Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• I got an email from a faithful reader who told me about the guy involved in case out of Denton that is making the news. It's a perfect example of a bright guy who just descended into madness due to mental issues. He was fifth in his high school class and had a scholarship to UNT.  But we'll just simplify the issue, call him "evil", and put him in a cage. 
  
• I think it was about 10 years ago that I wrote that government jobs had become better than private sector jobs. The Drudge Report featured this article yesterday from a conservative web site written by a guy who did some number crunching.
  
• From the latest issue of Texas Highways. (It proclaims Decatur has nine stoplights. That gets tricky because the big intersections on 287 could be considered four, two or just one stoplight. I'm not sure how they got to nine.)
  
• Random Trivia prompted by the news of the newest member of the Royal Family had been named Archie.  The lead singer of the cartoon band The Archies (which had a #1 hit named Sugar, Sugar) sang back up vocals for Barry Manilow on Mandy. 
• Two nights ago, while I had control of the TV remote for my standard 10 minutes a night, I decide to find the Texas House deliberations because I live a full throttle life. The Sophomore in The House saw the oddity on the screen but asked, "What are they debating?" I told her "red light cameras" which immediately got her interest since she was just the victim of one. "The bad part," I said, "is that they hate the guy who is trying to get rid of them." The bill passed, and now I see this headline:
  
• Speaking of the Texas House, last night Democrats all but killed a bill preventing cops from arresting you for Class C offenses (punishable by fine only.) They truly had no idea what they were doing. (Sandra Bland was arrested for a Class C offense.)
• Speaking of Sandra Bland, the NBC affiliate in Austin had her cell phone video 19 months ago and did nothing with it. 
• America.
  
  
• Is this true?
  
• In just 24 hours, (1) AG William Barr was held in contempt by House Judiciary Committee, (2) Trump Jr. was subpoenaed by Republican led Senate Intelligence Committee regarding his prior testimony about his Russian contacts, and (3) Executive Privilege was invoked so even Congress can't see the entire Mueller report.  
• A White Sox Cubs fan was banned indefinitely for being a White Power hand gesture fan. 
  
• Maybe we need to rethink that "We don't want that California mentality in Texas." Perhaps they'll fit right in. 
  
• I've never understood the fascination with Star Wars, but noticed that a marathon was on last weekend. I thought I'd give it a second chance. Nope. And at the end Darth Vadar got in one of those little space ships to try to shoot Luke's craft? Really? That's as dumb as the president getting in a fighter jet in Independence Day. 

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• As the Texas Senate was debating (and then passing) a bill yesterday afternoon which makes it harder for cities and towns to remove Confederate monuments, someone covering the proceedings noted that Jefferson Davis was watching it all from the front of the hall. How is this possible?
  
• We had a rare trade secret verdict in state district court this week in Tarrant County with a Decatur firm involved.   (Very nerdy stuff: I think the defendant's in that case tried to remove the case to federal court. If this is the same case, it actually went to Judge John McBride - eek!-- who sent it back to state court because the petition for removal was not timely filled.)
• The Stars apparently played last night.
  
• A Colorado school shooting leaves one dead (age 18) and eight others injured, and we don't even blink.  
  
• That's a lot of eggs. 
  
• Art of the Con:  He claimed over a billion dollars in losses between 1985 and 1994, and paid no taxes in eight of those years.  He's just a guy born rich, conned people, and doesn't pay taxes. Yep. He represents the rural common man.
  
  
• Even Fox News is covering the story this morning:
  
• From the Sandra Bland video: This is not a good look for any trooper (or any other law enforcement officer.)
  
• Sheriff Joe, who now is a convicted felon with no job and, despite his best efforts, can't get Trump to appoint him to anything, is trying to pick a fight with George Lopez. Lopez is ignoring him. This is a tough one for me. I don't like Sheriff Joe because he is a racist. I can't stand Lopez because he's a bad comedian. 
  
• I just experienced the most awkward moment in the history of legal seminars.  After a presentation on the dry topic of the reporting of domestic violence convictions, the speaker played this this very short PSA to leave the room with an impact. She got her wish. What do you think the room was like when during the pause of the couple of seconds before the ending graphic/message of the PSA pops up, someone in the room busted out laughing? (You've got to see it to understand it, and I encourage you to.)
• Wait a second! Isn't this guy a lawyer who used to comment on stories for Fox 4? (The story refers to him as Desoto PD's public information officer instead of a detective.) Did he walk away from the law business? Or is this an odd side gig? 
  
• I finally got around to reading this  Texas Monthly story, and it's fantastic.
  
  
• Of all the dumb things that Trump says, it boggles the mind that he has absolutely no understanding that a tariff is paid by American citizens as a tax which then goes to the federal government. He just did it again. 
  
• Messenger: Above the Fold
• Stickland called vaccines "sorcery" yesterday . . . .

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Edit: It was called to my attention that a technical error caused a repeat RTG. Heads will roll over this 
• Fort Worth news. (This happened to a kid in Wise County in the Rhome area a few years back. But I don't know why a Google search of "Impaled Rhome Texas" doesn't bring it up.)
  
• "No, despite there being an actual law saying I have to turn of Trump's tax returns, I'm not going to do it because his newly appointed Attorney General, who seems like Trump's really good buddy who doesn't care about things like pesky laws, told me not to."  Is Trump just daring them to impeach him? (That might actually be the plan since he can't be convicted in the Senate, and he loves playing the "victim.")
• 
• Yep.
  
• Another thing if minimum DWI fines become at least $3,000 (see post from yesterday): You'll see trials go through the roof. It suddenly becomes clear that the punishment after the trial isn't really any different than by a plea bargain. 
• Trump gave Tiger Woods the Presidential Medal of Freedom yesterday. He's a golfer. He cheated on his wife with a ton of women. He's abused prescription medication. And he's a punch line for:  "Huge. Quickly." Yet somehow Trump thought he should be honored as a person who has made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."
  
• Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, reported to prison yesterday. This photo makes it look like he's going to a resort in the Hamptons. 
  
• I'd never heard of it. 
  
• A former bartender in Plano was charged with a crime for providing the gun alcohol to a guy who went on to kill eight people in a shooting spree.  I've seen many a Providing Alcohol to a Minor cases but never one under the law for negligently serving an "habitual drunkard or an intoxicated or insane person." The "crime" happens all the time, but no one one is ever charged.
  
• "How the alligator got into her yoga pants I'll never know."
  
• Heard this morning that the Dallas Stars are averaging a 3.3 rating in the DFW market compared to St. Louis where they are pulling in an 11.5 in this playoff hockey series.  By comparison, the Cowboys dismal 2017 season ended with a 6-0 win against Philadelphia where ratings "plummeted" to a 23.6 share. 
• Nothing is a suspicious as the stepfather's story regarding the missing girl in Houston.  This will not end well. 
• There's nothing like going to a legal seminar and eaves-dropping on other people. Some people are brilliant. Others shouldn't have a license. 

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Apparently there was a Starbucks coffee cup which inadvertently made it into a scene from Game of Thrones last night, and everyone is already doing bits.
  
• Texas Tech School of Law has a "therapy room" which "features comfortable chairs and aromatherapy, if for law student use only and be reserved for 30-minute blocks by one person for an hour maximum per day." (At least that's what the new issue of the State Bar Journal told me -- after I got past a spare article about the  "skateboarding lawyer".)  The profession is in such good shape, right? 
  
• I saw someone online whose right wing friends did not appreciate this quality humor yesterday: 
  
• Tex Rep. Drew Springer thought it was a good idea to post a picture of himself with nutcase and banned-by-Facebook Alex Jones of InfoWars on Friday, but then wisely deleted it. (Trump coincidentally posted an Infowars video over the weekend and left it up.)
  
  
• Legal nerd stuff: It has bugged me for years that someone out on bond can have that bond revoked and an arrest warrant issued by the mere allegation by the State without a hearing that he has committed an act to justify that bond violation/inadequacy claim. Finally, at least one DA has asked the Attorney General whether due process requires a hearing be held before a warrant is issued. 
• Someone just anonymously gave Baylor $100 million - the largest gift in school history. 
• This is brutal newspaper news. 161 were laid off. 
  
• I road the Trinity Metro TEXRail in Fort Worth all the way from Fort Worth into Grapevine and into Terminal B of DFW airport. Big thumbs up. (The only complaint if there is absolutely no way to tell which platform you should be on at any given station to catch an eastbound or westbound train.)  That thing is perfect for downtown Grapevine which should boom beyond imagination because of it. 
  
• This is beyond ignorant. The government is "monitoring and watching" what a private company chooses to publish and is implicitly threatening to take action if it doesn't like its content. Yep, there is Freedom of Speech in the country, but that ain't the way it works. He knows less about it than a fifth grader. (If you are an "anti-big government conservative" then this is the exactly the opposite of what you want.)
  
  
• I didn't watch the Kentucky Derby but this is a great photo of the disqualified winner immediately after the race. (And, yes, I know Trump got mad about the race, called it the result of "political correctness" and misspelled Kentucky.)
• 
• But let's not forgot about the greatest Kentucky Derby post of all time by the whatever-happened-to-Sheriff.
  
• More legal nerd stuff: I saw lots of excitement about the Texas House passing a bill to kill the "surcharge fees" driving law.  Yes, that's a good thing but let's tap the brakes. 
• It still has to get through the Senate.
• For you DWI practitioners, there is a huge problem in that it kept the $3,000 surcharge for DWI (and an insane amount of $6,000 if there is a blood alcohol concentration of 0.16 or more.). Oddly and significantly, it now just causes it to be imposed as a "fine" instead of an "administrative fee". (See section 709.001 addition to the Transportation Code in the bill.)  That's a big deal because . . . 
• This is a legal war which will immediately take place: (1) If the fine is not a part of and specifically imposed in the sentence and judgment (which the current surcharge "fee" is not - DPS just collects it after the fact), there's a double jeopardy issue. The only way the surcharge survived the "double penalty" challenge last time was because it was held to be  "administrative fee" and not a fine. (2) If it is part of the judgment and is legally a "fine", can all are part of that fine be "probated" and not imposed? The bill says "shall" be fined but every single penal code provision which has a mandatory minimum fine can have that fine probated -- something that isn't done that often in practice but is absolutely available. 
• I've got to admit, the economic numbers from Friday are incredible. Still, something still seems a little wrong out there.
  
• Messenger: Above the Fold.

It's Friday. Let's Get Out Of Here.

Wife: “What are the scratch marks on your neck?

Husband: Me and the guys went kayaking when out of the blue a seal appeared and slapped me on my neck with an Octopus!!!

Wife: Do you honestly think I'm stupid enough to believe something as ridiculous as that?" pic.twitter.com/yWnOooYxRn

— H U Khan (@Huk06) April 24, 2019

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6 am at my house, our umpteenth visit from this little (getting scarily big) family of 5. pic.twitter.com/aVximHj0h4

— Prosecco & Pups (@ProseccoAndPups) April 28, 2019

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when you try to fix the problem but end up making it worse
pic.twitter.com/C0khXZPEzE

— IG: necation (@Necation) April 27, 2019

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If you don't laugh at 0:45 I'll give you your data back 😂😂😂💀💀 pic.twitter.com/LLyXBkyw7I

— Proxcey (@ItsProxcey) May 1, 2019

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How... 🚤♟🗯 #BlockOrCharge pic.twitter.com/7AE8Re9aHN

— Block or Charge? (@BlockChargeCall) May 2, 2019

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Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Boyd resident Peter "Chewbaca" Mayhew has died. An intrepid Messenger reporter tried to get an interview with him once but was unsuccessful.  Also, I never heard about him being seen out in the wild in Wise County save once or twice.
• No injuries yesterday in Garland (but a heck of a camera shot.) 
  
• The Houston couple with no criminal history who were killed by police during a raid of their home based upon a false allegation they were heroin dealers also did not not have heroin in their system. 
• Grand Praire police killed a man last night. (At least put "allegedly" before "showed" next time. #IAmReporter)
  
• Rare baseball feat yesterday: A pitcher threw a complete game shutout and scored the only run via a home run as the Mets beat the Reds, 1-0.  People stupidly get excited about things like a guy "hitting for the cycle", but this is crazily bizarre and impressive -- as well as the hair. 
  
• I just saw an old Wise County Sheriff's Office t-shirt this morning: "In God We Trust. All Others Are Suspects."
• In an unusual move, a "federal judge in Sherman on Thursday granted a new trial for the former mayor of Richardson and her developer husband [convicted of bribery]  due to a court security officer's inappropriate comments to a distraught juror." I'm trying to read between the lines here so here we go:
• It looks like there was one holdout juror who the judge actually met in chambers with during deliberations with the agreement of the parties (that's odd in its own right). The judge told her to "stay firm to [her] convictions" which is also odd since it basically tells her to quite listening to the other jurors. But that's not what this is about. 
• This is about a "court official", who the judge wouldn't even name, speaking with the the juror a short time later when he saw her "in tears." He told her "to put her emotions aside, not worry about the sentences the Jordans might face, and decide the case solely on whether she believed they were guilty or not." The juror then told the officer she would cast her vote "with reservation", but the officer told her she "could not vote that way" meaning voting "with reservation." 
• Casting a vote "with reservation" meant she was casting a guilty vote with reservation, because she quickly voted to convict. 
• The judge yesterday set the verdict aside blaming the court official and stressing that the juror shouldn't have been informed she could convict based upon what "she believed" about their guilt but instead her verdict should have been on what she "believed beyond a reasonable doubt" about their guilt based upon the law and the evidence. 
• That's pretty nit-picky. Sure the officer shouldn't have said anything to the juror, but that communication probably didn't deserve a new trial. If anything, there's a great argument that the communication actually helped the defendants. By telling her she couldn't vote "with reservation" actually improperly defines what a "reasonable doubt" is. That is, telling a juror she couldn't vote "with reservation" is a different way of saying she couldn't have any reservation about the defendants' guilt. That's not what the law says. She actually could have a "reservation" or a "doubt" about their guilt so long as it's not a reasonable reservation or doubt. However, every defense lawyer would love for a court official to tell a juror that she could not vote for guilt if she had any reservation and every prosecutor would go nuts if he heard it happened. Here the court official, if anything, probably helped the defendants almost get a hung jury but without success.
• My guess: The judge either thought the couple shouldn't have been convicted or believed there was no way that juror was going to vote for guilty based upon her representations once she spoke with him and caved when she shouldn't have.
• Why do simple bullet points like the one above turn into a treatise? Here's why: I know smart criminal defense lawyers and prosecutors read this silly blog, and I can just see them dissecting anything I give a legal opinion about in the criminal arena. So once I try to explain what I'm saying, I end up explaining myself in detail because I'm writing with them in mind. (But someone will still tell me I'm wrong.)
• Eighteen hours after saying he's "all in", Trump's nominee for the Federal Reserve Board, Stephen Moore, has withdrawn from consideration. Along with Herman Cain, that's two nominations in a row for the Fed that didn't get out of the starting gate because of a controversial pasts. #BestPeople
• This probably should have been the ending newspaper shot yesterday.
  
• I said good things about the Democrats handling of AG William Barr no-showing yesterday, but the chicken prop was stupid. 
  
• I still despise psuedo-intellectual Dennis Prager, but I still tune in every now and then as he tries to bluff people into believing he is some modern day philosopher. If there is any doubt that he is a right wing scam artist, look no further than the fact he is the spokesman for this "collector's item" that you can have for a "limited time only" for $239!!! "THIS OFFICIALLY APPROVED COIN IS MINTED AND STRUCK IN THE UNITED STATES AND WILL BECOME A VALUABLE HEIRLOOM." Approved by whom? What's "officially approved" mean? And that's "minted" in the U.S., not printed by the "U.S. Mint", and it will become a "valuable heirloom" as opposed to "valuable."
  
• There's "big water" around the county. Be careful. Remember: "Turn around unless you think you can make it."