My view at courthouse while waiting. I do a lot of waiting.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Stolen from Newsweek: "Every time I look at the economy I think President Obama can't win. And ever time I look at the Republican field I think he can't lose."
• The Kids In The House accused me of having "frown smile."  That's when I try to express displeasure at their shenanigans but I can't suppress that I think a particular event was funny. "Your mouth goes frown-smile-frown-smile-frown-smile!"
• Former SMU runningback and ESPN commentator Craig James is running for the U.S. Senate.  By doing so, he just proved he is living in a fantasy world because he's about to learn what the public thinks of his Helicopter Parenting techniques. (Back on March 7th he floated the idea of running on WBAP, and I wrote then about how he just got roasted by callers.)  Edit: The blow back has already begun.
• A Bridgeport player, Trent Shuett, made the Associated Press 3A All-State High School Football Team. (That name reminds me of "Dwight Shrute.")
• Maybe my favorite character in any movie is Gary Oldman brief appearance playing Drexl Spivey in True Romance (1993).  The movie, which has never received its due, was a precursor to Pulp Fiction.
• I hate the word "gotten" when it is spoken. To see it in print makes me insane.
• I attended a Christmas middle school band concert last night. And I'm still here. 
• College football at the Division III level has a playoff. Sound good? This weekend the same two teams will play for the championship for the seventh year in a row.
• Time announced its Person Of The Year this morning. Who is it? "The Protester".  How generic can you get?
• When Hal Jay on WBAP learned of the Time announcement at 8:04 a.m. he said, "They are a bunch of nuts and low life scumbags that don't want to work."  I'm sure those protesters of the Arab Spring appreciate his characterization. (Have I asked "how does that man have a job?" enough?)
• If you haven't heard about Jerry Sandusky's lawyer's "1-800-REALITY" gaffe yesterday, you've got to read about it. 
• The Update will tell you today, I think for the seventh day in a row, that some changeover on highway 380 east of Decatur is again delayed. Hey, it's a road change. Not the opening of a bullet train to Denton. 

Messenger Above The Fold

Facebook and News

Rest of story.

Mother's facebook page. She has not been charged. Excerpt:

His.

This Can't Be Real, Can It?

Oh, but it is. DPS is launching their own little Navy with six boats at a cost of $580,000.

Insane.

Wise County Trial Ongoing

Pretty small jury panel but they had enough

As far as sex abuse cases go, this one seems pretty routine.  Allegation is inappropriate touching by a stepfather of (I think) a 14 years old stepdaughter while camping at the Grasslands.  The defendant has pled not guilty and is being represented by Paul Belew and David Singleton (who are doing a good job).  Prosecutors are Jay Lapham and Lindy Borchardt (ditto).

The defendant has pled not guilty and that phase of the trial is going on now.  If found guilty, the range of punishment would be 2 to 20 years but with probation as an option for the jury.

I did learn that the jury got a "don't read the blog" instruction from the judge. I suspect their reaction was, "What blog?"

Comments off. Once we have a final verdict, I'll turn them back on.


(For you legal types: I can't say that it's the most riveting trial in the world, but it was academically interesting with regard to the issue of the admissibility of the alleged victim's statements to a nurse when she was sent to the nurse by law enforcement. Does that prevent Rule Of Evidence 803(6) from being applicable?)

Related To The "No Body" Denton Murder Case?

More.

My rant of the year had to be about the murder prosecution of Charles Stobaugh over in Denton when there was no evidence of a death, much less a murder, much less a murder by Stobaugh. He was convicted and given 25 years in prison. The case is on appeal.  I continue to believe that the case will be reversed for insufficient evidence (something that never happens) and an acquittal entered. It's still the silliest prosecution I've ever heard about and a horrible exercise of judgment by the DA's office.

And you know what? If these remains turn out to be the "victim" of Stobaugh (highly, highly unlikely) with Stobaugh's monogrammed knife, confession, and a gift wrapped vial of his DNA left at the scene, it doesn't matter anymore. The prosecution had one shot. And any evidence found in the future indicating guilt is absolutely irrelevant.

But I bet the news today is totally unrelated.

Lohan Making A Comeback! Wins "Afternoon Pick Me Up" For First Time In Years!

And to think you people wanted to see her in jail over the holidays.

Times Are Tough: Drunk Girl Cries Because She Has No Alcohol For Her Formal

I don't want to be a busybody, but you might want to ratchet back on the liquor. What's the line? "Drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

But two parts of the video jump out at me. First is the wise guy behind her who tells her, "You can borrow some of mine. No. You can buy some of mine."  That's a business major right there. No need to help the needy when you can make an (inflated) buck on some chick whose concept of  "supply and demand" is undoubtedly out of whack at the moment.

The second line, uttered by the girl, almost made me come around and feel sorry for her.  Brown alcohol makes her sick. But, as she put it, "Brown makes my tummy sad."  You almost don't hate her after that. Almost.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Yesterday, the extremely conservative morning talk show host on KLIF was (surprisingly) criticising Rick Perry's anti-gay ad from last week when he opened up the phone lines for callers. The first one started out with, "Perry may say stuff like that but we all know he was down there in South Beach watching The Gays dance and paying for it with public funds." Jeff Bolton, the host, spinelessly did not slap the caller down.
• That looks like a bad head on wreck (pic in Update), but I can't take my eyes off the Batman logo.
• This is the first week of Fantasy Football playoffs, and I may fire my entire coaching staff after going 9-3 and then getting beat last night. But, then again, it's "a process" that we have to "learn from and get better."
• Woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep. It was just me and the sound of The Family Cat playing a game of soccer with Christmas Balls.
• The press was all packed and gathered in a courtroom this morning to hear most of the alleged Sandusky victims (the Penn State Scandal) testify in a preliminary hearing.  Then he waived the hearing. That is telling: He missed a tremendous opportunity to learn of the evidence against him but he gave up that chance to avoid embarrassment. Does he understand the stakes?
• There should be a sexual assault of a child case firing up in the Wise County District Court this morning. I'll check it out. 
• Funny: Tim Tebow Auto Tune Anthem (featuring Skip Bayless.)
• Am I reading this correctly? Bridgeport Middle School and Chico High School students have the option to transfer due to poor performance of the schools as a whole? Someone help me out. 
• Lowe's should be ashamed of itself and boycotted for pulling its ads off "All American Muslim" on TLC simply because a bunch of close-minded folks complained.  I'll never cease to be amazed how so many people fear anything different than themselves.
• I will not mention that Mrs. LL served shrimp last night that were still frozen. 
• I thought I heard on the radio that police in Ponder (do they have police?) were stopping motorist to give out gift cards. This sounds vaguely familiar. And this will happen: Police will discover evidence of a crime after one of those stops and won't be able to use it because the detention was illegal.  Edit: It was Proper, not Ponder. 
• Message to The Family Cat. If every time you climb on the Christmas Tree you get blasted in the face with a water bottle, that means to stay out of the tree. To quote Antoine Dodson, "You are so dumb."
• Maverick fans: Lamar Odom was a Laker last year and took a swing at Dirk and was thrown out of a playoff game. Now he's a Maverick. Throw in that two key Mavericks will play for other teams (Chandler and Barea), you truly are just cheering for the uniform. Makes no sense to me how you can do that. 

Add Another Potentially Big Case

Story.

There's Something Wrong With The Fox News Unemployment Graph This Morning

That 8.6% figure is just a little hard for them to accept.

(Source.)

Wall Street Journal Profiles Texas "Vampire Weekends"

Get this: "And often, lawyers say, defendants faced with blood evidence admit their guilt and don't bother with a trial. 'If it bleeds, it pleads,' said Fort Worth prosecutor Richard Alpert."  

At least the government has a cute phrase for the process of prosecuting someone with blood taken against their will. 

Story.

Monday Morning Pick Me Up

Britney wrapped up her latest tour over the weekend in a strong way in an effort to keep her place among official Liberally Lean girls. Attagirl.

Death and Death

Many years ago, I joined the Tarrant County's DA Office. Being new, I received such fine perks as sharing an office with two other prosecutors. There were two desks. They got them. I got a chair. Yep, a chair. Good times.

But the two prosecutors who I was court partners with were Mitch Poe and Robert "Bob" Ford. Mitch, who was younger than me, was a 100% prosecutor and was expected to be a career man in the office. It turned out that way. He died suddenly about five years ago.

Bob was a civil libertarian who didn't stick around the DA's office very long. He became a defense lawyer and was known to give the most non politically correct quotes to the press. He was also brilliant. But he, like Mitch, died suddenly last week.

It's just a weird feeling. Three guys stuck in a little office. And now only I remain.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Dallas motorcycle death over the weekend.  This one involved an off-duty police officer and, as we see all the time, it happened by wrecking and falling from an overpass.
• If you are a Cowboys fan and an Aggie fan, you've experienced a lifetime of last second collapses this season.
• Did Cowboys defensive cooridinator Rod Ryan swallow another beach ball?
• Heard this morning that when Jerry Jones is shown in his suite, everyone is focusing on his over-reacting grandkid.  He's been named "Spalding" by the Twitterworld in honor of the Caddyshack character. (Here's an image of them.)
• Jones almost opened the roof last night but decided against it due to the threat of rain. It's been opened twice for games in its history -- both night games. Someone has speculated that it will never be opened during the day because the sun and big screen don't mix. I believe that.
• A howling dog ruined any chance of sleep for me last night.
• The Star-Telegram reported on Friday that the EPA planned to designate Wise County as "a nonattainment area for failing to meet federal ozone."  I've yet to see anyone explain what the consequences of that designation are. 
• Joe Paterno broke his pelvis over the weekend. There has been lots of speculation that he continued to coach because he feared his health would deteriorate if he didn't.  He remembers Bear Bryant dying four weeks after announcing his retirement in the early 1980s. 
• I was really "off the grid" this weekend. 
• I woke up one morning to find a long note from Mrs. LL that she was testing a project to protect the Christmas tree from the cat. I then noticed long strips of tape, placed upside down, around the base of the tree. Then the note said it didn't work and, "The cat is in the garage."  I then looked up and saw the cat walk past me toward the tree. That girl ain't right. 
• Conservatives have been attacking the declining unemployment rate claiming "It doesn't include people that have given up looking for work." True, but that's the way it always has been calculated so the number is what the number is.
• The Third Grader In The House has taken up "Cup Stacking" complete with a mat with a built in timer. 
• The Republican contenders all ganged up on Newt during Saturday's debate.  They could be a science project of how they all devour whoever amongst them rises to the top.

Messenger Above The Fold

Heisman. We Haz It.

Robert Griffin III wins the Heisman Trophy.  There are some things I never expected to see in my lifetime. One down.