Parents of Aurora shooting victim ordered to pay $200,000 in legal fees to ammo dealer

 Aug 03, 2015

Parents of Aurora shooting victim ordered to pay $200,000 in legal fees to ammo dealer

by Jen Hayden

Daily Kos 

A federal judge has ordered the Phillip's family to pay up.

The parents of Jessica Ghawi, a 24-year-old woman gunned down by James Holmes in the 2012 Aurora theater massacre, tried to sue the online ammunition retailer who sold James Holmes the ammunition used in the attack. The case was dismissed before trial:

Thomas added that the case was dismissed before a trial could take place thanks to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, or PLCAA, a federal law passed by Congress and signed by George W. Bush in 2005. “What PLCAA does is it provides very broad, blanket immunity from civil lawsuits for both gun manufacturers and gun dealers,” she said. “This is one example of a situation where somebody has tried to address liability, to go after bad actions of a dealer or manufacturer and PLCAA kept them from being able to do so.”

Adding insult to extreme injury, a federal judge has issued an order that will likely bankrupt them:

The family of 24-year-old Jessica Ghawi, a victim in the 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, is faced with more than $200,000 in legal costs after a federal judge ordered them to pay attorney’s fees for four ammunition dealers the family attempted to sue. “They have taken our daughter, and now they want to take our worldly goods,” Lonnie Phillips told MSNBC’s Tamron Hall in a televised interview earlier this week. “I think that’s a little much.”

In the ruling, the judge wrote "those who ignore a fire should be responsible for cost of suppressing it before it becomes a conflagration." See more about the case, why the family dropped an appeal (hint, they can't afford it) and why they may have had a case, despite the PLCAA. Video at NBCBayArea.com.
Meanwhile, jurors took a step forward in a possible death sentence for James Holmes.

Thug Kills White Prosecutor and Wife in Texas

 Dec 09, 2014
Thug Kills White Prosecutor and Wife in Texas

by Steven D

Daily Kos member

 This is the tale of a fiend, a true murdering devil.  Not only did he ruthlessly kill Michael "Mike" McClelland, 63, the  the Prosecutor of Kaufmann County and his wife Cynthia, 65, but also the assistant prosecutor, Mark Hasse.  Hasse was ruthlessly gunned in the street in January, 2013, while walking home. The McClellands were callously shot down like dogs in their home in March of the same year.

All three, were viciously butchered  by a large, ugly brute who calls himself Eric Williams.  It goes without saying he was a felon who had a prior record of burglary and theft.  Yet somehow he had amassed a veritable arsenal of weapons as prosecutors during the penalty phase of his trial revealed:

On Tuesday afternoon, prosecutors assembled the arsenal of weapons found in Williams’ storage unit in the courtroom. The guns were displayed on three wooden racks in the middle of the courtroom, 42 handguns in the middle and 22 long guns flanking each side. In front of the racks were boxes of ammunition — thousands of rounds were recovered — and a crossbow. Bullets were loose in bags, as well as still packaged in boxes.

By the way, this is the face of the killer of these three upstanding citizens, a true animal (if I may say so) with no sense of morality and little if any respect for human life:

Yeah, he's a white guy.

Still, he got a trial.  He wasn't shot by the police when they went to arrest him.  Sure he didn't steal "cigars" (allegedly) or sell loose cigarettes in public.  Williams wasn't caught carrying a toy air rifle around Walmart (John Crawford) or playing with a BB gun in a park (Tamir Rice) or dressing up like his favorite Anime character (Darrien Hunt).  He only stole county equipment and hoarded enough guns to arm a small militia.

Unlike the young men and boys listed above, no one had to gin up evidence of his wicked character, or post facto justifications for why he should be killed by officers of the state.   I'll bet I'm the first person to label him a "thug" or a "brute" or an "animal."  That's because the use of those terms have been reserved for young African American males of late.  These terms, such as thug, are acceptable code words for a certain racial slur that starts with the letter N.  They are used to reinforce racial stereotypes among whites regarding African Americans - that they are criminals, a brutish, dangerous, amoral, drug infested  people who represent a threat to civil society.

So while Eric Williams is one sick, evil SOB, he does have the color of his skin going for him.  You won't hear of any Fox News host or right wing radio jocks calling him a thug. They probably won't mention him at all, and if they do, there won't be any discussion of white on white crime.  They sure as hell won't touch the subject of his gun collection, which is every white American's God given right under the second amendment.

White people with strong political agenda can walk around the street and in stores carrying their semiautomatic "long guns" and nothing happens to them. A drunken, angry white man stand outs in the street pointing a loaded rifle at passersby, and law enforcement treats him with respect and spend as much time as they need to "de-escalate the situation."  Black boys play in an empty park with a fake gun, or carry a fake samurai sword and get shot shortly after police arrive on the scene.
And let's not forget the masses of white men who took their guns to Cliven Bundy's Ranch in Nevada to protect the rights of a common criminal. They threatened and intimidated local law enforcement, Federal officials and the people of Clark County, but not one of Bundy's numerous supporters who endangered the lives of everyone withing the range of their high powered rifles was arrested or charged with a crime, much less fired upon by law enforcement - with the possible exception for Jerad and Amanda Miller who were kicked out of the Bundy compound and then went on a shooting spree in Las Vegas, killing two police officers and an armed civilian at a local Walmart before killing themselves...

Sometimes shark behavior is disturbingly similar to human behavior.

Christine Armstrong

Like human beings, sharks don't always act in their own best interest. They are reflexively aggressive, often without benefiting themselves, and sometimes bringing trouble down on themselves.

I accept shark behavior, but I wish they knew how to differentiate between humans and seals. Sharks don't even like to eat humans. They almost always spit them out as soon as they realize they don't have a nice fat seal in their mouths.

Shark kills woman off Australia's east coast
Associated Press
April 3, 2014

SYDNEY (AP) — A large shark killed a woman near her terrified husband and friends as they took their daily morning swim Thursday off a popular Australian east coast beach, police said.

Christine Armstrong, 63, was taken by the shark as she attempted to swim the 600 meters (1,970 feet) between the wharf and beach near the village of Tathra, 340 kilometers (210 miles) south of Sydney, police said.

The victim was some distance from the other five swimmers, including her husband, Rob Armstrong, when they saw a 3-to-4-meter (10-to-13-foot) shark nearby, said Police Inspector Jason Edmunds.

Marissa Alexander Is Given No Bail Today - New Evidence Comes To Court

"Ironically, the same state attorney that failed to successfully prosecute George Zimmerman, is the same attorney that sent Marissa Alexander to prison. State Attorney Angela Corey 'twisted the knife' by refusing to drop Alexander's case,even after it was overturned in September."

Updated: Marissa Alexander Is Given No Bail Today - New Evidence Comes To Court
by Leslie Salzillo
Daily Kos
Nov 13, 2013

Marissa Alexander, the Florida woman who was sentenced to 20 years for firing a warning shot to ward off her abusive husband, was granted no bail Wednesday afternoon in a Jacksonville courtroom. The mother of three will most likely not get to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas with her children, as the 'deciding judge' opted to make no decision and set another hearing for January 15, 2012 - pending of course, that he does, or does not, change his mind.

In 2010, just days after giving birth, Marissa Alexander fired a warning shot in self-defense to keep her abusive husband, Rico Gray, from attacking her. In his deposition, Gray who has a history of abusing Alexander, admitted it, stated he intended to hurt her had she not fired the warning shot, and said she did the right thing. He also said Alexander did not aim he gun at him. Gray then changed his story once the case went to trial. He walked out a free man - Marissa Alexander, the battered wife, received 20 years. The Florida Stand Your Ground Law did not work for Alexander because she fired a warning shot. Had she shot and killed Rico Gray that day, she would have most likely served no time at all.

My source who was in the courtroom today, reported new evidence has been brought forth - a text message of Rico Gray asking Marissa to come over for sex while there was an order of protection. Rico Gray claims Marissa should not be let out on bond because he is afraid of Marissa; he fears/feared for his life. Does asking her for sex sound like someone who feared for his life?

“I was in a rage. I called her a whore and bitch and . . . I told her, you know, I used to always tell her that, if I can’t have you, nobody going to have you. It was not the first time of ever saying it to her.”~ Rico Gray in his deposition on November 22, 2010.

Again, does this sound like a man fearing for his life?

Marissa Alexander's case has been highly publicized from the start, and the Free Marissa Now campaign has grown throughout social media. The case was catapulted into even more national spotlight, following the George Zimmerman case. In July 2013, Zimmerman was set free after killing teenager, Trayvon Martin, even though Zimmerman was the aggressor. Ironically, the same state attorney that failed to successfully prosecute George Zimmerman, is the same attorney that sent Marissa Alexander to prison. State Attorney Angela Corey 'twisted the knife' by refusing to drop Alexander's case,even after it was overturned in September.

Unless something changes, it doesn't look as though Marissa Alexander and her three children will be having happy holidays, as she awaits a new bail hearing, and then a whole new trial in March 2014. Supposedly the next trial will be different. This time, Florida courts say the burden of proof will be placed upon them rather than Marissa Alexander. Isn't that how it's supposed to work, Florida?

If you're in an abusive relationship, or know someone who may be, there is help: Call: 800-799-SAFE/National Domestic Violence Hotline or Call: 800-656-HOPE/RAINN (Rape,Abuse, & Incest National Network)

Texas DA murders: wife of former justice of peace says her husband killed DA McLelland and wife and prosecutor

"Could three people all be dead because someone stole a computer?"

Police: Wife says JP killed Kaufman County DA, spouse and prosecutor
Apr. 17, 2013
By Bill Hanna
star-telegram.com

The wife of a former Kaufman County justice of the peace told authorities that her husband shot and killed Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife, Cynthia, and Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

In an interview Tuesday with an investigator, Kim Williams, 46, "confessed to her involvement to the scheme and course of conduct in the shooting deaths," according to the affidavit signed by Sgt. Matt Woodall of the Kaufman County Sheriff's Department.

The affidavit said "Kim Williams described in detail her role with that of her husband, Eric Williams, whom she reported to have shot to death Mark Hasse on January 31, 2013, and Michael and Cynthia McLelland on March 30, 2013."

Kim Williams also "gave details of both offenses which had not been made public," the affidavit said.

Kim Williams was booked into the Kaufman County Jail at 2:58 a.m. Wednesday. Her bond was set at $10 million.

Eric Lyle Williams remains in jail on a terroristic threat charge in connection with a threatening email sent March 31, the day after the McLellands were killed in their home near Forney.

The email threat said that "unless law enforcement officials responded to the demands of the writer, another attack would occur," according to his arrest warrant affidavit. The affidavit said Eric Williams used "unique identifiers" found at his home to send the message.

Eric Williams, 46, a 1985 graduate of Azle High School, also graduated from TCU and the Texas Wesleyan University law school. He was arrested Saturday and is being held on $3 million bond. He has not been charged with the slayings.

Eric Williams, while working as a justice of the peace in Kaufman County, was convicted last year of stealing county computers in a case prosecuted by McLelland and Hasse. As a result, he lost his peace officer's license and his law license was revoked.

He has appealed his theft conviction, and a day before the McLellands' bodies were found, a state appeals court in Dallas agreed to hear oral arguments in the case.

During the sentencing phase of Eric Williams' trial, Kim Williams testified in her husband’s defense. She said she suffers from several illnesses, including rheumatoid arthritis and chronic fatigue syndrome. She said her husband is her sole caregiver as well as the caregiver for her two ailing parents.

"Eric is a loving man," she testified. "He wouldn't do anything to hurt anybody. I'm standing by him 100 percent."

Kaufman County Judge Bruce Wood said Tuesday that McLelland was steadfast in his belief that Eric Williams was responsible for Hasse's death, something he reiterated on the Wednesday before he was killed.

"He thought that from Day One," Wood said. "He never wavered. ... He said he knew he did it, but he just couldn't get the evidence to prove he did it."

Both McLelland and Hasse began carrying handguns regularly after Williams' trial "because they believed Eric Williams to be a threat to their personal safety," according to Kim Williams' arrest affidavit.

Glenda Rand, a Kaufman native and owner of the Daisy’s clothing store on the town square, said on Tuesday that she has mixed feelings about the recent developments.

"But I don’t know how I feel that it might have been one of our own who did this," Rand said. "Could three people all be dead because someone stole a computer?"

California State Auditor blasts Superior Court Executive Michael Roddy for kowtowing to judges who ignore the law

Michael Roddy has been complaining about budget cuts, but he's been falling down on the job when it comes to procedures for making sure that violent criminals make appropriate payments.

San Diego Superior Court judges blasted by state auditor for waiving domestic violence payments
Matt Potter
San Diego Reader
October 1, 2012

The California State Auditor has issued a blast at the San Diego Superior Court, saying that judges here have been waiving legally required payments due from those convicted of crimes of domestic violence.

According to the state auditor's report, issued September 6, San Diego courts have the worse collection record of four counties the office sampled over a four-year period. The other counties were Los Angeles, Santa Clara and Sacramento.

The money paid by the domestic violence probationers is earmarked to fund a network of local shelters for domestic violence victims.

"Because of the relatively low rate of collections of payments in the four counties, fewer resources are available for local shelters to provide services to victims of domestic violence."

"Some counties had higher collection rates than others—collections in Los Angeles County averaged 57 percent of the amounts owed while collections in San Diego County were only 12 percent," the audit found.

The state auditor identified one San Diego court problem in particular: its judges, who according to the audit have been arbitrarily reducing some probationers’ payments.

"Although state law specifies that assessed domestic violence payments may be reduced or waived if the court finds that the defendant has an inability to pay, judges in one of the counties reduced or waived the payment for other reasons, such as the probationer’s successful completion of batterer intervention programs."

“This practice results in fewer resources being available for domestic violence programs."

"In San Diego County, of the probationers in the 16 misdemeanor cases that we reviewed at San Diego Court’s central division, eight had completed batterer intervention programs. For each of those eight cases, the court reduced domestic violence payments, and the reductions ranged from 25 percent to 43 percent.

"San Diego Court should ensure that procedures are in place so that courts do not reduce or waive domestic violence payments for reasons other than a probationer’s inability to pay."

In their response to the audit's findings, San Diego court officials generally agreed with most of its findings and said they would implement the auditor's recommended reforms.

But San Diego Superior Court executive director Michael Roddy said in a letter dated August 17 that he didn’t have the authority to overrule judges when they reduced the domestic violence payments.

"Judges are independently elected officials and have the discretion to impose a sentence that they deem to be appropriate for the offense," wrote Roddy.

"Court administration is not in a position to establish procedures to ensure that domestic violence payments are not reduced or waived for reasons other than inability to pay.

"The court has established Sentencing Guidelines, which include a recommended fine amount and also include information about each fine and fee and whether they can legally be reduced for reasons other than inability to pay.”

That drew this response from the auditors:

"We recognize that the San Diego Court administration is not in a position to establish procedures unilaterally that affect sentencing practices.

“However, as discussed at our exit conference, we would expect the court administration to discuss our report findings with the court’s judicial officers and work together to establish procedures so that the San Diego Court can ensure that domestic violence payments are not reduced or waived for reasons other than inability to pay.”

Comments
SurfPuppy619
Oct. 2, 2012 @ 1:32 p.m.

"Judges are independently elected officials and have the discretion to impose a sentence that they deem to be appropriate for the offense," wrote Roddy.

That is an outright, whopper lie. Roddy better go back to court executive school and get a clue.

Judges must follow the laws passed by the state legislature, they are not kings and courtrooms are not their fiefdoms. They cannot impose, or not impose, legally mandated laws-including fines. The Auditor should file for a writ of mandamus with the DCA and force the idiot judges to comply with the law.

Police Won't File Charges Against Texas Judge Caught on Video Beating Daughter

This undated image provided by the Aransas County, Texas Court-at-Law webpage shows Aransas County Judge William Adams.

Police Won't File Charges Against Texas Judge Caught on Video Beating Daughter
November 03, 2011
Associated Press AP

A Texas family law judge whose daughter secretly videotaped him savagely beating her seven years ago won't face criminal charges because too much time has elapsed, police said Thursday.

Aransas County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams likely would have been charged with causing injury to a child or other assault-related offenses for the 2004 beating of his then-16-year-old daughter, but the five-year statutes of limitations expired, Rockport Police Chief Tim Jayroe said.

"We believe that there was a criminal offense involved and that there was substantial evidence to indicate that and under normal circumstances ... a charge could have been made," Jayroe said. He said the district attorney determined he couldn't bring charges, and that police would discuss the case with federal prosecutors even though he doesn't believe federal charges would apply.

Hillary Adams, now 23, posted the 8-minute clip on YouTube last week that shows her father viciously lashing her with a belt and trying to force her to bend over her bed to be beaten despite her wails and pleas to stop. The clip had received more than 2.4 million hits as of Thursday, and police began investigating Wednesday after hearing from concerned citizens.

GRAPHIC WARNING: Click here to see the video

William Adams, 51, issued a three-page statement Thursday saying his daughter posted the clip to get back at him for telling her he would be reducing the amount of financial support he gives her and taking away her Mercedes. The statement did not include an apology for the beating, but he told Corpus Christi television station KZTV on Wednesday that the video "looks worse than it is," that he had already apologized to his daughter and that he was just disciplining his child for stealing.

Hillary Adams says her parents were angry because she had downloaded pirated content online, and that she turned on the camera because she sensed something was going to happen.

William Adams, who presides over child abuse cases, is still being investigated by the state's judicial conduct commission and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which on Thursday requested that he be removed from its cases until the investigation concludes.

Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for the agency, declined to elaborate on the exact nature of the investigation. But he said that in general, the agency would only investigate a case in which a suspected abuse victim has already reached adulthood if there are still children in the home who could be at risk. Adams was granted joint custody of his 10-year-old daughter in his 2007 divorce.

There are no allegations of alleged abuse by Adams against his younger daughter, who primarily resides with her mother, Hallie Adams. Crimmins declined to say whether his agency is investigating the parental fitness of Hallie Adams, who lashed Hillary once during the 2004 beating.

Crimmins said his agency ordinarily wouldn't disclose that it is investigating someone, but that it did in this case because the investigation is the reason it requested that William Adams be taken off its cases.

Jayroe said that police did not interview the younger daughter, but asked both Hallie and Hillary Adams about it and there was no indication of abuse of the younger daughter.

In his statement Thursday, Adams said he would "respond" to all investigations. As Aransas County's top judge, he has dealt with at least 349 family law cases in the past year alone, nearly 50 of which involved state caseworkers seeking determine whether parents were fit to raise their children.

County officials confirmed that Adams will not hear cases related to Child Protective Services for at least the next two weeks. And the top administrator in Aransas County cast doubt on whether Adams could credibly return to the bench.

"I would think it would be very difficult," said Aransas County Judge C.H. "Burt" Mills Jr. "Personally I don't see how he can recover from this."...

Wisconsin justice says court fight led to choking

Wisconsin justice says court fight led to choking
Associated Press
06.26.11

MADISON, Wis. -- A member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court's liberal faction has accused a conservative justice of choking her during an argument in her office earlier this month - a charge he denied.

Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Justice David Prosser put her in a chokehold during the dispute. She contacted the newspaper late Saturday after Prosser denied rumors about the altercation.

"The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office and he put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold," Bradley told the newspaper.

A message could not be left at her home listing, and her former campaign manager did not return a call from The Associated Press.

Wisconsin Public Radio and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, quoting anonymous sources, first reported the argument occurred before the Supreme Court's decision earlier this month upholding Republican Gov. Scott Walker's bill eliminating most of public employees' collective bargaining rights. Prosser then released a statement denying the allegations.

"Once there's a proper review of the matter and the facts surrounding it are made clear, the anonymous claim made to the media will be proven false," he said. "Until then I will refrain from further public comment."

Prosser's spokesman Brian Nemoir declined to comment on Bradley's later statement and told The Associated Press that Prosser probably wouldn't either. Other members of the court either did not return messages or declined to comment on the incident.

The argument took place June 13, the day before the court, in a 4-3 decision that included a blistering dissent, ruled that Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi overstepped her authority when she declared the polarizing union law void. While accounts differ, the justices were apparently discussing the decision and its timing.

Leaders in the Republican-controlled Legislature had pushed for a decision by June 14 because they were working on the state budget, and Walker's proposal depended on expected savings from the law. Along with limiting most public employees' bargaining rights, it requires them to pay 12 percent of their health insurance costs and 5.8 percent of their pension costs.

Tens of thousands of people gathered for weeks at the Capitol to protest the proposal after Walker unveiled in February. Once it passed, opponents began to focus on Prosser's re-election campaign in the hope that by replacing him with a liberal justice, they could get the court to overturn the legislation.

Prosser, who had been expected to walk away with the election, found himself in a tight race with liberal challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. Initial results showed she had defeated Prosser by about 200 votes, and she declared herself the winner the day after the election. Then a county clerk who once worked for Prosser announced she had failed to report 14,000 votes.

A bitter and nearly month-long recount ended with Prosser's re-election. He defeated Kloppenburg by about 7,000 votes.

The recount ended about three weeks before the Supreme Court issued its opinion in the union case. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, quoting an anonymous source, said the argument erupted after Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson said she didn't know whether the opinion would be released in June. Prosser allegedly questioned Abrahamson's leadership, leading Bradley to defend her.

Prosser and Abrahamson, another of the court's liberal minority, had had problems before. Prosser told the newspaper in March that he had used profanity in a meeting the month before and threatened to destroy Abrahamson.

Bradley sent all the justices an email after that meeting, saying Prosser's behavior was unacceptable. She said later that she considered making a report to law enforcement but decided against it.

The Center for Investigative Journalism reported the altercation between Prosser and Bradley had been brought to the attention of the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, which investigates allegations of misconduct involving judges. The commission's executive director, James Alexander, said he couldn't confirm nor deny an incident was under investigation.