The Dallas Morning News has Governor Perry’s response to Texas’ execution of an innocent man in Cameron Todd Willingham. It involves the use of the phrase “so-called” and air-quotes to deride the fact that the state executed a man based on evidence and testimony that’s provably false.

Y’all might have had your hearts warmed by the story of the Grapevine, TX high school football coach who asked half of his team’s fans and cheerleaders to support the Gainesville State School team, consisting of kids in corrections. ESPN covered it. So did This American Life, national news throughout the country, and there’s apparently a movie underway about the coach. Grits for Breakfast has the two TYC teams’ schedule online now, including a Thursday night game in Austin on October 15. If you were moved by the story – and what are you, made of stone, if you’re not – it might be worth showing up to let them know that being supported isn’t just a one-time thing.

Also on the subject of high school football, an Ohio judge sentenced a teenaged boy who pled to an assault charge to five years of probation and barred him from playing team sports for that period. The story comes from Popehat.com, who rightfully point out that the other terms of his probation – finding full-time work in a state with over 10% unemployment or enrolling as a full-time student – may be difficult without the ability to engage his natural talents. Before the conviction, the boy was being scouted by a number of universities.

Slashdot.com, the somewhat over-reactive online community, is in a tizzy about APD. And, specifically, about Chief Acevedo’s talk about “taking on” people who criticize the department online. The summary of the story from the Statesman that got all the comments on Slashdot is pretty off, though – it misrepresents Acevedo’s position so that it looks like he’s saying, “we’re going to arrest people if they call us jerks”, when he’s really saying “pretending to be an APD official when you’re not and making statements that are untrue is a criminal act”, which is true. Grits for Breakfast pops up again to wonder if this means that, like, all other crime in Austin has been completely eradicated so this is a really good use of police time.

Ever get arrested in a casino? Apparently rather than just break people’s legs for cheating these days, the house will now hold them in custody and offer them the opportunity, sanctioned by a district court judge, to sign a confession, pay $500, and not be prosecuted. Which is a little bit creepy, since if you’re being detained against your will and accused of a crime by people with vast resources, you’re not really in a great position to make a great decision, hence the fact that the practice is now under investigation. Insert your own “whatever happens in Vegas” or “the house always wins” pun here – this practice is apparently good for almost $750,000 a year.

Also on Popehat, there’s a downright terrifying piece about an undercover investigative report from a Florida television station in which they went to various police stations asking for the form to file a complaint. A (very mild) sample:

tester: Do you have a complaint form that I can, like, fill out or something like that?
officer: Might not be a legitimate complaint.
tester: Who decides that?
officer: I’m trying to help you.
tester: Like, if there’s a form, why can’t I just take it and leave, right?
officer: No, you don’t leave with forms. You tell me what happened, and then I help you from there. Do you have I-D on?
tester: Why?
officer: You know what? You need to leave.

(It gets worse from there.)

But in more fun news, Austin solo practice attorney George Lobb crashed the groundbreaking ceremony for the new federal courthouse  in Austin. He brought his own shovel and hardhat, and a real big smile. Click the photo to enlarge. it’s a pretty great picture. he looks very happy to be there.

We’ve also got a bigger piece on this coming up, but in case you missed it last week, Charles Hood, a death row inmate here in Texas, had his motion for a new trial denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals even though his prosecutor and the judge were having an affair at the time of his trial and conviction. The argument, as best as I can understand it – and bear in mind that I’m not a lawyer, went something like this:

Appellate Attorney: My client needs a stay of execution, because the judge was sleeping with the prosecutor.

Court: Prove it!

Appellette Attorney proves it by deposing the participants, who admit the affair under oath.

Appellate Attorney: There, proof, now can my client be treated fairly?

Court: Oh, not at this point. You should have done this earlier.

(Cue the wah-wah-WAH sound.)

Labels: abuse of power, APD, art acevedo, football, governor perry, grits for breakfast, in the news, linkdump, money

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Austin attorney and former bar association president Mina Brees passed away this weekend. The article touches on some of the controversy surrounding her, but regardless of that, our condolences to her family.

GamsoForTheDefense has a post about a 60-something year old man who's been living in his house for years who, oops, had his address put on the sex offender notification postcards by mistake.

GritsForBreakfast links to a Houston Chronicle op-ed about jail overcrowding. Seriously smart stuff.

Another GritsForBreakfast piece about bait cars, which we've talked about on the blog previously. He makes the cogent point that, if it takes weeks for someone to break into a car WITH THE KEYS INSIDE OF IT AND THE WINDOWS DOWN, the police probably don't need to be so concerned about that neighborhood.

The StandDown Texas Project has a great piece about mental illness and the juvenile justice system here.

And finally, there's a good one in the NYTimes from yesterday by Barbara Ehrenreich about whether or not poverty's become a crime.

Labels: bait cars, grits for breakfast, juveniles, linkdump, sex offender registration

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Every few days I make it a point to compile the news and commentary surrounding criminal defense issues, especially as they relate to Austin, and send it along to all of the attorneys in the firm as potential blog topics. Starting today, those links and discussions are also going to be posted here, as well.

Kristi Couvillon wrote recently on APD’s dash cam policy, which got me thinking about this story: Florida cops stop a young woman for DUI, and then proceed to rear-end her car. After she's arrested, with the dash cam still recording, they cook up a story that they all agree to in which they decide that it's her fault, and then charge her with DUI/property damage. "I don't make things up or lie ever, because it's wrong," says the cop on the tape, "but if I have to bend it a little to protect a cop, I'm gonna."

Austin defense attorney Jamie Spencer has a couple good posts up right now. On the APD prostitution stings, he asks how much money was spent dressing a whole bunch of female police officers like prostitutes and running a sting that netted 23 arrests. And he gets to one of the hearts of the taser issue (which I’ve written about briefly here) when he asks how potentially unconstitutional acts can be declared acceptable just by claiming that they’re not outside of department policy.

In case you haven’t heard yet about The Superglue Incident:  Four women superglued a guy's penis to his stomach after tricking him into a bondage scenario because he was screwing (and scamming) all of them. If only we were still running the “We Could Defend That” campaign. 

US Attorney General Eric Holder gave a speech at the ABA convention where he says most of the same things that regarding reform and non-violent drug offenders, etc, that I’ve been learning since I started working with this firm.

In Kaufman County, the chief public defender/founder of the public defender's office is planning to run for DA. The link from Robert Guest, a Dallas-area defense attorney, talks about the difference between the roles, and what good can come from a PD becoming a prosecutor.

We have a bunch of old ads in a binder that equate DWI arrests with prohibition. I never really got those, but this bit from Politico, where MADD criticizes Obama for having Gates and Crowley over to the White House for beer, rather than milk and cookies, helps me understand it a little.

Also, California dropped charges against a guy who'd been arrested for DUI while riding a horse.

Finally, not to be all ACLU here, but this is video of a cop assaulting a woman from behind at a convenience store in Philadelphia because, half an hour earlier, his son had rear-ended her car.

Labels: abuse of power, APD, cameras, dwi, in the news, linkdump

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