...and continuing...

No change from last appearance. Patrick Pogan returns to court December 9th.

Just checking

I saw Officer to watch over EACS today in the News-Sentinel and that reminded me of What Did The Police Teach Your Child Today over at Injustice Everywhere.

There's probably nothing wrong with most school resource officers around the area... but I have to wonder how closely and if anyone's looked lately, instead of just assuming the SRO program is automatically a good thing.

Movies, bikes

Return of the Ear Muncher

And claiming that biting the cyclist's ear off was self-defense.

Defendant says he was justified in biting off man's ear

NEW CASTLE -- The case of a New Castle resident charged with biting off a sizable portion of another man's ear has taken another twist, with the defendant now claiming he was justified in using "allegedly deadly force."

Curtis A. "Alan" Cross, 44, is charged with battery resulting in serious bodily injury, a Class C felony carrying a standard four-year prison term, in an April 1 attack on Jeffrey Guffey.

Authorities allege Cross attacked the 32-year-old Guffey, who had shouted at the defendant to slow down as he drove on East 20th Street at what Guffey has claimed was a high rate of speed.

According to a police report, Cross told officers he became angry, stopped his pickup truck and confronted Guffey after the alleged victim, riding a bicycle, had held up his middle finger as Cross drove past.

After Cross backed out of a plea bargain in the case last month, his attorney, Joseph Lansinger, filed a motion to use a defense of "justifiable reasonable force." The Henry County Superior Court 1 case is set for trial Jan. 19.

Lansinger's motion claims his client had "reasonably believed the force was necessary to prevent imminent serious bodily injury to himself when confronted by Jeffrey Guffey."

Cross also maintains he was "not the initial aggressor in the attack."

Guffey is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 135 pounds, according to Henry County jail records, while Cross stands 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds.

A plea agreement with the Henry County prosecutor's office had called for Cross to plead guilty as charged and be sentenced to two years on electronic home detention.

What was scheduled to be a sentencing hearing was held Sept. 15, but Lansinger that day informed Judge Michael Peyton his client no longer wished to plead guilty.

Guffey later said he had been told Cross unsuccessfully pursued a last-minute change in the terms of the deal that would have instead resulted in him spending a year at a work-release facility.

Another factor in the case could be the availability of the former New Castle police detective listed on court documents at its lead investigator.

Lawrence Ross Frame resigned from the New Castle Police Department in August, and is now in federal custody as he awaits resolution of allegations he videotaped his sexual activities with a then-16-year-old girl.

...

Chock full of win.

Absurd enough to claim that getting yelled at and flipped off is in some universe a viable threat of physical violence. The idea that this guy and his attorney are taking this to trial on the hopes that the lead investigator's unrelated issues will somehow get him off is pretty much disgusting.

I don't blame her

Needlessly shove anyone around and hit them with a nightstick, see if they don't push back.



It's gotta be hard, dangerous work shoving around, provoking, and then beating down and subduing a certified waif of a girl like that. What with all that heavy body armor and weapons on.

From Injustice Everywhere.

[Bonus link: undercover fail is hilarious fail.]

Learning from experience

G-20 riot police take trophy photo with prisoner

Maybe they just aspired to have their own Abu Ghraib photo set? I guess they'll have to wait to get back to the station for the hood and other accessories.

[Edit: Youtube removed the video, but CNN still has it for now.]

Why kill a census worker?

What motive could someone have to murder a federal census worker, hanging him from a tree and scrawling "FED" on his chest?

It was suggested in the reports that drug dealers could be involved (which would just make one more innocent victim of the War on [some] Drugs). Though it doesn't seem to make much sense that they would go to such lengths to stage a murder scene, much less care that the victim was a census worker.

But I have no idea why anyone would think census workers are up to no good. What kind of wingnuts would spread such foolishness? Sure, it might not directly get someone killed or even be the primary motive in this particular case, but promoting such nonsense is obviously not very intelligent or responsible. Certainly no one around here could be up to such a thing.



Certainly not.

(More: "We don't know who did it or why but I'm still absolutely sure it's not our fault!")

Continuing...

Results of September 17 appearance: Adjourned, Released on Recognizance

Case Information

Court
New York Supreme Court - Criminal Term
Case # 06416-2008
Defendant Pogan, Patrick

Defendant
Name:Pogan, Patrick
Birth Year:1985
NYSID:2521497R

Incident and Arrest
Incident Date:July 26, 2008
Summons/Ticket #: CJTN:63322620J
Arrest Date & Time:December 16, 2008 08:30
Arrest #:M08705984

Attorney Information

Defense Attorney
Name:London S And Tinan, John
Type:Private (Retained)
Court Date:February 4, 2009
Court Part:42

Assistant District Attorney
Name:Chung, Cindy
Assigned:February 4, 2009

Next Appearance
Date: November 4, 2009
Court:New York Supreme Court - Criminal Term
Judge:Wiley, M
Part:42

And so we wait until November 4th.

Utah's not messing around anymore

Utah has passed a new intexticated driving law:

After a crash here that killed two scientists — and prompted a dogged investigation by a police officer and local victim’s advocate — Utah passed the nation’s toughest law to crack down on texting behind the wheel. Offenders now face up to 15 years in prison.

The new law, which took effect in May, penalizes a texting driver who causes a fatality as harshly as a drunken driver who kills someone. In effect, a crash caused by such a multitasking motorist is no longer considered an “accident” like one caused by a driver who, say, runs into another car because he nodded off at the wheel. Instead, such a crash would now be considered inherently reckless.

Good on them. Better to forget about trying to ban every possible distraction and concentrate on dealing with actual bad outcomes of verifiable reckless behavior.

And not to forget, Patrick Pogan's next appearance is Thursday.

But locals aren't any better sometimes

The Daily Rant is always such a shining beacon of thoughtful, reasonable statements.

Oh the hell it is.

With all the money being spent by the city and the county on bike paths, I propose that a fine should be administered for any bicyclist who refuses to use the bike path and elects to ride in the road next to a bike path.

Yes, compared to spending on local roads (Oh hi tearing up un-necessarily Calhoun to make it more car-centric for $1 million plus interest!) I'm sure the bike path budget is significant in comparison.

Never mind the fact that state law giving bicycles equal access to the roads would overrule any such moronic local ordinance.

The roads aren't for the exclusive use of cars. Some people just can't seem to realize that. Have road rage because you've been held up for almost a minute behind someone (anyone!) going more slowly than you'd like? That's your lack of control. Don't try and project that fault on someone else.

[Edit: Oh, but then the car-centric clowns come out.]