Teenage Girl Raped as Crowd Watches

In March of 1964 a young woman living in New York City arrived at her home after a night of work only to be brutally raped and murdered. The attack began once, was disrupted by a neighbor, which caused the attacker to leave for a few minutes before returning to finish the job he had started – an intentional random murder of a young woman. It was estimated anywhere from a dozen to thirty-eight people were witness to parts of the attack. One was the neighbor that disrupted the original attack by shouting at the attacker and another was a man whom called the police after the attack was over. The numerous witnesses had various reasons as to why they did not immediately call the police and/or allowed the attack to go on without attempting to intervene. The episode has helped paint Big City populations as apathetic towards unfolding tragedy.

 

Now we are hearing that in Richmond, California a young fifteen-year-old girl was lured into a back ally drinking event then attacked and raped following a high school homecoming event. The rape has said to involve as many as a dozen different individuals and another 15 to 20 audience members that evidently needed a voyeuristic thrill. Included in this event were two adult individuals. Yet evidently not one saw fit to call the police or intervene until after the attack was over.

 

Two brutal attacks forty-five years apart. One might have thought history would have created an evolved reaction to the vicious attack of a young woman. Yet in the most modern instance not only does it seem that a group of people who could have stepped up to help prevent the barbaric act –didn’t- if reports are correct, they either joined in the rape action or simply chose to view it as live cinema. Maybe they were all Roman Polanski disciple and enabler types. Whatever the reason – society seems to continue to de-evolve under this so-called age of enlightenment where society has turned over the teaching of morality from family and church to government and government approved foundations.

 

 

Déjà vu Another Quad City Tragedy

It was just over a year ago, in April, when the Quad Cities experienced an incident that created considerable controversy. The event was when a local police officer had to use deadly force during a police investigation. The local Internet was all a buzz as friends of the young man that was killed and defenders of the police sparred in a several month long verbal exchange of accusations. On this Friday, 07/31/09, we had a similar situation where another young man was killed while resisting arrest. Unlike the previous incident, this time we had the benefit of a camera recording much of the altercation. Still we have a lot of people on the Internet, similar to last year’s event, already arguing over the outcome of the incident.

I watched the confrontation of the officers and the suspect video, which was posted on the QC Online website. And quite frankly, I was surprised the officer allowed the individual to get as close as he did. He repeatedly warned the individual, yet the suspect continued to close distance in a potentially threatening manner, between himself and the officer. And the suspect’s intentions seemed definitely hostile when he charged the officer. At that point the altercation leaves the range of the video camera. The fight is described as violent and ended with the suspect’s death. Since I can only make my analysis based on the information available my views of the event can alter. From what I have read and what I have saw of the altercation, my analysis to this point is, the only criticism I have of the officer is that he should have used the Taser on the suspect earlier. That opinion could alter either way depending upon further release of information. I do feel that the officer was being too easy on the suspect, early in the altercation. Perhaps if he had used the Taser earlier, he could have gotten both shots off and stopped the individual before the incident worsened. Of course maybe not either, we will never know. I have read several comments that suggest the individual was schizophrenic, so the Taser might not have been able to stop him no matter when it was used. Whichever the case, after the suspect got close enough he was capable of violently attacking the officer, my opinion is, the officer was in his rights to use lethal force to protect his own life. Nor do I think along the lines of many of the Internet police bashers that the officer should have shot to wound. That is not feasible or even a good design. The suspect survived a Taser shot and kept attacking the officer. Injuring the suspect does not guaranty stopping the suspect from maiming, overpowering and/or killing the officer. At that point the officers only option was shoot to kill. It is an option that will probably create nightmares for both the officer and the young mans family for sometime. And as we saw with the escalation during last year’s tragedy, it does not help when the Internet buzz become unsympathetic to the grief that either side of the conflict must endure until the event becomes another tragic event of history. Should both sides not discuss the event? No, that will not help matter either. All sides should feel free to discus the event – but all sides should refrain from using hateful attacks on the other parties. A young man, using bad judgment, lost his life in a tragic event and a police officer, feeling threatened, felt compelled to use deadly force to defend himself. The public needs to let those people do their jobs that investigate these incidents before things scale out of proportion as they did in last year’s episode. The public should let the family grieve and the officer to heal and do not compound the situation by tossing around unfounded or false allegations and/or cruel dialogue towards either party. And that way maybe we can avoid the same endless and unconstructive verbal altercations we have went through previously. Or maybe not. Or maybe Obama needs to hold a beer summit in the Quad Cities.

Or maybe everyone could just slowdown the rhetoric while they wait and listen for the total information to unfold.  Oops sorry, just wishful thinking on my behalf.

the Dispatch/Argus/QC Online link.
the Quad City Times link.

The Verdict is In – The OJ Simpson Fairytale Twists into a Nightmare

I can remember as a young Bears fan cheering for a flashy new running back named OJ Simpson. I did not care that he played for the Buffalo Bills. I appreciated and I was excited to see such rare talent in the game of football. I laughed at his Hertz commercials as he sprinted through make believe airports running around and leaping over obstacles. I enjoyed listening to him on Monday Night Football as a game analyst. He was entertaining as the accident prone police Detective Nordberg in the Police Squad Movies. I was incredulous and full of disbelief when he was charged with the grisly murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson. By the end of the trial I was forced to admit to myself that, as much as I wanted to believe otherwise, that the jury had gotten the verdict wrong and that OJ Simpson was indeed guilty of killing his wife and her friend Ron Goldman. It was a murder he has always claimed his innocence yet indirectly admitted his guilt in a book he wrote years after the event. The murder was just the most horrific of what was to become a series of scrapes with the law that he managed to escape punishment from. That long string of scrapes with the law culminated with his recent conviction for robbery assault and kidnapping during a 2007 event in Las Vegas. His luck and ability to avoid punishment for his law breaking activities ended today with a fifteen year to life sentence for his 2007 transgressions. With parole there is a possibility that he could be out in six to nine years. But the odds are considering his age and the animosity that has built up towards the man for his openly flaunting the law he will spend the rest of his life behind prison bars. He will spend his sentence restricted from interaction with the general prison population for his own safety. The only interaction he will have will be with family and friends during his daily one-hour visitation rights and with the guards assigned to protect him. That will be a lonely life and probably a worse sentence than normal prison for a man like Simpson that needs public adoration to feed his life essence. Over the years my adoration for Simpson has grown into bitterness. Yet after today’s sentence it was difficult to hold back tears thinking about what had started out as such a promising American Dream that has now been rotted by a series of reprehensible personal decisions and actions until the OJ Simpson Story has twisted from a sugarplum fairytale into a heinous nightmare.

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Other OJ Simpson Posts.

Judge Convicts Accused Murderer Based on Results From a Brain Scan

In what is a surely a world-wide judicial first, a judge used results from a brain scan as proof of guilt in a murder trial. Advocates of the technology claim that the brain scan is the ultimate in lie-detecting equipment and will soon rival DNA testing as the next big criminal investigation tool. The test is supposedly able to detect brain activity that points to the suspect’s guilt depending on how the individual’s brain reacts when confronted with information about the crime. The technology has been being used in trials in India and was recently used by an Indian judge as explicit proof of guilt in a murder trial. A NY Times article by Anand Giridharadas explained the technological system used as follows:

The software tries to detect whether, when the crime’s details are recited, the brain lights up in specific regions — the areas that, according to the technology’s inventors, show measurable changes when experiences are relived, their smells and sounds summoned back to consciousness. The inventors of the technology claim the system can distinguish between people’s memories of events they witnessed and between deeds they committed.

Personally- It sounds like a long stretch of the imagination to accept the information generated by the process as incontrovertible and valid enough to convict someone of a crime, especially murder. I do not put much faith in trusting a third party to read brain waves in order to tell me what is in someone else’s mind. But then, what evidence and information used in trials can really be claimed as indisputable? One of the biggest conundrums about trials is the importance put on eyewitnesses to crimes, which are also highly unreliable evidence to expose the real facts. I suppose if brain scans were added to other evidence it could help build a preponderance of the evidence of guilt. Still I do not see this catching on here in the USA. I just don’t think the technology as explained could withstand the scrutiny of high-priced defense lawyers or judges afraid of losing guilty verdicts on appeal. I am not sure if I was sitting in a jury box that I could even accept the scans as credible evidence. It has the appearance of a technology more Science Fiction than Science Fact that could easily be abused, either accidentally or intentionally.

Grandma Takes A Bite Out of Crime Exercising Her Second Amendment Rights

An 85 year old Pennsylvania woman took a bite out of crime recently when she caught a young would-be burglar in her house. After catching the young hoodlum wannabe she held him at gunpoint and forced him to call the police to come and arrest him! Classic! I realize this story is probably embarrassing for all the soft-on-crime spineless enablers in the world. Too bad so sad. This is a Granny that could have been part of my family. Except in my family’s case the grandmother would have been pointing a shotgun not a revolver. Go-granny-Go! Exercise you Second Amendment rights!

Another link discussing the gun toting granny.

Killer Sentenced to a Lifetime of Fast Food

The City of Portland Oregon has taken the path less trodden in order to get a murder conviction. Instead of a normal trial and series of appeals, they have struck a plea bargain –>where the defendant has greed to plead guilty to murder and a life sentence as long as he is served KFC chicken, Popeye’s chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, calzones, lasagna, pizza, carrot cake and ice cream instead of traditional prison food! Wow! It sounds a bit pricey -but- considering the expense of trials and appeals they probably got off cheap. The prison budget will probably not appreciate the deal. Of course it probably will not make the prison warden and guards all that happy either since they will be required to make special arrangements in getting the food to the prisoner. I imagine that it will not make many of the inmates already incarcerated in whichever prison he lands at happy either, especially when they notice the special cuisine they will not have access to also. On the upside it could win him friends, associates and bubba protection should he choose to share his feast with well-matched fellow inmates. It sounds like a sweet deal except nanny politics and the ACLU will probably stick their nose in the deal crying cruel and unusual punishment over all that fast food consumption.

The State of Texas Executes Convicted Murderer Jose Medellin

On Tuesday the State of Texas defied the country of Mexico, International Court of Justice (ICJ) and some members inside the United States Government, by executing Jose Medellin for his part in a 1993 gang related incident that culminated with the brutal rape and murder of a sixteen-year-old and a fourteen-year-old girls. It was a lose-win situation.

Mr. Medellin was 33 at the time of his execution. I am not all that sorry for the death of Mr. Medellin, for his case was surely indicative of what should represent a death penalty offense. I am only sorry that any of the events leading up to the death of his victims ever happened that resulted in his conviction and execution. Had he never committed those acts of evil he may not have been facing the loss of his life on Tuesday.

It was a lose situation because, for many reasons, I am against the death penalty as a form of criminal justice. I do not feel it serves any positive purpose; it is flawed at best and purely an after-the-fact act of revenge – nothing more nothing less.

On the opposite side of the spectrum it was a win-win for the Sate of Texas and the USA Justice system. Both institutions stepped up to establish that USAmerican States Rights rule inside our country over the attempted interference from officious outside systems like the ICJ, the UN and other countries/institutions. It was a statement that what happens inside our country and our states is defined by our legal and governmental systems and not how International political bodies would have us administrate our country. It was also a candid message to people that enter our country illegally. If you break our laws you will be judged by our judicial system not your country of origins system.

In the final analysis it was a lose statement in that the USA continues to fail civilization by supporting a defective system like our death penalty. However, it was a huge spit-in-the-eye win-win statement for the USA in defining our independence from international meddling in our system of government!!!!

Child Neglect – Stupid is as Stupid Does

What started out as a story about possible child abandonment is starting to look like a series of brainless actions performed by callous adults! The story is not clear as it differs between which media version you read but it looks like another case that started with a parent(s) who chose to party-party-party over the welfare of a child. The mother left the child in the care of individuals (a man she simply new as “Doc” and his aunt) she was staying with while she went out for merrymaking at another location. According to the Barb Ickes column those individuals had not agreed to take care of the child. Sometime after the mother left the house, Doc’s aunt took the baby to a nearby group of the mother’s friends outside drinking and partying and then abandoned the baby with that group of drunken individuals. The scary part is that out of all the adults involved in this repulsive sequence of events; the drunken individuals who quickly got tired of a baby disturbing their party mode made the closest to an adult decision concerning the welfare of the child. In what was clearly a case of doing the right thing for the wrong reason, they created a story (not an entirely false story considering the events) about the child being abandoned and called the police to pickup the child. Child goes to protective custody, mom gets arrested and her picture in the paper. What is wrong with this picture? Not one adult displayed one iota of responsibility!!! Every adult in this scenario was as much a perpetrator of child neglect as the mother. And where is the father of this child and why is he not taking some responsibility for this child? Is this a version of a Britney Spears meltdown? At least this child may have a chance to eventually lead a normal life as he survived this sequence of adult stupidity and heartlessness. Hopefully there will be no similar follow up episode. Other children of child neglect are often not lucky enough to have a bunch of drunks call the police into an incident of child neglect.

Other Horror Stories of Child Neglect and Abuse —>

Link1 Peoria Couple Charged With Murder of Their Child

Link2 Couple Frequently Abandons Child to Party

Link3 Angry Mom Dumps Son on the Side of Road

Link4 Parents Behaving Badly

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Another OJ Simpson Henchman Takes Plea Bargain

As part of the eternally lasting OJ Simpson saga, another of his codefendants has taken a plea bargain in the Las Vegas chapter of what is sure to become part of an eventual best selling autobiography titled “OJ Simpson – My Crimes and Punishment.” OJ Simpson henchman Charles Ehrlich, from the Las Vegas event, has agreed to testify against Simpson in his upcoming trial. This makes a total of four of his co-conspirators in the Las Vegas incident that will be testifying against OJ Simpson. You have to wonder if this is enough to secure a conviction of Simpson or will he once again display a Teflon ability to escape justice. Either way this is sure to continue to slow OJ’s extensive search among the golf courses of the world for his wife’s killer.

ICE Raid in Chicago Apprehends Illegal Immigrant Gang Members

Just weeks following one of the biggest raids of illegal immigrants that took place in Iowa where over 300 individuals were arrested, ICE has staged a smaller but notable raid in Chicago. The raid in Chicago was targeting gang members and netted 49 individuals of which 48 were Illegal immigrants. Though the raid was much smaller in size, getting 49 gang members off the street in one swoop is a significant effort. The real trick is to keep them off the street. There are already individuals denouncing the arrest. When it comes to gang members, personally I would prefer to see some type of long-term incarceration that revolves around solitary confinement, restricted visitation rights and total isolation from the rest of the prison population. And for any gang (or mafia) members involved in violent crimes, any release should require an agreement to wear some sort of permanent tracking device that would result in a life sentence if it is removed without approval.