Insider: ATF Has Allowed More Guns Into Mexico Than It Has Stopped ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ U.S. authorities in Mexico charged with stemming the flow of U.S. weapons to drug cartels have been hampered by shortfalls in staffing, agents with limited Spanish skills, and the difficulty of recruiting new agents to the dangerous posting because they can't officially carry weapons, current and former staff members tell the Los Angeles Times. Facing new accusations that investigators with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed buyers to funnel high-powered assault weapons into Mexico, a senior agent posted to Mexico before 2010 said the agency had not fielded the resources necessary to block mass movements of weapons across the Southwest border. These movements have come under scrutiny amid revelations that ATF investigators delayed for months the arrests of suspected cartel gun buyers, allowing the flow of hundreds of weapons to Mexico in the hope of catching bigger buyers. The policy has outraged many agents and prompted a Senate investigation. Yesterday, most architects of the Phoenix-based operation, known as "Fast and Furious," were called to Washington to discuss it. Rene Jaquez, a former ATF attache in Mexico, said U.S. agents there did not have the resources to run down gun smugglers effectively. Jaquez said ATF offices in Mexico were so short-staffed that agents were either forced to spend most of their time on paperwork or didn't have necessary backup to safely do street work. "ATF has put all this money into Mexico, what have we done? How many guns have we stopped from coming into the country? Well, this whole scandal shows we've probably allowed more guns into the country than guns we've stopped," Jaquez said |
E. Coast Serial Rape Suspect: "What Took You So Long To Get Me?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Suspected serial rapist Aaron Thomas said he had a "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality when it came to women," prosecutor David Strollo said yesterday in New Haven, Ct., reports the Hartford Courant. Police say he climbed into the window of a woman's New Haven apartment in 2007 and raped her while her baby slept nearby. Thomas, 39, is a suspect in a doz en sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults in four states from 1997 to 2009. He was arrested Friday after police learned that DNA taken from a cigarette he tossed the day before matched that of the man police dubbed the "East Coast Rapist." When Thomas was apprehended, he asked, "What took you so long to get me?" Strollo said. His public defender, Joseph Lopez, told him to wear a hat and glasses in court to avoid any identification by victims in cases that do not involve DNA. Judge Bruce Thompson set bail at $1.5 million in cash. |
MI YouTube Child Porn Case Question: Were Children Abused? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Muskegon, Mi., is divided over the case of Evan Emory, 21, a singer and songwriter, who became a household name last month when he edited a video to make it appear that local elementary school children were listening to him sing a song with graphic sexual lyrics, reports the New York Times. He showed the video in a nightclub and posted it on YouTube. Prosecutor Tony Tague charged Emory with manufacturing and distributing child pornography, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Emory's supporters, including the almost 3,000 people who have "liked" a "Free Evan Emory" Facebook page, say the case is a vast overreaction to a prank gone astray, and a threat to free expression.. "I think they're making a very huge deal out of it ,and it's really not that big of a deal," said Holly Hawkins, 27, a waitress. "None of the kids were harmed in any way." Legal experts say the case underscores the evolving nature of the law when it comes to defining child pornography in the age of Facebook, YouTube, and sexting. With the rise of technology, said Carissa Hessick of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State, "now we have situations where people are being arrested and charged" in connection with digitally altered images, where no child was abused. |
No Compensation for 44 Wrongly Convicted In CA; Is Process a "Mess"? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forty-four Californians released from prison since 2000 have been denied compensation after a hearing before the state's victim compensation board, which can award $100 a day for each day spent behind bars after a wrongful conviction, reports California Watch. Of the 132 people who have filed claims since 2000, 11 former inmates have been awarded compensation, with payments ranging from $17,200 to $756,900, for a total cost to taxpayers of more than $3 million. Those who received compensation typically relied heavily on the testing of DNA evidence, which may not be as readily available to inmates who lack legal resources. "The whole process is a mess," said Jeff Chinn of the California Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal clinic at the California Western School of Law in San Diego that handles compensation claims on behalf of the wrongfully convicted. "Our clients are asked to prove things far beyond what is reasonable." The Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board must approve compensation claims before they are sent to the state Legislature for a final vote. Board officials say they analyze each case fairly and permit evidence that typically would not be considered in a criminal or civil trial, such as hearsay. |
New Baltimore Prosecutor May Eliminate Police-Misconduct Unit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the Baltimore Police Department faces one of its largest corruption scandals in history, the new city prosecutor is revamping the way prosecutors deal with police wrongdoing, reports the Baltimore Sun. Gregg Bernstein, who took office in January, is considering eliminating a decade-old division that is devoted to police misconduct cases. He has abolished a controversial list kept by his predecessor that banned certain officers from testifying at trial. Such moves appear contrary to national trends "in larger jurisdictions" like Baltimore, says Scott Burns of the National District Attorneys Association. Most cities have a separate prosecutor's unit to investigate criminal allegations against police, he said, and everyone keeps tabs on officers who might have credibility issues. "Whether by formal policy or by common sense, you try to make sure that person isn't the lead investigator on every case," Burns said. Law enforcement analysts said Bernstein's moves are likely to be geared toward preserving positive relations with police. Bernstein campaigned on a platform of better relations with law enforcement, which roundly endorsed him after years of butting heads with predecessor Patricia Jessamy, who wasn't shy about criticizing the department. Bernstein refused to be interviewed. |
Seattle Cop Training: Win Fights Quickly, Don't Shoot to Wound ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seattle cops aren't trained to fight fair, nor are they taught to shoot to wound, says a Seattle Police Department report on officers' use of force between 2006 and 2009, according to the Seattle Times. When officers find themselves in violent encounters, they're trained to win the fight quickly, said the report. Police use of force dropped 37 percent in the four-year period, from 872 incidents in 2006 to 549 in 2009. The four-year period covered in the report does not include a series of high-profile incidents between officers and minorities last year, including the ftal shooting of woodcarver John Williams. Those incidents prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a preliminary review of Seattle police practices. The Justice Department review, requested by the American Civil Liberties Union and 34 other community groups, is to include scrutiny of instances of alleged criminal civil-rights violations by individual officers as well as a "global" look at the department to determine whether, as the ACLU and others allege, there exists a "pattern and practice" of civil-rights violations by officers. |
Justices May Use NJ Case to Rule on Jail Strip Searches for Minor Crimes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Supreme Court may use the New Jersey case of Albert Florence to decide whether jails can order strip searches of people accused of minor offenses, says the New York Times. Florence was strip-searched twice while jailed on an erroneous charge of failing to pay a fine. Federal appellate courts are divided on whether blanket policies requiring jailhouse strip-searches of people arrested for minor crimes violate the Fourth Amendment. Eight courts have ruled that such searches are proper only if there is a reasonable suspicion that the arrested person has weapons or contraband. More recently, courts in Atlanta, San Francisco, and Philadelphia have allowed searches no matter how minor the charge. Some potential examples cited by dissenting judges in those cases: violating a leash law, driving without a license, failing to pay child support. Judges in Florence's case said they had been presented with no evidence that the searches were needed, but ruled that they would not second-guess corrections officials who said they feared that people like Florence would smuggle contraband into their jails. |
High Court Ruling May Allow More Convicts to Get DNA Evidence Tests ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Supreme Court pried open the courthouse door a crack for prisoners who after their convictions seek access to evidence for DNA testing, says NPR. By a 6-3 vote, the court ruled that prisoners have a right to use federal civil rights law to get such material. Texas leads the nation in the number of prisoners freed by DNA testing, with 41 DNA exonerations, but its state law imposes limits on such post-conviction testing. The Supreme Court's ruling yesterday allowed prisoners to challenge those limits in federal court. The court ruled in favor of Henry "Hank" Skinner, was 45 minutes away from execution last March when the high court granted a stay to hear his case. Outside Texas, barriers to inmate DNA testing have been tumbling down of late. Just last week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court invalidated a provision in that state's law that barred post-conviction testing in cases where the defendant had confessed. Prosecutors were dismayed by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Scott Burns of the National District Attorneys Association, says that "in the real world, people in prison have a lot of time on their hands" and "they now have an entire new avenue" to bring legal challenges. |
Obama to Resume Military Trials For Guantanamo Detainees ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ President Obama will resume military-commission trials for detainees at the Guantánamo Bay facility. The White House also said it remains committed to trying some terrorist suspects in federal courts, which that has met vehement bipartisan opposition in Congress, says the Christian Science Monitor. "I strongly believe that the American system of justice is a key part of our arsenal in the war against Al Qaeda and its affiliates, and we will continue to draw on all aspects of our justice system," Obama said. In restarting the military tribunal process after a two-year hiatus, the administration did not opt for a carbon copy of the process used under President Bush. The proceedings will not be able to use any information obtained via a process determined to be cruel or inhuman. Handling of classified information will be revamped. Obama issued an executive order setting up a review process for Guantánamo detainees who have yet to face a full tribunal or who are being detained indefinitely as military combatants. These moves mark "a substantial improvement over the status quo," said University of Texas law professor Robert Chesney. |
Feds Prosecuting Violent Mexican-Based Document-Fraud Ring ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When Israel Cruz Millan sensed that competitors were moving in on his thriving criminal enterprise, he stopped at nothing to protect the business, say federal prosecutors quoted by USA Today. A small army of enforcers allegedly carried out savage beatings of rivals, some of whom were bound and gagged prior to assaults that left at least one dead. The brutal conduct of Millan's operation bears the hallmarks of international drug and gun trafficking cartels. Prosecutors say Millan's group dealt in a much more benign product rarely linked to such startling violence: Phony identification cards. Millan and an accused top associate are due today in a Richmond, Va., federal court. The 28-year-old illegal immigrant, also known as "El Muerto" (The Dead One), is charged with managing a far-reaching document fraud business with cells in 19 cities and 11 states that funneled at least $1 million to its top leaders in Mexico. "We've never seen anything like this," said U.S. Attorney Neal MacBride, adding that the enterprise functioned in some ways like a "multinational corporation." |
Texas May Cut Prison Officials' Housing Perks In Budget Crisis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rick Thaler, who makes $133,301 as director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's prison division, lives in a state-owned, single-family house on prison grounds that costs him $75.65 a month, to help cover the cost of utilities, says the Austin American-Statesman. He is among more than 2,500 employees of Texas' corrections system who are getting free or discounted rent in state housing. Such housing is the costliest of several employee perks that range from use of the prison system's 11 employee-only swimming pools to free meals in prison mess halls to more than 2,100 state-issued cell phones to a $7-a-month haircut and laundry service provided by convicts for prison guards. Top prison officials say the housing program essentially breaks even, but the American-Statesman says it lost about $900,000 in 2010 - at a time when the agency, to save money, is laying off 400 employees and cutting inmate treatment and rehabilitation programs that could make prison operations even more costly. In recent days, prison employee perks have been targeted by legislative leaders, who say that, with the state facing the largest revenue shortfall in more than two decades, costly employee entitlements need to go. "We should be cutting perks, not people," said state Rep. Jerry Madden, who heads the House Corrections Committee. "Before one state employee is laid off, we need to look at cutting a lot of these perks - including the housing. |
Texas Balks At Adam Walsh Law Rules, Could Forfeit $2.2 Million ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Texas, with the nation's second-largest sex offender database (63,000 registered) is balking at federal Adam Walsh Act's requirements, citing unacceptably high costs of implementing the law's provisions, reports the Houston Chronicle. The legislature has not approved changes, saying the cost for Texas to comply would be $38.8 million, a significant amount with the state facing a budget crisis. After highly publicized showdowns with the federal government over Texas pollution-control efforts and education funding, the Walsh standoff is yet another issue in Gov. Rick Perry's ballyhooed war on Washington. If Texas does not comply with the federal mandate by July 26, the state will lose 10 percent of its federal funding under the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, which provides assistance to crime victims and witnesses. The penalty would amount to an estimated $2.2 million in 2012. The crux of the dispute that Texas' sexual offender registry is based on risk assessment; the federal law requires registration based on offenses committed. |
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Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Articles for 8 March 2011
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