The Circle Of Life: Peace Doves Attacked By Other Birds

The carnage.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I saw the Wolf of Wall Street over the weekend.. Observations: (1) It was full throttle but too long, (2) Leonardo DiCaprio, when he wears sunglasses, looks like Jack Nicholson at times, (3) Margot Robbie is a smoking "Hey, Now", and (4) It's kind of fun and tense to sit by strangers when an uncomfortable scene is shown. 
• Ticket fans: The Wise County Spelling Bee (from the archives.)  
• I had been waiting for the decision in the Denton "No Body" case for months, and I'm sure I was the first one to "report" it on Friday. I even got a shout out from the Dallas Observer. 
• Sports: (1) I still haven't watched a second of a Mavs' game, (2) The Evil Empire figured out that Baylor may have the worst defense in the country, (3) Tiger Woods might be done. (4) A grey bearded Deion Sanders makes me feel old, and (5) Listening to Ticketstock over the weekend made me realize how great it was when The Hammer was a part of the Hardline. 
• Grammy observations: (1) I'm big fan of Pink because she works so hard. I'm not a fan of the slacker. (2) And another Getting Old thought: I wanted to hear Chicago without Robin Thicke, (3) Funny Taylor Swift reaction. 
• Wrong way driver in Dallas last night. 
• Brett Shipp has a new investigative report about an SMU basketball player who had a grade changed during his senior year in high school. That's news?
• I hate it when a reporter asks/tweets "What question would you like me to ask [insert name]?" Hey, you're the reporter -- you figure it out.
• Something I plan on reading: "Tony Dorsett Is Losing His Mind. Unexplained fits of rage. Forgetting where he was yesterday. A Dallas Cowboys great begins to discover the price of football." I loved Dorsett.
• I was wrong: There was a judge with the enough courage to order life support withdrawn from the Munoz woman. And I'm surprised that JPS didn't fight further.  I'm glad they didn't.
• I was a little surprised at the Josh Brent verdict. As I wrote, I thought he would get somewhere between 2 and 10 years. That being said, there's no reason to "change the law" as some nutcases are already clamoring for.  (And I think its a fascinating question as to whether Josh Brent will be a Cowboy this Fall.)
• "The Statue of Liberty's face before it was installed - 1886."

Above The Fold

And Another - Pennsylvania - 33 - Married

Fair to quite fair.

Story.

The Dallas Stars Did Comedy Vs. Toronto Last Night

And a shot of their wheels off mayor:

Verdict

Josh Brent gets 10 years but it's suspended and he gets probation for the full amount.
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) January 24, 2014

 He also received 180 days in jail as a condition of probation. 120 days was mandatory with the judge having discretion to go up to 180.

Breaking News: I'm A Legal Genius

Remember how I used to rant about the prosecution of the No Body Denton Murder case? Well, the case was just reversed on appeal for insufficient evidence.

From the archives:

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Patsy Ewing Chance, who was in the Update obits yesterday, is Greg "The Hammer" Williams' mom.
• Colton Moore, the 18 year old who allegedly killed the Garland 7-11 clerk, posted on Fox 4's Facebook page about the shooting before his arrest. 
• Last night, Colton Moore of Krum won a gold medal in the X-games one year after his brother was killed competing in the same event. 
• Yep, same name. 
• I watched the documentary The Imposter last night (on CNN of all places.) It's "the story of a Frenchman who impersonated a Texas child, Nicholas Barclay, who went missing in 1994" and it's fantastic. 
• The Family Cat has now decided to spend the majority of her days and nights on the stop stair of the staircase. Weirdest thing ever. 
• Greg Abbott was on Megyn Kelly's show last night and she accused him of dodging a question when he wouldn't directly answer whether he "stood by" an earlier press release where he had said if you can't trust Wendy Davis to tell her life story correctly then "how can you trust her to lead?" Why he didn't just say "Yes, I stand by it" is beyond me. 
• I hate this time of year. 
• Saw lots of people throwing down some righteous indignation online yesterday by proclaiming that Justin Bieber was not "drag racing" because that's an organized sport but was instead "street racing." Ummkay. 
• "AUSTIN (AP) — The Houston-based Mulva Foundation is making a $60 million pledge to the business and engineering schools at the University of Texas."  I just had a Seinfeld flashback. 
• Today is the 20th Anniversary of The Ticket and they'll celebrate with their annual Ticketstock convention this weekend. Wild Guess: The Hardline's Mike Rhyner announces his retirement.
• A college goalie gave up a 200' goal because he was off to the side chit chatting with some fans/friends. Video.
• There was just the craziest noise on the Decatur square and then the power went out. 

Decatur Meat Special

(Via Facebook)

Make That "Texas Prosecutor"

Story.

Josh Brent Trial Update

Dr. Michael Noyes director of adult probation testified there are 34 people on probation now in Dallas Co. for intoxication manslaughter.
— Rebecca Lopez (@rlopezwfaa) January 23, 2014

I was first curious as to how this was even admissible. I mean, what is the relevance of what happened to other people in other cases?

But the defense angle, I believe, is that the probation department has a specialized program of treatment for Intoxication Manslaughter cases. How effective that program is would certainly depend on the number of people undergoing that treatment. If the number is one, a second person would certainly get specialized treatment. If there were 2,000, not so much.  Bottom line: The number is relevant.

Practically speaking, a juror can now argue in the jury room that 34 other people have received probation so why shouldn't Josh Brent.

And from earlier . . .

The Josh Brent jury is made up of mostly minority jurors. The first witness in sentencing is a trooper from Illinois.
— Rebecca Lopez (@rlopezwfaa) January 23, 2014

OK, I'll Think About It A Second Time

Link.

Introducing The USA's Official Winter Olympics Outfit

So ugly it might start up the Cold War again. 

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• The prior DWI is really going to hurt Josh Brent during the punishment phase of his Intoxication Manslaughter case. I'd guess a 20% chance of probation, a 60% chance of a sentence in the 2 to 10 year range, and a 20% chance of 11 to 20 years. (But if you've ever tried to predict jury sentencing, you know there's nothing more unpredictable.)
• You'll hear "probation" and "parole" used interchangeably today. That's wrong. Probation is what you receive instead of prison. Parole is what you are on when you go to prison and are released early. 
• Because the jury in Brent's case found he used a "deadly weapon", he will have to serve at least one-half of any prison sentence before being eligible for parole. (There's an obscure provision in Texas law that actually says he will have to serve a minimum of two years even if sentenced to two or three years, but you won't hear about that.)
• "Fox News' Sean Hannity to attend State of the Union with Rep. Gohmert, may run for office in Texas." Gohmert's a nutcase so it's understandable that Hannity is attracted to him. Edit: Source.
• The Captain & Tennille are divorcing after 39 years of marriage. Why? If you can survive performing Muskrat Love all that time, can't you handle each other? (And I had forgotten that their first hit is now the ironically titled Love Will Keep Us Together.)
• My family had Captain & Tennille's first album on eight track and my mom's new car was one of the first one's to have an eight track tape player in it. I'm forever mentally scarred by how much I was forced to listen to that album as a kid. 
• Yesterday we had a motorcycle death in Benbrook and a wrong way driver in Dallas. It had been a while. 
• If there is ever a case that shatters stereotypes, the arrest of eighteen year old, clean cut, and very white Colten Jon Moore in the murder of the Garland 7-11 clerk from Ethiopia is certainly going to do it. That was one cold-hearted killing. 
• There's a hearing tomorrow in Fort Worth on whether Marlise Muñoz, brain dead and pregnant, can be taken off life support. I'm guessing the district judge, first appointed by Gov. Perry to fill a vacancy, won't do it. And I can't see an expedited appeal to the Fort Worth Court of Appeals changing anything.  The wording of the applicable law will probably play a very small role in everyone's decision. 
• Justin Bieber was arrested at 4:00 a.m. last night for drag racing (in a rented Lamborghini) and DUI in Miami. And that's the most I'll think about it for the rest of the year. 

New Footage Of Aspen Plane Crash From A Couple Of Weeks Back

I'm not sure how everyone didn't die.

Link.

Random NFL Notes That Have Nothing To Do With Xs and 0s

First the site of the Super Bowl:

Here’s what the home of Super Bowl XLVIII looked like yesterday. More photos: http://t.co/u87OJlzLMJ pic.twitter.com/dGM9Pd32MF
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 22, 2014

And news and notes about the not-for-profit (!!!!!) NFL:

Does This "Breaking News" Involve The Police or The Military?

Answer.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• I'm really surprised there wasn't a verdict in the Josh Brent case yesterday. (And I swear I dreamed I was on that jury last night -- In it, I fell asleep in the jury room during deliberations only to awake to find my 11 fellow jurors all gone.)
• I received a few comments yesterday that a young man in Bridgeport had died from the flu. If that's true, that brings the county's number up to two deaths, but I'm not sure we have anyone who officially makes such a report. 
• Mark Davis lambasted Wendy Davis yesterday for not staying with her husband because they had children together.  He doesn't come to that argument with clean hands, does he?
• A huge outlet mall is coming to north Fort Worth. I'm not sure I've ever been in an outlet mall.
• The much troubled Prime Prep Academy received about $600,000 in "federal start-up grants" and now over 100 computers are missing.
• A Houston area "And Another" has received a year in jail.
• Those who traveled to Austin yesterday, including a handfull from Wise County, in order to have the Texas Railroad Commission "stop the operation of injection wells temporarily to see if the earthquakes stop" don't know the Texas Railroad Commission. 
• Ricky Gervais in 1983 looked like he could be a member of the Backstreet Boys.
• Attorney General candidate Barry Smitherman has been calling himself the only one in the race who is a "proven prosecutor." That caused someone to research the claim and discovered he was with a D.A.s office for only 15 months and had only 20 jury trials -- losing nine of them.
• And David Dewhurst, not thinking about whether teachers vote, said during a debate on Monday that they are paid a "very fair salary".
• "I'm a little skeptical of those Wendy Davis ads where she boasts of going to community college and then, with the 'help' of some scholarships, she went on to TCU and Harvard Law School." - Me on October 11, 2012. 
• Sean Hannity had a "round table" discussion last night after the First Lady made positive comments about Jane Fonda. One graphic on the screen read, "Hanoi Jane."  Good grief. That was 42 years ago. 
• A federal appellate court has ruled that someone can't be removed from a jury panel by a lawyer solely because the potential juror is gay.  (The same rule has applied based upon race or sex for years.)
• Uncle Nate (the Johnny Football hanger-on) is selling a Rolex via twitter? Later on he said he had been "moving watches" as a "hobby" for about three years. 
• The propeller fell off a single engine plane yesterday afternoon and the pilot was still able to land it near Weatherford.
• Steve Stockman, the Tea Party "challenger" (and I use that term very loosely) to Sen. John Cornyn. is basically missing in action (at least when he's not unveiling a website with a photoshopped Cornyn shaking hands with the President.)
• Great PR stunt announced yesterday: Warren Buffett offers $1 billion for anyone who can pick every game in this year's March Madness tournament. (The odds are astronomical at 9,200,000,000,000,000,000 to 1.) But, wait. It's actually Quicken which is offering the money. No, wait. Buffett is acting as an insurance company for Quiken in case someone wins the prize.  Source.
• Texas beat K-State last night on a crazy three pointer at the buzzer, but the reaction of shooter/junior forward Jonathan Holmes really oozes "I'm too cool to celebrate".  That is what Charlie Strong wants to exorcise from the football program.