10.18.2024

It's Friday -- Let's Get Out of Here

at

Random Friday Morning Thoughts





I was going to just say that he had been having a stellar 2014 season, averaging 6.7 yards a carry which was second in the NFL at the time. Then I looked at his Wikipedia page and learned that his life took a tremendous turn for the worse in the years that followed. 

  • Decatur High School had some issues yesterday getting students to the football game.

  • Robert Roberson, who was scheduled for execution at 6:00 p.m.  last night in a "shaken baby syndrome" case, is still alive. For now. Here's what went down. Stay with me here. 
    • Late in the afternoon, a district judge in Austin, after a Zoom hearing, stopped the execution by granting an injunction sought by state lawmakers who had subpoenaed Roberson to testify before it on Monday. Note: We've got to important legal concepts here: (1) This is a civil, not criminal, proceeding, and (2) this is a temporary injunction. 

    • Moments later: In the criminal case, which still had some proverbial life left, the United States Supreme Court chose not to stop the execution. A dissenting opinion urged Gov. Abbott to step in. 
    • Gov. Abbott does not step in.
    • But the execution can't occur at  6:00 p.m. It's still on hold because of the temporary injunction out of Austin earlier in the day in the civil case.
    • That civil proceeding is then "appealed" to the Texas Court of Ciminal Appeals. There is a fight over who has jurisdiction over the civil temporary injunction out of Austin. Should it go to the CCA which has jurisdiction over criminal cases? Should it go to the Texas Supreme Court which has jurisdiction over civil cases?  (And some scholars online point out the the newly created 15th Court of Appeals might be the right forum.)
    • 8:30 p.m.: The Court of Criminal Appeals, in a vote to 5-4 but without an opinion, says it has jurisdiction to review the Austin district court's temporary injunction, vacates it, and says (paraphrasing), "Let's kill him."
    • The Texas legislature lawyers then take the case (PDF of petition) to the Texas Supreme Court saying that it's truly the court with jurisdiction over the temporary injunction. 
    • 9:40 p.m.: The Texas Supreme Court stops the execution. There is no written opinion but a concurring opinion (PDF) for three of the judges who try to explain what is going on. Honestly, I'm not 100% sure what's going on now myself.

    • So where does all this stand? Right now, the district court in Austin still has the case and will decide whether to issue a permanent injunction to stop the execution until the defendant testifies before the committee.  Does your head hurt? It should.
    • This part seems really important that no one is talking about: The defendant is scheduled to testify on Monday. If that occurs, then all of this will be moot and the execution could occur immediately after he testifies, right?  At least I think I'm right. 
    • That is, unless the legislative committee then issues another subpoena for him to come back again? 
  • The biggest news of the day was this. Will it stop the war and the bombings by Israel? Nope.


  • Politics:
    • Kamala Harris had a very good moment when she retorted to Trump supporters which tried to interrupt one of her rallies yesterday. Video.

    • Melania finally showed up with Trump at a campaign event as she joined him at the Al Smith Dinner Catholic charity banquet.  Later, he dropped an S bomb while he was speaking to the group.

    • Trump wasn't the only one working blue. Earlier in the dinner, the featured speaker had quite the joke. Video

    • Fox News Bret Baier apologized for running the wrong clip in his interview of Kamala Harris where Trump called Americans the "enemy from within" and threatened to unleash the military on them. 


  • Legal nerdy stuff. Twitter has updated its Terms of Service to say all disputes will be heard in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (where he'll end up in Judge Reed O'Connor's court) or in Tarrant County state courts. 

    • O'Connor currently has $50,000 invested in Tesla despite presiding over one of Elon Musk's high profile lawuit.
  • 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 105 days.

at

10.17.2024

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




I was reminded that I documented  gas prices on 10/15/14 -- a price which is basically the same as today.

  • We now know the name of the new judge who will preside over the Tanner Horner capital murder case: Judge David Hagerman of the 297th Judicial Court in Tarrant County . Horner got the right to a new judge once the case was transferred to Tarrant County on his Motion to Transfer Venue --  a motion which was granted by local judge Brock Smith. 

  • I can't say I can name a One Direction song, nor was a familiar with this guy, but I know a big story when I see one. Sidenote: TMZ initially published some (very) cropped photos of the body but then deleted them. 

  • Told you this would happen yesterday. 

    • But in a bizarre move, a conservative committee of the Texas legislature has subpoenaed the man facing execution today to also appear before them in Austin since that would prevent him from being strapped to a gurney in Huntsville.  



    • But the subpoena also smells of a publicity stunt by Rep. Jeff Leach (far right, above) who is shameless.
  • So why was this Blue Alert which woke us all up cancelled yesterday you ask?  "The Texas Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to inquiries about why the Blue Alert was canceled."

  • I'm no fan of this guy, but I'm stunned his lawyers haven't learned the names of his accusers yet.  If someone wants to allege you of a heinous crime against them, you kind of want to know who is doing the accusing, right? Never mind that pesky Sixth Amendment right to confront your accuser.

  • Fannin County is giving Wise County a run for the most dangerous rural county to drive in. If the headline below seems familiar, it is because there was another wreck there earlier this month which also, amazingly, claimed five lives. 

  • Another military domestic aircraft accident.

     
  • So when does a headline say "brothel" and when does it say "sex trafficking"? 

  • Politics:
    • Kamala Harris went into the hostile confines of Fox News and, depending on which echo chamber you are in, either (1) did poorly or (2) was subjected to an ambush-like interview where she performed fantastically. 


    • But earlier in the day, Trump also appeared on Fox News but it was in front of a we-are-humbled-to-have-you-in-our-presence crowd.  I thought his ill-timed joke at the expense of a woman who died under the Georgia abortion ban was really cringy. 

  • The Business Second™. "A federal jury in Fort Worth awarded American Airlines $9.4 million on Tuesday in the airline’s suit against Skiplagged Inc., a website that promotes bargain fares through 'hidden city' ticketing, a practice that saves many fliers money but, American contends, costs airlines millions in uncaptured revenue."

    • "Hidden city" explained. This seems like it should be legal. 

  • Messenger - Above the Fold

at

10.16.2024

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



This "moving" of Halloween by the Decatur City Council even made the national AP wire. 


  • We had the Allred/Cruz debate last night. 
    • Allred's best moment was calling Cruz out for contesting the election in the Senate hours after the Insurrection took place. Video.

    • Ted's worst moment: Dodging an abortion question from one of he moderators three times at the very beginning of the debate and then complaining about being asked. Video.

  • Jerry Jones got crossways with his interviewers in his weekly interview yesterday. Audio. There have been a lot of people say that this was a calculated plan by Jerry so as to make headlines. I don't believe that at all.

  • Everyone can get bent out of shape about this, but the government will kill him tomorrow.

     


  • We have an update on the missing San Antonio woman.  Kind of. She hasn't been found in the landfill, they are just looking in the landfill.




  • Early voting: "Roughly 252,000 ballots were cast in Georgia yesterday, shattering the previous record of 136,000 in 2020." That means something, but I'm not sure what. 

  • Trump:
    • One day after standing on stage for 38 minutes while music played, and three weeks before the election, Trump went to social media last night to hawk his latest grift of cryptocurrency.  Amazing.


    • Trump taking questions from a Bloomberg reporter was cringe-worthy yesterday.
    • No one might hate Trump as much as Drudge.

    • I obviously knew of Musk and Adelson (the Mavericks owner), but I wasn't familiar with Uihlein. He is the "the chief executive of the shipping company Uline and one of the wealthiest people in the Midwest."
  • The Business Second™.  When you see mansions everywhere and wonder, "Who are these people?", I guess its people involved in businesses I've never heard of  . . .  

  • It's official: The Tampa Bay Rays currently have no place to play in 2025 since there is no way Tropicana Field can repaired in time. And they may just tear it down. 

  • Tom Brady is now one of the owners of the Las Vegas Raiders. 
  • Very nerdy legal stuff: The number of cases set for oral argument in all 15 Texas courts of appeal and the wild disparity between them. 

at