Can’t Step on the Toes of Another Lawyer

They left a monster free because they didn’t want to “second guess” another lawyer. Manhattan federal prosecutors declined to pursue Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell case in 2016: sources

Because “second guessing” a colleague wouldn’t show proper respect to a fellow member of the cloth the fraternity the brotherhood the profession.

Some people think I am using hyperbole when I write about the arrogance of attorneys.

Yet more rehashing of Epstein’s reign of terror. But the most insane part of the story is why the US Prosecutor in New York didn’t take action for 2 years.

“This was not a situation where we were dealing with people who didn’t care. I never thought they didn’t believe our story. I never had any doubt they were sympathetic, even outraged by it. They simply seemed to feel they couldn’t be seen as second guessing what the U.S. Attorney in Florida had done,” [Lawyer David] Boies said. [My emphasis. Z-Deb]

The ONLY reason that they decided that they had to “second guess” another attorney, is because the Miami Herald shined a great big, embarrassing light on the situation.

The office’s attitude changed after the Miami Herald highlighted the “Perversion of Justice” that resulted in Epstein receiving a slap on the wrist.

I mean be fair; that was seriously bad publicity.

The Criminal Justice System. It is a “system,” which means it takes care of itself first. It is often Criminal. And it has almost no interest in Justice.

Advertisement

Lying Prosecutors

What happens when a State’s Attorney is completely incompetent? Third trial of Jackie Wilson after allegations of torture at the hands of Burge ends stunningly, with judge turning ire toward prosecutors

Professional standards? What are those?

A murder case with decades of baggage — three different trials, a high-profile exoneration, a legacy of police torture — was abruptly dropped this week after allegations that a Cook County prosecutor lied under oath.

And this isn’t the first time that he’s shown a conflict of interest.

The prosecutor, Nick Trutenko, was fired from the office late Thursday after testifying that he had a long-standing relationship with a witness reputed to be an international con man. He returned to court Friday under threat of contempt charges.

The case is long, and dates to the Jon Burge era of Chicago PD. Click through for all of the insanity.

Hat tip to Second City Cop: Great Job Crimesha. That would be Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

Crimesha’s inability to run any sort of a professional office is one of the greatest crimes perpetrated on Cook County voters. Reading the linked article made us want to throw up with an Assistant States Attorney perjuring himself on the stand.

I don’t know if Justice was served or not in this case. The guy was convicted twice, but then Jon Burge and company did some awful things. You can read about some of them at the following link. The Ongoing Case Against Jon Burge and Chicago Police Corruption

Self-defense is Legal in Mississippi

And the prosecutors HATE that. Natchez jury acquits man on murder charges

He is guilty of other things, but not murder.

A Natchez jury returned a not guilty verdict in a murder trial on Friday in Sixth District Circuit Court after deliberating for approximately two hours.

Two hours seems fairly quick in a case like this. I guess I could be wrong.

I’m not sure the “good guys” won, but both liberty and justice did.

The History of Corruption in Chicago

A few days ago, I had a post on Corruption in Chicago. A statistic was quoted, and I had to track down an actual reference. Not that I don’t trust people, but I have found that people don’t trust me, unless I have a “legitimate source.” Though I’m not sure you can say that any of the news media qualifies these days. Still, here’s a reference from last year.

Alderman being investigated, and convicted is nothing new in The Windy City. EDITORIAL: Don’t back off, Mayor-elect Lightfoot, in ending aldermanic prerogative
By CST Editorial Board May 15, 2019, 3:41pm CDT

I hate to keep picking on Chicago, but they make it so damn easy.

The story/editorial isn’t important at this remove, and it’s behind a paywall anyway, but the point is they document the history of corruption in the city. Or part of it anyway.

The Chicago City Council blew its chance to be treated like responsible adults a long time ago.

Why do we think Chicago’s patience with aldermanic prerogative has finally run out?

Because Ald. Cochran pleaded guilty in March [of 2019].

Because Ald. Burke was named in a criminal complaint in January.

Because Ald. William Beavers was convicted in 2013.

Because Ald. Isaac “Ike” Carothers pleaded guilty in 2010.

Because Ald. Arenda Troutman pleaded guilty in 2008.

Because Ald. James Laski pleaded guilty in 2006.

Because Ald. Percy Giles was convicted in 1999.

Because Ald. Virgil Jones was convicted in 1998.

Because Ald. Larry Bloom pleaded guilty in 1998.

Because Ald. John Madrzyk was convicted in 1998.

Because Ald. Jesse Evans was convicted in 1997.

Because Ald. Joseph Martinez was convicted in 1997.

Because Ald. Allan Streeter pleaded guilty in 1996.

Because Ald. Ambrosio Medrano pleaded guilty in 1996.

Because Ald. Fred Roti was convicted in 1993.

Because Ald. Marian Humes pleaded guilty in 1998.

Because Ald. Perry Hutchinson was convicted in 1988.

Because Ald. Chester Kuta pleaded guilty in 1987.

Because Ald. Wallace Davis Jr. was convicted in 1987.

Because Ald. Cliff Kelley pleaded guilty in 1987.

Because Ald. Louis Farina was convicted in 1983.

Because Ald. Tyrone Kenner was convicted in 1983.

Because Ald. William Carothers was convicted in 1983.

Because Ald. Stanley Zydlo pleaded guilty in 1980.

Because Ald. Edward Scholl pleaded guilty in 1975.

Because Ald. Donald Swinarski pleaded guilty in 1975

Because Ald. Paul Wigoda was convicted in 1974

Because Ald. Tom Keane was convicted in 1974.

Because Ald. Frank Kuta was convicted in 1974.

Because Ald. Joe Potempa pleaded guilty in 1973.

Because Ald. Casimir Staszcuk was convicted in 1973.

Because Ald. Joe Jambrone was convicted in 1973.

Because Ald. Fred Hubbard pleaded guilty in 1972.

And those were just the crooks that got caught.

And those are all Democratic politicians in a city and county dominated by Democratic politicians. And where the fix is in. Probably why a fair few were taken down by the feds.

There are other politicians, not all aldermen of course, who got caught doing something they shouldn’t have been doing. Matthew J. Danaher had been clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County since 1968, when he was found dead in a hotel room of “natural causes” at the age of 47. A long-time associate of Mayor Daley, the elder, he had been indicted in a $400,000 kickback scheme. Danaher was awaiting trial. David J. Shields was convicted for taking $6,000 in bribes in 1988 to fix a court case.

There was Tony Rezko, who Obama managed to shed, even though the shady real estate deal between Rezko and Obama is legendary in Chicago.

Then there was Operation Greylord from the 1980s.

It was called Operation Greylord, named after the curly wigs worn by British judges. And in the end—through undercover operations that used honest and very courageous judges and lawyers posing as crooked ones… and with the strong assistance of the Cook County court and local police—92 officials had been indicted, including 17 judges, 48 lawyers, eight policemen, 10 deputy sheriffs, eight court officials, and one state legislator. Nearly all were convicted, most of them pleading guilty.

So as you can see, Chicago is not populated by the most ethical politicians in the universe.

Another Affordable-bail Gone-wrong Story

More men charged with shooting people while free bail for gun charges.

A West Side man who was on electronic home monitoring for allegedly possessing a stolen firearm as a felon, shot five people Saturday, killing two of them, according to prosecutors.

And as I’ve mentioned before, if you ignore the data, then everything looks good.

For example, Jordan — who allegedly shot five and killed two over the weekend — does not qualify for Foxx’s re-offender count because his pending gun case began before January 1 and, additionally, the alleged murders happened after June 30.

CWBChicago researchers continue to find cases that seem to paint a questionable picture of the county’s bail program’s success with accused gun offenders.

Click thru for that story. I’m sure there will be more in the days and weeks ahead.

My previous post on the subject is at this link.

Affordable Bail Works as Long as You Ignore the Data

A politician wouldn’t LIE, would they? More murder cases raise questions about officials’ bond court success stories

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, known as Crimesha to Second City Cop (link in the sidebar), loves bail reform.

As we reported Tuesday, Foxx is driving the re-offend statistic down by creating a tight window of opportunity for someone to get caught with another gun.

So the program looks like it’s working, as long as you exclude the data that shows it isn’t.

A gun crime, namely felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, resulted in the first guy having to pay 200 bucks to get out of jail. He was eventually given a curfew, not that that mattered to anyone, least of all the bad-guy.

Stidhum violated his curfew again the very next night and 16 more times during the month of June alone, according to court records. But officials didn’t do anything about it.

On July 16, Stidhum shot and killed 23-year-old Tavion Edwards as the man rode his motorcycle in Lawndale, prosecutors say. Patrol officers heard the gunfire and arrested Stidhum as he ran down a nearby alley. Cops said they found a gun in Stidhum’s pants.

Even though he was out on bail, and had violated the terms of his release a bunch of times, the murder he committed, allegedly, doesn’t count on Crimesha’s stats because it didn’t happen right away. Yeah, that makes sense.

Click thru for the rest.

So yeah, you can prove just about anything you want to prove if you ignore the data that doesn’t help your cause.

In case you’ve been living under a rock this summer, Chicago has a crime problem. Murders and shootings have been through the roof, and the looting isn’t helping things. And while it doesn’t get the attention it deserves, carjacking is surging in a big way this year.

As Long As She Had a Good Reason

If you put this in a novel or a movie, people would say it is not realistic. NYC assault suspect misses court date because she was allegedly stabbing woman.

A woman who was sent for mental health treatment instead of to prison for a pair of assaults failed to appear in court for a status update this week — because she was allegedly stabbing someone to death, The Post has learned.

But putting dangerous people in jail is unfair, or something. It was certainly unfair to her latest victim.

So how is all that Criminal Justice System reform working out?

Cook County State’s Attorney’s Recipe for More Crime

Cook County, in Illinois, is home to Chicago. One alderman blasts Foxx, another targets Lightfoot after looters demolish downtown.

If you make something less expensive, you will get more of it, and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has made looting a zero-cost activity. Well, and she has had help from the judges.

“Laws are not a ‘buffet’ for prosecutors to selectively enforce,” Reilly continued. “All too often, we are seeing repeat offenders, violent offenders, gun crime suspects and, now looters, being released on [recognizance bonds] or the totally ineffective ‘electronic monitoring program.’ This is totally unacceptable.”

Reilly pointed to a lengthy Chicago Tribune report about Foxx’s’s polices that coincidentally appeared in this morning’s newspaper.

He highlighted a Trib finding that Foxx “dropped all charges against 29.9% of felony defendants a dramatic increase over her predecessor… For the last three years of Anita Alvarez’s tenure, the rate was 19.4%.”

But Kim Foxx (known to Second City Cop as Crimesha) disagrees. Social Justice is more important than actual Justice. Social Justice is more important than the survival of Chicago’s tax base. And if Chicago ends up with an abandoned downtown, and no money to pay for anything, well, Kim Foxx will know that she did her utmost to let people off the hook for their own actions.

Anyway there is a lot more at the CWB article linked at the top of this post, including some fine words about and by Chicago’s Mayor Groot. Or Lori Lightfoot. Whichever. And I must disagree with the people who think she looks like Beetlejuice.

Oh, and nothing will change in Chicago. Well, things will continue to get worse. Crimesha and the social-justice-warrior judges will continue to turn criminals loose, ignore crimes, and watch while the crime rate climbs. Groot will continue to blast President Trump and everyone outside of Chicago. And when the businesses finally leave, and the people follow it will be because of racism, and not that she didn’t do anything to create an environment where people wanted to stay. In short, it won’t be the fault of any elected official in Chicago, and you are racist for insisting that they actually do the jobs for which they campaigned.

Because Keeping Violent Offenders in Jail Is Unfair

So he was let out of jail. Released from jail at height of pandemic, Virginia rape suspect allegedly killed his accuser.

Ibrahim E. Bouaichi was charged with rape, strangulation, and abduction. He was jailed without bond. But his lawyers complained when COVID-19 hit. It wasn’t fair.

On April 9, over the objections of an Alexandria prosecutor, Circuit Court Judge Nolan Dawkins released Bouaichi on $25,000 bond, with the condition that he only leave his Maryland home to meet with his lawyers or pretrial services officials.

On July 29, Alexandria police say, Bouaichi, 33, returned to Alexandria and shot and killed Dominguez outside her apartment in the city’s West End.

Proving once again that social justice and Real Justice are not the same thing.

Nothing will happen to the judge. He will make some statement about how he feels for the family of the dead woman. He won’t lose his job, or even a night’s sleep, because he was doing the right thing, the social-justice-thing. And no one could foresee that a violent criminal would continue to be a violent criminal. You can’t even sue him for wrongful death, as far as I know.

And he retired in June, so you can’t even get him fired.

Justice? What’s that?

How Is That Reduced Bail System Working Out?

How do you spell “recidivism?” Man accused of raping Tinder date — while on bail for allegedly raping another Tinder date.

A North Side man is accused of raping a woman he met on a dating app in May while he was on bail for allegedly committing an identical crime against another woman last year.

This time he is being held without bail, because he violated the terms of his 2019 release for the previous allegation.

And all of this because keeping violent offenders in jail would be unfair. NOTE: I’ve put this in the “Lawyers Behaving Badly” category. I probably need to create a “Judges Behaving Badly” category as well. Though Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx really doesn’t like to prosecute criminals, because Social Justice or something.

Another Prosecutor Abusing His Power?

It sure looks that way to me – OR – How can a Grand Jury subpoena be issued, when there is no Grand Jury? EXCLUSIVE: GBI probe of Fulton County DA Paul Howard widens.

Prosecuting attorneys wouldn’t LIE, would they?

The Georgia Attorney General has now asked the GBI to investigate grand jury subpoenas issued by Howard’s office in the Rayshard Brooks murder case.

Senior I-Team reporter Dale Russell says those grand jury subpoenas were issued by Howard’s office even though there was no grand jury in place.

He apparently forgot about COVID-19, and its impacts on the Criminal Justice System. (A Criminal System that is in no way interested in Justice.)

“What are we doing? That is a violation of our ethical code of conduct,” says GSU law professor Jessica Gable Cino

Gable Cino is a law professor who specializes in prosecutorial misconduct. She says not only does Paul Howard face ethical questions, but potentially legal problems as well.

Ethics? We don’t need no stinkin’ Ethics! Especially when there are politically-motivated prosecutions to pursued.

Hat tip to Power Line Blog: An outrageous prosecution in Atlanta turns scandalous, who notes that when confronted with this “error,” DA Howard issued three explanations.

Jessica Gable Cino, a law professor at Georgia State University, notes that Howard’s three explanations for sending out grand jury subpoenas contradict one another, and none of them makes legal sense. “For all intents of purposes right now it looks like there’s an abuse of process which could completely derail this case, and nobody wants that outcome,” Cino said.

I’m not sure about the last part of that statement.

Also a Hat Tip goes to Wombat-socho.

Kim Foxx – State’s Attorney, for Cook County Illinois – Doesn’t Like Criticism

But then who does, really. Foxx sees police as both helpers and critics — and needing to change: ‘It’s not going to be easy, and it’s not going to be quick’.

If you don’t like the way she refuses to prosecute crimes then you are racist. There is no other explanation.

The police union has been a regular critic of Foxx and her work, organizing a rally against her last year that saw members of the Proud Boys, the American Guard and the American Identity Movement attending. The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled the Proud Boys and the American Guard hate groups.

But as Second City Cop points out, SPLC is a Democratic money-laundering-front.

Taking Flak = Over the Target.

So now, being criticized for being bad at your job is racist?

Though SCC was called out in the Sun Times article, and I think this falls under the heading of “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” Second City Cop calls Kim Foxx Crimeshea, for reasons I’ve never been able to divine, though he has nicknames for most Chicago politicians.

You Expect “The System” to Protect You?

Then you haven’t been paying attention. Murder victim’s friends say PA woman made good on her vow to kill.

Threats. A break in. A house burned down and another fire. And a dead ex-husband.

But no one was able to stop it. Police and the district attorney say they did all they could before the murder within the limits of the law.

Through all of it, the people on the receiving end tried to get the cops, the DA, the arson investigators, anyone to do something. They did nothing. Which is what they usually do.

Now talking to the cops is a fine thing to do in a case like this, but you might consider how expecting “The System” to do all the work turned out in this case.

Chicago’s Recipe for More Crime

Reduced or no bail means that criminals are back on the street. If you make something cheaper, you will see more of it.

First up… violent criminal remains a violent criminal. On bail for allegedly battering cop last month, man’s now accused of robbing woman on Red Line.

A man who’s on bail for allegedly battering a police officer at a downtown CTA station last month is now charged with robbing a woman as she rode the Red Line home from work in Uptown on Monday.

He is being held, on a $10,000 bond. If he can raise the 10%, he will have to be electronically monitored.

Next up, “free” bail. On recognizance bond for CTA robbery, man’s charged with brandishing knife and injuring 2 cops.

This guy didn’t even have to raise 1000 bucks.

When prosecutors in April charged Ein Julian with robbing a man on the Red Line downtown, he went home on a recognizance bond. Now, prosecutors say he broke one cop’s finger and spit in another’s face Sunday afternoon when they tried to stop him as he brandished a knife in North Center.

Because keeping violent criminals in jail is unfair.

Another Lawyer Making Terrorist Threats

Hey, he probably thought he was safe behind his bandana. ‘Protester’ Who Made Terroristic Threats on Live TV Is a Brooklyn Lawyer.

Gateway Pundit broke the news today that Israel Adam “Ace” Burns is a Brooklyn attorney, who graduated from Rutgers Law School and appears to have many influential friends:

Because the news didn’t see fit to identify his profession. BLM protester threatens to burn down NYC Diamond District during Fox News interview, is arrested for terror threats.

Burns’ attorney Ken Belkin hopes the Brooklyn district attorney declines to prosecute the case, arguing his client didn’t actually mean any harm.

“This is a peaceful man. I don’t believe he intended to make any threats or really intended to make good on that threat.

Because “peaceful people” always make threats to burn down largely Jewish neighborhoods. At least the peaceful people in NYC apparently do. Or so this attorney seems to imply.

Qualified Immunity – The Disaster Imposed by SCOTUS

Usually nothing happens to cops when they behave badly; that is because of “qualified immunity.” Cops Kill Because We Gave Them The Legal Framework to Do It.

Get rid of that, and they would stop doing a lot of things.

In the wake of the Civil War, freed southern blacks were terrorized by lynch mobs and other attackers. Congress responded to Ku Klux Klan violence against freed southern blacks by enacting the Civil Rights Act of 1871 to authorize lawsuits against any person acting “under color of” law who causes a “deprivation of any rights… secured by the Constitution and laws.” But in a series of decisions beginning in 1967, the Supreme Court gutted that law by permitting police and other government agents to claim they acted in “good faith” when violating citizens’ rights. In 1982, the Supreme Court granted government officials immunity unless they violated “clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.”

Regardless of centuries of court rulings that clearly demarcated citizens’ constitutional rights, the Supreme Court decided government officials deserved “qualified immunity” unless a prior court case had condemned almost exactly the same abusive behavior. Federal judge Don Willett declared in 2018 that “qualified immunity smacks of unqualified impunity, letting public officials duck consequences for bad behavior—no matter how palpably unreasonable—as long as they were the first to behave badly.”

Qualified immunity was a series of bad decisions, but because of Stare Decisis, the legal doctrine which says a bad decision is better than a good law, the Courts created a whole series of protections for cops, doing just about anything they want. It isn’t right, and it isn’t making society a better place. But the legislature can’t fix this. Because the justices on the SCOTUS have appointed themselves our dictatorial rulers.

People always ask, “How do we fix this?” Well one place to start would be with qualified immunity. Anyway, go read the whole thing. You won’t be disappointed.

And while you’re at it, you can consider a case from last year, that you probably didn’t hear about, that has many similarities to the George Floyd case. Police laughed and joked as he lost consciousness in handcuffs. Minutes later, he died.

The evidence unearthed by Vicki Timpa and her lawyers, along with the Morning News and NBC5, has led to an excessive force lawsuit in federal court and an indictment of three of the officers involved, Kevin Mansell, Danny Vasquez and Dustin Dillard. In March, the Dallas County district attorney dismissed the charges against them, and they returned to active duty the next month.

Keeping Violent Criminals in Jail is Unfair

So says the Left. Released Early Due To Coronavirus: Former Weld County Inmate Now Accused Of Strangulation.

A former Weld County Jail inmate, who was released early from a two year sentence due to COVID-19 concerns, is now accused of attacking and strangling someone one month after his release. The Windsor Police Department is now searching for Christopher A. Vecchiarelli, 36, after they say he attacked a woman, leaving bruises in several places and fracturing her arm.

Someone will say his infraction didn’t mean he should be exposed to COVID-19. Should the woman he attacked have had her arm broken?

Because Keeping Violent Criminals in Jail is Unfair

So how fair was it to the woman he is accused of murdering? How much Justice, social or any other kind, did she get? Parolee accused of murder left prison early due to ongoing COVID response by state.

A parolee accused of murdering a 21-year-old woman in Denver on Saturday was out of prison, according to information shared with 9Wants to Know, due to ongoing efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the state’s prison system.

On Saturday, Denver Police believe Cornelius Haney shot and killed Heather Perry, 21, in an alley between the 1400 block of North Verbena St. and North Valentia St. in east Denver.

So are the Dems trying to destroy the last of the Criminal Justice System?

The Left’s Plan for More Crime

Because keeping violent criminals in jail is unfair. Or something. More men charged with murder while free on “affordable bail,” records show.

The judge responsible for this miscarriage of justice says there have been no ” horrible incidents.” Reality paints a different picture.

Nearly two dozen men freed on affordable bail have shot or killed people while awaiting trial on gun charges, public records show. Our research has also found defendants who’ve allegedly killed while free on little or no bail for robbery, manufacture-delivery of heroin, and aggravated battery of a child causing great bodily harm.

And just recently.

This first guy was charged with battery for hurling a chunk of concrete thru his girlfriend’s window.

Police records show he was released from custody on a recognizance bond at 6:10 a.m. the same morning.

Less than three hours later, he returned to his girlfriend’s house with a gun and fired at least three shots at her as she stood in her backyard, according to a police report. All of the shots missed.

He is now charged with attempted murder. Less. Than. Three. Hours.

The other 2 cases are murder-for-hire and murder. Because “affordable bail” is only fair.

Less Than $10,000 Per Year for a Life Stolen

They covered up evidence that he didn’t commit the crime. Baltimore to pay $125,000 to man who spent 16 years wrongfully in jail.

A man who spent 16 years in jail for murder – before another man’s confession was uncovered in a Baltimore City police report – will be awarded $125,000 to settle his lawsuit.

The prosecutor said the confession was “not to be released” to the defense. Why? Because winning was more important than justice. Oh that lawyer, went on to become a judge. She died while this guy was in prison for a crime he did not commit.

The Criminal Justice System. Definitely criminal, and not interested in Justice.