Curiously Mosby is trying to get the two misdemeanor defendants (bicycle cops Nero and Miller) split up with one in each trial.  Possibly she’s looking for contradictions between the two officers to crop up – Or she’s racially seeking to colorize the trials…

(Via Baltimore Sun) Prosecutors on Friday urged a Baltimore judge to try six police officers charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray in the city, arguing that it’s too early to decide whether jurors here can be impartial.

Defense lawyers have asked for the trials to be moved elsewhere in Maryland, pointing to the high level of publicity the case has received. Deputy state’s attorney Janice Bledsoe left open the possibility that the case could still be moved if an impartial jury cannot be seated on the eve of trial.

“Until then, the court should not, as the defendants request, demeaningly prejudge the ability of Baltimore’s citizens to fulfill their traditional duty to impartially determine the facts of criminal cases happening within their city,” Bledsoe wrote.

[…]  Gray’s autopsy report, obtained by The Baltimore Sun, showed that he suffered a “high-energy injury” while being transported in the police van. A medical examiner ruled his death a homicide because police failed to follow proper procedures. (more…)

This is rich. While simultaneously saying the people of Baltimore are too stupid a mob to stop destroying their city, Mosby claims that it was imperative she remove the constitutional protections of the police department in order to save Baltimore; and people should be thanking her for sacrificing the police for the greater good of society.

(Baltimore Sun) State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s announcement of charges against six officers in connection with the arrest and death of Freddie Gray restored order to Baltimore “before the entire city became an armed camp or was burned to the ground,” her office argued in a new court filing.

Michael Schatzow, Mosby’s top deputy, asked a judge this week to deny a motion by attorneys for the officers asking that the charges against their clients be thrown out because of missteps they say Mosby made.

The defense lawyers argued that by publicly announcing the charges against the six officers involved in Gray’s April 12 arrest, Mosby unforgivably biased potential jurors against their clients.

But Schatzow said seeking to restore calm was a legitimate move.

“Speaking in the middle of an ongoing riot, Mrs. Mosby was trying to calm the crowd, not incite it,” Schatzow wrote. “Her repeated pleas for peace while the criminal justice system does its work served a legitimate law enforcement function.” (link)

This is one of those stories with multiple layers and angles for consideration embedded.

Summary:  Injured, innocuous (not black),  man wraps hand in towel and waves down a cop for help.  LAPD Cop gets out of vehicle shouting “put down the gun” (man never had gun) apparently anticipating a handgun under the towel.   Confused man unable to comply (man never had gun); without compliance cop draws weapon and shoots man four times, once in the head.  Now the man is really, really, injured – as the police roll him over in his blood (witness video) and handcuff him while waiting for ambulance.  Rushed to the hospital in critical condition – original hand injury now irrelevant to his bullet to head injury.

NBC Summary Here – Another Link HERE

(more…)

Waco Police refuse to provide public any information about the Twin Peaks shooting citing, in general, “ongoing investigation”.  Video, autopsies, forensic and ballistic information will likely be withheld until the trials of the arrested, perhaps several years away.

(Excerpts Via Waco Tribune) One month after the deadly May 17 shootout at Twin Peaks prompted the unprecedented mass arrests of 177 bikers, officials are releasing limited information and say disclosure of certain evidence, including videos of the incident, would compromise their investigation.

[…] Residents have called for police to release all videos of the shooting to the public in order to clear up conflicting tales about the events that transpired before and during the bloody melee. Waco police have declined, citing concerns that doing so would adversely affect their investigation.

Local officials sent the videos to the FBI for analysis. Swanton said the videos include images from at least one squad car dash camera, Twin Peaks restaurant surveillance cameras and a surveillance camera from the neighboring Don Carlos Mexican restaurant.

(more…)

A judge had given Mosby until June 26 to respond to three defense motions. In addition to the motion to remove her and her office from the case, defense attorneys have asked that the case be moved away from Baltimore and that it be dismissed because of “prosecutorial misconduct.” (link)

Baltimore’s Special State Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby’s office has responded to defense motion that she should be removed from prosecuting the Baltimore Six. (Full pdf motion below)

An astoundingly petulant, and ideologically-worded, rebuttal motion claiming the accused police officers and their attorneys distort facts in the hope “vitriol will trump logic.”

Notably absent, actually glaringly absent, from the motion is anything relating to a “rough ride” despite numerous references to the construct of negligence in reference to the transport of Freddie Gray.

This excerpt screams petulance -directed at a media audience- and is seriously lacking in any foundation toward the substance of the actual recusal motion itself: (more…)

Meh, I find myself uncomfortable with this. Mostly because we’re not particularly fond of the judicial system using optics and theatrics for public consumption. Such activity shows the growing influence of the Community Relations Service (CRS, Grande Lum) within the judiciary.

It was not a good thing when it was evidenced in Sanford/Orlando 2012/2013, it is not a good thing in Charleston 2015.

Matt Clendennen gives an account of what took place from his perspective:

*note* at 14:15 the issue of the previously discussed “Hold Harmless” agreement surfaces.

Hypocrisy, thy name is….

Today Marilyn Mosby filed a motion requesting a protective order over the evidence in the Freddie Gray case.   Specifically, she is seeking to block the defense attorney’s from publicly sharing the autopsy results.

Can you imagine her activist outrage if Saint Louis prosecutors hid Mike Brown’s autopsy?  Can you imagine her outrage if New York prosecutors hid Eric Garner’s autopsy?

According to the Baltimore Sun Mosby’s position is thusly described:

[…]  In a motion filed in Baltimore Circuit Court on Tuesday, Mosby’s office argued such an order is necessary because defense attorneys “have demonstrated a likelihood of publicizing discovery materials in a manner that may jeopardize the ability to conduct a fair and impartial trial.”

Mosby’s office asked for an expedited hearing to present its arguments for the order, as discovery is due in the case on June 26.

(more…)

The DOJ’s use of the IRS to target political groups opposed to President Obama’s fundamental change policies remains one of the biggest scandals ever in the history of U.S. politics.  Yet few within the national media have ever attempted to broadcast the story.

(Via Daily Caller) The Internal Revenue Service found 6,400 more Lois Lerner emails — but they’re not handing them over in court.  The IRS’ latest excuses are nothing short of infuriating.

Department of Justice lawyers Geoffrey J. Klimas and Stephanie Sasarak, acting as counsel for the IRS, submitted a U.S. District Court filing June 12 in the case Judicial Watch v. Internal Revenue Service.

The court filing, provided to The Daily Caller, claims the IRS received new Lerner emails from the Treasury Department’s inspector general (TIGTA) but can’t fork over the emails to Judicial Watch, a nonprofit group suing to get the emails. Why? Because the IRS is busy making sure that none of the emails are duplicates  – you know, so as not to waste anyone’s time. (more…)

We reported several days ago that Marvin Bakari was fundraising off the controversy at the McKinney “Craig Ranch” pool fiasco.  Marvin Bakari is the uncle of Dajerria Becton (15) and the father of Jahda Bakari (13), the “DimePieceCookout” girls.

The crowd funding site that Bakari chose to raise money for his racial grievances was/is “CrowdRise.Com“.  Bakari set up the donation fund, then quickly shut it down when we exposed the real motive of both his efforts and the party itself.  However, CrowdRise.Com did not block Bakari from using it, he cancelled it himself.

Now consider this: (more…)