Chris Kyle was killed 10 years ago. One thing that has always stuck with me was this story trying to confirm his claim he killed two would-be carjackers at a gas station station "right off highway 67" south of the metroplex.
- Quick hits on the Chinese balloon shoot-down:
- So we've had four prior Chinese balloons fly over us, three during Trump's administration and one other one during Biden's. And one went over Texas. From Fox News:
- Anyone got a cheaper way of bringing down a balloon other than using a $400,000 sidewinder missile?
- If you want to blame someone for all of this, I nominate Space Force.
- Here's the most redneck live commentary ever of two guys videoing the shootdown. Extreme language warning.
- It's also distinctly America to obsess over a balloon all weekend, and not even to be aware that unemployment hit a 50 year low on Friday.
- There's always rumors of legalized gambling coming to Texas, but the rumblings seem a little stronger this time. Pete Geren's bill would put seven casinos in Texas with two of them in DFW.
- Ever since that icy multi-car pileup on the freeway in Fort Worth, those in charge have been quick to shut down all the NTTA toll roads during bad weather. And they don't open them back up very quickly either. I'm certain they didn't re-open until Saturday.
- Over the weekend at Austin's airport, a landing FedEx plane almost landed on top a departing Southwest jet. Animation here.
- The man Dick Cheney shot in the face in 2006 has died.
- Barely makes the news here: Back to back earthquakes overnight has killed at least 1,900 in Turkey.
- Weird: A county constable* in Eagle Pass in missing. Her auto was found in a parking lot of an apartment complex (not hers) covered in a tarp. (*I've seen her referred to as "constable", "deputy constable" and "former deputy constable.")
- Best moment for the defense in the Alex Murdaugh trial was on Friday when the State's firearm "expert" said he was "100% certain" that spent and ejected shell casings were fired from the same gun. Buddy, your messing with junk science to start with, and there's no way you are "100% certain" about your opinion. And shame on the State for sponsoring him as a witness. The question actually came from the defense lawyer who didn't expect him to say that. Video.
- I'm not sure I understand Harry Styles. From the Grammy's last night:
- The Star-Telegram had a story over the weekend of how 16 homes in one neighborhood were purchased by one investment company and then bundled up to be sold as a package to other would-be investors.
- This is a wild story. He was still in jail as of Friday on charges he robbed a Credit Union in Tulsa in December.
- More firearm legal news on the heels of the 5th Circuit holding unconstitutional a law banning firearm possession by someone subjected to a domestic abuse protective order:
- On Wednesday, the 5th Circuit will hear arguments on whether a federal law banning firearm possession who is under state criminal indictment, but not convicted, is constitutional. Prediction: It doesn't stand a snowball's chance.
- On Friday, an Oklahoma federal judge struck down on Second Amendment grounds a federal law banning firearm possession "by users of substances made unlawful by the federal Controlled Substances Act", including marijuana. (Honestly, I had never even heard of that one.)
- Side note: These federal laws are rarely enforced.
- So Mark Cuban bet the farm by trading for a guy who believes the Earth is flat and was suspended earlier this year for anti-Jewish comments and then refused to apolozize?
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It opened the next year with the hiring of 3,000. And in 2016, it expanded with a second center next door that added 1,000 more positions.
- Delkus warned us last night about this. I'm not sure it happened, but the roads are much worse than I expected.
- Our ice storm was very weird. But Austin got a brief rain storm that hit at the worst possible time to create ice. These types of photos were everywhere. That's kind of what I expected to happen here.
- And Fox 4 has been showing the footage of this worker down there on a loop. It's driving me crazy that he's not wearing gloves as he chainsaws limbs and removes them.
- China launched a spy balloon over us? Anyone else think this is an extremely little low-tech way to spy?
- Yesterday, the Republican majority booted Rep. Ilhan Omar off of the Foreign Affairs Committee because either (1) she made anti-American statements, or (2) she's a Muslim and the vote was the result of the deal that Kevin McCarthy made with the right-wing crazies in order to become Speaker. Anyway, there were some notable sideshows:
- Serial liar George Santos thinks AOC was being inauthentic in her passionate support of Rep. Omar.
- American flag lapel pins somehow got replaced with AR-15 pens.
- Kevin McCarthy, speaking to the press after the vote, fielded a question and gave an answer that the the MAGA Insurrectionists won't like.
- This seems to be a under-the-radar development which seems significant.
- The 5th Circuit yesterday struck down a federal law that prevents a person from possessing firearms if the are subject to a protective order issued because of a domestic violence allegation. More and more cases are jumping on a Supreme Court case from last term and striking down any gun regulation laws. Opinion here. The Attorney General immediately issued a statement promising an appeal.
- Legal nerdy background: If someone gets accused of domestic violence in Texas, they can apply to the local DA or CA to apply to a judge for a protective order. The order can be issued immediately based upon only an affidavit. After that, the person subject to the order is entitled to hearing before it can remain in effect. After the hearing, the order can stay in place for up to two years. Notice that (1) this order is not permanent. and (2) it is a civil proceeding and not a criminal one. And it is certainly not a permanent criminal conviction.
- One thing which is sometimes done, is that a person agrees to the Order. That's what the defendant had done in that case in Tarrant County. The he got hit with a federal crime by possessing a gun while the protective order was still valid.
- Extremely legal nerdy point: There's a way to agree to the protective order but still have the court not make the normally required finding that family violence had occurred or will occur. See Family Code §85.005. I don't think that such an agreed order would trigger the federal firearms prohibition -- although that is a moot point if the 5th Circuit decision stands.
- In Ohio, "aggravated menacing" apparently means pointing a gun at someone. Honestly, I don't know how the former OU star ever survived the shocking video of him slugging the girl in a bar in Norman while he was in college.
- Kind of weird. Theater students at the University of Houston were rehearsing a "violent scene" outdoors when an officer saw them and mistakenly drew down on them. So then the Administration decided that the theater students should wear neon vests so they won't be accidentally shot.
- Legal nerdy stuff: The defense lawyer defending South Carolina Alex Murdaugh made a mistake all criminal defense lawyers fear when he either "opened the door" to what would have been inadmissible financial crimes and/or failed to properly object to it. Stay with me here.
- He asked a state's witness, who otherwise didn't add all that much, “Can you think of any circumstance that you can envision, knowing them as you do, where Alex would brutally murder Paul and Maggie?” He answered, "No."
- The defense lawyer was probably feeling pretty good at that point. However, on re-direct, the prosecutor asked the witness, “Did you know anything about him being confronted on the morning of June 7, 2021, about $792,000 of missing fees from his law firm?”
- Hey, that's normally a question that is off limits. If he stole money from his law firm, that's an inadmissible extraneous crime in a murder case. But if the confrontation about the theft was a "circumstance . . . where" the murder could be "envisioned", it's fair game because of the defense lawyer's prior question. That's called "opening the door" to normally inadmissible evidence.
- I'm don't 100% follow how the confrontation was a "circumstance" that would lead to murder which necessarily "opened the door", but it doesn't really matter now because . . .
- The defense lawyer then screwed up again. He objected, but the objection was that the prosecutor's question was "totally inappropriate." That may be true, but that's not the right objection. He needed to say something about Rule 404 which makes such extraneous evidence inadmissible. If you don't make the right objection, you waive any error. That's what the judge tells him the next day outside the presence of the jury. Side note: The judge didn't need to say so much.
- And then, to add insult to injury, the defense attorney gets wronged by the press! Look how this headline is misleading. It makes it sound like the defense lawyer, himself, acted inappropriately. And "scold" is an unfair word.
- Being able to watch that trial live and then instantly read articles about evidence and procedure was unheard of when I was in law school. It would be invaluable today (if you had the time to watch it -- which I didn't.) But speaking of law school, I had a wild flashback last night when someone posted the following. That's the bathroom of the old Baylor law school. It looks exactly the same today.
- Breaking Big 12 News. OU and UT are stuck for two more years:
- You guessed it: "Then in 2022, officials said they partnered with the DNA company Othram to look into the woman’s family history and shared their findings with the FBI for 'genealogical research.”'
- Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office, despite having a full male DNA profile, has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 3 years, 213 days.
- Messenger: Above the Fold. (They were delayed yesterday due to the weather.)
I was curious if he was still in prison and, yes, he still is. But not for that! He actually paroled out and picked up yet another drug offense in Clay County last year. Sheesh, buddy.
- Weather quick hits:
- I think the roads will be OK tomorrow. Heck, they'll probably be fine this afternoon. Wise County will have 12 hours above freezing (11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.)
- Evaporation > "Freezing back over."
- This storm pretty much panned out as predicted, but it sure wasn't much to look at while it was happening.
- Pete Delkus seems to be a guy who "pretends to be a jerk" who is probably really a jerk.
- Here's the video. It looks like a typical stupid brawl. The story just says the 60 year old was "taken by ambulance" to the hospital where he was "pronounced dead."
- I don't understand why Abbott is going so hard on school vouchers. He's never had much an interest in them in the past, and now he seems hell bent on hurting public schools and teachers. And if you needed any confirmation that school vouchers are just a way for the government to fund certain religions, look at where he gave this speech: Annapolis Christian Academy in Corpus Christi.
- Random stuff found while cooped up: I think this is an example of fantastic writing. It's just a short article in the New Yorker, and it had me sucked in about a subject I really didn't care about. This guy is really good. And I'm jealous.
- We've got a monkey theft epidemic.
- I was curious who was behind those giant warehouses going up at 287 and I-35 on the right as you head into Fort Worth. They are finishing up three and are going to build four more for a total of 880,000 square feet. Have I ever mentioned people are getting rich investing in those things? Two of the uncompleted buildings are already "fully leased to four tenants."
- There's 100% chance she would have been part of the Klan back in the day.
- Hot Sports Opinion: I think Deion Sanders will fail hugely at Colorado.
- Cowboys quick hits:
- Jerry was sporting some deer-chic attire yesterday.
- Zeke note:
- I really don't care that Tom Brady retired again, but I still can't get over that he gets to walk into this deal which has been waiting on him since last year:
- Messenger: Above the Fold? I don't see one online. The new schedule was supposed to have it "on newsstands and in your mailboxes each Thursday starting in February."
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