Free Republic

EL PASO, Texas — Two former Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a drug smuggler and trying to cover it up have been denied a request for a new hearing. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans denied the request by Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean on Wednesday. The same court upheld the men's convictions in July. No reason was given for the Wednesday's denial. Ramos and Compean are each serving sentences of more than 10 years for shooting Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks while he was fleeing from an abandoned marijuana load in 2005....

Mary Winkler--who shot her husband in the back and then refused to aid him or call 911 as he slowly bled to death for 20 minutes--walked away a free woman last year after serving a farcically brief "sentence" for her crimes. Mary Winkler’s claims of abuse were largely uncorroborated during the trial. According to the testimony from Matthew Winkler's oldest daughter, Patricia, the dead father--who as he lay dying looked at his wife and asked "why?"--was a good man and did not abuse her mother. Mary Winkler has been in a custody battle with Matthew Winkler's parents, who have been...

Neurologist disputes state’s attorney’s office description. A neurologist who treated Zach Sowers following his brutal attack in a street robbery last summer has challenged statements by a high-ranking official in the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s office regarding Sowers’ medical condition. Dr. Marek Mirski, director of the Neuroscience Critical Care Division and vice chairman of anesthesia and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, said in a July 7 letter to Margaret T. Burns, chief of communications and governmental affairs in the state’s attorney’s office, that Burns’ comments reported in the June issue of Exhibit A, contained “gross inaccuracies.” In...

The daughter of a Second World War RAF pilot who reprimanded a teenager who she accused of vandalising a war memorial has been convicted of assault (edit)But Mrs Lake was arrested after giving a boy, whom she believed to be the ringleader, a talking-to and a 'cuff round the ear'.She tackled him after she saw at least one youth riding a BMX bike through freshly-laid flower beds.Magistrates heard that when she grabbed his shirt collar, he said: 'That's assault'. (edit) 'I lost my temper in frustration after two years of trying to get something done and immediately the police...

'The conviction of David Olofson is a gross miscarriage of justice' A Wisconsin man today surrendered to federal authorities to begin serving a 30-month prison term for having a broken rifle, prompting the Gun Owners of America to issue a warning about the owner's liability should any semi-automatic weapon ever misfire. "A gun that malfunctions is not a machine gun," Larry Pratt, executive director of GOA, said. "What the [federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] has done in the [David] Olofson case has set a precedent that could make any of the millions of Americans that own semi-automatic...

NYPD Investigating Incident, Officers Placed On Modified Duty NEW YORK (CBS) -- Undercover police officers who arrested four men on drug charges are under investigation after surveillance video proved the men they arrested committed no crime. Drug charges against brothers Jose Colon and Maximo Colon, along with two of their friends have been dropped. The undercover NYPD officers are seen on video dancing in the street, then attempting to frame four innocent men. "I asked police officer why are you arresting me," said Maximo Colon. "Never did I get an answer." The investigators swore under oath they bought drugs from...

The three protesters who scaled the Golden Gate Bridge and unfurled "Free Tibet" banners while suspended 150 feet over traffic a couple of days before the big Olympic torch run in April will have all the charges against them dismissed once they complete 25 hours of community service.Thanks to a decision by San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris' office, the three were eligible for pretrial diversion and community service - and the court officials in charge of picking the community service sent them to Students for a Free Tibet. Shouldn't be too onerous, since the three were already affiliated with...

ADF attorneys represent a Christian photographer being tried under state antidiscrimination laws for declining to photograph a same-sex “commitment ceremony.” “Christians shouldn’t be penalized for abiding by their beliefs. The state cannot force unwilling people to promote a message they disagree with and thereby violate their conscience,” said Lorence. “The state’s prosecution violates our client’s First Amendment rights. The government cannot make people choose between their faith and their job.” A same-sex couple asked Elaine Huguenin, co-owner with her husband of Elane Photography, to photograph a “commitment ceremony” that the two women wanted to hold. Huguenin declined because her Christian...

The eruption of outrage, shock and fear that is flowing over Barack Obama’s campaign like hot lava because his pastor has preached some strident sermons tells us one thing for certain: Many white people don’t know black people at all. If they did, they would know that Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Chicago is hardly the only black minister who uses the pulpit to rant against racial duplicity and injustice. The black church has always been the place for letting our hair down and speaking our peace -- a safe haven from the criminations outside. It’s how and why the black...

SEASIDE, Calif. (AP) - A 15-year-old girl who stopped an out-of-control school bus she was riding on was handed a Saturday detention instead because she was skipping school. Marina High School student Amanda Rouse was on a bus with 40 elementary school students Wednesday morning when the driver fell out of her seat after a turn and hit her head. Rouse jumped up and applied the brakes, bringing the bus to a halt after striking two parked cars. No one was injured. She said had asked the bus driver for a ride because she felt sick at school. "She is...

The Poverty and Justice Bible, the latest release from Bible Society, has broken new ground as the first ever to literally highlight the more than 2,000 passages that reveal God’s sorrow over poverty and injustice, and His command to believers to act to eradicate them. Sun, Mar. 02, 2008 Posted: 12:41:18 PM EST The Poverty and Justice Bible, the latest release from Bible Society, has broken new ground as the first ever to literally highlight the more than 2,000 passages that reveal God’s sorrow over poverty and injustice, and His command to believers to act to eradicate them. The new...

While Disney artists bring their imaginations to life through animation, Disney executives are living a lifestyle that animators can’t even begin to imagine. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Disney chief executive Bob Iger received a 7% pay increase in 2007 for a total financial compensation of $27.7 million. According to the company’s proxy statement, the breakdown is as follows: $2 million salary, which remained the same as 2006; a $13.7 million bonus, which was a decrease from his $15 million bonus in ‘06; stock awards totaling $7.9 million, and $740,000 for personal air travel, security and a car...

~snip~An early test of all these traits will come in the next few weeks, when the new attorney general is expected to review the Justice Department's flawed, embarrassing prosecution of two former lobbyists for AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The lobbyists, Steven J. Rosen, and a junior associate, Keith Weissman, are charged under the 1917 Espionage Act with receiving classified information from Lawrence Franklin, then a top Defense Department official. The lobbyists allegedly passed on the information they had received to a reporter for the Washington Post and an Israeli embassy employee. Much of the information was about...

Government insiders who engage in unauthorized leaks of classified information are violating their oaths, breaking the law, damaging national security and deserving of punishment. Sometimes those outside government who receive secrets and pass them to others are also breaking the law and deserve punishment. The latter category includes enemy spies. But what about American lobbyists -- and journalists -- who receive secrets and pass them along? In an important trial set to begin in January, the Justice Department has irresponsibly confused the distinction between spying and lobbying. Keith Weissman and Steven J. Rosen, two former employees of AIPAC, the pro-Israel...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A Marine reservist from Indiana was found guilty Thursday of killing an Iraqi soldier while they stood watch together at a guard post in Fallujah. Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes, 22, of Indianapolis, was convicted of negligent homicide, but acquitted of the greater charge of unpremeditated homicide. He was also convicted of making a false official statement. A panel of three officers and five enlisted Marines returned the verdict after two days of deliberating over whether the Dec. 31, 2006, killing of Pvt. Munther Muhammed Hassin was an act of murder or self-defense. Holmes, a graduate of...

David Rushing and Lynn Switzer (the occupant of the office of the district attorney for the 31st Judicial District of the State of Texas) have proudly given the state of Texas a reputation for being heavily involved in such atrocities as predatory lending, drugs, child pornography, obstruction of justice, abuse of power, malicious prosecutions, federal trade law violations, intentionally "misdirected" investigations, willful and malicious violations of numerous other federal laws, rules and regulations... If you've ever wondered just exactly how corrupt a local government can be under the leadership of an organized group of thugs, you've come to the right...

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution reads: "A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." www.Dictionary.com informs us that "infringe" means "to commit a breach or infraction of; violate or transgress ... " and further refers us to _Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law_: "to encroach upon in a way that violates law or the rights of another." The latter specifically cites the Second Amendment as an example of the word's usage. The word "infringe" also carries a connotation of sneaking up,...

Oakland, Calif., continues to suffer the high crime rate, and especially the high murder rate, which has long afflicted that city. Judging by a recent speech by its current mayor, longtime leftist Ron Dellums, it can look forward to a future all too much like its past. Why is Oakland so crime-ridden? According to Mayor Dellums, "we have closed our eyes to the injustices and inequities, and now we are reaping the wild winds of that disregard for a whole range of people." This is the "root causes of crime" rhetoric of the 1960s, still going strong on the left...

If you are a police officer, trooper, court officer, correction officer, telecommunicator, highway patrol, federal agent, or any other type of police (peace) officer either full-time, part-time or retired that has been disrespected or insulted by another police agency (officer) by not receiving some sort of professional courtesy, please email staff (at) copswritingcops.com with the information. If you have been arrested for a crime and want to use this as a podium to rant, go somewhere else. This is a site for officers getting traffic tickets that ANY normal civilian could get a warning on, verbal or written. This is...

A suspected burglar fell 30 feet from a top-storey window of a London hotel after being disturbed by guests. He is fighting for his life after plunging face first on to the pavement from the second-floor window of the building in Victoria. Five men, all of whom are believed to be tourists and guests at the hotel, are being interviewed by police. "Two men have been arrested and are being held at a central London police station," a Scotland Yard spokeswoman said. Witnesses heard shouting and smashing noises from the top floor of the building just before the man fell...

RFFM.org Commentary by Daniel T. Zanoza As former New York Yankee Hall of Famer Yogi Berra might say, it sounds like deja vu all over again. Of course, Yogi would be talking about O.J. Simpson, once again, being charged with a violent crime while he sits in the Las Vegas County Jail. Well, Yogi didn't say it, but I did and, to tell the truth, this latest Simpson escapade has not caused me to shed any tears. Most certainly I do not find glee in the fact another human being is deeply troubled, but I have to confess there is...

The Environmental Court in Växjö has banned a woman from smoking in her own garden, Sydsvenkan reports. The 49-year-old single mother is enraged by the decision but says that she will obey the ruling to avoid having to pay a fine. Earlier this year, The Local reported on the case of a lawyer with an aversion to smoke who sued his neighbour for lighting up in her own back garden. The case eventually ended up at the Environmental Court (Miljödomstolen), which last week sent a delegation to the woman's home. But the woman, from Åkarp in southern Sweden, refused to...

I'm opposed to prison sentences for certain statutory rape situations--in many countries, a 21-year-old man having a relationship with a 17-year-old woman is perfectly normal. A friend's grandparents recently celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary, and it was publicized in local papers, as it should be, since it's such an achievement. But looking at the story and doing a little math made me realize that if the two of them had gotten married yesterday, he would go to jail--he was 21 and she was 17 when they got married in 1922. This is absurd. On the other had, if it's a...

Mary Winkler of Selmer, Tennessee was set free last week. Winkler had admitted to gunning down her husband, the popular town preacher, in March 2006 while he was in bed asleep. As he lay dying with blood foaming from his mouth, the man of the cloth incredulously asked her, "Why?" With that, Mary packed their three daughters into the car and drove down to Alabama for a beachside vacation. If Mrs. Winkler had been convicted of intentional murder, she could have been sentenced to 60 years of hard time. But all she got was 67 days in a mental health...

Widow 'devastated' by decision to allow man who stabbed headteacher to live in Britain · Gang member cannot be deported, court rules · Prisoner expresses his sorrow to family of victim

SAN FRANCISCO - Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy painted a dismal picture of injustice and lack of opportunity in much of the world, then told lawyers Monday that they must do something. Kennedy used a ceremony in which the American Bar Association presented him its highest award to talk about the plight of rape victims who must pay a fee before they file a complaint, young girls used by their families to have sex with tourists, prisoners who develop gangrene because they get no medical care. "The rule of law and your own freedom are not secure unless you address...

An RAF mechanic who claimed he was sleepwalking when he had sex with a 15-year-old girl was cleared of rape yesterday. Senior Aircraftsman Kenneth Ecott, 26, broke down in tears after a jury took two hours to agree that he was not responsible for his actions. Ecott did not deny having sex with the girl but said he had no memory of it happening. Instead he insisted he had a condition known as 'sexsomnia' in which sufferers carry out indecent acts in their sleep. It was this rare affliction which caused him to climb naked on top of the girl...

SAN DIEGO – Neighbors shot and killed a man violating a restraining order early Friday after his ex-girlfriend found him inside her University City apartment, police said. William and Nicole Porter, both 22, were each booked on one count of murder, Capt. Mary Cornicelli said. The 47-year-old victim hasn't been identified

Family seeks support for border agent; Ignacio Ramos serving 11-year sentence after wounding smuggler Wednesday, August 1, 2007 By: CHRIS BAGLEY - Staff Writer TEMECULA -- A thousand points of friction surround the issue of illegal immigration, but few have inflamed passions like the cases of Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos and Jose Compean. The two U.S. Border Patrol agents have been in federal prison since January after shooting and wounding a drug smuggler who was fleeing to the Mexican border in February 2005. The agents are serving 11 and 12 years, respectively, for convictions on charges of armed assault, obstruction of...

OLYMPIA, Wash. - An oral surgeon who temporarily implanted fake boar tusks in his assistant's mouth as a practical joke and got sued for it has gotten the state's high court to back up his gag. Dr. Robert Woo of Auburn had put in the phony tusks while the woman was under anesthesia for a different procedure. He took them out before she awoke, but he first shot photos that eventually made it around the office. The employee, Tina Alberts, felt so humiliated when she saw the pictures that she quit and sued her boss.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: Authorities said Friday they will prosecute a woman who crushed a teenager to death with her car after he snatched her purse. The incident assumed national importance partly because it happened in early 2005, at a time when ethnic tensions were inflamed. The 19-year-old came from a Moroccan family and the filmmaker Theo van Gogh had been murdered by a Muslim radical just two months earlier. Many people were sympathetic to the driver, believing she was justified in chasing the thieves and that the death was an accident. But many in Amsterdam's Moroccan community felt the incident reflected...

Prankster dentist wins case against insurer27 Jul 2007, 0733 hrs IST,AP OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON: An oral surgeon who played a practical joke on his assistant by implanting fake boar tusks in her mouth while she was under anesthesia was sued for it, but ended up getting a last laugh. Dr. Robert Woo, who is originally from Hong Kong, took photos of her porcine dental work that later made the rounds. The employee, Tina Alberts, felt humiliated and quit, later suing her boss. When Woo's insurance company, Fireman's Fund, would not deal with the lawsuit, Woo settled out of court with...

Judge orders 3 who solicited sex to don outfit, hold anti-brothel sign PAINESVILLE, OHIO — The Best Little Whorehouse is not in Painesville. And Municipal Judge Michael Cicconetti, known for dispensing unusual sentences, doesn't want one sprouting in his small town. So Cicconetti ordered three men charged with soliciting sex to take turns dressing in a bright yellow chicken costume while carrying a sign that reads "No Chicken Ranch in Painesville." The sign and costume refer to the "World Famous Chicken Ranch," a brothel in Nevada where sex-for-money is legal. The costume was borrowed from a woman who wears it...

By SUSAN SHARP sharp@lafollettepress.com Elk Valley resident Scotty Hatfield isn’t sorry for trying to kill a man. Hatfield’s only regret is he didn’t succeed that December 2005 night when he felt a moral obligation to take the law into his own hands. H atfield recently was tried by a jury of his peers and found guilty of reckless aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. The original indictment charged him with three counts of aggravated assault and one count of felony reckless endangerment. Jurors ultimately chose to convict him on the lesser charges. Scotty Hatfield never denied the charges. Sitting in court...

The Incredible Judicial Disparity: Berger v. Libby June 8, 2007 at 5:23 am · Filed under Vox Populi If you needed any more proof that the American judicial system is completely and alarmingly subjective – beyond Paris Hilton's early release – look no further than the disparity between the sentences imposed on Sandy Berger and I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby. In Washington DC’s version of The Peoples’ Court, it would seem that the deciding factors in how severe a sentence one gets depends on political party affiliation, the severity of the crime be damned. This past Tuesday US District Judge Reggie...

SELMER, Tenn. — A woman who killed her preacher husband with a shotgun blast to the back as he lay in bed was sentenced Friday to three years in prison, but she may end up serving only 60 days in a mental hospital. Mary Winkler must serve 210 days, or about seven months, of her sentence before she can be released on probation, but she gets credit for the five months she has already spent in jail, Judge Weber McCraw said. That leaves only two months, and McCraw said up to 60 days of the sentence could be served in...

America's news media, an amoral university, an opportunistic district attorney, and a police department that seems to have collaborated in framing innocent students all combined to nearly destroy the lives of three innocent young men -- members of the Duke University lacrosse team. The attorney general of North Carolina announced that all charges -- of rape, sexual assault and whatever other charges a mendacious young woman got Mike Nifong to bring against the Duke lacrosse team players -- were being dropped. He pronounced the students "innocent," not merely "not guilty." And the attorney general also declared Nifong a "rogue prosecutor."...

MIDI - SING A SONG (scroll down to June) Ha ha ha ha ha...ha ha ha ha ha ha...ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha...ha ha ha ha ha ha...ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Mike, Mike Nifong, what you did was so wrong Now it's time that you pay...we hope you're put away Mike, Mike Nifong...you did damage that lasts a whole life long Apologies are not good enough...it's meaningless words you say Bye, bye...Mike Nifong Ha ha ha ha ha...ha ha ha ha ha ha...ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...

Twenty-six Latin American im migrants agreed yesterday to enroll in English classes and put their "best efforts" toward obtaining legal status in a case involving their use of false identification to obtain jobs at a manufacturing plant, authorities said. The men were among 35 charged in December with using fake or stolen Social Security cards or resident alien cards while working at a plant in Montville owned by Dicar, Inc Seven cases are still pending in Superior Court in Morristown and two defendants have yet to be served with the complaints, authorities said. Most were either illegal immigrants or were...

Breaking on MSNBC

Afghan Hound abused, animal shelter director covers up for her friend and the friend walks away free

Virginia's General Assembly has adopted a resolution, expressing "profound regret" for the role the US state played in slavery. The resolution was passed by a 96-0 vote in the House and also unanimously backed in the 40-member Senate. Although non-binding, the resolution sent an important symbolic message, its sponsors said. Lawmakers also expressed regret for "the exploitation of Native Americans" in Virginia. Saturday's resolution was passed as the state was preparing to mark the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, where the first Africans arrived in 1619. It said that government-sanctioned slavery "ranks as the most horrendous of all depredations of...

A Florida Supreme Court case raises fundamental questions about the nature of fatherhood and legal responsibilities. Sixteen months after his divorce, Richard Parker made a devastating discovery. A DNA test revealed that his 3-year-old son had been fathered by someone else. Mr. Parker immediately filed a lawsuit claiming fraud by his apparently unfaithful ex-wife. He took his case all the way to the Florida Supreme Court. Last week, the Florida justices ruled 7-0 against him. They said that Parker must continue to pay $1,200 a month in child support because he had missed the one-year postdivorce deadline for filing his...

Just heard on Glenn Beck that the Congressman the DHS lied to is going to have Chertoff under oath and question him about the lies regarding the affidavits.

EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- A former U.S. Border Patrol agent who was convicted of shooting a drug smuggling suspect and then lying about it was beaten by fellow inmates in prison, his relatives and a congressman said Tuesday. Prison officials did not immediately confirm that Ignacio Ramos had been attacked. The convictions of Ramos and fellow former agent Jose Alonso Compean sparked outcry from critics who argued that the men were merely doing their job defending the border against criminals. U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., a vocal supporter of the agents and opponent of illegal immigration, criticized the Bush...

Slay charge tossed BY PETER KADUSHIN and LEO STANDORA DAILY NEWS WRITERS A Mexican immigrant languished in a Rikers Island jail cell on murder charges for more than four years before Queens prosecutors finally admitted yesterday they had no case. Lourdes Torres had tears in her eyes when the charges were dismissed in Queens Supreme Court. "Thank you. I am grateful," said the 31-year-old woman, who, throughout her ordeal, denied she killed her boyfriend.

The Bernstein Firm Despite lacking size, overachieving Genarlow Wilson was being recruited by several college football programs.   DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. -- There is a cardboard box in Genarlow Wilson's old bedroom. It rests on the floor of his empty closet, near the deflated football and basketball. It's filled with things he needed in his old life. Mostly, it's overflowing with recruiting letters, from schools big and small. A "Good luck on the SAT" postcard from the coaches at Columbia. From another Ivy League college, Brown, a note from the football coach: "You have been recommended to me as one...

PRISON DOORS clanged shut last night, leaving two Border Patrol agents locked up among the very types of felons they once helped put away. The agents' families have been wiped out financially, their kids will grow up without a father watching over them, their freedom has been stripped from them. What was the terrible crime that put agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean behind bars for sentences of 11 years and 12 years respectively? They fired at a drug smuggler, who had been driving a van with 743 pounds of marijuana, as he ran toward the border to avoid...

L PASO, Tx. - Two former El Paso Border Patrol agents reported to federal officials Wednesday afternoon to start their prison sentence. Ignacio Ramos turned himself into federal officials in downtown El Paso shortly before 2pm Wednesday afternoon. Former agent Jose Compean turned himself in a short time later.

Those who have been lobbying for a presidential pardon or other intervention from the government on behalf of two former U.S. Border Patrol agents sentenced to prison for shooting an escaping drug dealer in the buttocks should review the evidence in their cases, White House spokesman Tony Snow told WND. "They (agents Jose Alonso Compean, 28, and Ignacio Ramos, 37) eventually went before a … jury – and were convicted on 11 of 12 counts, by a U.S. attorney who has prosecuted any number of cases. But the facts of this case are such that I would invite everybody to...