fort Worth yesterday was that the Tarrant County DA's office hadn't decided whether to certify as adults the two 16 year olds charged in the murder of the honor student in Fort Worth. Let me answer that: There's a 100% chance they will.
• But I hope the cops got it right this time.
• Found my mom and dad's picture in the yearbooks posted yesterday. That's great. (And thanks to an old high school friend for pointing them out to me.)
• A Tarrant County jury, in a completely different case, rejected the prosecutor's plea for a Capital Murder conviction last week (although they still convicted him of a lesser crime and sentenced him to life in prison.) Still, you never used to see a Capital Murder case lost.
• I've got close friends that say it's crazy to buy a new car -- always go used. I've got close friends who have never bought a used car -- always go new.
• "State legislators told of HOA fines, threats of foreclosure." Hey, here's an idea to prevent being hassled by HOAs: Don't buy a home within a Home Owner's Association. (Although I personally think they are fantastic for keeping a neighborhood in great shape.)

We Are Country

Pic snapped in Chico this afternoon.

Wouldn't It Be Great If Every Yearbook Were To Be Scanned

But for now we've got four "old" ones from Bridgeport.

If You Tried To Travel West on 380 This Weekend . . .

. . . this is what you saw. Near Haskell.

(Thanks, Brock.)

The Rick Perry Train Is A Rollin'

First on the cover of Texas Monthly as it considers his presidential chances. And now he's on the cover of Newsweek this week. With no realistic Republican presidential candidate to emerge yet, don't rule him out -- and I know that sounds crazy. For now.

15th Anniversary Of The Bombing

Don't you remember how stunned you were when you saw the images?

And one thing I can't find on the Internet, but I swore I read, was that during one of the memorial services a baby began to cry in the audience. The pastor, instead of ignoring the crying child, simple said, "That's OK. It sounds like the voice of angel right now."

Yep, Lake Bridgeport Is Full

That's a whopping two foot increase over the weekend. Enjoy it -- when it stops raining. This doesn't happen very often.

(Thank for the email, David)

Edit: You can see updates of the level here. And it's rising at a pretty good clip from the runoff.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I got sick again this weekend. One second I'm fine and then the next I can't hardly walk. And then it does away within a day. Weird.
• Had an ultimate movie fail this weekend: Bought tickets to Date Night and then walked in and couldn't find two seats even remotely close together. But it was our fault for getting there so late.
• Now the family truckster is making a very weird sound. It's on its last legs.
• Last night a fight breaks out at the XTC Strip Club at Regal Row and I-35 in Dallas. Two guys then get into a taxi and leave only to get hit by gunfire from a car that followed them. One of them then removes the taxi cab driver, who was also hit, from the cab and they drive to the hospital. The cab driver then dies. And this all started about 5:00 a.m. Good grief.
• I feel bad for the NASCAR fans that camped out all weekend without seeing a single race. I'm sure they made the best of it, but that had to be a beating. Mud ain't good.
• And traffic sure seems like it would be a hassle today for Northwest High School.
• Monday morning pick me up: USC Song Girls go swimming.
• Before I got sick, I had lunch at the relatively new Pour House in Fort Worth. Not bad. Quick service. And there was a live acoustic performance going on by two gals in the middle of the afternoon who were really good.
• You see brawls after fights in Fake Wrestling but one occurred on Saturday night on CBS after an MMA fight.
• I wonder if the Lake Bridgeport "watershed" got a bunch of rain this weekend? I noticed Jacksboro got over 6".
• There's a Star Telegram story referencing the emerging "restaurant row" in Roanoke.
• I'm still recovering.

Cops Make Huge Mistake

I've been telling you there something weird about this case. This is the one we've been following all week where this kid was killed when he went home at lunch with his sister. Cops make and arrest and then today -- you never see this happen -- say they were wrong. To call him a "person of interest" means nothing. That's a made up term, and they are just using it here to cover there arses from too much bad press.

Edit: A commenter reminded me of my post below where the lady wrote on Facebook that the first guy that was arrested should have been executed immediately. Wonder if she is rethinking that.

Grandstanding

Sen. Jane Nelson has always been clueless about the practical aspects of law enforcement.

In light of the tragedies of late which involved repeat DWI offenders, she now wants to propose a law which would cause a person convicted of DWI-Second to lose their drivers license forever.

Ok, so a guy who is inclined to drive drunk after having two DWIs (and thus be subject to 10 years in prison for a third DWI) is going to be discouraged because he doesn't want to drive without a license (a misdemeanor)? Sheesh.

The Only Good Thing About Hockey

This happened, I think, the other night during the playoffs. It's just so insanely weird.

But I like the fake crying at around the 17 second mark.

Be Careful What You Ask For

A court of appeals case released last evening demonstrates how you need to always think ahead.

Robert John Gallemore was charged with Felony DWI in Wise County. Facing a range of 2 to 10 years in prison, he pled guilty before Judge Fostel and asked the judge to assess punishment. While Judge Fostel was considering the sentence, the defendant's lawyer pointed out a flaw in the indictment which actually made the case a misdemeanor (with a maximum sentence of one year in jail.) He was right. The indictment only alleged a misdemeanor. So the lawyer says, and I'm paraphrasing, "hey judge, go ahead and sentence my client for the misdemeanor offense."

The judge says that his court only has original jurisdiction over felonies, not misdemeanors. If a misdemeanor offense is committed, it has to be filed in the Wise County Court at Law. That's true, too. So the judge declares a mistrial and sets aside the defendant's guilty plea.

The DA's office then re-indicts the guy to fix the error in the original indictment and does something which probably should have been done in the first place. They discovered the defendant had twice before been to the pen, so they added two enhancement paragraphs making the defendant a Habitual Offender. This means the new punishment range was 25 years to life in prison! That's right, the case went from 2 to 10 years to 25 years to life.

The defendant objected on double jeopardy grounds (he had already been charged and pled guilty, he said) but the judge denied that motion. The defendant once again pled guilty and the judge gave him 25 years.

The defendant appealed and the appellate court, yesterday, said the district court in Wise County does indeed only have felony jurisdiction so the first indictment that alleged only a misdemeanor was void. It had no effect whatsoever so the defendant couldn't enter a guilty plea to a non-existent case. So the new indictment stands. As does a 25 year sentence.

Ouch.