#Three Persons Charged Drug Warrant

[beardedmrbean]

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - An Orange County gang allegedly linked to three deaths through the selling of fentanyl disguised as prescription pills has been dismantled.

"Operation Dirty 30s" – named after the fentanyl pills pressed to look like 30-milligram oxycodone pills – was brought to a conclusion last week after an Orange County grand jury handed down indictments for 11 defendants involved in a local street gang known as "Respect, Money Structure/Everybody Killer" or "RMS/EBK." State Attorney Andrew Bain announced this in a press conference Wednesday alongside Assistant State Attorney and Narcotics Chief Anne Wedge-McMillen and Orange County Sheriff's Office Deputy Chief Carlos Torres.

"The grand jury returning a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) indictment is significant because RICO laws allow us to dismantle criminal organizations by targeting the individual crimes and the entire structure that supports and perpetuates them," Bain said. "We can hold those directly involved accountable, pursue harsher penalties through sentencing and disrupt the networks fueling these illegal activities that harm our community."

All 11 defendants were are in custody as of Wednesday on felony charges ranging from death caused by the unlawful distribution of fentanyl and racketeering to illegal firearm sales and attempted burglary. Ten were already behind bars, and the final defendant was taken into custody Wednesday after an Orange County judge issued an arrest warrant. Most of the defendants are in their mid 20s or early 30s, with the youngest being 19 years old.

A breakdown of all defendants and their charges can be found at the bottom of this page.

"RMS/EBK" was established about seven years ago. "Operation Dirty 30s," however, didn't begin until the fall of 2023, after Orange County deputies arrested a woman for trafficking over 28 grams of fentanyl, Torres said. Her arrest led to higher members of a drug organization, and when someone died last September after buying drugs through this group, an investigation was launched.

It was during this investigation that the Orange County Sheriff's Office learned the Orlando Police Department was also looking into members of this organization, so they joined forces and "Operation Dirty 30s" was born.

Throughout the operation, officials said they discovered that three fentanyl-related deaths were "directly" caused by the gang's illegal activity. The victims were identified as Carlos Pena, Noah Polanco and Samuel Fredrick.

"Not a single person here knew that they were buying fentanyl and not a single person here had any desire to die," Wedge-McMillen said.

The narcotics chief added that the defendants sold fentanyl and guns – some of which were stolen and most of which were illegal – to undercover agents.

"When these drug trafficking organizations sell deadly fentanyl disguised as oxycodone, they know it's likely going to create a death, an overdose. But they don't care," Torres said.

Other details, like how many guns, the amount of drugs and how much money was changing hands between gang members, were not immediately made available on Wednesday as officials cited the ongoing and active investigation.

‘Operation Dirty 30s’ defendants, charges

Below is a breakdown of the defendants and their charges included in the indictment:

CLICK HERE

[mariacallous]

In March, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of complicity in the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children (a war crime). According to Lvova-Belova herself, 700,000 Ukrainian children have been transported to Russia since February 2022, including 1,500 who allegedly ended up in orphanages. Media reports indicate others have been placed in foster homes or been “adopted” into Russian families. In a new investigation, the independent outlet iStories identified several Ukrainian children being held in Russian orphanages and uncovered how they’re being “reeducated” and taught the “patriotic values” of their “new homeland.” Meduza is publishing an English-language version of the story.

A new homeland

Valeria stands on the stage of an orphanage in Nizhny Novgorod, dressed in a traditional Russian folk costume. She’s performing for a Russian Unity Day celebration. “We are [one] people, and we are united — together we are invincible!” she recites. The teachers praise her and the other children for their “good knowledge of the history of the big and little Homeland.”

Valeria’s homeland is Ukraine. She, her siblings, and other orphaned children were taken from the occupied Donetsk region following Russia’s full-scale invasion. Their profiles are included in Russia’s federal orphan database, where Russians can look for children to foster or adopt. iStories estimates that by summer 2023, there may have been nearly 2,500 orphaned and unaccompanied Ukrainian children in this database. All of them, like Valeria, are taught to love their “new homeland.”

In February, a year after Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Naryshkino orphanage solemnly unveiled a memorial plaque in honor of one of its graduates: Ramis Isaenko. In fall 2022, he enlisted in Wagner Group from a prison where he was serving out a sentence. Two months later, he died in Ukraine. “He fought for the freedom of the ‘LNR’ [the self-proclaimed ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’] and died a brave death on the battlefield, showing courage and valor,” the plaque reads. It makes no mention of his criminal history.

Isaenko had three convictions: for stealing, buying drugs, and failing to pay alimony. He first went to prison in 2017, on drug charges. In 2020, he tried to steal from a store and got a suspended sentence, but six months later he was back on trial for a series of car battery thefts. Isaenko was given four years in a high-security prison. After his death, his record was expunged due to “pardon and death.” Isaenko was already a combat veteran when he received his first conviction. By the second, he was under the care of an addiction specialist and seeing a psychologist for “disturbing changes in personality.”

While Isaenko was at war in Ukraine, nearly 60 children from the Donetsk region were brought to his orphanage. A few months later, they took part in the unveiling ceremony for his memorial plaque — a plaque honoring a man who fought against their country.

At the Naryshkino orphanage, great attention is paid to patriotic education. The children regularly meet with a Soviet–Afghan War veteran turned priest, who tells them about “true patriotism” and “the feats of the holy defenders of Rus’” whom “the Lord called to service.” The students dedicated a “hero’s desk” to a graduate who died in Afghanistan, celebrated Russian Flag Day, met officials from the Russian Federal Protective Service, Interior Ministry, Prosecutor’s Office, and Federal Security Service (FSB). Children who have suffered through the devastation of Russian aggression were made celebrate “Reunification Day” (a new holiday marking Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territories) and listen to stories from active military personnel (orphanage alumni) about their “feats” in the war against Ukraine.

iStories identified seven children at the school who’d been taken from the Donetsk region and attended these “patriotic” events. They’re all listed in the Russian federal orphan database. One of them was ceremoniously given a Russian passport on their 14th birthday.

In October, the Naryshkino orphanage was under threat of closure. The staff appealed to Putin with a request to save the institution. “We currently house children brought from the Donetsk People’s Republic. These children have been so united by a common tragedy and constant relocations that they live as one big family, helping and caring for each other as if they were real brothers and sisters. Moreover, many of them are indeed blood relatives,” the petition read.

The management forwarded questions about the orphanage’s closure and the fate of the children to the regional education department. At this writing, there was still no response.

A new family

In October 2022, at least nine new pupils from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine arrived at the Trajectory Center, an orphanage primarily for children with special needs. At the center, students write letters of encouragement to soldiers fighting in the “special military operation.” Some of these letters read, “Our dear heroes, defenders, we’re proud of you! Thank you for your courage. There’s nothing stronger than the heart of a soldier! The strength and spirit of the Russian people is with you!”

iStories was able to identify three of the children at the Trajectory Center taken from Ukraine’s Donetsk region. All of them are up for adoption, not just guardianship. Unlike guardians, adoptive parents receive the same rights as biological parents and can change the child’s name and personal information. It would be extremely difficult for relatives to get deported children back if they’ve been adopted.

Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova has repeatedly emphasized that Russians cannot adopt children from annexed territories. (Although she herself “adopted” a teenager from Mariupol.) It’s unclear why children taken to Trajectory are up for adoption; the center told iStories that some of them were placed under guardianship.

The center teaches the deported children to be true “patriots.” The director, Dmitry Batishchev, also heads the regional branch of the pro-war “We don’t abandon our own” movement. The children help weave camouflage nets, make trench candles, and collect socks and balaclavas, all of which the movement sends to Russian military personnel. They also send video messages to the soldiers thanking them for their service, wishing them victory, telling them the “truth” is on their side, and praising Russia as a bastion of “hope, compassion, military valor, and honor.”

Russian authorities don’t believe these kinds of activities are harmful to children who were taken from occupied territories. On the contrary, Lvova-Belova says that “it’s important to understand that the ‘DNR’ and ‘LNR’ territories have been shelled by the Ukrainian army for many years, and most of the orphaned children from the republics’ social institutions are aware of this.” According to her, “the children don’t see Russia as an enemy: they expect protection and assistance from it, so being placed in safe Russian [adoptive and foster] families isn’t a traumatic experience for them.”

[truecrimetime]

The Murder of Kristin Smart

On May 25, 1996, Kristin Smart attended a fellow Cal Poly University student's off-campus party. At approximately 2 a.m. she was found passed out in a neighbor's lawn and two students began to help walk her to her dorm room. While on the way, a third student, by the name of Paul Flores joined them and told them hat since his own dorm was in such a close proximity to Smart's, he would take her the rest of the way on his own. Unfortunately, Smart was never seen again.

The University Police Department had originally suspected that Smart had gone on vacation unannounced, as that was common among students over the holidays, and as a result of this, were slow in reporting her as a missing person to local law enforcement. Despite her family calling the police, Smart was only reported missing a week later.

During the Laci Peterson murder investigation, there was rumors in the media that Laci's husband, Scott Peterson, had something to do with Smart's disappearance because of their simultaneous attendance at the Cal Poly campus. Although there was initially a brief inquiry into whether Peterson was responsible for the disappearance, with Peterson himself denying any involvement, and he was eventually ruled out as a suspect by police.

Smart's body was never discovered, but an earring that may have belonged to her was found by a tenant at the former residence of Paul Flores's mother. The earring was not marked as evidence and had been lost by the police. From 1996 to 2007, multiple searches for her remains and other pertinent evidence were conducted, including searches of the properties owned by the Flores family, but no useful leads were found for nearly two decades.

On September 6, 2016, officials from the San Luis Obispo County Sherriff's Office announced that they were investigating a new lead in the case. Cadaver dogs from the FBI were brought in and investigators prepared to excavate an area on the Cal Poly campus. After three days, items were found at all three dig sites located on the same hillside near Smart's dorm. A spokesman for the sheriff's office said, "The items are being analyzed to see whether they are connected to the case, which could take days, weeks, or months."

On April 20, 2021, the prosecutor announced that they believed Smart's body had been buried beneath the deck of Ruben Flores's home, but had recently been removed. Biological evidence was found by using ground penetrating radar and cadaver dogs.

On April 22, 2020, the Los Angeles Times had reported that a search warrant was served at the home of Paul Flores in San Pedro, California. The Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department assisted detectives from San Luis Obispo County Sherriff's Department in the search. It was then reported that numerous "items of interest" were found during the search. Among these items were date rape drugs and homemade videos showing Flores in acts of sodomizing and raping young women.

On April 13, 2021, Paul Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, were taken into custody by the San Luis Obispo Sherriff's Department in relation to the case. Paul Flores was charged with murder and Ruben Flores was charged with being an accessory. Later, investigators had concluded that Paul Flores attempted to rape Smart but Dan Dow, the District Attorney of San Luis Obispo stated that the statue of limitations had expired on a sexual assault charge, but murder committed in the course of rape or attempted rape justified first-degree felony murder charges. In September 2021, a judge rules that there was sufficient evidence of guilt for the case to proceed to trial.

On April 25, 2022, the trial was set to begin, but was delayed, as a change of venue motion by the defense was granted on March 30, 2022. The case was then moved to Monterey County, where it was heard by Judge Jennifer O'Keefe. On June 6 and 7, 2022, pretrial motions were heard, with some ruled upon and other rulings deferred. Over 1,500 jury summonses were sent to County residents. Jury selection began on June 13, and opening arguments began on July 18.

On October 18, 2022, the separate juries that were hearing the case simultaneously at the Monterey County Courthouse found Paul Flores guilty of first-degree murder and father Ruben Flores not guilty of accessory after the fact.

[nighthazerpg]

Patch Roundup: July 2nd

It’s been a while! I’ve been busy! I have a new animation!

I fixed the problems I was having with the theme so now the description displays the correct version number!

✨ New ✨ Company Scrip! It's money, but worse! Each of the three megacorps issues their own form of internal currency (Sunrise Stars for Dawnray, ClearCredits for Cleartech, Advent Points for ASC) that you can only spend with that company. Make no bones about it, a contract that pays out in scrip sucks. It is a bad contract from a client who thinks you're a chump. But sometimes you're in situations where that's all you can get. It also doesn't work if your Credit Score is too high and you can't buy illegal stuff with it!

Scrip can be traded on the black market - if you roll well, you can trade different kinds of scrip on a 1:1 basis (at the cost of a Barter slot), but the best you can generally get in real money is about a third (0.3kB per 1 scrip) of the face value of your scrip, because nobody really wants to buy Itchy and Scratchy Dollars unless they're in a weird situation.

Lowered the thresholds for "expensive" and "very expensive" difficulty modifiers for Item Selling in line with the general deflation of item prices.

Shield Pack changes: Instead of having two "charges" and four "hits", these have been combined into 8 charges - so you're only tracking one number. Toggling the shield on and off is free and charges are consumed when the shield takes damage. This removes some of the ambiguity over "what happens if I put a partially damaged shield away" - some Operators could interpret that as the charge being spent, some might refund it. So depending on your Operator, this could be either a buff or a nerf. The shield also now has a defined height!

You can now use AI training to produce outputs with a GUMBaLL unit - everything from a chatbot to a virtual video call. This basically works like an illusion - the successes on your roll is how difficult it is to spot the fakery.

The ASGARD Project background now has the added ability to spot this stuff right away.

New Phone app: Consorrt is an AI waifu that can pass for a conversation with a real person... temporarily. A bit like the GUMBaLL powered output function, except in exchange for not setting it up yourself, it's Connected.

Added some flavour text to the Hybrid Heritages because it's kind of warranted, especially for things like Meergrifs which I just made up from whole cloth

New: Social Media apps! Chirrp has been scrapped in favour of six whole entire new ones. They do nothing, it's just flavour. Except...

Added new sub-options for the Addiction trait for Gambling and Social Media! Since these aren't drugs that can stress your system, these are represented by requiring you to have specific apps on your phone, and either raising your Credit Score every month, or eating one of your crafting slots at random and denting your Concentration. I'm not 100% happy with these mechanics but I don't feel too bad just dropping them live because these are sub-options of an optional trait with no benefit. How these work may get another draft when it's not 3am.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"FINED AS SAUSAGES LACKED ENOUGH MEAT," Toronto Star. March 7, 1934. Page 3. --- M. T. Ballantyne Pays $35 and Costs for Breach of Food Act --- Following a plea of guilty to a breach of the Food and Drug Act by failing to put sufficient meat in sausages to conform to the act, M. T.Ballantyne was fine $35 and costs er in the alternative 10 days in jail when he appeared in women's court to-day. No defence was offered.

Convicted of a charge of keeping a disorderly house, Mary Bourne was remanded for sentence in custody til March 14.

When Cecilia Smith failed to appear to answer a charge of securing goods from a department store by false pretences, a bench warrant was issued for her arrest by Magistrate Patterson, who expressed indignation at persons who have been ordered by summons to appear at court failing to do so.

"The money has been paid into the court," pleaded defence counsel, explaining that the charge had arisen when no funds were available to meet cheque issued by accused, who was ordered to attend today after her case had been previously remanded.

"I am getting tired of these people who never pay these amounts until after they are summoned and then expect consideration," her worship remarked, ordering the warrant Issued.

"This is positively your last chance. If you again, come before me you will go down for a substantial jail term." Magistrate Patterson warned Joe Franko, who was last week convicted of keeping a disorderly house and who appeared for sentence to-day. Franko was granted a remand for sentence with a $200 hand to insure his probation for one year.

"If you have a job to go to, as your counsel asserts, you had better get to work and support your family and there is to be absolutely no renting of rooms," her worship added. Franko signed the bond.

Charges Theft of $150 Pleading not guilty to theft of $150 in money from Mary Capasko, who laid the charge. Mary Pankin. through her counsel, elected trial by jury and was accorded a preliminary hearing.

The complainant, speaking through the court interpreter, Alex. Markowitz, testified that she had been in this country for three years, having come from Poland. She said she had been introduced to Mrs. Pankin by the latter's husband.

"I had $150 that my boy friend gave me," she swore, "and about one month ago I was taken to hospital. I was living at the same place as the accused woman and I put my money in my trunk which was left at that house."

She admitted that she left the amount in the care of Mrs. Pankin when she was removed to hospital and she claimed that when she requested its return after her arrival home, accused had refused to relinquish it.

"I will not give you the money. What are you going to do to me?" she quoted accused as saying.

"Did you owe her any money?" inquired Crown Attorney J. w. McFadden, K.��.

"No, all my rent was paid up," declared witness. Upon completion of the evidence submitted by the complainant, the bench committed Mrs. Pankin for trial and cash bail of $500 was accepted as security.

Must Forget Girl Herbert Philpott, convicted of assault last week, received a warning from the bench when he was bound over in a $200 bond to keep the peace towards complainant, a former friend, who testified that Philpott had struck her when she resented his continued attentions after she had sought to break up their friendship.

"This man, who is not working, has been making himself a perfect nuisance to a girl who is employed," the bench affirmed, and told Philpott that a severe sentence would be imposed if he broke the terms of his probation. Bonds of $200 were provided on behalf of Philpott.

Neighborly Scrap Gray-haired Isaac Titlebaum accused his neighbor, Sarah Swartz, of assaulting himself and his wife in their own house, but contradictory evidence as to what occurred was submitted by the two principals.

"She came running into my house from her place next door and she jumped over and hit my wife first and then hit me," Titlebaum told the court through an interpreter, and his evidence was contradicted by a witness, who claimed to have been sitting in the room when the affair occurred.

"I went in and asked them why he hit my little child, and then he grabbed me by the hair and hit me," Mrs. Swartz maintained. Her daughter, too young to take the oath, substantiated this, claiming that Titlebaum had struck her.

"I think both parties had better keep the peace. Mrs. Swartz, you must keep out of this house, and Mr. Titlebaum, you had better refrain from bothering these children. If they bother you, go to the juvenile court," her worship said.

Hit Telephone Pole "He hit me, sir, at half past eight last Thursday night, at his own door." Thus John Lezar explained why he was accusing Dick Mozy of common assault, but when the crown Intimated that further information was necessary, Lezar proceeded to enlarge on the terse description.

"I went to his house, where I used to live, to get a spoon I left there. and I waited outside when he said he would get it. All at once he came out, pulled me inside the door and hit me. He had a closed knife in his hand and hit me on the head and cut my forehead."

While Lezar testified, Mozy sat shaking his head vigorously in denial and when called to the stand. stated that he was employed during the summer on the farm of Premier George S. Henry.

"But did you hit this man?" asked his counsel. "Just with my hands." replied accused. "We had a scrap. He was hitting me and I was hitting him. Then he started to run and he ran into a telephone pole."

This explained the cut which Le far maintained he suffered at the hands of Mozy. It was complain- ant's turn to shake his head as defence evidence was submitted to the effect that he was the one who started the fight.

Her worship disposed of the case by binding accused in the sum of $50 to keep the peace for one year.

Too Much Excitement In the early hours of the morning of March 1, Jake Gross pushed her in such a way that she fell over the doorstep on to the veranda, declared Mrs. Lily Lipovitch, when Gross was charged with assault, but Gross maintained that the woman fainted.

"And why did she faint?" Mr. McFadden wished to know. "Oh, I guess it was too much excitement and too much swearing." replied Gross, who explained that his uncle, a tenant of the same house as complainant on McCaul St., had requested him to assist him in moving his household belongings after he had returned from work.

"Why the parade?" inquired Mr. McFadden as witness after witness filed to the box to support complainant's evidence, though none would swear they saw the actual assault.

Gross declared that Mrs. Lipovitch had interfered with him by cries loudly as he worked at removing furniture. "I did not push her," he declared. "She was simply causing a disturbance in the early hours of the morning, and I wanted her to stop.

Magistrate Patterson bound Gross over with a $50 bond to keep the peace towards complainant.

[masterofd1saster]

CJ court watch 20jun24

SCt decided three cases of interest on 20jun24.

Diaz v. United States, 602 U. S. __ (2024) was a 6-3 decision on expert opinion evidence. The parties framed the issue as an opinion on drug smugglers' state of mind. It's really best understood as an opinion on cartel operations. Delilah Diaz was caught smuggling 54 pounds of meth in a car.

She had a lame, implausible cover story. The government called Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Andrew Flood at trial to testify

that “in most circumstances, the driver knows they are hired . . . to take the drugs from point A to point B.” App. to Pet. for Cert. 15a. To use an unknowing courier, Agent Flood explained, would expose the drug-trafficking organization to substantial risk. The organization could not guarantee where, if at all, the drugs would arrive. Id., at 16a, 26a. Even if the drugs reached the intended destination, the organization would then have to retrieve the drugs without detection. Id., at 16a, 24a–25a. According to Agent Flood, drug-trafficking organizations are often unwilling to take those chances with hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. Agent Flood acknowledged on cross-examination that drug-trafficking organizations sometimes use unknowing couriers.

Federal Rule of Evidence 704(b) says

“EXCEPTION: In a criminal case, an expert witness must not state an opinion about whether the defendant did or did not have a mental state or condition that constitutes an element of the crime charged or of a defense. Those matters are for the trier of fact alone.”

Because Flood didn't testify about Diaz specifically, his testimony did not violate Rule 704.

The court's break down was interesting. J. Gorsuch joined the dissenters. J. Jackson joined the majority.

***

Chiaverini v. City of Napoleon, 602 U. S. __ (2024) was another 6-3 decision with another interesting ideological break down.

JUSTICE KAGAN delivered the opinion of the Court. This case involves what is often called a Fourth Amendment malicious-prosecution claim under 42 U. S. C. §1983. To succeed on such a claim, a plaintiff must show that a government official charged him without probable cause, leading to an unreasonable seizure of his person. See Thompson v. Clark, 596 U. S. 36, 43, and n. 2 (2022). The question presented here arises when the official brings multiple charges, only one of which lacks probable cause. Do the valid charges insulate the official from a Fourth Amendment malicious-prosecution claim relating to the invalid charge? The answer is no: The valid charges do not create a categorical bar. We leave for another day the follow-on question of how to determine in those circumstances whether the baseless charge caused the requisite seizure.*** Soon afterward, the officers launched a criminal proceeding against Chiaverini in municipal court. They filed three complaints, each charging him with a separate offense. Two were misdemeanors: receiving stolen property and dealing in precious metals without a license. The third was a felony: money laundering. To support their accompanying application for an arrest warrant, the officers submitted an affidavit making the case for probable cause on all three charges, but focusing on the felony.***

He was arrested on a warrant for the three charges.

The county prosecutors, though, decided that they had higher priorities. They failed to present the case to a grand jury in the required time. The court therefore dismissed the charges.***

He sued, lost, and appealed to the 6th Cir.

It did so without addressing either of Chiaverini’s arguments about the felony charge’s basis. In the Sixth Circuit’s view, there was clearly probable cause to support the two misdemeanor charges the officers had filed.*** And because that was true, the court thought, the validity of the felony charge did not matter. “So long as probable cause supports at least one charge against Chiaverini (like his receipt-of-stolen-property violation),” then his malicious-prosecution claim “based on other charges (like his money-laundering charge) also fail[s].” Id., at 10a. Or said another way, a single valid charge in a proceeding would insulate officers from a Fourth Amendment malicious-prosecution claim relating to any other charges, no matter how baseless.***

Back in the day, someone like Chiaverini didn't have to prove

that every charge brought against him lacked an adequate basis. Rather, courts in that era assessed probable cause charge by charge. “[I]f groundless charges” are “coupled with others which are well founded,” explained one State Supreme Court, the groundless ones could still “constitute a valid cause of action.” Boogher v. Bryant, 86 Mo. 42, 49 (1885). Another agreed: It was no “defense that there was probable cause for part of the prosecution.” Barron v. Mason, 31 Vt. 189, 198 (1858). Or as a leading treatise from the era summarized the rule: “It is not necessary that the whole proceedings be utterly groundless.” 2 S. Greenleaf, Law of Evidence 400 (10th ed. 1868); see 1 F. Hilliard, Law of Torts or Private Wrongs §1, p. 435, n. (b) (4th ed. 1874). One bad charge, even if joined with good ones, was enough to satisfy the malicious-prosecution tort’s “without probable cause” element.***

The 6th Cir.'s rationale

receives support from neither half of the claim’s name—neither from the Fourth Amendment nor from the malicious-prosecution tort we have invoked as an analogy. And the question is not close, as shown by the parties’ decision not to contest it in this Court.***

The dissenters had a point that §1983 doesn't create a tort of malicious prosecution.

***

Gonzalez v. Trevino, 602 U. S. __ (2024) was another wrongful arrest case. Decision was more or less 8-1.

as a general rule, a plaintiff bringing a retaliatory-arrest claim “must plead and prove the absence of probable cause for the arrest.” At the same time, we recognized a narrow exception to that rule. The existence of probable cause does not defeat a plaintiff ’s claim if he produces “objective evidence that he was arrested when otherwise similarly situated individuals not engaged in the same sort of protected speech had not been.”*** Gonzalez was elected in May 2019. Her first act in office was to help gather signatures for a petition seeking [City Manager Ryan] Rapelye’s removal. Eventually, over 300 residents signed the petition. The petition was introduced at the next city council meeting, where discussions grew heated after various residents rose to Rapelye’s defense and spoke against Gonzalez. The discussion over the petition continued the next day.***

She introduced the petition at a city council meeting. She then took the petition with her and did not deliver it when confronted. She was charged with and jailed for stealing the petition, but the case was dismissed before trial. She sued, and the 5th Cir. ruled against her.

Gonzalez alleged that she had reviewed the past decade’s misdemeanor and felony data for Bexar County (where Castle Hills is located) and that her review had found that the Texas anti-tampering statute had never been used in the county “to criminally charge someone for trying to steal a nonbinding or expressive document.” ECF Doc. 1, at 17. Gonzalez’s search turned up 215 felony indictments, and she characterized the typical indictment as involving “accusations of either using or making fake government identification documents.” Ibid. Other felony indictments included ones for fake checks, hiding murder evidence, or cheating on government exams. Every misdemeanor case, according to Gonzalez, involved “fake social security numbers, driver’s licenses, [or] green cards.” Ibid. Gonzalez pointed to this research as evidence that the defendants had engaged in a political vendetta by bringing a “sham charge” against her.***

a plaintiff must produce evidence to prove that his arrest occurred in such circumstances. The only express limit we placed on the sort of evidence a plaintiff may present for that purpose is that it must be objective in order to avoid “the significant problems that would arise from reviewing police conduct under a purely subjective standard.” Id., at 407. Here, Gonzalez provided that sort of evidence. She was charged with intentionally “removing . . . a governmental record.” Tex. Penal Code Ann. §37.10(a)(3). Gonzalez’s survey is a permissible type of evidence because the fact that no one has ever been arrested for engaging in a certain kind of conduct—especially when the criminal prohibition is longstanding and the conduct at issue is not novel—makes it more likely that an officer has declined to arrest someone for engaging in such conduct in the past.***

[missing-and-unidentified-us]

Name: Brittany Shante Robinson Case Classification: Endangered Missing Missing Since: June 14, 2012 Location Last Seen: Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama

Date of Birth: January 27, 1998 Age: 14 years old Race: Black Gender: Female Height: 5'0" Weight: 150 lbs Hair Color: Black Eye Color: Brown Nickname/Alias: Unknown Distinguishing Marks/Features: Asthmatic

Brittany was last seen when her aunt dropped her off at her father's home on McCovery Road in Mobile, Alabama at 9:00 a.m. on June 14, 2012, for what was supposed to be a two-day visit. She has never been heard from again. Her father, Demetric L. Hooper, left Mobile immediately after her disappearance, and six weeks later a warrant was issued for his arrest. A photo of Hooper is posted with this case summary.

In September, he was located at a mental health facility in Arkansas. Hooper suffers from schizophrenia and had sought treatment there. In the years prior to Brittany's disappearance, he had been hospitalized in Alabama several times for his mental illness and for drug problems. Brittany wasn't with her father when the police found him in Arkansas, and he was charged with felony custodial interference.

Authorities determined he traveled extensively throughout the southeastern United States after Brittany vanished. He took a bus from Memphis, Tennessee to Arkansas on July 7, three weeks after Brittany was last seen, and she wasn't with him then. Hooper was carrying Brittany's pink iPod, as well as knives and a rope, at the time of his arrest. He denied any involvement in his daughter's disappearance.

Hooper has prior arrests for domestic violence and assaulting a police officer, and violently resisted police when they arrested him in Arkansas, but his relatives stated they didn't believe he would have harmed Brittany. In August 2014, he pleaded guilty to custodial interference and was sentenced to ten years in prison. He was released in December 2016, after serving only four years.

In December 2023, Hooper was arrested in Oklahoma on charges of burglary and assault with a dangerous weapon. In February 2024, still in custody in Oklahoma, Hooper was indicted for his daughter's murder. Authorities haven't said anything about what evidence they have against him, but stated the passage of time indicated Brittany was no longer alive.

Searches of Hooper's home turned up no evidence of Brittany's whereabouts, and she hasn't had any contact with friends or relatives since she was last seen. She was supposed to begin her freshman year at Murphy High School in the fall of 2012, and had signed up for advanced placement courses.

Foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.

Investigating Agency(s) Agency Name: Mobile Police Department Agency Contact Person: Matthew James Agency Phone Number: 251-574-8720 Agency E-Mail: N/A Agency Case Number: 120603338 NamUs Case Number: 18058 NCIC Case Number: M183004718 NCMEC Case Number: 1197561

[ledenews]

Ohio County Woman Sentenced to 10 Years for Federal Drug Charge

Chelsea Marion Banks, age 28, of Wheeling, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 121 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine base and fentanyl. According to court documents and statements made in court, Banks was working with another person to sell drugs in the Wheeling area. Investigators executed search warrants on Banks’s Wheeling home and two Pennsylvania storage units, yielding more than a kilogram of fentanyl, cocaine, stolen firearms, ammunition, and more than $208,000 in cash. Banks will be under United States Probation supervision for three years following her release from prison. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carly Nogay prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Ohio Valley Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Wheeling Police Department; and the Pennsylvania State Police investigated. U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided. Read the full article

[tommyye]

Your intellectually challenged questions addressed (as brilliant and anonymous as they supposedly are)

Breaking this into sections.

The 'assault' at the concert was me splashing a quarter a can of beer. It soaked her her hoodie pocket, and I even got kicked out of the venue for that. Not let back in as bystanders watched, and subsequently was humuliated by friends for rest of the night.

So correct, It wasn't an accident, and if I can press charges on myself I would. Do understand, however, by no justification but it's that I've just been so humiliated over the week (due of an allegation involving some name of some redhead I never fucking even know but talked to once for three seconds at a shitty fucking house party a month or two back). So maybe J never deserved any of this, I know.

But 'assault' here is that I had a bleeding nose, a punctured tire, and many of my electronics smashed. (I have pictures but god forbid I am not gonna post them here)

In love, all unequal could become equal I guess, but honestly. I do feel guilty though. I really do. If I can covet those charges instead, I would too.

This situation is extremely complicated and it's awkward as fuck to explain but since cat's out of the box I will address this. I felt stripped of my self worth for time and simply just wanted to vanish from everyone forever and be done with everybody for good. I bought a one way ticket for a missed flight from YYZ to HCMC (I can provide this ticket evidence for anyone who wants to see this). I never BRAGGED about this to anyone. Anyone who thinks I kiss and tell can fucking bite me. At that time I thought I was just leaving everybody for good because I've been so worn out and defeated, and just thought I could confide in a person who I thought was one of my best bro's for so long. So much for that. Never in my life I'd ever wanna hurt her, and certainly doing that will hurt her. I could even delve down into a deeper rabbit hole as to what may motivate a male friend to speak to her the way he does, but for now I won't even go there.

Does it make what happened right, no. But I was tweaked out and not myself for the past two/three months. It's been a wake-up call, a huge stepping stone and deep learning curve.

I'm sorry. But at end of the day that love isn't reserved for anyone else but y__.

I am mostly troubled by this last piece. No, I did NOT call to report her, that's fucked up. But there was a passerby, a female in a vehicle did this, because somehow she saw the beating, along with neighbours outside their houses that witnessed all of this. If you don't take my words for this, then I'm hoping eventual disclosure document will reveal all of this.

As for what the report had in it which was 'messed up that I said those things', I wanna know what exactly was in those reports because I haven't seen the report. But if it's about the usage of drugs, I can explain this one easily: at the time, they were simply asking me quick Yes/No/Choice types of questions. Like "do they have illnesses" and "do they use alcohol or drugs"? The questions ran through really quickly, and I didn't know what to say at that point... As I recall, I was just like 'yes we share & bump certain shit together'. I never explicitly went out of my way to suggest maybe she was under the influence of intoxicants when she did what she did, or use that fact against her to warrant an arrest (given that I'm around that shit more than she is!) Please understand this point. It was hard for me say the right things at the spur of the moment. Again, I was dazed out, confused, and I felt like maybe cops knew everything about me anyways, so why fucking lie. Again, a month before this very incident, I was arrested/apprehended on the same block with copious amount of shit in my pocket and they just discharged me from the hospital with it all given back to me. I would have never thought they woulda went this far with her. You say the wrong things that pisses them off or incriminates you, they'll arrest you. You talk to them the right way, you may get away with quite a lotta shit. But honestly, in lieu of what happened with this particular situation, it was really hard to draw a balance of how to most correctly answer their questions at that time. There was a lot of emotions from my end. I do wish I could have handled it all better.

But truth be told, given how it all turned out, obviously I did NOT know what I was doing. What was I trying to do? Get my partner put in fucking jail? If you really think this way though, then I encourage you to please come through, and have an actual word with me.

[beardedmrbean]

TURNER, Maine — A Turner woman is accused of buying dozens of guns over several months in 2022 on behalf of a California crime gang.

Jennifer Scruggs, 35 was arrested Monday on 10 charges of making false written statements to three different licensed firearms dealers. Federal prosecutors filed one charge per purchase made between March 20 and June 17, 2022.

Scruggs allegedly bought 55 firearms over those 10 transactions at gun shops in Turner, Auburn and Whitefield.

According to the federal criminal complaint, two of the weapons were recovered by Los Angeles police in August 2022 and February 2023. Serial numbers for each weapon confirmed that the guns were bought by Scruggs in Maine.

Court documents describe a conversation between Scruggs and investigators with Lewiston police and a local ATF officer in mid-August 2022. Scruggs justified the number of guns by saying she did not trust banks and felt that buying firearms was a better long-term value than keeping cash in a bank.

She also cited medical concerns, including cancer, which prompted her to buy the firearms to leave to her son, should she die.

She told the investigators that while two of the guns were stolen by people staying with her, the other 53 were stored at her brother's home.

Her brother, however, reportedly told the investigators that not only had he never been asked to store weapons, but that he and Scruggs did not have a good relationship, due in part to her alleged history of drug use.

In another conversation with the officers in October, Scruggs admitted she had bought the weapons for two other people, who had said they were outfitting a gang in California.

Buying guns for other people, also known as a straw purchase, is illegal. Gun buyers must declare that they are obtaining the weapons for their own use.

After getting a warrant to access Scruggs' Facebook Messenger account, investigators found conversations with several unidentified people, one of which included photos taken by Scruggs at one of the Maine gun shops, with the person then telling her which ones to buy.

A photo sent on June 14 showed cash on the sales counter inside G3 Firearms in Auburn.

A message Scruggs sent later that same day read, "they're all yours after this lol," and explaining she had to get a hunting and fishing license in order to provide the firearms dealer a government-printed document with her current address.

The criminal complaint also details multiple conversations in which Scruggs described driving to California and how she met a gang boss and its alleged "cartel" contact.

Investigators used License Plate Reader machines to track a car rented in June from Portland to Los Angeles. The person who rented the car was the same person who Scruggs was messaging about the gun purchases on Facebook Messenger.

A Browning pistol Scruggs bought in May 2022 in Auburn was recovered by Los Angeles police on Aug. 30, while they investigated a suspect who reportedly fired into the air multiple times while yelling the name of a local gang.

On Feb. 18, 2023, Los Angeles police also seized a Glock purchased by Scruggs on June 2022 in Turner.

If convicted on the ten counts of making a false statement during the acquisition of a firearm from a licensed dealer, Scruggs faces up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

She is now being held without bail until a hearing can be held to determine if she would qualify for release. The U.S. Attorney's Office has requested that she remain in custody during her trial.

[ailtrahq]

A Western Sydney man was charged for allegedly attempting to import a variety of illicit drugs, purportedly by acquiring them on the deep web with crypto. According to an Aug. 29 Australian Federal Police announcement, the 23-year-old man faced the court on the day of the publication for his alleged attempt to import a number of drugs. Per the announcement, those drugs were acquired through deep web black markets and concealed in a variety of items, including cookware, toy cars and a blackjack set. The investigation began when Australian Border Force (ABF) officers in New South Wales intercepted three packages. The first contained 133 MDMA tablets, 100 oxycodone tablets, and 97 nitazene analogue tablets. The rest held 60g of MDMA, 25g of ketamine, 15g of methamphetamine, and 14g of heroin. Upon discovering these packages, the ABF alerted local law enforcement, leading to the execution of a warrant at the Greenfield Park address where the parcels were intended to be delivered. During the operation, authorities seized various items, including kitchen scales and spoons with white residue, zip lock bags, and a counterfeit ID card. Police allege that the defendant engaged in encrypted communications with two individuals in the UK, who assisted him in importing controlled substances into Australia. The defendant appeared in court on May 20 and was charged with one count of attempting to import a marketable quantity of border-controlled drugs, carrying a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. ABF Superintendent Asha Patwardhan claimed that no “suspicious parcel” is immune from “officer intuition.” Officer training and intuition are key pillars in being able to detect illicit substances at our border, no matter how sophisticated the concealment method may be. […[ Thanks to collaboration with our law enforcement partners, we have managed to remove a cocktail of drugs off our streets and prevent this criminal syndicate from further operating in our backyard. Asha Patwardhan | ABF Superintendent Darknet black markets are online marketplaces that operate on the unindexed part of the internet known as the deep web. These markets are designed to facilitate the buying and selling of illegal or illicit goods and services, such as drugs, stolen data, counterfeit documents, and malware. Transactions on these markets are almost exclusively conducted using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Monero (XMR) to maintain anonymity and avoid detection by law enforcement. These black markets have become a popular destination for criminals looking to profit from illegal activities due to their anonymity and unregulated nature. They oversee billions of dollars in transactions, primarily involving drugs, hacking services, and illegally acquired personal data. However, it’s important to note that while some products sold on these markets may be legal in certain jurisdictions, the majority of the offerings are illegal. Source

[maher-law-firm]

Do you know how to fight a traffic ticket in Columbus Ohio?

We’ve all been there.

We know we weren’t speeding. We did signal when changing lanes. We have never run a stop sign in our lives, and we didn’t this time either.

Or maybe we cannot take the hit to our driving record and expect to keep our job. The penalty points would put us at risk for having our driver’s license suspended. A ticket would raise our insurance rates to the point where we would need to cut other essentials from our budget.

A driver’s reason for fighting a traffic ticket issued in or around Columbus varies, but the process is pretty standard. Based on my experience advising and representing Ohio drivers, I describe the three essential steps below.

Reckless driving, which Ohio state law labels reckless operation, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs are treated somewhat like criminal offenses.

Drivers charged with reckless operation or of operating a vehicle while intoxicated do not have the option of simply signing a ticket and paying fines in lieu of going to court. Spending time in jail and having one’s license suspended are always possibilities for quasi criminal convictions related to driving, and a vigorous defense must be had. How to Fight a Speeding Ticket in Ohio and Get Benefits

Having clarified that, let’s get to the explanation of how to fight a traffic ticket in Columbus.

Request a Hearing As noted above, drivers who are issued a traffic ticket in central Ohio have the choice of signing and returning the ticket with all the payments due. The large majority of ticketed drivers do this.

The other option is to appear for the court date listed on the ticket or check the box to request a hearing on the charge. Since a single ticket can list more than one alleged moving or equipment violation, a driver may be able to pay the penalties on some of the charges while requesting a hearing on the others.

Missing the deadline to either pay the ticket, appear in court on the date indicated, or request a hearing can result in the court issuing warrant. A person who has a this kind of “bench warrant” could be arrested and brought before a judge whenever they interact with a law enforcement official.

Consult an Attorney Drivers can represent themselves in traffic court, and many do. It always helps, however, to consult with a Columbus traffic ticket lawyer before going to court.

Even if you do not hire them, the attorney can fully explain the charge, offer perspective on why the ticket was issued, and suggest ways to collect, organize, and present evidence for having the ticket dismissed. I always suggest hiring a traffic ticket lawyer to give you a knowledgeable and experienced legal advocate in court.

Keep Your Court Date Your traffic court hearing will usually be scheduled quite quickly. Do not miss your appearance. Additional fees and penalties can be assessed as well as the warrant mentioned above.

Another reason to show up for court is that the police officer who issued the ticket also has to appear for trial (the officer does not need to attend your initial appearance called an “arraignment”). If the officer misses the trial date, the judge may dismiss your case for lack of evidence. That is not guaranteed to happen, but it is a strong possibility for minor traffic offenses. How to Get Traffic Ticket Dismissed

Should a circumstance arise that keeps you from making your court date, call the clerk of courts as soon as possible to explain your situation. Courts may accept valid reasons for rescheduling an initial hearing, but you must ask for the new date. This content has been taken from - https://www.columbusdefensefirm.com/how-to-fight-traffic-ticket-in-columbus-oh/

[atlanticcanada]

Four arrested in major Maritime drug bust following three-month investigation: RCMP

Four people are facing multiple charges after a three-month investigation led to a major drug bust in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

Through Operation Highspeed, which started in November 2022, the RCMP Federal Intelligence Unit in Nova Scotia seized 1.3 kg of cocaine, 2 kg of MDMA, approximately 4,000 psilocybin capsules, packaging, drug paraphernalia and cash.

According to police, the investigation was related to the movement of drugs between the Maritimes and Ontario.

Over Jan. 16 and 17, investigators went to four locations in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Officers also searched a vehicle.

The RCMP says this led to the arrest of three men and a woman, along with the seizure of illicit drugs and cash.

Police say the RCMP Crime Reduction Unit on P.E.I., arrested two men at a bus depot in Charlottetown, where 300 grams of cocaine were seized.

According to police, multiple RCMP units executed a search warrant at a home on Route 18a in Murray Harbour, P.E.I.

Police say more drug-trafficking evidence was seized during that search.

At the same time, the Nova Scotia RCMP also executed a search warrant at an Inglis Street business in Halifax, an apartment on the Bedford Highway, and a home on Armenia Drive in Bedford, N.S.

Officers also searched a 2010 Toyota Prius.

Police say the four people who have been arrested have since been released from custody and are scheduled to appear in court at later dates.

The force says a 53-year-old Murray Harbour, P.E.I., man is expected to face the following charges:

trafficking a controlled substance

possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking

conspiracy to commit trafficking a controlled substance

A 41-year-old man from Lower Montague, P.E.I., is expected to face a charge of conspiracy to commit trafficking a controlled substance

Police say a 28-year-old Halifax man is expected to be charged with the following:

trafficking a controlled substance

three counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking

conspiracy to commit trafficking a controlled substance

possession of property obtained by crime

The fourth person, a 27-year-old Halifax woman, is expected to face the following charges:

two counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking

conspiracy to commit trafficking a controlled substance

possession of property obtained by crime

In addition to the four arrests, investigators are seeking another 28-year-old Halifax man, who is expected to face the following charges:

possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking

conspiracy to commit trafficking a controlled substance

The investigation is ongoing.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/BuSVUxY

[lawluenvy]

i just have to put this somewhere but anyways im catching up on my favourite podcast and one of the hosts just recounted her experience of being arrested for a felony (shouldn't have even been one it's not even serious??????) at an airport and im just... just listening to it leaves me so... so furious. the complete lack of respect for human beings that cops and the judicial system has and other victims of the system have towards themselved and their inmates and just... fuck i am so mad. she's trying to play it off like she's fine and even said "well it was my fault" but IT FUCKING WASN'T EVEN A LITTLE BIT?!?!?

HOW FUCKING OBSCENE IS IT THAT SOMEONE CAN GET DETAINED WITH NO OPPORTUNITY FOR BAIL AND SHOVED INTO A SHIT SMEARED AND PERMA-FLUORESCENT-LIT HOLDING CELL FOR ANY AMOUNT OF TIME AT ALL BUT FOR ANY LONGER THAN A DAY IS UNACCEPTABLE ANY LONGER THAN AN HOUR AND JUST- FOR FUCKING WHAT???? SPEEDING THRU DUSTY ASS ARIZONA????

as someone who very recently just spiralled like a maniac all because i couldn't sleep on one 14 hour flight - i cant even imagine how horrible even just the lack of sleep she got there was alone.

The fact that this one bitch ass cunt cop high on his own shit because he keeps his head so far up his ass that he can't see past the inside of his tiny dick can go on a power trip and accuse some random ass person of more than their only actual crime of speeding and then get pissed they were wrong that this person wasn't smuggling drugs and then file some fucking warrant about it three years later and then kick start a series of events that eventually leads to this person having to be arrested at customs for a federal warrant because they missed the court date for their speeding ticket in asszona because it was filed three years late??? (like CMON already the fact that there isn't an expiry on such an inconsequential charge is ludicrous im horrified) and this person had moved and their living situation was such the UPS could not update their address and then could not keep forwarding their mail

the idea that something so petty and so stupid (and due to misconduct on part of that one pig and every one else after deserves to be wiped with compensation in the first place) can land you in and leave with you such a horrifically traumatic experience is just... just so. so so so unacceptable. deplorable.

meanwhile actual human traffickers, absuers, and murderers are posting bail spending at most a few hours in detainment and then not even going to court or barely going to court cuz they've got lots of money and can afford immorally competent lawyers...

no sweetie. that was not your fault. that's a broken fucking system. and you should be furious. and you should be upset. and you should not feel like less of a person just because this happened to you and it's fucked you up of course it fucked you up cuz that's what it's designed to do and it really really really shouldn't be that way.

anyways i hope that cop that started this from however many years ago this was now dies 4x4ing in the arizona desert when his brakes fail and he gets sent flying off a cliff and then being in the middle of nowhere and cuz he's obviously an idiot never told anyone what he was up to is never found and has to just lay in the wreckage in agony with several broken limbs but no injuries so serious that he gets to die within the hour- no, instead he dies rotting away in the oven of a dark paint jeep having the sand and sun suck all the moisture from his ugly body until, unable to move due to his injuries, he dies to exposure and dehydration.

that's what i wish for that piece of trash and all other shit dicks just like him. i don't care if he was just having a bad day and his temper got the best of him- when you work in the types of positions that he does (thus all judicial positions) you don't get to just have a "bad day" and get away with it because your poor judgement can cost the life and wellbeing of another person.

so this is how i hope karma reaches you.

this is how i hope karma reaches all the bastards responsible for this and the numerous other cases that are, as we know, so much worse. and that's the worst part. it's true that her experience was traumatic but even then it is trivial compared to how many more awful things have happened worse than that.

fuck.

[ravynfyre]

Article beyond the paywall:

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois - The sheriff's deputy charged with fatally shooting Sonya Massey in the face has been the subject of several complaints alleging belligerent behavior toward women, a USA TODAY review of public records shows.

Despite the complaints, Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean P. Grayson was never prohibited from working in law enforcement and moved from one police agency to another, the records show, calling into question how he got the job he held when Massey was shot.

The July 6 killing of Massey has sparked national outcry over police brutality, coast-to-coast demonstrations and a federal probe by the Justice Department.

The hiring practices of the sheriff's department have also been under fire from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who earlier this week formally called for Sangamon Sheriff Jack Campbell to resign, expressing frustration with how the sheriff has responded to Massey's death. Amid the growing pressure and questions about Grayson's hiring, Campbell said on Friday he will step down and retire.

Springfield city leaders are calling for a review of the department's hiring practices in the wake of Massey's killing.

Sangamon County Board member Kevin McGuire called for an outside investigative team to look at the sheriff's department's hiring practices. "I would say that's paramount," McGuire said.

Among the complaints against Grayson that are on file in Illinois is an allegation by a former inmate at the Logan County Jail, who wrote in an official complaint filed in December 2022 that Grayson ordered her to expose herself to him.

“I felt very violated,” said Chelsey Lowe, an inmate confronted by Grayson in a drug search. Grayson denied the accusation and resigned from the Logan County sheriff’s office before the complaint was formally investigated.

With investigators no longer pursuing the complaint, Grayson in May 2023 joined the Sangamon sheriff's office, where he was employed when he went to Massey's home and shot the 36-year-old mother of two in her kitchen last month. He now faces three first-degree murder charges and has been fired.

The ex-deputy also faced accusations from his former wife in divorce proceedings that he treated her with "repeated acts of mental cruelty." A separate citizen complaint against Grayson in May alleged that he unlawfully tried to intimidate a 17-year-old girl while trying to enter a house without having obtained a warrant, yelling at her and threatening to "put her in cuffs" if she didn't let him inside. The complaint was found not sustained by one of Grayson's fellow officers.

USA TODAY’s review of public records about Grayson’s years in law enforcement and from his personal life comes amid national outrage and calls for police reform over the killing of the Black woman on July 6.

Grayson's criminal history also show he had two DUIs and a questionable discharge from the military.

The Sheriff's Office and an attorney for Grayson did not respond to repeated requests for comment on this story.

‘Feeling very afraid’

Grayson worked as a sheriff's deputy in Logan County, north of Springfield, from May 2022 to the end of April 2023, according to Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board records.

Part of his duties included working at the Logan County jail, where in December 2022, a female inmate filed a grievance accusing Grayson of “very inappropriate” behavior, according to a county disciplinary file obtained via open records request. 

Lowe wrote in her Logan County Sheriff's Department grievance form that during the course of being arrested, she told officers she had drugs hidden in her vagina.

Grayson told her to remove the drugs in front of him, according to the complaint. 

“I went to do as he instructed feeling very afraid and forced to do such an action,” she wrote.

She stopped at the insistence of a female officer and was taken to a doctor to remove the drugs. 

“While in the hospital bed completely exposed, Officer Grayson flung the curtain back and exposed me to him and I believe 2 other male officers,” Lowe wrote. 

“I felt very violated on both occasions and was unsure how to handle this,” she said.

Lowe could not be reached for comment.

Divorce over ‘extreme and repeated acts of mental cruelty’

In June 2015, Grayson's wife, Alexia Grayson, now Alexia Kay Pitchford, filed a petition for a dissolution of marriage in the Circuit Court of Macoupin County, the same county where Grayson grew up and briefly became a police officer for seven months in 2021.

Pitchford gave the following reason for seeking a divorce from Grayson: "The defendant has been guilty of extreme and repeated acts of mental cruelty, without cause or provocation." Pitchford and Pitchford’s mother did not respond to requests for comment on the nature of the cruelty referenced in the divorce papers.

The two did not have any children together, according to the court filings. The judge awarded Grayson's wife the right to return to her former name of Pitchford.

The first of Grayson's two DUIs came two months later in August, according to Macoupin County court records. He got his second DUI in July 2016.

Conduct as a Sangamon County deputy

The most recent complaint against Grayson’s conduct as a deputy came in May, less than two months before he shot Massey in her kitchen, according to his Sangamon County Sheriff's Office personnel file.

Grayson was the only officer named in the complaint, which describes a group of officers attempting to enter a residence without a warrant.

“We were provided no details of what was happening or why they were asking/demanding to be let in,” according to the man who filed the complaint. He and a 17-year-old girl answered the door when the officers arrived.

Grayson “began yelling” at the teenage girl to be let inside, according to the complaint. 

“Officer Grayson then wrongfully accused her of lying and obstructing an investigation. He then threatened her that if she didn’t let them in the house he was going to put her in cuffs and she would go to jail.”

The complainant wrote that Grayson directed his comments toward the teenage girl, not at him.  

“It is 100% unlawful to threaten detainment and being arrested [for] not letting officers into the home with no warrant," the complainant wrote. "More specifically attacking a 17 year old girl and failing to contact adult supervisors, or parents of any kind. At the time of demanding to be let in, Officer Grayson chose to speak to the young girl in an inappropriate manner . . . attempting to intimidate her.”

Lieutenant Wes Wooden of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office carried out an informal review of the complaint and found his fellow officer’s actions were warranted and the complaint was not sustained, according to county records.

Wooden is the same county officer who led the investigation into Grayson’s background when he was first hired at the Sangamon sheriff's office. The office did not respond to requests for comment from Wooden.

Complaints against law-enforcement officers are typically investigated by other officers and are seldom sustained, said Samuel Sinyangwe, executive director of Mapping Police Violence, a nonprofit that tracks policing data. It's not uncommon for an officer with 20 or 30 complaints against them to remain on the force, Sinyangwe said.  

Massey shooting

Two months later, Grayson and another deputy arrived at Massey's home after the 36-year-old woman called 911 about a possible intruder.

Massey's call for help in the early hours of July 6 brought the dimunitive woman and the 6 foot 4 officer with a history of violence toward women together.

Body-worn camera footage from the encounter released on July 22 shows the hulking son of a Navy Seal had little patience for the dimunitive woman right from the start.

“You coming to the door or not,” Grayson yells, hammering at the door. “Hurry up.”

Inside Massey’s kitchen, Grayson told her to remove a pot of boiling water from the stove. 

She picked up the pot and said the words Grayson claims made him fear for his life: "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus."

Dropping his hand to his gun, Grayson shouted back, “you better f------ not or I swear to God I will shoot you right in the f------ face," according to a transcript of the encounter.

Grayson drew his gun, Massey apologized and then ducked. Grayson moved toward her and fired three times, hitting her in the head.

article is paywalled in a way that Ublock can't get around.... but have this:

[masterofd1saster]

CJ current events 4apr24

Who knew homeless, mentally ill drug addicts were a little unstable?

***

Was his screen name a 4th Amendment waiver?

St. Louis firefighter charged with possessing child sex abuse material after IP address tracked to firehouse

Prosecutors charged Jarret Morton, 50, with two counts of possessing child sex abuse material.

***According to a probable cause statement, investigators received a tip on Jan. 30 referring to two files constituting child sexual abuse material.  The files were stored on Dropbox, and were accessed twice on Jan. 11. The screen name used with the Dropbox was Jarret Morton, and his email address contained "stlfd," the acronym for St. Louis Fire Department. Police identified Morton as the owner of the Dropbox account, and the IP address used to access the files was traced to Engine House No. 5 in the St. Louis Place neighborhood. Police said the files were accessed during times Morton was working at the firehouse and that he had access to the station's secured WiFi. Police executed a search warrant on Morton's phone and found 221 video files of child sex abuse, court documents said.*** https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/crime/st-louis-firefighter-accused-possessing-child-sex-abuse-material/63-a1a67008-c9b2-4efc-b4ab-eb2aedf71977

***

Breaking the law by computer is still breaking the law

The Justice Department joined by the Federal Trade Commission (collectively the “Agencies”), filed a statement of interest with the District of New Jersey in the case of Cornish-Adebiyi v. Caesars Entertainment, which explains that hotels cannot collude on room pricing and cannot use an algorithm to engage in practices that would be illegal if done by a real person. Companies across the economy are increasingly using algorithms to determine their prices. When a small group of algorithm providers can influence a major segment of a market, competitors are better able to use the algorithm provider to facilitate collusion. This risk is even greater as markets have become more concentrated across a wide range of industries. Algorithms that recommend prices to numerous competing hotels make it harder for travelers to comparison-shop for the best rate. In their statement, the Agencies highlight two key aspects of competition law. First, plaintiffs do not need to identify direct communications between competitors to allege an agreement under Section 1 of the Sherman Act, particularly when they allege that an algorithm provider that works with the competitors is acting in concert with them. Competitors cannot lawfully cooperate to set their prices, whether via their staff or an algorithm, even if the competitors never communicate with each other directly. Second, an agreement to use shared pricing recommendations, list prices or pricing algorithms is still unlawful even when co-conspirators retain some pricing discretion. Setting or recommending initial starting prices can still violate the antitrust laws even if those are not the prices that consumers ultimately pay.*** https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-and-federal-trade-commission-file-statement-interest-hotel-room

***

Impersonating FBI is asking for serious trouble. Odd that FBI would send three people to interview a woman about social media.

***

It's 7/11's fault? Really?

***

Tell us how you really feel.

***

In real Texas, there would be a smoking hole where he once stood.

PASTOR PLEA DEAL: Pastor who sexually abused child for nearly 7 years receives probation

CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — William C. Robinson, a pastor working for Chi Alpha Campus Ministries in Corpus Christi, received 10 years probation after sexually abusing an underage family member. According to his indictment, Robinson sexually abused an underage family member between July 11, 2015 and June 27, 2022. The arrest affidavit states the sexual contact with the child began when she was nine.*** On March 22, Robinson appeared in the 319th District Court where he accepted a plea deal that would avoid any jail time. He pleaded guilty to one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, one count of sexual assault of a child, and three counts of indecency with a child. In exchange for his plea, Robinson received 10 years deferred adjudication. If he complies with the terms of his probation, once he serves his sentence, Robinson can have the charges removed from his record. The judge also ordered Robinson to serve 120 hours of community service, stay away from the victim, and take parenting classes. He will have a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Plus, his internet access will be monitored. https://www.kristv.com/news/local-news/pastor-plea-deal-pastor-who-sexually-abused-child-for-nearly-7-years-receives-probation

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Middle of No-freakin'-where

A Chinese national was arrested after driving onto the Marine base in Twentynine Palms and then ignoring orders to leave, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed to News Channel 3. The arrest happened on March 27. According to CBP, El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents were called out to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms. Agents determined that the man was a Chinese national illegally present in the U.S. Agents took the man into custody. He was transported to a nearby station for further processing.*** https://kesq.com/news/2024/03/29/chinese-national-arrested-after-driving-onto-twentynine-palms-marine-base/

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All the cops and all the tech in the world won't keep you safe if you don't lock up criminals

New York City mayor Eric Adams (D.) on Thursday announced the city will start using gun scanners in its subway stations amid a surge in violent crime in recent months. Adams [said] that the weapon detection system would not record any commuter’s face or identification.  Adams noted the new technology would allow NYPD officers to monitor on a screen as commuters walk through the scanners. A weapon’s location would show up as orange on the screen, enabling officers to conduct an immediate search.  The gun detectors, however, will not be put into use until late June due to the city’s Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology Act passed in 2020, which requires the NYPD to wait at least 90 days before rolling out a surveillance system at a new location. The same scanners have already been installed at some venues in the Big Apple, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, CitiField stadium, and One Vanderbilt.*** https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/nyc-mayor-unveils-gun-scanners-in-subway-amid-violent-crime-surge

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Exhibit 1

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – The manhunt continues Monday morning for an alleged gunman who entered a Nashville restaurant during Sunday brunch on Easter and opened fire, killing a man and injuring four others. The Metro Nashville Police Department says 46-year-old felon Anton Rucker remains on the run after the shooting that terrified customers inside Roasted on Garfield Street in Salemtown, a neighborhood located northwest of downtown Nashville. Rucker is wanted for homicide in connection to the deadly shooting, in which 33-year-old Allen Beachem was killed and four others were shot. Police pointed out in social media posts that Rucker has a lengthy criminal record. Police said he was arrested in Murfreesboro on felony drug charges in October and aggravated assault charges last August. Court records show Rucker was convicted of the lesser charge of assault in November 2014, after pleading no contest to a charge of aggravated assault on an officer. In 2009, Rucker faced more than a dozen counts of aggravated assault but was convicted on three counts, according to court records. A year earlier, Rucker was convicted on two felony counts of aggravated assault in October 2008, court records show. While keeping violent offenders off the street has been a purported priority for Nashville lawmakers and authorities, substantial legislation to combat this has only been directed at those who have been deemed incompetent to stand trial. That legislation came after the shooting and killing of Belmont student Jillian Ludwig. Months before the 18-year-old was killed, her suspected killer was released from custody after three doctors deemed him incompetent to stand trial.*** https://www.wsmv.com/2024/04/01/gunman-who-allegedly-opened-fire-inside-nashville-restaurant-easter-has-criminal-past/

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Ever watch a youtube video?

YouTube ordered to reveal the identities of video viewers

Posted: March 26, 2024 by Pieter Arntz Federal US authorities have asked Google for the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and user activity of accounts that watched certain YouTube videos, according to unsealed court documents Forbes has seen. Of those users that weren’t logged in when they watched those videos between January 1 and 8, 2023, the authorities asked for the IP addresses.*** https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2024/03/youtube-ordered-to-reveal-the-identities-of-video-viewers

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U of Maryland thinks writing on a sidewalk is violent terrorism

***Created by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START, the project purportedly tracks “ideologically motivated criminal activity” and known “extremists” through 2021. The Fix previously reported how two Students for Life of America members who were arrested for writing “black pre-born lives matter” on a sidewalk in 2020 are recorded in PIRUS. This puts them among white supremacists, jihadist groups, and other threats. Moreover, SFLA appears under a “Terrorist_Group” label in the raw dataset. When asked if START’s labeling was appropriate, national security expert Elizabeth Neumann flatly replied, “No.” “They made an error and they should correct it,” Neumann said in a phone interview with The Fix.*** https://www.thecollegefix.com/former-terrorism-officials-question-radicalization-study-that-lists-peaceful-pro-lifers/

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Videotaping crimes, not just for rappers anymore

The 32-year-old YouTuber who filmed himself driving from Colorado Springs to Denver in 20 minutes while reaching speeds over 150 mph on Interstate 25 pleaded guilty to speed exhibition in a deal with the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Rendon Dietzmann, who posts on YouTube under the username Gixxer Brah, was arrested in Texas on Feb. 7 on a Colorado State Patrol warrant from December. Dietzmann was charged with seven misdemeanor and traffic crimes, including menacing and reckless endangerment, after he posted a since-deleted video driving over 150 mph on I-25 starting at Garden of the Gods Road, squeezing through small gaps between vehicles and weaving between lanes and the highway shoulder. Dietzmann pleaded guilty to speed exhibition and will pay a fine of up to $300, the $1,996 cost of his extradition to Colorado and court costs under the plea deal, according to the district attorney’s office.*** https://www.denverpost.com/2024/04/01/rendon-dietzmann-gixxer-brah-colorado-texas-motorcycle-speed/

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Lot of time on their hands

NEW YORK (AP) — Inmates in New York are suing the state corrections department over the decision to lock down prisons during next Monday’s total solar eclipse. The suit filed Friday in federal court in upstate New York argues that the April 8 lockdown violates inmates’ constitutional rights to practice their faiths by preventing them from taking part in a religiously significant event. The plaintiffs are six men with varying religious backgrounds who are incarcerated at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility in Woodbourne. They include a Baptist, a Muslim, a Seventh-Day Adventist and two practitioners of Santeria, as well as an atheist. “A solar eclipse is a rare, natural phenomenon with great religious significance to many,” the complaint reads, noting that Bible passages describe an eclipse-like phenomenon during Jesus’ crucifixion while sacred Islamic works describes a similar event when the Prophet Muhammad’s son died.*** https://apnews.com/article/solar-eclipse-prison-lawsuit-new-york-3b6af5a2f1f8f320a1ed4918a560b525

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When you don't have effective law enforcement

A Fairfax County, Virginia, female police officer was recently surrounded in her vehicle and attacked by a street takeover gang. Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis shared the details of the attack that took place early Easter Sunday morning on the officer’s vehicle as she called in for help. The unidentified officer spotted the group doing donuts in an industrial area parking lot in Springfield, Virginia. When she approached the crowd in her vehicle, the large crowd surrounded her, shaking the police cruiser and attempting to break into the doors. “A huge crowd is hitting my car. I need units to expedite,” the police officer is heard saying in a video recording played at a Fairfax County police press conference on Wednesday.

One of the videos showed an individual waving a gun in the air. When more officers arrived, the crowd fled the scene. “The police exist to address crime and disorder. This is both crime and disorder. I don’t know anyone who has an appetite for this to continue,” Davis said Wednesday. The police chief shared several arrests of suspects they believe may be connected to Sunday’s incident. Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano was called out on social media following the street takeover. “You see what @FairfaxCountyCA policies have created in Fairfax County?” social media influencer Marky Mark posted on X. He added in another post, “But will @SteveDescano @FairfaxCountyCA charge them to the fullest extent of the law or plea them out?”

**** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/2952252/dc-street-takeover-gang-attempts-break-into-police-car-officer-inside/

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702 should be reauthorized, but violating FISA should be punished

The FBI is attempting to rehabilitate the public image of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as Congress has until April 19 to reauthorize it. The bureau recently posted a video to X that features FBI Director Christopher Wray attempting to put a gloss on Section 702 as part of this monthslong campaign. The bureau's timely propaganda did not escape the attention of critics on X, where the post received a community note that read, "The FBI violated American citizens' 4A rights 278,000 times with illegal, unauthorized FISA 702 searches." Among the critics was Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who wrote, "FBI just got called out in a community note on X. Congress — take note. FISA 702 has been used for warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of times. Yet FBI demands 702 be reauthorized by April 19 WITHOUT a warrant requirement for searches of U.S. citizens." "Many in Congress will want to reauthorize FISA 702 — which is set to expire April 19th — either without modification or (more likely) with fake reforms that fail to impose a warrant requirement for searches directed at Americans," added the senator.*** https://www.theblaze.com/news/fbi-blasted-over-attempt-to-put-gloss-on-section-702

Recall that the Obama administration released a white paper that admitted it routinely violated FISA and spied on you but told everyone it's ok b/c they had the very best people violate your rights.

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The difference is that Utah will probably fight effectively

The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it is suing Utah for allegedly discriminating against an incarcerated transgender woman on the basis of her gender dysphoria. The suit was filed in the United States District Court, District of Utah and names the state of Utah, the Utah Department of Corrections and the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. The Utah Department of Corrections referred back to an earlier statement from March made by Executive Director Brian Redd, which said they were working to “address this complex issue.” “We have also taken steps on our own, and as a state, to address the needs of inmates while maintaining the highest safety standards. We fundamentally disagree with the DOJ on key issues, and are disappointed with their approach,” Redd said.*** https://www.deseret.com/utah/2024/04/02/justice-department-sues-utah-prisons/

DoJ has sued other states. California litigated like a possum or a fainting goat.

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