Random Friday Morning Thoughts

Uncle Nate turned out to be smarter than me on where the issue of NIL was headed. (And the running back was Todd Gurley who "received more than $3,000 for autographed memorabilia" and ended up suspended for four games because of it.) 

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• Big news in the Tanner Horner capital murder case: Judge Brock Smith is no longer presiding over the case.  Because of a weird quirk in the law, if a judge rules to change the venue of a case because of pretrial publicity -- as Judge Smith did in this case --  the only way the judge gets to "go with the case" to the new county is if the prosecutor, the defendant, and defendant's lawyer all agree to keep the judge. On Monday, Tanner Horner filed with the court a Notice indicating that he objects to Judge Smith staying on the case. That's all it takes.  So, now, not only will the case be tried in Tarrant County, but there will be a Tarrant County district judge assigned to handle the case is all respects from this point forward. And, as I understand it, Judge's Smith prior scheduling order setting the case for jury trial next year is now void. Everything now rests with the new judge whose identity is  currently unknown.  
  
  
  
• Israel killed 22 last night as it bombed a neighborhood in Beirut. The attack was "near the site of an attack that killed nine rescue workers last week."  More disregard for innocent life. 
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Texas is weird in how that a tiny parole board has complete discretion to do what they want. But, honestly, I'm surprised Gov. Abbott didn't pressure them to release her considering she was a white police officer. Remember, earlier this year he flat out pardoned a different white killer. 
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• I didn't mention it yesterday, but tearing down a perfectly good mansion is a really dumb financial decision. He couldn't just sell it and find some other tract of land to build on? Is that tract of land in Frisco, of all places, all that special? 
  
  
  
• Speaking of dumb financial decisions.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• More funny than bizarre, no? 
  

  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Business Second™: You can own the home of Billy Joel. (Gift link.)
  
  
  
• There's a missing woman near San Antonio which has everyone abuzz down there. The husband has been arrested, but on unrelated charges.  
  
  
  
• This is a long running battle of a JP who was officially admonished for refusing to marry same sex couples.  Out of nowhere and after years, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct just changed its mind and withdrew the admonishment. Weird.  And I should note that in a different legal action the Jack County judge sued the Commission saying he felt the same way as the JP and wanted them to be enjoined from censoring him. I guess that lawsuit is now moot (assuming it is even still alive.)
  
• 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: 5 years and 98 days.