Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

The Rhome Chief of Police had had enough.

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•  It's Jacksboro! Gift link. 
  
  
  
• There was a bar stabbing last night with multiple victims. Not only was the bar named "Good Vibes" but it was also "music bingo night."
  
  
  
  
  
  
• A very country-like story in a metroplex county yesterday morning:
  
  
  
  
• This occurred a couple of days ago at an apartment complex behind Tanger Outlets off I‑35W. I was very confused what a Texas AG Investigator was involved, but "according to the Texas Attorney General's website, the Fugitive Apprehension Unit, part of the Criminal Investigations Division, is tasked with tracking down and arresting violent offenders, parole violators, and sex offenders who fail to register."
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Soldiers getting caught up in one of those sting operations in central Texas. 
  
  
  
• The big story is the current demise of the First Amendment because the investigation focuses on the reporter, not the leakers.  But side note: If the allegations weren't true, as Patel claims, I'm not sure why they are looking for a "leak." 
  

  

  
  
  
  
• If I had to guess, I bet it is because Barron Trump is about to turn 21 
  
  
  
• Flashback: 
  
  
  
  
  
• You've lost that fight, buddy. 
  
• Does the federal government need to be reminded of Columbine? 
  
  
  
• The National Economic Council Director made an insane statement yesterday morning. 
  
  
• We live in the dumbest of times. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Messenger - Above the Fold

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

On the day after becoming the presumptive Republican nominee. 

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• As almost everyone predicted, Tanner Horner received the death penalty yesterday from the jury after a month long punishment trial.   
  
  
  
• The Wise County courthouse was bathed in pink overnight. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this before.  
  
  
  
• The Star-Telegram has a detailed, old-school story about yesterday. Gift link. 
  

  

  
  
  
  
• WFAA's online coverage didn't even try to be objective.  Yesterday, the moderator came dressed in pink and the two legal "experts" didn't hide their personal feelings either.  Those feelings are certainly understandable, but its odd to see it for "news coverage." 
  
  
  
• Quick trial thoughts:
• The DA's office did a fantastic job. It was just a business-like presentation from start to finish, and they never played to the cameras. 
• I never understood the defense lawyers' case.  There was no theme. And there was no attempt to connect with the jury. Look, there was basically no way they were going to save Horner's life, but their only chance was to admit that the case involved one of the most horrible crimes ever committed, but attempt to show there is at least something about Horner and his background that makes him "different." Then maybe, just maybe, life in prison without parole would be justice.  Their chances were one in a million, but at least that gives you a chance. 
• But they just pretended the crime didn't happen. Sheesh. Horner admitted it to it. Accept it. Embrace it. That at least gives you some jury credibility. 
• And mitigation evidence (Horner being "different") is not evidence of an excuse or justification.  The defense never made that clear and that was their most important job. 
• Defense summed up:  When the stepmom, who was in the home during the abduction, was cross-examined, the defense lawyers pulled out a picture of an outdoor shower which was on the property and asked her to identify it. Why? What are you doing? 
• Not to mention making a strange NBA analogy on opening statement, trying to sell the "Athena saw him doing cocaine story" on closing, and taking Athena's picture down off the easel. I don't get it. 
• One thing I would have done as the defense lawyer?: I would have played the "demon" card.  Truly.  That is, the facts of this crime are so horrible and so insane and so unexplainable (which every universally agrees upon), that there must be something going on here that is supernatural.  There is no question that half or more of the jurors believe in literal demons on earth (it's certainly Biblical), so why not argue that we may have actually found one? "Do you have a reasonable doubt as to whether there may be a literal demon in this room? If so, let's leave it up to God on how to ultimately deal with him."   (All you need is one juror to agree.)
• And that theme just piggybacks off the State's opening statement when the prosecutor said this:: 
  
  
  
• Hey, even with the demon argument, Horner was still going to get the death penalty. But at least your odds go from a million to one to 100,000 to one. 
• Random photos:
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• There was definitely a bomb threat yesterday, but this is the only account I've seen that said it was Tanner Horner related. And the threat concerned the wrong courthouse.
  
  
  
• On a Tuesday night, no less? 
  
  
  
• Quick hits on the war from yesterday:
• In the morning: "Project Freedom," the escorting ships through the strait, is full speed ahead!
  
  
  
• Marco Rubio in the afternoon: 
  
  
  
• Uh, oh. Hit the brakes!!!!! Trump at 5:00 p.m.:
  
  
  
• And this morning:
• It's both war and peace at the same time!
  
  
  
  
• Iran's response: 
  
  
  
• Ballroom news from Fox: 
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Do we really want the government controlling the content of AI?
  
• Baptist private schools are OK. So are Church of Christ private schools. As are Methodist, Catholic, and on and on.  So what's the problem with private Muslim schools in freedom-of-religion based America?
  
  
  
• New video of the plane clipping the truck in New Jersey.  You can see the landing gear hit the top of the truck.
  
  
  
• Story
  
  
  
• It will always be the craziest case in Wise County history . . . 

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

And one day after Cruz's attack on Trump, the race for the Republican nomination was over. 

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• Today is the day in the Tanner Horner trial.  The jury will hear closing arguments and begin their deliberations on life of death. 
• There are two questions that will be submitted to the jury. To receive a sentence of death there . . . 
• Needs to be a unanimous "yes" on this one: "Whether there is a probability that the defendant would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society"  and
• Needs to be a unanimous "no" on this one: "Whether, taking into consideration all of the evidence, including the circumstances of the offense, the defendant's character and background, and the personal moral culpability of the defendant, there is a sufficient mitigating circumstance or circumstances to warrant that a sentence of life imprisonment without parole rather than a death sentence be imposed."
• Witnesses from yesterday.
• The last witness for the defense was this lady.  She finally said something that every one on their experts should have repeated. That being: Horner committed a "horrible murder" but her testimony wasn't about that at all. “This is only [my] explanation of who this defendant is, so that whoever decides his fate understands him as completely as possible, but this is absolutely not an excuse.” That means she's there about the second question, above, that the jury will answer. 
  
  
  
• The State, in rebuttal, called this high ranking prison official to describe what "life in prison" is like.  More specifically, the State used him to show that Horner could still be "a continuing threat to society" even if that society was the general prison population. 
  
  
  
• Another State rebuttal witness was Horner's cousin who testified he was sexually assaulted by Horner when he was 10 years of age and Horner was 13. Where did it happen? Right off the Casino Beach area at Lake Worth.
  
  
  
• This was the final rebuttal witness of the State.  I really didn't think much of him. He kind of gave me the vibes of the defense expert in A Time To Kill played by M. Emmet Walsh
  
  
  
• My prediction: I bet there will be a death sentence but it might take a few hours. Even if they were unanimous on the first vote, they are still going "to talk about it" for a while to at least give the appearance of tough deliberations. Still, a verdict by the end of the day wouldn't surprise me at all. 
• Oh, my.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We don't know a single detail other than what is in the headline. 
  

  

  
  
  
  
  
  
• Heavy emphasis on "temporarily."
  
  
  
• Paxton/Cornyn poll from the University of Houston.  This one is going to be close.  
  
• War update: Iran firing upon U.S. ships, hitting a South Korean vessel, and launching missiles into Dubai doesn't exactly sound like a "ceasefire."   Only two ships got through the Strait yesterday. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• From this morning Pentagon press conference: 
  
  
  
• From yesterday: 
  
  
  
• She pled to something called "wet reckless" driving under California Vehicle Code § 23103.5. It's not considered a DWI conviction, but if she commits DWI in the next 10 years, it can be used for enhancement to make the punishment worse.
  
• All 253 outfits worn at the Met Gala last night.