Archive for October 5th, 2011

Obit watch: October 5, 2011.

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

Because it is expected, even though it is all over the news: Steve Jobs.

LAT obit.

NYT obit.

Edited to add 10/6: Both John Scalzi and Wil Wheaton have nice tributes up at their sites.

ETA2: Ihnatko. Person.

ETA3: I generally don’t solicit charitable donations here. But I would like to note that the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research gets four stars (the highest possible rating) from Charity Navigator. There are worse things you could do with your money than make a donation to them; if not in memory of Steve Jobs, perhaps in memory of Randy Pausch. Or Benoit Mandelbrot. Or one of the other 419 people whose death from pancreatic cancer was notable enough for Wikipedia.

Posted in Apple, Clippings, Obits | Comments Closed

Aiyana Stanley-Jones.

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

Who was Aiyana Stanley-Jones?

She was a seven-year-old in Detroit. A SWAT team raided her home looking for a murder suspect; in the process of that raid, the police set her and her bed on fire with a flash-bang grenade. Then they shot her.

Sucks, right? But it was an accident, right? It may be the kind of accident that happens all too often these days, but still an accident, right?

Detroit Police Officer Joseph Weekley has been arraigned on an indictment on charges of involuntary manslaughter and careless and reckless discharge of a firearm causing death in the May 2010 slaying of Aiyana Stanley-Jones during a raid.

Well, okay, involuntary manslaughter and “careless and reckless discharge of a firearm” still carry the connotation of accident, right? Sure. But when was the last time you heard of a police officer being indicted for an accidental shooting? The Oakland BART shooting, perhaps? (And note that that officer was charged with second degree murder; the jury convicted him of less serious charges.)

But that’s not the only reason I’m noting this. You see, the SWAT team was being filmed by a crew from “The First 48”, a show on the A&E network. And…

Also charged in an indictment is Allison Howard, 42, of Boston. She is charged with perjury and obstruction of justice. Wayne County prosecutors said Howard was a photographer with “The First 48,” which had a crew following the Special Response Team the night of the raid.

So they’re charging the camera person as well. And note the charges: “perjury”, and “obstruction of justice”. Makes you go “Hmmmmmm”, doesn’t it?

(Hattip: Reason‘s “Hit and Run”.)

Posted in Clippings, Cops, Law, TV | Comments Closed

The Harris County Party Van.

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

Harris County (which includes Houston) decided yesterday that they were going to get their breath testing services from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Previously, the county had a contract with Lone Star College.

“So what?” you say. “TXDPS must have made them a better deal.”

The contract with DPS, which began Tuesday, will cost the county $330,000 in the first year, which would be $12,000 less than Lone Star’s contract. State law reimburses the county $22.50 for each DWI conviction it obtains without using DPS technicians; Harris County collected $220,000 from the state from 2008 through 2010.

If convictions were to continue at similar rates, the DPS contract could end up being pricier than the Lone Star contract.

Well, maybe TXDPS has more experience and competence than Lone Star. That’s quite possible…

Because the DPS oversees the Texas’ breath-alcohol testing program, the agency has a broader knowledge base with more experienced personnel who focus solely on breath testing, Durfee said. The district attorney’s office also has a preference for larger regional and statewide institutions in forensic science, he said.

So what’s the issue here? Well, one of the people who works for Lone Star is Amanda Culbertson. Ms. Culbertson was also the person who brought out the problems with the BAT vans. Ms. Culbertson will apparently lose her job once Lone Star’s contract ends. Of course, everyone denies that there was any retaliation involved.

I’m torn. It actually does sound to me like there are good reasons to go with DPS. But the timing is, to put it mildly, suspicious, especially since Lone Star has had the contract for 20 years.

Murray Newman (a former prosecutor) over at the excellent “Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center” blog has some more to say on this, and he comes down pretty firmly on the “retaliation” side. Here’s the Lisa Falkenberg column he mentions.

Posted in Clippings, Cops, HCDA, Law | 1 Comment »