Big Turd

I feel a little weird about this.

Someone did a search on Google for Big Turd...My blog showed up in the results.

I don't know if I should laugh or cry.

Executing The Innocent

Thanks to Injustice Anywhere, I was directed to the following story about Ruben Cantu who was just 17 years-old when he was executed in the great State of Texas in 1993 for committing murder.

Turns out he was probably innocent.

Read the story here and the follow-up here.

An interesting excerpt:

Sam Millsap Jr., the former Bexar County district attorney who made the decision to charge Cantu with capital murder, says he never should have sought the death penalty in a case based on the testimony of an eyewitness who identified Cantu only after police officers showed him Cantu's photo three separate times.

"It's so questionable. There are so many places where it could break down," said Millsap, now in private practice. "We have a system that permits people to be convicted based on evidence that could be wrong because it's mistaken or because it's corrupt."

I hope this Millsap Jr. enjoys the remainder of his life because when his time comes he's got a first class ticket to straight to hell. What a shit bag.

Bummer

It appears that we've lost one of my favorite new bloggers, Indigent Journal. I'm going to keep him in my Blog list for a while until I'm sure he's gone.

The Candy Man Can!

A few years back when I was working in the private sector, I was given a murder case where I was assigned to locate and interview a witness. The stabbing was pretty cut and dry with only a couple of prosecution witnesses. It was basically a drug deal gone bad where the victim had been trying to pull a fast one on his drug dealer. Not smart, especially when the drug dealer is a street smart, savy kid from North Hollywood, and the victim is a spoiled rich kid from USC trying to live the, “thug life.”

This witness was a 23 year-old Caucasian male (Lonnie), who had been with our client and his other friends on the night of stabbing in a parking lot. Lonnie came from a prominent and wealthy family that lived in Encino, California. For those not familiar with Encino, it’s a wealthy suburb Northwest of downtown Los Angeles just a hop, skip, and a jump from Universal Studios and all those other annoying well-known LA shit holes.

But I digress.

I was able to make contact with Lonnie’s family (his dad was a producer or something at Warner Bros. studios and his mom ran a catering business out of their home). I introduced myself and explained why I was there. The dad basically told me Lonnie wasn’t there and to not let the door hit me on the ass on the way out. I got a different vibe from the mom/wife though…they wouldn’t say if Lonnie lived there but she had a pained look on her face that only a mother that has lost someone or something could have.

I came back a couple of days later, when I knew her Asshole…er….I mean husband wouldn’t be home. She answered the door and quickly let me inside. She explained that Lonnie is a very sore subject for the family (especially the Asshole). Lonnie was her oldest son and he had gotten involved in drugs for about a year before he was kicked out of their house. He had stolen from them, physically attacked his brothers, and basically torn the family apart. She was convinced it was because of the Heroin he had been using on a daily basis.

She showed me a few photos of Lonnie before he started chasing the dragon. Lonnie looked like a handsome young guy, with dark hair and a really bright smile. He would have fit right in with those kids on MTV’s Laguna Beach (yeah, I watch it...what? You don't have secrets too?).

Lonnie’s momma said he was homeless and last she had heard he was living on the streets in Burbank….maybe. She also said that some detectives had come by weeks ago trying to talk to him and she hadn’t heard anything from them. My heart sank when she told me this. One because, I could see how torn up she was about it and two because I was sure I’d never find this kid.

She told me Lonnie called her once every couple of months to tell her he was alive. She said she would give me some pictures if I promised to call her and tell her where he was (if I found him). I explained that I would do what I could, but no promises. Lonnie was 23 years-old now and since he was an adult, I would have to respect his right to privacy and life...regardless of who he was hurting.

Before I left her house, she told me when she last talked to him she heard someone call him...

The Candy Man.

The friggin Candy Man...great.

Ice Bullets Redux

Sweet Jeezus! I love Weezer (the band) but I just had to listen to that Livin in Beverly Hills song on a client's friggin voicemail. It wouldn't be so bad but he takes the time to change it EVERY FRIGGIN DAY!

Have people just decided to give up leaving voices on the intro? What makes people think that someone calling them really wants to listen to a song? It also sucks because I never know if I’m getting the right persons voicemail and when I DO make it through their stupid song I have to leave a generic message just in case it’s the wrong number.

I swear this is the last time I’ll mention voicemail songs because I hate to sound like a broken record. I’m sure that this is all just a sign that I’m getting old...Ugh, I hate the idea of being a complaining, old man.

On to more positive things, I had a great weekend, I was able to spend time with some friends, have a little bit of fun and I managed to squeeze in a couple of hours of really productive work. I can be productive at the office but sometimes when I'm away from it, it feels like I get a lot more done. Granted, at home I don't have my phone ringing every 2 minutes, I don't have investigators asking me how to cut and paste, and I don't have attorneys asking me why a DVD received from the DA isn't playing on their computer (Who the hell made me the tech guy?). It was interviews and follow-up mainly but I did crank out a few short memos so I feel pretty caught up today.

If anyone remember's reading I Killed them...Ice Bullets (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) I have wanted to post a little bit more just to clean up some loose ends in the investigation and explain what happened later.

First off, I received two emails (leaving only one regular reader that did not email) questioning whether or not any of what I had written about was true or "loosely based," on something that had happened to me.

Let me just clear things up right now by saying that the entire story is 100% true. The only things I ever change in any of my stories are the names of people involved, sometimes the dates the incidents occurred, and very rarely the location. I change those three things in order to remain as anonymous as possible.

Mr. X, although a very nice, and creepy guy, was also a little bit off as those of you who don't wear shit stockings can probably attest to. I found that the people involved in the murder had also possibly hidden in his shed for a brief period of time and as I continued to work the case over the next two days I also found that there was a good chance our client did not commit the crime.

Fortunately, I found that a person that possibly was involved with the murder in one way or another was already in jail...Unfortunately, he was our client. So as any PD office would do...we conflicted off the case and all the hours and effort I put into the work went out the fucking window.

My feelings about this case are mixed and it gets me upset thinking about it too much. The frustrating truth is that PD Investigator work is hardly ever cut and dry and knowing that sometimes makes me wish things...things that I shouldn't.

The Cruelest Jab

"I'll take a cashier's check or cash, whatever he wants, hopefully not in quarters."

-Eric Dubin, the lawyer representing the four children of Bonny Lee Bakley in Robert Blake's civil trial. November 19, 2005 - Washington Post - by Sonya Geis and William Booth.

WAR BEGINS!

With a W.

-Ali G (2004)

A post by Woman Of The Law yesterday (RIP Lilith) reminded me of a long lost love....Buttercup was her name. She was a yellow 1971 VW Superbeetle. She was my very first car. I saved a whole year to buy her from a little old greek dude who told me the car was new when he bought it. I think I paid about $1,500.00....way more than it was worth but I really wanted this car.

Buttercup ran for about 7 good years and she carried me up and down this great state of California many, many times. She was good and reliable transportation for me on more dates than I can count (although I didn't earn a lot of points as far as impressing the ladies...I did get great gas mileage!).

I think about her sometimes when I'm driving my current beater (she's no Buttercup). I miss the light smell of gasoline in the car that would never go away. I miss the way the heater I couldn't shut off would burn the shoes off of unsuspecting passengers. I miss the way that I could cram at least 5 friends into the car, I even miss the oil light that would always turn on for no reason at all.

For about 3 years, I did surveillance out of that bug. I had the windows tinted in the rear and when it was parked on the street in front of someones house, it blended right in...nobody would have even a clue that I was videotaping them just 4 feet away while they were working on their car or doing yard work.

Ahhh...the good old days. I long for them sometimes.

You Wanna Know What Pisses Me Off?

You know what really irks me? In fact it's irking me right now!

Long intro songs on peoples (friends, family, WITNESSES, and CLIENTS) voicemail! Holy shit people! Do you really think I want to listen to Luther Vandross' greatest hits or an entire rap album of who the hell knows?!?! The answer is no. I just want to be able to leave a message.

Sure some of you might say, "While the intro message is playing you can press 1 or *, or #...it will take you straight to their voicemail!" You wanna know what? IT DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK! Sometimes it makes it so you have to listent to the friggin message again because you interupted it the first time!

What the hell happened to a simple, "Hey, it's Jesus (or insert some other name here), leave a message and I'll get back to you."

It's insane...ugh. I think I need some coffee.

Maybe You've Seen This Killer?

Is there anything that needs to be said? Maybe the Cell Phone Bandit or Bank Robbing Witch could have worn have used it...but not really.

(Thanks to Gideon's Guardians for the link from a comment on Have You Seen This Killer?)

Have You Seen This Killer?

Ladies and Gentleman, the face you see in the photograph above came from a police sketch of a murder suspect in a city a couple of hours north of where I live. As you can all see, he/she is possibly Caucasian and he wears a black hood over his head. Anyone seeing this possible Caucasian she/male with a black hood over his/her head is urged to call the ****** ****** Police Department as soon as possible.

I’m sure the phone is just ringing off the hook at the station with possible leads. Couldn’t they have just said, “He/She mighta been a white dude(ette) and he was wearing a black hood?” Whatever.

If they find a suspect as a result of this sketch, I will…I will…Hmmm…I’m not sure what I’ll do but I’ll think of something drastic. Drastic and dangerous...yeah, thats right, drastic and dangerous!

Crap.

I’ve got 2 trials to testify in, 4 (very involved) investigation reports to finish, 9 interviews to complete or at least schedule, a shitload of emails to return to my attorneys, all before next Wednesday. I just had to make time for a quick post today though. Seeing the above picture in the local paper gave me an itch that could only be relieved by writing in the ole blog. Ugh. That sounds gross, doesn’t it?

I love being busy. Unfortunately, it’s busy to the point of where I’m feeling a weensy, tiny bit stressed. NOT full out "Tom Cruise" freaked out but I’m beginning to dream about cases and work again, which is never a good thing.

I haven’t posted anything for a while partly because I haven’t even picked up my laptop until this morning. Sure, I've check my email and kept up with my favorite blogs but I was just trying to slow my work pace down a bit I guess and I thought that if I stayed away from my laptop, I could put off some of the work I do at home after I leave the office. Yeah...not possible.

I really do enjoy writing and posting crap (no comments funny people), and I don’t want to stop again. It’s just a good way to vent I guess but I think it’s more than that. I used to think I knew why I liked blogging, but now I’m not so sure. It just feels good.

Yes. This has been a very, very undirected post. Hopefully there is more to come.

Passing Of Another Ex-PD Investigator

Ex-Hennepin County Public Defender Investigator, Riley Gilchrist passed away on Sunday, November 6, 2005 of a stroke. Gilchrist was 66 years-old at the time of his death.

The story in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, Minnesota reports that before Gilchrist worked as a PD Investigator, he was one of six black officers on the Minneapolis force from 1970 to 1993. The guy has a real interesting story, you should check it out.

In other PD Investigator news, there has been a lot of activity on a post I did about Virginia Investigator, Rudy Illanes some time ago. His family and people that know him had been posting messages about him, then today, there was an anonymous message posted about allegations regarding the fund for his children. I don't know anything about it but I'll be searching news stories to see what has been reported. I'm hoping there is no truth to it.

This Makes Me Sad

My blog is worth more than I am...and that's not sayin much.

My blog is worth $8,468.10.
How much is your blog worth?

(I was forwarded this little nugget from Business Opportunities Weblog...no I'm not looking for business opportunities but it was fun to use!)

2 Cheerleaders & 1 Bathroom Stall

I love football. I love Cheerleaders. I Love criminal defense work.

Mix the three of them together and you get THIS FANTASTIC NEWS STORY!

We never get clients like this at our courthouse...ever.

(Photos and story from Tampa Bays Channel 10)

Texas Actually Creating A Public Defender Office?

The Office Of The Public Defender in Hidalgo County, Texas has been open for business almost a month and from the looks of it they plan on keeping it that way!

Yes, the state we love to hate (I don't really hate it...I just wanted to say something witty...and yes, I failed) has scraped up enough funds to open a PD's office in Edinburg, Texas. Edinburg is located very close to the Southern tip of Texas, close to the border of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas for those not familiar with Texas geography.

I find it interesting that they hired a 28 year-old former district attorney from the same county to run it but, what the hell, you gotta start with someone I suppose. It looks like they are funded by a grant (if you can believe it!) for at least 4 years. I'm wishing them a whole lotta luck and now I want to figure out how we can apply for California grants like this!

(Thanks to Skelly at Arbitrary and Capricious and Scott at Grits For Breakfast)

Spicy AND Dependable...

That's what the ladies all say!

Okay, not really.

You Are Mexican Food

Spicy yet dependable. You pull punches, but people still love you.

What Kind of Food Are You?

(Inspired by long ago post at Blonde Justice)

The Evil That Is Not Me

As usual, Peekaboo has discovered another fun Blog toy. This time it's the Evil-O-Meter! As usual I manage to find myself riiiiight in the middle. I know, I know...wishy washy!


How evil are you?

The Innocence Project

I was recently invited to a VIP schmooze and booze event held by the Northern California Innocence Project based out of Santa Clara, California. They are recruiting future donors and investigators and of course, being barely able to support myself, I could only offer my services as an investigator.

It was kind of a fancy schmancy event although I left right after work and had to settle with a plain old charcoal gray suit..AND I went without a date. I don't mind going places alone but sometimes, when you're going to an event like this, it makes it easier to have someone you can talk to...but after I got there and picked up my glass of wine, I settled right in.

The truth is, I'm already interested in volunteering my time to the NCIP. I know quite a bit about the organization and I don't need any convincing. I also wasn't interested to meet any real bigwigs but I DID hear that Danny Glover was supposed to be there and there were a couple of investigators that I hadn't seen in a long time that I was looking forward to seeing again.

I had to be a little bit vague with co-workers about where I was going because I don't advertise to anyone that I volunteer for any organizations outside the office, partly because I don't want to make them feel pressured to ask questions about it or feel like they need to get involved also.

Anyhoot, the play, Barred From Life, was shown after the initial reception (and before the dessert reception) and it was great. Although I'm not a big fan of interpretive dance, the actor doing the crazy dancing came across as very...active, I guess is the word I'm looking for. Danny Glover's video cameo (woulda been better in person) as a police detective doing a high pressure interrogation was great.

At the end of the play, several people came out onto the stage and read the names of Exonerees and the time they served before they were released. They must have read about 25 names in rapid fire succession before they all became silent. There was a spotlight that appeared about two feet two my left which was aimed directly on a short, balding guy who stood up and said, "My name is John Stoll, 20 years," and about 7 others stood up, providing their names and time served (Stoll served 20 years of a 47 year sentence). Also present was Peter Rose, who served 9 years of a 27 years sentence before being exonerated. Both Stoll and Rose were exonerated in 2004.

For the finale, all the exonerees ended up on stage for a question and answer session. Now, I hate being a big wussy but it was extremely moving to hear these folks and I got a little teary eyed looking at these people, whose lives had been completely thrown into disarray and now they were just happy to be out and working to make sure it never happens to anyone else.

If any readers get a chance to catch the play or at least meet the exonerees, I highly recommend it! I was able to pick-up an advance copy of Surviving Justice: America's Wrongfully Convicted and Exonerated and it is fascinating reading! When I'm done with it, I'd be happy to send it to whoever would be interested in reading or you can pre-order it for it's release on 11/25/2005.