Random Friday Morning Thoughts

It was sold at the annual convention of The Dallas Safari Club, and made national headlines. He would shoot the animal in the following year.

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• I don't think I've ever heard of a defendant in a civil suit filing a formal Answer admitting that all the allegations in the Plaintiff's Petition are true.  That doesn't even happen when there's a settlement in a case (the defendant normally doesn't even admit responsibility.) Yet that's exactly Ken Paxton did that yesterday in the Whistleblower case. So what gives?
• Most people think that Paxton admitted the allegations to avoid having to give a deposition. That's probably right. 
• I don't see how this just "ends" the proceedings like Paxton claims. He didn't admit or stipulate to how much in damages the Plaintiffs are owed, so that still needs to be determined.  
• Paxton gave an interview late yesterday where he gave the best explanation: "The end result is the Legislature has already . . . said they’re not paying anything and so there’s no reason for us to let them harass my office when we’re dealing with all these immigration issues and suing Pfizer and we’ve got this huge Google lawsuit." Story. So the State of Texas can just refuse to pay for damages under the Whistleblower statute? That seems wrong, but I'll defer to any governmental law experts out there.
  
  
  
• What the heck?
  
  
  
• Tell me that didn't start to read that thinking there had been a major plane crash yesterday afternoon.
  
  
  
• Scenes from a funeral:
• Man, Barron is tall.
  
  
  
• The next season of Succession: 
  
  
  
• I don't think I've ever heard of a trial where statements made during the trial (outside of court) are admitted as evidence in that trial. That's a fast turnaround in Trump's defamation trial.
  
  
  
• The judge in the Georgia election tampering case has ordered a hearing concerning the D.A. allegedly hiring a boyfriend, with little or no experience in high stakes criminal litigation, to bilk the county out of a fortune in fees that she, in turn, benefited from.   What a colossal poor decision on her part to involve this guy. And this hearing will be televised. 
  
  
  
  
• I love the technology, but they run $20,000 a piece? And who would have guessed White Settlement would lead the way?
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Didn't expect the Innocence Project to get involved with this guy. I'm interested.
  
  
  
• Let's check in on Fox News.
  
  
  
• Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office, despite having a full male DNA profile, has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 4 years and 207 days.