Danzinger Bridge Murder and Cover-up

Five New Orleans police officers are on trial in the Danziger Bridge case. They are, from top left: Kenneth Bowen, Robert Faulcon, Robert Gisevius, Arthur Kaufman and Anthony Villavaso.

While it seems as if all of America is in a trance over a brainless twit's responsibility for the death and missing body of her infant and whether Florida would manage to put the mother on a death row gurney--the real trial of this century, thus far, the Danzinger Bridge murders and cover-up trial is underway in New Orleans.  The coverage by the New Orleans Times Picayune is as you might expect amazing and heartbreaking. 

The massive and "brazen" cover-up of the reacist killings in the wake of Katrina is one of the all-time Bad Cop stories. 

Another Whack-Job Government Lawyer

Over the last several days I've brought you a couple of stories about government-employed lawyers engaged in really mind-bending bullshit conduct.  This guy may take the cake, a New York lawyer engage in racial harassment, then again the lawyer stealing from the blind vendor....this is via the ABAJournal with a link to an article by Brenda Lyons and Paul Nelson at the Albany Times-Union:

"A state Department of Civil Service lawyer faces hate crime charges for allegedly threatening to kill an African-American woman and to kidnap a 'little black boy and tie him up' during two separate phone calls over the summer to people of color in his neighborhood, according to court papers.

James J. Hennessey Jr. (pic) attempted to hide the origins of the calls, which occurred on July 19 and July 21, by using a website called www.bluffmycall.com, the criminal complaint states.   Hennessey, 58, was arraigned Friday on two counts of second-degree felony aggravated harassment by Albany City Court Judge William Carter who asked him during the hearing if he could afford an attorney.

'I'm not sure but I think so,' said Hennessey, who was shackled and did not have an attorney representing him. The judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf and set bail at $15,000.

He told the judge that he worked as a lawyer for the Department of Civil Service and later asked about the payment options for bail. Hennessey, who earns $104,080 a year, had posted bail by 3:30 p.m. Friday, about 90 minutes after the arraignment ended. Outside court, he declined comment when approached by a reporter. It was unclear late Friday if he had retained a lawyer.

Albany police said Hennessey told them he once worked for the New York Police Department. It's unclear if Hennessey had been an officer with the NYPD.  The criminal complaint alleges that at 10:30 p.m. on July 19, a woman on South Pine Street received a call in which Hennessey used racial slurs and expletives and told the woman that he was going to kill her. The court papers state that the woman was targeted because she is 'of African-American origin.'

Two days later at 1:30 p.m., a man on Winnie Street received a call in which the caller told him, 'we are going to kidnap the little black boy who plays outside and tie him up,' according to the criminal complaint. The papers state the man was 'selected because he is of Hispanic origin and has a dark-skinned nephew.'

Authorities were able to trace the calls to Hennessey through documents from Verizon Wireless and a Time Warner Cable account identifying Hennessey as the subscriber.  Albany police were assisted in the probe by the FBI and Albany County district attorney's office.  Police records show Hennessey filed at least two complaints with Albany police several years ago alleging someone had done damage to his home and vehicle.

Hennessey has been employed as an associate attorney with the Department of Civil Service since April 1993, according to David Ernst, an agency spokesman. Ernst on Friday said there was no change in Hennessey's status with the agency."
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On rare occasions I've come across truly irredeemably racist individuals.   A surprising number have been cops.  While I have represented many cops as well as many municipalities vis-a-vis their safety forces, and I count many cops among my current friends--there is something that I trace to education, bent of mind, and daily exposure to peril that animates this emotional defect among the police.

Wisconsin's "Baby Mama" Ruling, Reversed.

The Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel is reporting that the Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously reversed a Court of Appeals decision tossing out a drug sentencing because of the sentencing Judge's use of the expression "Baby Mama" in a colloquy with the drug dealer.  Here's reporter Bruce Vielmetti's account:

"Wisconsin's infamous 'baby mama' case got a new spin Wednesday when the state Supreme Court backed a judge's use of the phrase at a sentencing and reversed an appeals court decision that had said the defendant deserved a new sentencing because of the judge's comments. In a rare 7-0 ruling, the court rejected the appeals court notion that if a reasonable observer might think racial or gender stereotypes influenced the trial judge, Landray Harris deserved a new hearing. Rather, the high court found, Harris needed to show by clear and convincing evidence that then-Circuit Judge Joe Wall did base his sentence on such inappropriate factors, and the justices found he did not.

'Race was never a factor in this case, and Harris' sentencing attorney told your newspaper as much,' [former-Judge Wall] said, referring to the original coverage of the appeals court ruling in January 2009. 'The Supreme Court using simple common sense and following established law found that two judges from the court of appeals lifted out of context four of my words from two separate sections of a 32-page transcript and twisted the plain meaning of those words into something offensive,' Wall said.

Harris, 24, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to deliver. He had no prior record. At sentencing in August 2007, Harris told Wall he was not working but cared for his then-2-year-old daughter. Wall asked about the child's mother - whom he referred to as the 'baby mama - and noted that she both worked and attended college.

'Where do you guys find these women, really, seriously,' Wall said, according to a transcript. 'I'd say about every fourth man who comes in here unemployed, no education, is with a woman who is working full-time, going to school. Where do you find these women? Is there a club?'

Wall sentenced Harris to two years in prison to be followed by three years of supervision.

In January 2009, Court of Appeals Judges Joan Kessler and Patricia Curley ruled that Harris, who is black, could reasonably infer that Wall's comments revealed a bias, so he deserved a new sentencing. The opinion, with its lengthy chunks of the transcript from Harris' sentencing, went nearly viral on the Internet. 'What concerns us is the reasonable perception of an African-American defendant, or an observer, that the sentence was imposed at least in part because of race,'  Kessler wrote for the majority in a 2-1 decision. Judge Kitty Brennan dissented.

The Supreme Court soundly rejected that standard."
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Hhmmmmmm, racist Judges?  That never happens in America.  Certainly it sounds like former-Judge Wall was talking about his perceptions and bias and that those views underlay his thinking and approach to the world; but, here's the key, the Judge appears to have set aside those attitudes when it came down to actually applying the sentencing law to the facts.  In the law, if the Judge erred with his remarks, it was "harmless error."  Nonetheless, how harmless are the remarks when they become "notorious" and generate two appellate decisions?

I've heard this sort of colloquy in court many, many times over the years.  Often times the judge speaking was African-American . . . you ever see Judge Joe Brown?  They pay Judge Judy 45 million dollars a year for this sort of quip with the parties in her make-believe courtroom.

I think this sort of dialogue also is a Court dialogue is a common expression of judicial frustration with a dysfunctional society, but also perhaps an inappropriate deviation from what is supposed to be blind justice.  Oh: the pic, is the rapper NeYo with his Baby Mama's Baby.  One other note:  the Wisconsin Supreme Court has been in a state of near-anarchy over the Justice Gabelman election/disciplinary charges previously looked at on Bad Lawyer, it's notable that the badly-fractured bench was able to find some unanimity in this case.

Evil Lawyer

Edgar Steele (pic), 64, a North Idaho attorney has been charged in a murder for hire plot targeting his wife and mother-in-law according to a report at the Idaho Statesman. 

Steele is a particularly loathsome character notorious for his unsuccessful defense of hate groups like the Aryan Nation whose views he espouses and embraces.  Mr. Steele is a the author of a book called Defensive Racism: An Unapologetic Examination of Racial Differences, (pub. 2000.)  He also maintains a presence on the web, including his own website where you can access his racist and anti-semitic tantrums.

According to the Idaho Statesman article on Steele's arrest, the murder of his wife and her mother was designed to appear to be a car accident.

Oh, Baltimore!

I would love to start Twenty-Ten, with nothing but good news, but how?  How can I when you come across stories like this one from the Baltimore Sun which reports on the arrest of 73 year old Baltimore barber, Lenny Clay.  The long time black community activist and beloved Barber is alleged by the police ot have had some sort of Jekyll-Hyde moment and in a state of intoxicaton, assaulted the police with his private car, and while resisting arrest the police found it necessary to break Mr. Clay's arm.  Huh?  Are you f*&$#g kidding me? 

The brainiacs with Baltimore's Best, forgot to "charge" Mr. Clay with assault, and they forgot to get his blood alcohol level so there is essentially no evidence to support the police claims.  What we basically have is a respected elder from Baltimore's Black community, pulled over with a busted arm, and a classic bunch of police BS. 

C'mon, Baltimore you can do better than this.  Try it.

Curtis Flowers

This picture is of Curtis Flowers.  


Flowers is on the verge of facing his 6th murder trial in Mississippi for the "execution-style" slaying of Bertha Tardy, a Montgomery County furniture store owner and three of Mrs. Tardy's workers, thirteen years ago.  Flowers has been sentenced to death three times, four of the convictions have been overturned for blatant prosecutorial misconduct, and the fifth trial declared a mistrial after a black juror refused to convict on the evidence.  That juror, James Bibbs, a Vietnam veteran, retired school teacher, and local volunteer football referee was interviewed by the white Judge, abused in open court, arrested, and jailed for perjury!  The charges against juror Bibbs were "quietly" dropped.


For 13 years, Curtis Flowers has sat in jail.  The evidence against him based on motive, Flowers is a disgruntled former employee with a wage dispute with Mrs. Tardy, he has no alibi, on the other hand the forensic evidence against him is "wafer thin" and the eyewitness testimony is doubtful.


Here is what we know, Winona, Mississippi is one of the most racist places in the United States.  It is a place that made the cover of Time magazine in 1937 for the notorious Duck Hill lynchings and murderous southern racism.  In 1963 civil rights activist, Fannie Lou Hamer (who coined the expression,: "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired") was arrested after being refused service at the Winona bus station lunch counter; she suffered terrible injuries from jail house beatings arranged by the racist authorities.


In addition to the treatment of the juror, Mr. Bibbs by the white Judge, the prosecutorial approach to the case been until the last trial--exclude blacks from the jury.  The US  Supeme Court has held that this tactic denies black Americans fundamental due process.  You think?


Well, our dear Mississippeans have caught the attention of the BBC and other international media.  Here's a link to the BBC story:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8377236.stm

There's a separate website to support the cause of justice in the Curtis Flowers case:  http://friendsofjustice.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/curtis-flowers-and-the-cruel-legacy-of-montgomery-county/

Sick Lawyers

https://www.iardc.org/09CH0068CM.html  If the charges contained in the complaint of the Illinois Bar complaint are true, Deron Baker Elliott is a very sick lawyer.  According to the Bar complaint this lawyer has on several occasions engaged in racist verbal attacks on others in the community.  It is reported that attorney Elliott assaulted a police officer as part of a wild incident in which he verbally berated African-Americans and Jewish citizens.  In another incident Elliott referred to an Asian police official as "Detective Chairman."

It's not too difficult to appreciate the underpinnings of racism, recognizing that it underlies so much of what we all do and say, not excluding myself.  I recognize that as we try to explain the world to ourselves we include or exclude ourselves based on differences that we perceive.  If I'm uncomfortable I focus on the differences of others around me;  if I'm comfortable, I search our our similarities--is this it?  Aggressive and assaultive racism, in other words that behavior that excludes others through attitudes, words or violence--that, my Mother taught me was sin.  Wrong.  And my life experiences teaches me that racism is not only wrong but profoundly stupid.  What does racism contribute to my peace of mind or yours?

So when I read about Deron Baker Eliott, I conclude that he is not just racist, he is sick.  He is a very sick lawyer.  What's surprising to me is that Elliott made it through the process of being admitted to law school, admitted to take the bar exam, and admitted to practice with the attitudes that he holds.  That is why I've concluded that this lawyer is sick, clearly I'm just speculating but it certainly sounds to me like someone with an organic mental illness, like schizophrenia.

In my career, I worked for one profoundly (alcoholic and) racist lawyer.  During law school I clerked (filing legal papers, drafting legal documents, and writing briefs) with a small group of personal injury lawyers.  The most successful of these lawyers, Ronnie P had reached such prominence that he ran for Congress as the republican candidate, losing  in a heavily democratic district.  By repute, Ronnie P  was a brilliant businessman--I have my doubts.

Ronnie P's personal injury practice was based on advertising directly to African-Americans via Urban-format radio well before the era of widespread lawyer advertising. I did not know until late in my stay at this office, but Ronnie issued orders to his secretaries to clear the waiting room of black clients when business clients were due to visit and pass through the lobby.  Ronnie P. believed that Blacks people were "animals" interested in one thing, money that they could bleed from the system.

Ronnie P's racism became manifest as his drinking problem became more and more evident over time.  Shortly before I left this office as part of a revolt against Ronnie by all the other lawyers in the suite--Ronnie stumbled drunkenly into an office after lunch. I was interviewing two mature black ladies-clients who had had previous dealings with him.  One of the black ladies trying to be social with him asked Ronnie, Ronnie's opinion of mixed raced dating. This disgusting, mentally ill drunk uttered something so crude and vile, that today I count it as the most racist thing I ever heard one person say to another.

Within ten years, Ronnie P died a raving wet-brained maniac.