With this decision, soon Massachusetts will see an underground business of “leverage enterprises” whose efforts will provide a criminal client with the best possible outcome through the use of social networking, social media and community pressure based on advertising, broadcasting, the juror’s duty..
The juror’s business and/or employment will be targeted.  Social, Civic Clubs, and Academic institutions can also be leveraged against the juror… Just watch…
WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP)– In a decision made Tuesday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the names of jurors who serve in criminal cases are to be available to the public.

The new ruling means that if you serve on a jury, your name will become public record by the end of the trial at the latest, but the decision that isn’t sitting well with everyone. (more…)

According to Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings, Hillary Clinton is eager to present herself for testimony to the Congressional Select Benghazi Committee. Obviously the Democrats  would prefer it to be ASAP -and- we predict within a few weeks you will see a shift in strategy which will put Gowdy solidly back on his heels and marginalize his position.
According to Trey Gowdy the State Department is hiding documents and blocking witness testimony – which he demands prior to interviewing Hillary Clinton.  The Democrats scoff at his claims saying bazillions of pages, hearings, testimonials, and documents have been provided.  Cummings is playing Chess, Gowdy is playing checkers.
The White House, the State Department, and the Democrats on the panel have a well-planned strategy to derail any political risk stemming from Benghazi; and even though I know many readers are fans of Gowdy, it appears he is being played like a finely tuned instrument.

This is one of those stories when we really wish we had been wrong in our 2013, 2014 research.  [Previously outlined HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE]

Over a year ago we brought you the story of Mr. Filippidis and his family, a Florida Driver who was pulled over by law enforcement in Maryland.  The traffic stop would have been typical except for the fact the responding officer demanded, at random, Mr. Filippidis’s firearm.
Mr. Filippidis did not have his legally owned -CCW permitted- hand gun, it was home in Florida.  Nor did Mr. Filippidis ever say he had a firearm – yet the officer was insistent Mr. Filippidis owned one, handcuffed Mr. Filippidis, and strip searched his vehicle on the side of the road.
Numerous Maryland state police arrived to assist in the search.  They found nothing, because Mr. F was telling the truth.   After two hours Mr. Filippidis and his family were allowed to continue their travels, but the entire process was unnerving.
Which prompted Mr. Filippidis to ask “how did a Maryland officer know I was a gun owner”?  Which led to a severely awkward litany of obfuscations and explanations from Maryland that did not make sense. (more…)

“He shouldn’t have gotten out of the car”, a phrase heard consistently in both the Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown shootings. In essence the argument being both citizen George Zimmerman and officer Darren Wilson held responsibility for the outcome because they exited their vehicle.
We have discussed this viewpoint as the “Safari Principle“, however now the Ferguson/Saint Louis police department is considering the argument -under the auspices of “tactical retreat”- as a standard policy.
SAINT LOUIS – Like many officers involved in deadly force encounters, Darren Wilson said his training took over when he shot Michael Brown in Ferguson.
But what if Wilson had been trained differently?
The national upheaval from Brown’s death, and some others since, has put enormous pressure on law enforcement to find ways to control people’s behavior while using less violence. One possibility — simple but repugnant to some officers — is to teach police to back away from certain difficult situations until help can arrive.
The concept is known as “tactical retreat” or sometimes “tactical withdrawal” or “tactical restraint.”
“We add the word, ‘tactical’ and not just ‘retreating’ or ‘giving up’ because that’s what makes it palatable for police officers,” explained Seth Stoughton, a criminal law professor at the University of South Carolina. The former Florida officer is a nationally prominent advocate for applying the softer approach. (more…)

Anyone else notice something missing?  Like calls for Sheldon Silver to resign…
New York – Albany is terrified and in disarray after Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s arrest, with lawmakers and insiders fearing he’ll turn on them to save himself.
“People are scratching their heads and saying, ‘What did I say the last time I spoke to Shelly?’ ” one veteran Albany lobbyist told The Post on Friday.
After Silver’s arrest Thursday, US Attorney Preet Bharara hinted at more to come, telling the public to “stay tuned.”
Now legislators are questioning why Silver’s closest Democratic colleagues, including Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle, have pledged support for him instead of calling for his resignation. (read more)

Meanwhile New York City Mayor, Bill DeBlasio, is trying to reword his support of Silver:

New York – Mayor de Blasio tried Friday to clarify his defense of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver as a “man of integrity.” (more…)

Obviously many people may find this alarming, however it is entirely predictable.
The entire construct of the “Scheme Team’s” objectives is to file civil (wrongful death) lawsuits. This is their version of justice, albeit financial justice. The filing of wrongful death lawsuits is the entire reason why the Daryl Parks and Benjamin Crump law firm exist, and the entire reason why they were called upon by Mike Brown’s parents, Lesley McSpadden and Mike Brown.

In order for Benjamin Crump, Daryl Parks, and in this case local attorney Anthony Gray, to get the leverage they need for financial judgment they first need to establish a position of implied wrongful death. Ben Crump calls this “first base”, and requires “an arrest” – not a conviction, just an arrest. The arrest establishes the “probable cause” basis for both a criminal trial, and, more importantly, civil litigation.
The “probable cause” is what they need. This is also why in both the Trayvon Martin shooting and the Mike Brown shooting the family asks for an arrest: “all we want is an arrest”. Without a preceding basis for an arrest the hurdles to gain a wrongful death civil reward are much higher. (more…)

This appears to stem from a July 2014 incident when Governor Cuomo cancelled a corruption commission that was finding corruption in his own administration.

(New York Times) Federal authorities are expected to arrest Sheldon Silver, the powerful speaker of the New York State Assembly, on corruption charges on Thursday, people with knowledge of the matter said, in a case that is likely to throw Albany into disarray.
The investigation that led to the expected charges against Mr. Silver, a Democrat from the Lower East Side of Manhattan who has served as speaker for more than two decades, began after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in March abruptly shut down an anticorruption commission he had created in 2013.
Details of the specific charges to be brought against Mr. Silver were unclear on Wednesday night, but one of the people with knowledge of the matter said they stemmed from payments that Mr. Silver received from a small law firm that specializes in seeking reductions of New York City real estate taxes. Mr. Silver failed to list the payments from the firm, Goldberg & Iryami, on his annual financial disclosure filings, as required. (read more)

This was a no-brainer for anyone who followed the case. As early as August 18th, just a week after the Mike Brown shooting (pictured below), both Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama knew there was no foundation for any charges against officer Wilson. They allowed the fiasco to continue for election benefits.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is taking the final steps toward closing the politically charged investigation into the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Mo., and clearing the white police officer involved of civil rights charges.

Federal prosecutors have begun work on a legal memo recommending no civil rights charges against the officer, Darren Wilson, law enforcement officials said.
That would close the case in the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. An investigation by the F.B.I., which is complete, found no evidence to support the charges against the officer, the officials said. (read more)

Saint Louis Missouri has encountered a massive spike in homicide violence since the Ferguson riots and protests began.  Last weekend 7 murders took place in a span of 24 hours, and this example below is reflective of how they are being reported.
However, something is just, well, there – visible, on the surface, yet not being discussed.  Take a look at this Daily Mail article and you’ll note the victim was shot twice, once in the chest and then again in the head.  It certainly sounds more like an execution within the motive.   And given the locale, along with the political/racial law enforcement sensitivities, well, you decide….
(Saint Louis) A man has been charged following the murder of a night manager at a Missouri hotel during a robbery attempt in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Scott Knopfel, 50, (far left) was shot in the head at the Drury Inn in St. Louis just before 3 a.m. after he struggled with his assailant while opening a cash drawer.
Joseph Bowens, 43, (left) has been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and two counts of armed criminal action.
Surveillance video shows Bowens, whom the manager mistook for a patron, enter the hotel and leave less than 30 seconds later.  He can be seen pulling out a handgun and vaulting a counter, then leaving the hotel in the same manner. (more…)

Prepare for the liberal outrage, screams of racism, and onslaught from the liberal media against law enforcement.
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (KMSP) –  UPDATE — Charges: Officers infiltrated Black Lives Matter meeting, were spit on by MOA protesters

Despite efforts to persuade Bloomington officials in favor of a different course, criminal charges have been filed against Black Lives Matter protesters who shut down part of the Mall of America (MOA) last month. (more…)