Posted by Archie Parsons on December 29, 2011
Lawyers for convicted cop killer Marco Antonio Topete have produced a statement from a Yolo County juror challenging assertions that a juror dismissed from death-penalty deliberations in the case for her limited understanding of English had any problems with the language.
Instead, Juror No. 6 whose name is redacted in court files said in his statement to defense investigators that the dismissed Juror No. 11 is an educated woman who worked on crossword puzzles during breaks and held numerous conversations with him in English, without problem.
Her difficulty, he said, was that she disagreed with other jurors about whether Topete deserved the death penalty for gunning down Yolo County Sheriff’s Deputy Jose Antonio Diaz after a car chase in June 2008.
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Posted by Archie Parsons on December 17, 2011
The city of San Jose is offering an olive branch to the Occupiers.
If members of the group agree not to set up tents on the City Hall plaza for the next two years, the city will drop all civil charges against them.
That’s the essence of the “civil compromise” sent Monday by Senior Deputy City Attorney Shannon Smyth-Mendoza to Occupiers who were cited for city code violations during the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in early October and ended late last month. The city violations include trespassing, setting up a chair or structure on city plaza property and staying at the plaza after 11 p.m.
City Attorney Rick Doyle said there are about a dozen people eligible for this compromise.
“It’s a fair result,” he said.
Daniel Mayfield, an attorney who has offered to help the loose-knit group, said that he knows of three Occupiers who have already signed the compromise.
“This is the best deal in the world,” Mayfield said.
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Posted by Rose Giorza on December 17, 2011
Andrew Breitbart, the right wing extremist posing as a media mogul, actually got someone fired who deserved it Instead of Shirley Sherrod or hundreds of thousands of ACORN workers losing their jobs, Chris Barron is about to “step down” as Chairman of GOProud, after they outed a Rick Perry operative
Jewelry from the late Elizabeth Taylor sells for $115 million “Part of the proceeds will go to The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, which she established in 1991 to help people living with AIDS”
Time Magazine names “The Protester” as “Person of Year” What do you think? Good choice?
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Posted by Cameron Heron on December 16, 2011
Five years after a controversial indoor smoking ban went into effect, nearly $2 million remains unpaid in the state from businesses fined for violating the law.
Despite enforcement efforts of the Smoke-Free Workplace Act — being challenged in Ohio Supreme Court by a Columbus bar saying it’s unconstitutional — less than half of fines have been collected from businesses that allowed smoking after the ban went into place on Dec. 7, 2006.
In Butler County, more than $100,000 from fines have not been collected by the state health department.
Businesses statewide have been fined more than $2.74 million since enforcement began in early 2007, but more than $1.82 million is still owed as of Dec. 5, ac
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Posted by Archie Parsons on December 9, 2011
LEBANON — Three men accused of setting a Franklin restaurant on fire after taking items and breaking into a safe Oct. 3 were indicted Friday by a Warren County grand jury on arson and other charges.
Caleb Ward, 19, of Franklin, Steven Dean, 19, of Miamisburg, and Terry Cragg, 23, of Franklin, were each indicted on charges of aggravated arson, a first-degree felony; burglary, a second-degree felony; safecracking and tampering with evidence, both fourth-degree felonies.
The indictments were made public on Monday.
Cragg and Ward bond are being held in the Warren County Jail without bond. In addition, Cragg is slated for a two-day jury trial to begin Dec. 1
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