Rifle-toting set seeks shade at the Courthouse

Belton – The summer sun baked supporters of Master Sgt. C.J. Grisham Wednesday while prosecutors played a Dashcam video of his arrest by Temple Police for “rude display” of an assault weapon.

The Bell County Sheriff allowed the assault weapon-bearing advocates who favor openly carrying long guns to seek shade under a canopy at the entrance to the jail and courthouse complex Wednesday.

Carrying a rifle or shotgun in public is not illegal in Texas. Brandishing the weapon or carrying it in a manner calculated to cause alarm is a violation of the Disorderly Conduct statute.

According to R.S. Gates, prosecutors “had it set up so the video was not visible, but those in the gallery could hear the audio.”

The public has viewed video recordings gone viral of the arrest depicted in video recordings since the date of the arrest in March. Because the offense is pending in County Court at Law, the Bell County Attorney has so far refused to release the official police Dashcam video. In those recordings, viewers are able to see that Sgt. Grisham became voluble and argumentative about the confiscation of his loaded AR-15 and .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol. He is currently stationed at Ft. Hood.

Mr. Gates promptly made a Public Information Act request for a copy of the video on “a piece of paper torn off some recycled paper,” eschewing the use of the designated form supplied by the attorney's office.

“I am not real sure why it pisses government entities off so much to receive one of these. Many think you should submit the request on a form they provide and wait 10 days until they decide to consider the request. I think some don't like that the law does not provide for their desires, but what really hacks them of is when a lowly citizen points out they are obligated to make the information available 'promptly' and the information is available during office hours.”

Hasan reaches out for national media platform

Killeen – The “Daily Herald” reporter Phil Jankowski still sounded like he couldn't believe it. 

When he went through his U.S. Mail box earlier this week, there was a letter containing an FBI transcript of an unpublished Al Jazeera interview Maj. Abu Nidal Malik Hasan gave over the phone from the Bell County Jail on July 17, 2011.

“He just sent it snail mail,” he told other reporters at the digital media center on post Wednesday, July 31, during a break in a pre-trial hearing in Hasan's case.

“I could hardly believe it,” Mr. Jankowski said. “I opened it, and here he had scrawled across the top, 'Release authorized,' and his signature. I realized I was holding an historical document.”

In the interview, the Al Jazeera correspondent asks if there is anything else he has to say, and Hasan told him he was giving him an exclusive, that he expected him to publish all of his remarks, in full.

If not, he warned, “I may have to seek other avenues.”

Instead, Al Jazeera did nothing.

This week, Hasan made a simultaneous release to Fox News.

In a news article, Mr. Jankowski wrote that terrorism experts have intimated to him that they feel since Hasan has been denied the opportunity to present as his defense a motive of trying to save the lives of fellow Al Qaeda and Taliban jihadists by attacking soldiers about to be deployed at Ft. Hood in Nov., 2009, he is seeking to launch his message of Islamic jihad through the media.

In the beginning of the interview, Hasan asks the Al Jazeera reporter if he has cleared his request with his superiors.

“I did speak with them and – uh – we can't sacrifice our right to editorial control...no credible news organization will sacrifice their editorial control...,” he replied. Hasan said he would take a chance, and went ahead with the interview.

He began by apologizing.

“I would like to begin by repenting to Almighty Allah and apologize to the Muhadgeen (phonetic)...the believers...and the innocent” for “illegal and immoral aggression against Muslims.”

Operating as United States Army psychiatrist, he explained, “My job was to 'conserve the fighting strength of military armed forces' and by deceit 'to win the hearts and minds' of Muslims throughout the world...”

He told the interviewer that using Muslim soldiers to influence “naive and desperate Muslims is a powerful strategy...”

Hasan also said that he had intended to read a similar statement during the Article 32 hearings that serve in military courts to discover the evidence that there is a probability that an offense took place. He said his lawyers, three Army Judge Advocate General Corps officers he later fired, were "dead set...dead set" against his doing that. 

One may read the entire interview by clicking here. (click)

Judge denies gag order request by Hasan prosecutors

Ft. Hood - Parties to the Hasan murder trial will not be subject to a gag order requested by prosecutors.

Judge Tara Osborn ruled that “extra judicial commentary” will be allowed in denying the motion.

Government prosecutors will first have to present factual testimony about Maj. Abu Nidal Malik Hasan’s e-mails to an Al Qaeda Mullah before the jury will hear about its relevance.

The military judge hearing the case said a stipulation as to the authenticity of the communication does not prove relevance during opening statements.

“My concern is the e-mails are some kind of guilt by association,” said Col. Osborn. She added that one of the e-mails Hasan sent to Mullah Anwar Awlaki, an Al Qaeda operative who lost his life in a stealth drone rocket attack in Yemen, “appears to be defense of others” in its content, a defense which she disallowed in a previous ruling.

In the e-mail, the judge ruled, Hasan appeared to be saying he felt a suicide bomber is justified in an attack to prevent the possibility that fellow jihadists could lose their lives the following day.

“My point is that e-mail would be very confusing to the members (of the general court martial panel),” the judge said.

Hasan asked for additional time to prepare a defense of others defense, a request which the judge previously denied.

“I haven’t changed my mind,” she told him.

Jurors will view an 8-minute video of the crime scene made by FBI investigators and see selected photos of the autopsies of the victims on individual 19-inch monitors during opening statements.

A photo of a convicted terrorist attacker Sgt. Hasan Akbar, a devout Muslim, wearing a bullet proof vest following his trial will not be allowed.

Sgt. Akbar attacked and killed fellow soldiers with fragmentation grenades at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait, in 2003.  He is awaiting execution on death row at the Army Disciplinary Barracks, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.

Dashcam video and audio of 911 calls will be allowed when the government opens its case against Hasan in opening statements to be made on August 6. The dying groans and labored breathing of a victim, Michel Pearson, can be heard in the background of one of the audio recordings.

A final pre-trial hearing to consider stipulation as to the testimony of Officer Todd will be held Friday, August 2 at 9 a.m. Officer Todd has developed a speech impediment as a result of wounds inflicted by Hasan.

'Agreed' discovery a bone in DA's race dog fight

Criminal Defense Attorney Jonathan Sibley

Waco – Don't go to jail in Waco. Cross the Brazos somewhere else if you figure you can afford to get locked up.

It's like shooting craps with a set of bones that have no spots, or at least, spots visible only to the house, and none of the other players.

The cops and courts won't even tell your lawyer what evidence and testimony they are prepared to use to prove the case they have on you.

Withholding information costs taxpayers big money. It doubled the cost of housing overflow prisoners from about $3 million a year to $6 million. That will become a big issue in the 2014 Republican Primary race for District Attorney.

In this get tough on crime town, a lawyer isn't allowed to see the list of witnesses or know the specifics of a criminal complaint until after an indictment is returned – if then.

Cases drag out for years.

Some criminal defendants and their attorneys balk not only at plea bargain offers for stiff sentences, but are very reluctant to announce they are ready for trial because a motion for discovery isn't part of the routine of doing business in these parts.

An “Agreed Discovery Order” is the only game in town.

The defense bar hit the issue hard in February, blaming jail overcrowding and skyrocketing costs on the practices of the Criminal District Attorney.

The Sixth Amendment guarantee for compulsory discovery of witnesses and evidence pales under the conditions practiced in McLennan County's criminal district courts.

Item 5 in the standard discovery order agreement offered defendants in the Waco courts stipulates “Copies of police reports concerning the offense alleged in the indictment will be provided to the defendant’s attorney for review. When a copy of the police report is provided to the defense attorney it is to remain in the possession of the defense attorney and is not to be turned over to the defendant or copied and given to the defendant. The police report is intended to remain the property of the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office and is provided to the defense counsel for the convenience of defense counsel only.”

One may read the standard Agreed Discovery Order form used in both district courts by clicking here. (click)

Lawyers get only once chance to review the prosecutors' file – by appointment, at the DA's office – and that chance may not come within 20 days of the first status conference scheduled in the case, as required by the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. The agreement calls for a deadline of not less than 20 days before the trial. After all, it's an agreement reached by the Court, the Prosecution, the Defense Attorney, and the Defendant.

Funny thing, most defendants don't recall entering into any such agreement. Did they sign the form? Who knows? What would you sign to get out of some hell hole jail for free?

It's hard to remember exactly who to call as a witness in your behalf after sitting in jail for 90 days without prosecution, gaining release on a personal recognizance bond, and waiting more than a year as pre-trial hearing after pre-trial hearing comes and goes and the attorney still hasn't gotten a chance to see the evidence that would be used at trial.

Among attorneys, court coordinators, bondsmen, clerks, law men, jail house snitches and cross bar lawyers, it's agreed. Things have changed since Republican Abel Reyna took over following the landslide year of 2010 when he defeated 20-plus year DA John Segrest.

Compared to a “Defendant's Motion for Discovery and Inspection of Evidence,” the agreed discover order is a pale imitation of what is standard operating procedure in courts throughout the Lone Star State.

To read a typical motion for discovery used in Texas criminal practice, click here. (click)

The issue reached tipping point when a small committee of lawyers confronted District Attorney Abel Reyna in Commissioners' Court, accusing him of practices that cause jail overcrowding, make tax rates rise, and budgets bulge.

Criminal District Attorney Abel Reyna

According to Jonathan Sibley, “This isn’t pointing fingers at anybody or saying anything negative about the process, but at some point in time what everybody has told me is that over the last couple of years they’ve seen — across the board, essentially — plea bargains go up. More people (are) being offered jail time and a longer sentence, which makes the case harder for our clients to accept.”

Robert Callahan told the Court that a minimum of 15 years is the only offer on the table for an accusation of a first degree felony, “regardless of the circumstances.” A conviction calls for not less than 5 years and no more than 99 years.

“The pipe is getting clogged somewhere in between the clients and the defense attorneys and the judge, which means something’s happening with the district attorney’s office,” Callahan said. “Most clients, in my opinion, are willing to plead.”

Mr. Reyna denied there is any truth to Mr. Callahan's allegations. “A lot of them are patently false,” Reyna said. “Either he doesn’t understand the system (or) he doesn’t understand the process, but it’s just false.”

He noted that he inherited a 1,200-case backlog when he took office on January 1, 2011.

Waco attorney Dick Kettler pointed out the obvious. He said the Court should reopen its downtown jail.

Housing overflow inmates in the for-profit Jack Harwell Detention Center inflated from a budgeted $2.6 million item to $5.6 million, and it caused Commissioner Kelly Snell to invite the defense lawyers to present their grievances to the Court.

Commissioner Lester Gibson is on record suggesting the use of more than 300 idle bunks in the disused downtown jail. ““I think the D.A. is doing what he was elected to do. We need to do what we were elected to do, because we have a problem with the jail that’s going to make us or break us.”

Judge acquits Army hacker and Wikileaker for aiding enemy, finds him guilty of spying, lesser charges

Ft. Meade, MD. - The military judge in the Wikileaks case against an Army private found the accused guilty of espionage today.

Facing a maximum of 128 years in prison, the case against Pvt. Bradley Manning will go into sentencing phase on Wednesday, July 31, following his acquittal for aiding the enemy and an additional 25 counts against him.

Army Col. Denise Lind deliberated for about 16 hours in sessions spread over 3 days. In eliminating the charge of aiding the enemy, she removed the possibility of a life sentence from the array of punishment possible following the hacker's conviction.

Pvt. Manning acknowledged leaking more than 700,000 battlefield reports, many of them addressed to top commanders and State Department officials, as well as a Reuters video of a helicopter attack that left civilians, including a driver and news photographer dead while airmen laughed and called them “dead bastards.”

A self-avowed homosexual, Pvt. Manning was recruited by a Wikileaks associate he met in an off-post assignation in Boston. He said he carried out his operation in hopes of exposing American “blood lust,” and of establishing a “dialogue” over the nation's foreign policy. He previously plead guilty to lesser charges that could possibly net him 20 years behind bars.

The judge announced she will release detailed findings explaining her verdict, but did not specify when she will do so.

Fourth of the First 'Long Knives' to return today

FORT HOOD, Texas -- The 1st Cavalry Division will host a redeployment and 'uncasing of the colors' ceremony for 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, and 5th Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, both with 4th Brigade Combat Team "Long Knife", 1st Cavalry Division, at Cooper Field here at approximately 8:35 p.m., Tuesday, July 30.

Lt. Col. Monte Rone, commander, 2-12 Cav, and Command Sgt. Maj. James Gandy, command sergeant major, 2-12 Cav., will uncase their battalion's colors  

Lt. Col William Johnson, commander, 5-82 FA, and Command Sgt. Major Lawrence Maynard, command sergeant major, 5-82, will uncase their battalion's colors.

The uncasing of the colors symbolizes the official end of their tour.

The Soldiers are returning after a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan. (click here for the minority report) 

ACLU files suit for rocket attack on Awlaki, son

Jihadists avenge Ft. Hood case in court

Washington – As Army prosecutors fight to be allowed to use evidence that Maj. Abu Nidal Malik Hasan got religious instruction and encouragement from Mullah Anwar Awlaki, lawyers are suing the government for targeting him in a drone rocket attack.

A native of Las Cruces, New Mexico, who served as a Mullah at the Falls Church, Virgina, mosque where Maj. Hasan worshipped during his training as an Army psychiatrist, Awlaki also taught jihad at a San Diego mosque.

He inspired the shoe bomber, the underwear bomber, and at least one of the 9/11 hijackers who also participated in planning the assault on the U.S.S. Cole in 2000, as well as an earlier failed attempt to bomb another destroyer, U.S.S The Sullivans.

Mullah Anwar Awlaki

When a drone rocket attack caught him riding in a pickup truck, he was tooling through the desert in Yemen, where he served as a top religious adviser to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). A similar attack claimed the life of his 16-year-old son two weeks later.

A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., alleges that the act of targeting Awlaki is illegal, a violation of U.S. and international law, and seeks unspecified damages as may be established in litigation. (click here to read the lawsuit)

Lawyers for both the ACLU and The Center for Constitutional Rights are prosecuting the civil suit, which alleges that “Since 2001, and routinely since 2009, the United States has carried out deliberate and premeditated killings of suspected terrorists overseas. The U.S. practice of 'targeted killing' has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, including many hundreds of civilian bystanders. While some targeted killings have been carried out in the context of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, many have taken place outside the context of armed conflict, in countries including Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, Sudan, and the Philippines. These killings rely on vague legal standards, a closed executive process, and evidence never presented to the courts.”

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair William H. McRaven, Special Operations Commander Joseph Votel, and CIA Director David Petraeus are named as defendants.

At least part of the evidence Army prosecutors seek to use against Dr. Hasan includes e-mail messages in which he “gushed” that he can hardly wait to join Awlaki and other jihadists in Islamic high heaven. Awlaki replied that the teachings of Islam justify murder in the name of Allah to spread the word of peace.