The Maryland Appeals Court has stepped in to halt the trial against Officer Caesar Goodson on the day jury selection was scheduled to begin.   In an earlier appellate court ruling the forced testimony of accused police officer William Porter was blocked.  The State’s cases are falling apart due to inept legal application and ideological motives to prosecute.

Baltimore State Attorney Marilyn Mosby is now claiming without Porter’s testimony her cases against both Caesar Goodson and Alicia White will not stand:

[…] not being able to call Porter as a witness would “result in irreparable harm to the People of Maryland by effectively gutting their government’s prosecution” of two of the officers. (link)

On its face this is an absolutely absurd position.  (more…)

IOWA – Not long ago, Iowa’s Terry Branstad gained distinction as the longest-serving governor in U.S. history, pushing past the 20-year, 11-month mark with two years still remaining in his record-setting sixth term.

To call him an Iowa institution is a bit like saying they grow a lot of corn in the countryside, or that it gets cold in the winter.

Part of Branstad’s appeal is a studious anti-charisma. He is a dull speaker, conservative in a mainstream Republican manner and, while personally gracious, not the least bit dynamic. Think pressed turkey and mayonnaise on white bread. (more…)

Actor Sean Penn met with Sinaloa Cartel drug-kingpin El Chapo for an interview on behalf of Rolling Stone magazine; and the feds were tracking him – that’s how they caught El Chapo.

Who’s going to try and protect Sean Penn from the Sinoloa cartel retaliation now?

(more…)

Baltimore Six Trial Update – As many readers expected, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals Chief Judge Peter B. Krauser placed an immediate “stay” on an earlier ruling by Baltimore Judge Williams which was forcing officer William Porter to testify in the case against officer Caesar Goodson.

The higher court “stayed Judge William’s ruling”. That means the Williams order is temporarily suspended until the higher court can make a ruling determining if the decision violates Porter’s constitutional rights.

[…]  The order does not call for the trial of Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr. to be postponed as the matter is worked out. Jury selection is scheduled for Monday. (link)

Judge Williams was so far beyond wrong in his judicial decision, driven entirely by ideology, it is intensely doubtful the full appeals court would/will allow such an obvious violation of Porter’s fifth amendment right.

The Police Chief of Cologne Germany has been told to fall on his sword in an effort to avoid further awkward sunlight upon the political correctness of German officials.

GERMANY – […]  Police chief Wolfgang Albers, 60, was informed by state interior minister Ralf Jaeger that he would be given early retirement on Friday. He confirmed the news in a statement.

“As Cologne police chief I have always regarded my work as a service for the Cologne police and people of Cologne. And [that role] also means to take responsibility in difficult times,” Albers said.

“I accept the facts that in current discussions, officers and myself have come under fire. But police officers who were on duty near the Cologne railway station on New Year’s Eve do not deserve this criticism,” he added. (more…)

The suspect has now reportedly given a full confession, telling police he carried out the attack in the name of Islam. (link)

Mugshot – Edward Archer (30)

WEST PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Surveillance images of a man shooting and seriously injuring a Philadelphia police officer in an ambush late Thursday night have been obtained by ABC News.

The black-and-white images show the suspect, dressed in what sources say is Muslim garb and wearing a mask, approaching the driver’s side window of Officer Jesse Hartnett’s cruiser around 11:40 p.m.

One image shows the man pointing a gun at the officer’s vehicle, while another shows what appears to be the muzzle flash as he fires. (more…)

Well, we can put the entire question about whether Judge Barry Williams is an “activist judge” to rest.  This ruling is a direct contradiction to the 5th Amendment and an accused person’s right not to testify in trial.  The state cannot force a defendant to accept immunity.

Officer Porter’s trial ended in a “mistrial” (hung jury); as a consequence, the prosecution has announced their intent to re-try Porter later in the year which means any testimony he gives can/will be used against him at a later trial date; despite the judge saying the prosecution cannot use such testimony – it becomes impossible testimony to parse.

In addition the federal DOJ has previously announced their intentions to investigate/charge based on civil rights violations, so any testimony carries an additional overture of concern with future prosecution.

Judge Barry Williams says he finds himself in “uncharted territory”.  Really?  Not-so-much, the law is very clear on this matter.   It would not be surprising if an appellate court strikes down this judicial decision as clearly outside the bounds of legal authority.

(Via Baltimore Sun ) Baltimore Judge Barry G. Williams ordered that Officer William Porter be compelled to testify at the upcoming trial of a fellow Baltimore Police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray, a ruling Porter’s defense attorneys said they would immediately seek an injunction to block.

Williams said he found himself in “uncharted territory” as he granted Porter a type of immunity that allows his charges to stand but which precludes his testimony from being used against him. Attorneys and legal observers agreed that such a ruling against a co-defendant was a first in Maryland. (more…)

To many of us it might seem like bizarro world, but in Cologne Germany it appears the preferred method of dealing with hoards of Islamist “refugees” attacking the female population is to request the women citizens be more compliant and accepting of societal change… or something.

The female Mayor of Cologne, Hemriette Reker, obviously does not want to face the politically incorrect approach of enforcing laws to prevent the rapey tendencies of their Islamist guests. Preferring instead to address German women with behavioral instructions intended to provide a less offensive sexual assault experience.  Perhaps these instructions could best be considered “the Lara Logan Rules”….

(Via UK Independent) The Mayor of Cologne said today that women should adopt a “code of conduct” to prevent future assault at a crisis meeting following the sexual attack of women by 1000 men on New Year’s eve.

Mayor Henriette Reker attended an emergency meeting with Chief of Police Wolfgang Albers and Wolfgang Wurm to discuss how to deal with the attack, where dozens of women were repeatedly touched and groped, with one case of alleged rape in the center of town.

“It is important to prevent such incidents from ever happening again,” said Mayor Reker, as reported in German by RP Online. “We have heard by now that they [the attacks] have occurred in other cities. This of course is not comforting to us.”

Hamburg also received complaints of sexual assaults. (more…)

The FBI investigators in San Bernardino held a press conference today outlining their progress on Tracking the activity of the terrorists, Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik on December 2nd.

Within the presser the FBI are seeking help from anyone who can assist them in filling in an 18 minute time-gap from 12:59pm to 1:17pm on December 2nd (see video):

It is great news to hear the FBI have accounted for much of the critical three-and-a-half hours many of us have discussed consistently from the outset. From the presser and subsequent Q & A, the FBI detail a very specific geography of travel by the terrorists.

(more…)

FINALLY – Good Legal Advice – Officer Michael Slager did not waive his right to a speedy trial, he invoked it.

However, the Judge denied the request.  Judge Clifton Newman and Lead Prosecutor, Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, have just opened themselves up for increased scrutiny.  Smartly, Officer Michael Slager, through his attorney, requested his constitutional and legal right to a speedy trial be invoked.

According to a local media report Prosecutor Scarlett Wilson filed a 10 page motion to request the defendants’ right to a speedy trial be denied.  As many of you are familiar, when facing malicious and political prosecution the (almost guaranteed) tendency of the State is to delay the trial.  (more…)