Right Juris

Now I know most of us have tried to order breakfast at McDonalds after 10:30 in the morning.  I understand how frustrating it is only to be told that they are now serving lunch and that I can’t get a McGriddle with eggs, sausage and cheese.  That being said I’ve never shot up the McDonalds when they told me I can’t get what I originally ordered.

At 2:00 am on Sunday, March 29, 2009 in Salt Lake City that’s exactly what happened.  The story, as reported on KSL.com, reported that three people pulled up to the McDonalds early Sunday morning and wanted to order from the dinner menu.  When they were informed they could only order breakfast the following occurred:

“Police say two men then got out of the car and one pulled a sawed-off shotgun from the trunk, shooting into the drive-thru window once or twice, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Monday. No one was injured.”

Usually it’s a good thing that breakfast was available because that’s about the only time I go to McDonald’s, but not for these guys.  I guess these guys really wanted that Quarter Pounder with cheese and they were not taking “no” for an answer.  I know I’ve never wanted anything from McDonald’s badly enough to commit a second degree felony, punishable up to fifteen years in prison, but that’s just me.  I wonder how these guys will react in prison when they are told they don’t have a choice for lunch.  Maybe these guys should have gone to Sonic Drive-In because I KNOW they serve a full menu all day.

Looks like these guys had a pretty busy night.  KSL is reporting that another shooting may be related to the McDonald’s incident.

The Manson Family is in the news again today. The California Department of Corrections has released an updated prison photo of Charles Manson and apparently the family members are longing for freedom. Read about it below and see the new mugshot and videos.

Charles Manson Mugshots

Its been 40 years since the notorious Mason Family went on a murdering rampage in California. The hippie cult ‘family’ set up a base camp on the Spahn Ranch in Inyo County, California. Their story is steeped in the drugs, sex and rock and roll of the 1960s and culminates in the viscous murders of actress Sharon Tate, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time and her four house guests at the time as well as wealthy grocery store owner Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary LaBianca. The murders were grotesque and horrific.

Charles Manson and four of his followers were convicted of the murders. Manson is now 74-years-old. His imprisoned followers are Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkle, Charles ‘Tex’ Watson and Leslie Van Houten. The group were initially sentenced to death, but when California overturned the death penalty, their sentences were commuted to life in prison.

A report on CNN today states that the four Manson Family members are longing for freedom. Susan Atkins has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She has applied for and been denied ‘compassionate release’ in light of the fact that she is dying. Charles ‘Tex’ Watson has gotten religion. Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkle have remained friends in prison and have been described as ‘model prisoners. All of them have distanced themselves from the unrepentant and bizarre Charlie Manson. The general argument for their release seems to be that they have all been in prison for 40 years and its time to let them out and let them have the remainder of their lives outside of the prison walls.

Unfortunately for society, the horror of the crimes these people committed have faded into the past and are historic for anyone under 40 years old. Unfortunately for the murderers and fortunately for society, there are still plenty of family members of their victims intent on attending every parole hearing and fighting to keep them in prison. The time that has passed since their crimes hasn’t changed the facts of their crimes, the lives they took and the character flaws that made it possible for them to exhibit absolutely no empathy for their victims … including the unborn baby.

The Manson Family long for freedom? Sharon Tate begged for her life and the life of her baby. Her pleas were met with mocking from her murderers. The longing of the fed, housed, educated and protected Manson Family members is of no interest. Their victims need to be allowed to rest in peace. The children they spawned need to be left alone and allowed to have a chance at a normal life without the stigma of being Manson children. Society has enough problems without these people being released into the population.

They have lived and need to die in jail.

Video

Vince Shlomi is also known as Vince Offer but is best known as the ShamWow! guy. Now he’s known as the guy who beat up a prostitute for biting his tongue. See both his and the prostitute’s mugshots here and videos.

Vince Shlomi: ShamWow! Guy Mugshot

Everybody knows Vince Shlomi as the ShamWow guy. He’s the one with the mic around his neck who sells those ShamWow! towels and SlapChop food chopper. There was Billy Mays and then there was Vince the ShamWow! Guy.

The Smoking Gun is reporting the Vince was arrested on February 7, 2009 in Miami for beating a prostitute, Sasha Harris. Apparently, he doesn’t sell himself quite as well as his towels do.

As you can tell from his mugshot, he didn’t escape the altercation without a few injuries himself.

Shlomi told cops he paid [Sasha] Harris about $1000 in cash after she “propositioned him for straight sex.” Shlomi said that when he kissed Harris, she suddenly “bit his tongue and would not let go.” Shlomi then punched Harris several times until she released his tongue. The affidavit…notes that during the 4 AM fight Harris sustained facial fractures and lacerations all over her face…. After freeing his tongue, a bleeding Shlomi ran to the [hotel] lobby, where security summoned cops. Harris refused to cooperate with officers, who recovered $930 from her purse.

The police report says they both smelled strongly of alcohol. Ya think? Both 44-year-old Vince Shlomi (aka Vince Offer) and 26-year-old Sasha Harris were arrested (you can see her mugshot below). The police declined to press formal charges against Vince. But now Sasha is considering filing a lawsuit against him. I think she might have a way to go to get anything out of her lawsuit considering she started the altercation by biting his tongue.

Just ewwww.

Mugshot, Photos and Video

I am of the opinion that there is a special place reserved in Hell for those who produce or distribute child pornography.  There is nothing more revolting or heinous than those who exploit children in such a manner.  I have no problem locking up people, if you can call them that, in prison for life.  No problem at all.  I think up to this point 99.9% of society is on the same page.  Adults who deal in child pornography are scum.  So what happens if the offenders are children?

Prosecutors in Passaic County, New Jersey, have charged a 14 year old girl with child pornography for posting approximately 30 nude photos of herself.  The story, posted on  NBCNewYork.com states:

If she is convicted, she would have to register with the state as a sex offender under Megan’s Law.

The laws generally require governments to alert neighbors of convicted sexual predators in their midst.

The teen was charged with one count each of possession and distribution of child pornography. Police remanded her into her mother’s custody.   

Similar cases of teens being prosecuted for sending explicit photos of themselves to friends via text messages are occurring throughout the nation.  In all of these cases the same questions arise.  What is the appropriate level of punishment for such behavior?  Should the state bring felony charges against the child for taking nude pictures of herself?  Should the child be required to register as a sex offender under “Megan’s Law”?  Should the state prosecute the parents for allowing their children to engage in such behavior?  Should MySpace be prosecuted for hosting such pictures?  Should all of this child’s “friends” who clicked on the pictures be prosecuted?  Should this child be forced to register as a sex-offender for the rest of her life?

Legally speaking it appears that the prosecutors are well within their rights to bring such charges.  They can only attempt to enforce the laws that are on the books.  The problem is that these laws, which are intended to protect children from sexual predators and pedophiles, are now being used to prosecute children for being stupid.  It appears that these crimes fall under the strict liability umbrella in which intent to commit a criminal act is not an element which the prosecution is required to prove.  Proving the simple act of possession of child pornography is enough for a prosecutor to secure a conviction.

This issue is an ever growing problem in the United States.  Megan’s Law was enacted in order to protect children from vicious predators who seek to harm them.  The prosecution can only work with the laws on the books.  Do I think that these kids need to be punished.  Absolutely.  Do I think that they should be required to register as a sexual predator for the rest of their lives?  Not at all.  What is needed in these types of cases where it is a minor sending these types of pictures is to allow prosecutors some discretion in how these cases are prosecuted.  The judges also need to be able to determine the appropriate punishment when it is children committing these crimes.  It is up to the various state legislatures to write statutes which would punish such behavior but allow some common sense into these types of prosecutions.

It appears that Michael Skakel, who is related to John and Edward Kennedy, is seeking a new trial to over turn the murder conviction of his 15 year old neighbor, Martha Moxley in 1975. According to Reuters Kennedy is seeking to

throw out his conviction based on information from former classmate Gitano “Tony” Bryant, who implicated two other men in a case that until 2002 lay unsolved for more than a quarter of a century . . .

“Bryant admitted to being at the scene in Belle Haven on the night of the murder, he admitted to handing the golf clubs, he admitted to having conversations with his two friends from New York — Hasbrouck and Tinsley — and he put himself right in the mix of the murder,” Skakel attorney Hubert Santos told the court.

In 2002 Skakel was convicted of beating the 15 year old girl, whom prosecutors claim he was romantically involved, with a golf club. This earned him a prison sentence of 20 years to life. I remember at the time this was viewed almost as a “comeuppins” for the Kennedys and was featured on CourtTV.

Many felt that this family of privilege had gotten away with to much and that Skakel, in some sense, was going to pay for the sins of the family. From a strictly legal point of view I think that this is harsh, but unfortunately it is a common worry lawyers have about jurors. Jurors rarely rely solely on the facts and the evidence presented. I had a law professor in law school who used to refer to the jury as the “12 bales of hay.” In many ways this is probably an accurate description. If the jurors were clouded at all by the Kennedy mystique, it could have ultimately clouded their judgment, however we’ll never know. Overall, due to the tough “reasonable doubt” standard, getting convictions is not an easy thing to do. Do innocent men get convicted? Yes, sometimes. However, I think it happens very rarely and that many more guilty men walk free then innocent men get convicted.

Here is a very good video that explains the timeline and events of the murder. No matter what happened, its a tragedy when young children die.

Video

David R. Olofson has been sentenced to 30 months in jail for having a gun that misfired. This gross miscarriage of justice feeds into the fears of many Americans that the second amendment is in danger. Read about it below, see a photo and video.

David R. Olofson

David R. Olofson is not only a law abiding citizen, he’s never been arrested or convicted of a crime. He’s also a American military veteran and Wisconsin Army Reservist drill instructor. There is nothing in Olofson’s past that would identify him as a target to be singled out for intimidation through prosecution. And yet, he has been and because of that is becoming a poster boy in the war against our second amendment rights.

The problem started when Olofson allowed a man he had been instructing on the gun use to borrow his Olympic Arms AR-15 for target practice. His student, Robert Kiernicki, fired about 120 rounds at the shooting range. When he loaded another magazine the rifle shoot three shots in concession and then jammed. I’m not quite sure how that drew the attention of the Office of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, but it did. From that point, Olofson was under investigation for illegally transferring a machine gun, the crime for which he was eventually convicted by the the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

There were no modifications on Olofson’s rifle, an Olympic Arms AR-15, and there had been a recall on it years earlier because of a mechanical flaw that would cause repeated firing if parts were worn down or certain ammunition was used. Federal agents seized the gun and repeatedly tested it. They concluded that it was ‘just a rifle’. Still,

Apparently, having a 20 year old gun that misfires constitutes having an automatic weapon. Who knew!?

Read the rest of this entry and see the video