Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

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•  Ahmaud Arbery update:
• In Georgia criminal trials, apparently the judge reads the "Court's Charge" to the jury after closing arguments. That makes absolutely no sense. 
• A loyal reader, while agreeing that the defense lawyer's argument that Arbery had "long, dirty toenails" was over the line, pointed out that the autopsy report was the factual basis for the comment.  I've found news reports that say the autopsy photos showed long and dirty toenails, but I haven't found the actual autopsy report which used those exact words. 
• I'm going out on a limb, but I bet we have a verdict today. The jury will want to get this thing over with before Thanksgiving.  And I'll think the jury will send the three men home before the holidays.
• Add this to my decades old rant that medical examiners are always giving opinions that they absolutely cannot justify. If an ME wants to say Brian Laundrie died "due to a metal projectile penetrating the left occipital aspect of the skull" then knock yourself out. But to say it is suicide is nothing but a wild guess.  (Side note: Where's the gun?)
  
  
  
• There seems to be a ton of crime committed by juveniles in the metroplex of late. This one which happened on Saturday afternoon is particularly disturbing.  He burglarized the place and then came back. 
  
  
  
• A Tarrant County DA candidate was hanging out yesterday with former Bridgeport resident and Wise County Sheriff's Office deputy and current Lake Worth Police Chief J.T. Manoushagian:
  
  
  
• Another former Bridgeport resident, a lawyer who I've often said that I wanted her press agent, appears to be heavily involved in this verdict:
  
  
  
• But some verdicts can be hard to hang onto: 
  
  
  
• This is a very recent photo of the new Tesla plant going up in Austin.  Look at how small the cars are to give you some idea how big that thing is. 
  
  
  
• BagOfNothing put up a new post the other day. That's a tough year. 
• I forgot to mention yesterday that we have new footage of the the Trump Insurrection. How all these people aren't hammered by the Justice Department for trying to overthrow the U.S. is a mystery to me. 
  
  
  
• Oh, good lord. 
  
  
  
• I mentioned Abraham Zapruder yesterday and should have included this great photo. I've got him circled in red standing on that concrete thingy. He can barely be seen in black, but there's also a person standing beside him who is taller and wearing tan. That would his 23 year old receptionist Marilyn Sitzman. 
  

  

  
  
  
  
• The stock market is booming but look at the last 12 month performance of two particular stocks which benefited greatly from the COVID lockdown. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Legal nerdy stuff: Yesterday a lawsuit was filed challenging all of the new lines drawn for Texas state representatives and senate districts. Man, this seems real simple and really clear: Lines can only be drawn at Regular Session -- that's in the Texas Constitution. But because of COVID, the Census was delayed this time causing the legislature to have to redraw the lines in a Special Session. Jut look at the opening of the lawsuit below. (Lawsuit pdf here.)
  
  
  
• Fun time waste. It should enlarge if you click it, but here's an alternative link if that doesn't work. I even had to Google a couple of things at the bottom of the chart which were true. 
  
  
  
• You wonder how people can believe stuff like that?  This video making the rounds yesterday doesn't help answer the question. It's amazing and amazingly entertaining. (And it's from the Jim Bakker Show -- the guy who was married to Tammy Faye.) 
  
  
  
• Hey, Baylor fans, look what I did with 538's playoff generator. And, call me crazy, that's not that crazy at all. (Although I'm not sure I understand how a two-loss Baylor gets in over one-loss Notre Dame or even a two-loss Alabama, but I'm guessing the number crunchers would put great value on the wins over BYU, OU, and Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship. Alabama and Notre Dame don't get close to that. Heck even Georgia's best win right now is over #23 Clemson.): 
  
  
  
• Messenger: Above the Fold

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

I first found that very simple page on the Internet about 20 years ago, and it is still up. Side note: One thing I've always thought was amazing was that WFAA had Abraham Zapruder on the air within two hours of the assassination. His film had not yet been developed, and the interview was very, very brief.

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• Ahmaud Arbery trial thoughts: 
• The female prosecutor. Linda Dunikoski, isn't very good.  And she has an awful habit of, when reading a complicated definition from the court's charge, stopping and saying, "Don't you just love lawyers?" That inadvertent revealing of her belief of self-superiority (something she doesn't even realize she is doing) will not serve her well.  Don't call yourself a lawyer, call yourself a prosecutor! And in front of a jury she needs to distance herself from lawyers -- that she chose a different job: To represent the people.  
  
  
  
• She also messed up an old idiom yesterday when she said to the jury, "Have you ever heard the old saying that you don't bring a gun to a knife fight?"  She didn't misspeak. She really thinks that's the way it is worded. It's actually "you don't bring a knife to a gunfight." 
• And when the judge asked her late yesterday how much time she needed to finish her closing argument this morning, she told him, "I'll need two hours because I've got a lot to say." Trust me, you don't need two hours. Less is more. And you better strike gold in the first 20 minutes because after that the jury will tune you out. 
• The female lawyer for Greg McMichael's  basically hasn't said anything all trial long but surprisingly delivered his closing argument. She did a fantastic job -- at least until she said, "Turning Ahmaud Arbery into a victim after the choices that he made does not reflect the reality of what brought Ahmaud Arbery to Satilla Shores in his khaki shorts with no socks to cover his long, dirty toenails." (Video.)  Say what? I've been trying to figure out if there could be some context that I'm missing, but there's not. I don't get it. 
  
  
  
• This guy is only a tiny fraction as smart as he thinks he is. I think his client will walk despite of him.   
  
  
  
• All the defense lawyers were smart enough to not call the defendants "my client" but instead referred to them by their first names. It humanizes the defendants. And you don't want to remind a jury that you are paid to stand in front of them. That's what you are doing when you say "my client."  
• It's always a dicey proposition to predict a jury outcome, but I still think we've got lots of not guilty verdicts coming. 
• Sherry Lemon announcing she is not running again for Wise County Clerk is a big deal. She's held it since 1991.
• Does the Wise County Republican Party not keep active web site of those who have filed for election? That's badly needed. 
• We've got another candidate for Tarrant County D.A. who will run as a Republican.  If I'm tracking this correctly, add him to the list that includes Phil Sorrells and Mollie Westfall. 
  
  
  
• Yesterday evening, the dumbest man in East Texas announced that he is going after Ken Paxton's job. He decided to first reveal it on Newsmax which might be QAnon's favorite channel.  Edit: DA candidate Krause from the above bullet point has endorsed Gohmert for AG which tells you everything you need to know about Krause. 
  
  
  
• Speaking of, they were out in force at Dealey Plaza for the anniversary of  11/22/63. There are eight Trump signs in this photo. 
  
  
  
• I've always had lots of questions about the government's "strategic oil reserve."
  
  
  
• Something happened west of Lake Bridgeport yesterday afternoon. (That's all I got on it.) 
  
  
  
• Nerdy legal stuff outside of my area: I saw this story which made absolutely no sense to me. "In their lawsuit, the families accused the FBI of negligence. They say the bureau received tips about Cruz, including his amassing of weapons and his desire to shoot up a school, but agents failed to intervene and prevent the violence." 
• So you can sue the federal government for failing to protect you from crime?
• I found this thread on Twitter last night which was started by a legal scholar trying to understand it as well. Some people believe, and I'll buy into this conspiracy theory, that sometimes the government hands out free money in civil suits when they have no legal reason to depending on the politics of the subject. 
  
  
  
• Here's the new marker in downtown Dallas which I referenced last week. That's a wild bit of history (which wasn't all that long ago in the grand scheme of things.) Click to enlarge. 
  
  
  
• 48 Hours has a new show on DNA genealogy being used to solve crimes. It has a good title.  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• A guy showed up at the Wise County Courthouse Annex* yesterday reeking of weed. But he was in a very good mood. (*not official name.)

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

"A fight at Bridgeport High School today sent one student to the hospital and at least one more to the police station for questioning. Two 16-year-old males got into a physical altercation in a campus bathroom shortly before 3 p.m. Medics arrived to find one of the boys unconscious and bleeding from the mouth."  

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• Horrible incident #1: 5 dead and 40 injured in Wisconsin as a car runs through a parade route.  If you haven't seen the video, here it is. (Disturbing warning.)
  
  
  
• This morning we learned that among the dead were members of the "Milwaukee Dancing Grannies."
  
  
  
• Horrible incident #2: An Andrew ISD school bus carrying band members to Friday's playoff came with Springtown was hit by a car going the wrong way. Three were killed -- the bus driver, the band director for Andrews, and the wrong way driver. The game was rescheduled for today. 
  
  
  
• This happened yesterday but this is very little info about it other than the cops were chasing alleged car burglars. One report says the crash happened "between Austin Street and First Baptist Church . . . around 5:30 a.m. Sunday."
  
  
  
• All of the above is a heck of way to start of Thanksgiving week, isn't it?
• Kyle Rittenhouse:
• I told you that a not guilty verdict was likely, and it happened.  If you haven't seen the footage of the verdict being read, which is pretty dramatic, here is it is.  
  
  
   
• But in the aftermath I basically had to stop reading social media about it.  An acquittal in a criminal trial does not equate to vindication. Oh, and Greg Abbott continues to morph into Trump.
  
  
  
• I'm not sure that going on Tucker Carlson's show, of all people, is the best way to sell this:
  
  
  
• Ahmaud Arbery trial: The jury will get the case against three Georgia men today. (Live right now.) I wouldn't be surprised at all if there are three not guilty verdicts at the end of it as well (despite the ineptitude of the defense lawyers.) Heck, I'll bet it's almost a guarantee in the cases against the two non-shooters.  And if the defense lawyer for Travis McMichael, the actual shooter, would focus on closing arguments just on the seconds before the fatal shot was fired, he might just win it, too. 
  
  
  
• The Dallas serial killer trial has kind of been flying under radar but it ended in a mistrial after a hung jury late Friday. There was one lone holdout who was never going to convict regardless of the evidence. It's time like that when prosecutors can't say in interviews what they are actually thinking. 
  

  

  
  
• The Tiger King must not be doing well. 
  
  
  
• Lookout! Crazy Louie has an announcement coming today.
  
  
  
• Look what you see when you stack this year's Texas Monthly issues on top of one another.
  
  
  
• 58 years ago right now:
  
  
  
• And another case solved by genealogical DNA. "A small piece of one of her bones enabled investigators to identify her family tree, including her late grandparents and, eventually, her late parents." This is happening weekly now.
  
  
  
• Everyone can now officially tap the brakes on the Cowboys waltzing into the playoffs with a bye week. (Side note: I absolutely thought Zeke snapped a bone when that play happened.)
  
  
  
  
  
• Decatur winning the state championship in volleyball for the fifth time on Saturday (three out of the last four years) is pretty amazing. Once they make it to the Final Four, they've never lost going 10-0 in state tournaments. 
  
  
  
• Baylor can get to ten wins on Saturday. It would be the sixth ten-win season in the last 11 years under three different head coaches.