May 4th Update--Terry Norman's Role

On May 4, 2010 I wrote at some length about Ohio's slaying of 4 students at Kent State University and my personal connection to that campus in the ensuing years.

My academic path brought me into contact with the collective behavior researcher, Dr. Jerry M. Lewis, a peace marshall on May 4, 1970 and an eye witness to the arbitrary and capricious killing of Sandy Scheuer who died for the crime of walking between classes at the wrong time and in the wrong place.    My study with Dr. Lewis led me to do archival reading of all the local news accounts from that region then on microfilm at various libraries.  One of the tantalizing questions never fully answered was what was the involvement of a "law enforcement" photographer Terry Norman (pic, above) who was packing a .38 caliber revolver which was thought to have been discharged by Norman prior to the fatal fusillade by the National Guard.  Over the weekend, an investigative news story at the Cleveland Plain Dealer website, Cleveland.com renewed this forgotten wrinkle. 

Remember that the National Guard defended themselves initially by claiming that they were responding to sniper fire.  This was refuted.  The Guard claimed the sniper fire that provoked their gunfire came from locations and places for which film (yes, there was film in those days) and photographs demonstrated no evidence.  Dr. Lewis speculated in conversation and classes with me that Norman was the source of the gunfire based on this and other photographs of him walking around with a revolver.  It turns out that audio analysis actually now corroborates Dr. Lewis' speculation.

This is an extraordinary mystery, so let me add a further fantastic facet to ponder.  The 4 dead in Ohio came in the wake of the invasion of Cambodia, and the Senate campaign of close Nixon ally, then Governor James Rhodes.  It was Rhodes' incendiary May 3d rhetoric in which he called students "Brown Shirts" among other invective which has long been credited as the motivation for the shootings and the subsequent generational schism over the shootings.  Bearing this context in mind, we now know that a group of thugs were then officially operating out of the White House, engaged in break-ins, assassination conspiracies, and political operations of all stripe.  These were Nixon's plumbers: E. Howard Hunt, G. Gordon Liddy, financed by Howard Hughes, and orchestrated by Colson, Haldeman, and Erlichman.  Many, many others, former FBI, CIA, even a former NAZI agent were involved in the dirty tricks and crimes that fall under the rubric, Watergate, and which have come to light.  So, is this one of the early provocations by the Nixon gang? 

We can now say with relative certainty that Terry Norman, an anonymous "photographer" with press credentials issued by the Ohio National guard walked into a crowd of students brandishing and ultimately discharging a .38 caliber revolver 4 times.  The national guardsmen claimed in sworn testimony that they wheeled and fired because they took sniper fire although none could pin point the location for where these shots came from.  I can add one further fact from viewing the physical area where the massacre occurred.  The Guard stood on a hill below them like a reflecting bowl, the students stood.  It is easily conceivable that Norman's gun shots resonated off the hard and rocky surfaces and was heard by these riot-geared National Guardsmen who killed my alums.

After his role at Kent, the FBI obtained employment for Norman with the District of Columbia police as a narcotics agent.  Janis Froelich wrote an intriguing story for the Tampa Tribune about Terry Norman.

So did Nixon and this crooks have a direct hand in triggering the slayings at Kent State on May 4, 1970?  What was once was purely speculation seems a step closer to being established fact.

Note:  todays' update at this link.

Pay Me Now!

What's Wrong With the Justice System?

Mike Thomas at the Orlando Sentinel has this story of disparate treatment in Florida's system of justice that should outrage anyone who cares about justice.

"Dr. David Mackey (pic, left), the former chief of staff at Winter Park Hospital, hired a hit man to kill a business partner who cheated him. It was captured on videotape. Yet Mackey never saw the inside of a jail cell for that crime.


Malenne Joseph (pic with her children, above) a poor and deeply religious immigrant from Haiti, was arrested for vandalizing a home. She did not do it. Yet she sat in a jail cell for three months, praying to be returned to her young children, as the State Attorney's Office sat on information that proved her innocence.   Welcome to law and order in the Ninth Judicial Circuit.

Dr. Mackey was arrested in 2003 after the hit man he hired turned out to be an undercover cop.  'If I could kill this guy and get away with it, I would,' Mackey told him.  Possible penalties ranged up to life in prison.

But Mackey hardly needed defense counsel, as prosecutors and the judge rushed to his defense.  Assistant State Attorney Bill Vose said that  'sending a person of Dr. Mackey's stature for this offense away to prison would certainly not be justice.'

Judge Bob Wattles seemed to agree.

'I don't believe this is the end of you practicing medicine,' he told Mackey.  'You're a tremendous asset. I'm not going to waste that.'
Mackey got probation.

'All I can say,' said Bill Vose, 'is there is not two systems of justice in the cases I prosecute, and I manage all the prosecutors in the office, and we do our best to make sure that doesn't happen.'
Malenne certainly lacked Dr. Mackey's stature.

She was 29, poor and worked menial jobs. And it was her misfortune to be black and speak with an accent — because that vague description also fit a woman hired by a contractor in 2007 to paint the inside of a house.  The contractor did not pay her. Angry, the woman splashed paint over the interior of the house.

Malenne Joseph was not a painter. She never set foot in the house. She never met any of these people.  But that didn't matter once Orlando police Detective Jose Varela was on the case.  The contractor gave Varela the painter's cell-phone number. He dialed it and got a woman named  'Marlene' who confessed to the crime but would not come down to the police station.  Varela never traced the cell-phone number to see whom it was registered to. Varela had another clue.

He told prosecutors that the owner of the house gave him the tag number of a vehicle that she saw the painter driving. And Varela said he traced that tag to Malenne or a relative.  In fact, the owner of the house had said she saw a black man driving a truck slowly in her neighborhood and got suspicious — so she gave the tag number to Varela.  The truck belonged to a black man with the last name of Joseph. Apparently, Varela then went fishing through motor-vehicle records until he came up with a black woman with the last name of Joseph — Malenne Joseph.

Varela got a photocopy of her drivers-license picture and showed it to the owner of the house and her sister. A more conscientious detective would have put that picture in with other pictures to see whether the women could pick out Malenne.  He did not. And, not surprisingly, the two women identified Malenne as the painter. This happens so often there are studies about it. Witness identifications are the most unreliable evidence, especially when white victims are identifying black suspects. Cops know what they are doing. Why else would a cop be showing me this picture if she didn't do it?

The phone number wasn't linked to Malenne. The truck wasn't linked to Malenne. She wasn't picked out of a photo lineup.  None of that bothered the State Attorney's Office, which took the case to trial in June.  It also didn't seem to bother Judge Walter Komanski, who allowed — over defense objections — Varela to testify about  'Marlene's' phone confession.

The jury heard eyewitness identification and a confession. Guilty.   A pre-sentence investigation would take two months. Komanski could have released Malenne, given her lack of a record and the fact this was a nonviolent crime.  Instead, he sent her to jail.

When new lawyers took over her case from the Public Defender's Office and asked for a retrial, that cost Malenne another month in jail, almost as if she were being punished for insisting on her innocence.   She continued to sit there after her lawyers filed evidence that proved her innocence — evidence that included phone records linking the number Varela dialed to a woman named Merline, and work records that showed Malenne was working at a nursing home on two of the days she supposedly was painting.

She continued sitting after Sentinel reporter Anthony Colarossi reported that evidence on the front page.

'The State will NOT reconsider it's [sic] position on the defendant being released…' prosecutor Mexcye Roberts wrote defense attorneys on Sept. 10.

The State Attorney's Office, so anxious to keep an obviously guilty Dr. Mackey out of jail, was set on keeping an obviously innocent Malenne Joseph in jail. But faced with the overwhelming evidence, it finally relented and set her free Sept. 15."
_________________________________________

Epic Fraudster

Solomon Dwek (pic) is labeled an "epic fraudster" in a Joe Ryan article about corruption for the Star-Ledger.  Dwek, a former rabbinical student, was the tool of the FBI in its New Jersey corruption sting.  Forty-six public officials, including judges, mayors, and others have been caught up in bribery and other federal offenses. 

Dwek came to the attention of the federal authorities as part of their investigation into a $50 million dollar bank fraud.  In exchange for consideration he strapped a small camera around his waist and set up the various persons now on trial in various venues around Jersey. 

Dwek will go down in the annals of legendary crooks for a variety of schemes apart from his sting of others.  It is revealed in testimony at the trial of Ridgefield Mayor Anthony R. Suarez that Dwek arranged to pay the premiums of terminally ill and elderly folks who could not afford life insurance premiums.  When the insured died he and his partners including a Yeshiva (a school) collected the policy.  On cross examination Dwek acknowledged collecting $150,000 from "investing in people's deaths." 

Karma, anyone?

Money, money, money . . .oink!

MySanAntonio.com (San Antonio Express-News) is reporting on the vast sums of money being poured into the race for the presiden....governorship of the Republic of Texas.  His majesty and chief executioner, Rick Perry collected some $8 million dollars for this general election.  Tthe report indicates that a Texas home builder gave Perry $600,000, more, while a Toyota dealer pumped in an additional quarter million dollars.   Perry's Democratic opponent has collected about half the amount.

In the meantime, back in the United States, it looks like forever-orange Cincinnati-area businessman and Tobacco waterboy, John Boehner is on a well-greased track to become the Speaker of the House.  If you got so far in your exploration of things that may or may not matter in politics or current events, that you took time to read the Bad Lawyer rant--you know all of this.  Much wiser commentators that the Bad Lawyer, bemoan this sort of wholesale purchase of power, so I suggest reading those writers.

My Hope

For my part, I hope that every Tea-Party wacko, Chamber of Commerce, and NRA-approved extremist Republican-backed greed-dog running for office wins.  Ultimately, I hope that after a complete spasm of bizzaro world-alternate universe governance, America will return to sanity, dignity, and decency.  Maybe it's the limitation of my education, but it sure seems to me that we are collectively in thrall to morons, demagogues, and crooks;  and, unless we call their bluff--give them power--language, logic, and democracy will lose all power to signify the ideals that I thought we were all about. 

An Orwellian animal farm collective is coming to power near you.  Hold onto your hats.

Smurfing, Structuring, Sentencing for Father Sam--An Update

Rick Armon at Ohio.com (Akron Beacon-Journal) has this compelling update on the Father Sam Ciccolini story.  Perhaps you recall the original Bad Lawyer story about Father Sam.  This is a tantalizing tale involving a beloved greater Akron cleric who was caught "structuring."  Structuring aka smurfing is the intentional parceling of large deposits in smaller transactions to avoid reporting or other financial regulation or requirement. Structuring is one of the ways money from ill-gotten gains is "laundered." 

With that introduction let's look at what the AUSA says Father Sam did, and what his lawyers say was the reason he was smurfing:

"The Rev. Samuel Ciccolini embezzled more than $1 million from the Interval Brotherhood Home Foundation through an elaborate scheme that involved falsifying invoices and financial records, federal authorities say. The well-known Catholic priest better known as 'Father Sam' confessed to the nonprofit and paid back the money only after authorities launched an investigation into his conduct, according to a 14-page document filed Tuesday in federal court.

The document contains details never revealed before in the case, including the amount stolen and how Ciccolini deceived the nonprofit by billing the Interval Brotherhood Home Foundation for construction work and equipment that had been donated.  'The community held him in high regard and had a tremendous amount of faith and trust in him,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Bulford wrote. 'He used all of this goodwill to take advantage of the situation and embezzled funds from the charity.  The scheme was an elaborate subterfuge. There was deception at all levels along the way. He falsified invoices. He falsified financial records. He issued false checks of the not-for-profit.'

Ciccolini, 68, who founded the Interval Brotherhood Home in 1970 and served as its executive director, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in federal court in Cleveland on income tax and bank-related charges.

A plea agreement recommends 18 to 24 months in prison, although his attorneys have asked for only house arrest given his career of helping others and cooperation with authorities. 

[Fr. Ciccolini] has not been charged with theft. [ . . . ]

As part of his scheme, Ciccolini recorded fictitious expenses for construction work and equipment that had been donated at no cost to the nonprofit, the court filing says. He then issued checks for the work and equipment, and kept the money himself, it says. 'These payments did not go to the contractors as indicated in the books and records of the foundation,'  Bulford wrote. 'Instead, they were converted by Samuel Ciccolini into cash and official bank checks which were deposited in Ciccolini's accounts.'

Between 2002 and 2006, the priest deposited more than $900,000 into his personal accounts, the court filing says. Ciccolini confessed to the board that he took about $1.2 million, the document says.  It's unclear what the priest did with the money. In typical embezzlement cases, people spend it but he apparently kept the cash on hand because he was able to pay it back to the foundation, Bulford said.

But Ciccolini, better known as 'Father Sam,' has since repaid the money he took, attorneys Peter Cahoon and Gregory Plesich wrote in an 11-page brief filed last week in federal court in Cleveland.  The [pre-sentence statement submitted by Cicciolini's attorneys] says the soft-spoken, 68-year-old priest from Akron 'improperly transferred funds' from the foundation to his personal accounts. It doesn't identify the amount involved.

Ciccolini stepped aside as executive director of IBH after he was charged earlier this year with federal income tax and bank-related crimes. He is scheduled to be sentenced Friday.  At the time he was charged, IBH officials said the case involved Ciccolini's personal finances and didn't involve the nonprofit group.  Ed Stanford, current executive director of IBH, and Tom Killian, president of the foundation, declined Monday to explain those previous misleading statements.

Cahoon and Plesich wrote: '[Ciccolini] believes that he inappropriately transferred these funds based on an incorrect state of mind that it was his own goodwill which generated donation of construction materials and services to IBH and that this somehow justified his taking personal control of the savings . . . so he could personally control the disposition of these funds as he saw fit.  'Being always concerned about IBH and its funding, and wanting to have IBH grow and turn into an international facility, Sam wanted to be able to control how funds would be used.'

Ciccolini paid for an audit of foundation finances and has repaid money that he took, the document says.  In the court filing, Cahoon and Plesich also requested that federal Judge James Gwin sentence the priest to house arrest instead of prison. 

Ciccolini pleaded guilty in July as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors that could bring a prison sentence of 18 to 24 months.  The [pre-sentence statement by his lawyers] paints Ciccolini as a saintly figure whose career of helping others has been tainted only by his financial missteps.

Cahoon and Plesich said his impeccable background and cooperation with authorities should prevent him from going to federal prison. Instead, he should be placed under home confinement with work release and be allowed to continue serving the community, they said.  'His life has been dedicated to helping others, in selfless and tireless ways,' Cahoon and Plesich wrote. 'Even now, Sam works a very high number of hours every day at IBH and his local parish. He gives of himself without complaint. This is his calling, and his vocation. There is nothing else he would rather do.'

Process takes toll

The document, which does not mention how long he should be under house arrest, also says Ciccolini 'has been embarrassed and publicly humiliated'' and ''this process has taken a mental and physical toll on him.'

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Bulford Jr. said federal prosecutors will seek an 18- to 24-month sentence as outlined in the plea deal. He declined further comment, saying he would file his own brief with the court in advance of the sentencing.

Ciccolini built an international reputation for his outreach and treatment of alcoholics and drug addicts at the Interval Brotherhood Home, located on a sprawling campus in Coventry Township [near Akron.] He founded the facility on Oct. 7, 1970, in an abandoned Carmelite monastery and served as its executive director until he was charged. [. . . ]  Ciccolini [ . . .] pleaded guilty to one count of structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements and one count of making and subscribing a false tax return.  He deposited more than $1 million in bank branches in the Akron area from April to June 2003 by making 139 cash transactions, federal authorities say.

Banks are required to report deposits of more than $10,000 to federal authorities under the Bank Secrecy Act, which is designed to catch money laundering. Ciccolini deposited lower amounts to avoid the reporting requirement.

Explanation for actions

In the court filing, Cahoon and Plesich tried to provide an explanation for the priest's financial crimes[:]

'Sam did not want to have to explain to the Internal Revenue Service or anyone else where the cash came from,' Cahoon and Plesich wrote. 'Nor did he want the public to think that he or IBH had a lot of money. Sam has always been a very private person when it comes to his own money, and he was inappropriately secretive when it came to these deposits.'

Ciccolini also filed a tax return in 2004 listing his income for the previous year as $101,064 when it was $407,062. Although he faced only one income tax charge, he has admitted other years' returns also were incorrect.  By 2003, the priest, who has no real expenses, had accumulated at least $1.6 million in personal wealth through gifts, bequests, his salary from the nonprofit and a $230,000 life insurance policy when his mother passed away, according to the court filing.

Ciccolini, whose father died at 41, grew up poor and felt responsible for the welfare of family members, the court filing says. As a young man, he would save money in a cigar box and hoard cash — a pattern that continued into adulthood.  In early 2003, he panicked after hearing a report that the United States was going to change the form of currency and decided to put his money in the bank, leading to the restructuring charge.
________________________________
As you might imagine I strongly identify with Father Ciccolini, going through precisely the same process "that's taking a toll" on him--except no one has ever accused me of being "Saintly." 

When I first read about Father Sam's case I guessed incorrectly that he was "structuring" money for crooks, since he has long been employed by, croo . . . the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio.  It's more likely that years of working with alcoholics and drug addicts affected Father Sam's personality and judgment.  As I said many times in connection with Catholic priests caught in the sex abuse scandals, these are pretty naive men.  This naivete extends to all the things the rest of us are expected to do in our real world.  As the article notes, Priests don't have "expenses."  I can easily understand how Father Sam got "sideways."  I got sideways, working with victims of clergy sex abuse and incest--I believed incorrectly that my "work" was more important than my obligations to the state and federal laws and ultimately my family.

I hope Father Sam is shown mercy, I was.

Ohio Kills Another Inmate Sets State Record!

Congratulations, Ohio, you broke your record for State-Sanctioned Slayings of death row inmates with your torrid 2010 pace.  Here's the joyous news, courtesy of the Cincinnati Enquirer. 

Cameron Todd Willingham Update--Texas Angels of Death

The Dallas Morning News updates its reports on Cameron Todd Willingham the Texas man wrongly convicted and executed for arson murder of his children.  The District Attorney and Governor Rick Perry's continue their machinations in this appalling case of Texas Republic-sanctioned murder.

It's Official, Kratz Quits!

'Felt a need to follow up, Cap Times, is reporting that "sexting" Wisconsin DA Kenneth Kratz resigned. 

Saturday October 2--Seven Deadly Sins

Complete darkness, on this side of dawn on this side of town.

All light, any light reflects up from head lights that my car and the very few other cars prowling wet streets cast.  The road is sprinkled with leaves, acorns and other fall cast-off.

I am on my way to morning coffee.  My present, slight, headache is a combination of something low-grade viral, seasonal congestion, and caffeine craving.  When I arrive, I find everyone else already in place. These friends of mine, the essential, self-styled "mens' show" regulars, already sunk down in the faux club chairs under the new spotty lights that the Starbucks installed in the ridiculous redo of the former gas station and repair shop at this Westside location.  With my Times and my large coffee I wedge in among my pals, Chris, Matt, LaLa (Laura), Chuck, Ken(n,) Charlie, and Ron.

"'Morning, class."

"Hey, Billy, check the piece on M****, and R****," (Chuck is gesturing to an article in the local paper about county politicos enmeshed in scandal.)

"Front (page) or Metro?" I ask, having already scanned the piece online before leaving my house.

"Metro, below the fold . . .  but big space on B-8."

Chris alerts me to further developments mostly humorous, to be scanned, and commented on.  This is our daily communion.

Fifteen or twenty minutes into morning bliss, the toxic avenger, Cliff, wafts in uninvited.   I will leave as soon as practicable, to avoid dealing with angry Cliff, a former regular.  Over the last year, Cliff is too bizarre for me.  Maybe it's DNA or something biological but Cliff and most of us are unable to occupy the same ten foot radius without inexplicable nastiness leaking.  Cliff's arrival is an acrid dispersant and we drift out
Before I go, I tell La my thoughts on breach of fiduciary duty.  She asked my opinion, yesterday morning and I had to think about it.  She's handling a commercial matter that seems to be southbound after two days, last week she spent in East Lansing.

I feel bad, I wanted to say more to La.  She says she was counting on the $40k that would have been her cut on the collapsed deal.  She wants to improve her living arrangements. I sagely assure her that "doors close and windows open," be patient I tell her.  It's all hollow-advice from a disgraced and suspended attorney working in-house shuffling paper.  What a guy! I'm leaving my family in the lurch for 5 months in federal custody on my federal tax count, and I give career advice.  What  a sweetheart, I am.

I head over to John's Diner on the the other end of town, a Greek-owned greasy spoon that my very limited wallet can still afford; plus, I know John's adorable 29-year old daughter, Pamela.  Seeing Pamela's pretty face always makes me happy.  She's not there.  Oh well.  At least I can read my Times in peace.

"John's" is the old style joint built into a dining car, it's exterior is clad with a combination of block and wood-siding.  A small block addition on the one end and behind the dining car adds interior space for a few extra tables, kitchen-space, and bathrooms.  I suppose the structure could use some attention, and then again not, its accidental ambient may be perfect. 

Two idle waitresses are sitting on stools chatting.  I take a booth at the end of the counter so I can spread the paper out over the faded red Formica.  The familiar smiling waitress drops an oily discolored menu in front of me.  I tell her what I want to eat without touching or referring to the official options.  Before I can read the headlines, an approximation of what I ordered arrives.  The potatoes, are undercooked.  When I tell the waitress, no longer smiling, she snaps up my plate.  She takes my breakfast away. 

"He wants his potatoes crispier," she tells the cook through a little window.

"Um, could I have the rest of my meal while it's still hot?"  I ask.

She rolls her eyes.

She looks back through the little window, "Just take the potatoes," she tells the unseen cook.  "He wants the rest of his food, now."

The platter, without the offending spuds returns.

"Your toast is on the way," she sighs.

My compassionate angel, now turns and asks her co-worker, "You remember, the guy that used to come in here, wanted his potatoes, burnt?"   Apparently I evoke a fond memory. They laugh.   Reluctantly, I decide not to kill her.  Without touching my eggs and ham, I tuck the paper under my arm, I put a $10 bill on the table.

"You did not treat me well," I tell her as I leave safe haven, number two.

It's now light outside but intensely dark inside. 

I usually don't eat breakfast but having it inches from my senses, only to be withdrawn through my defect of personality, well, I determine that I am officially hungry and angry.  My stomach rumbles.

I've missed the 7:30 AA-meeting, the 10:30 AM Big Book is next.  If I can white-knuckle until then, I will be OK.  I grit my teeth and head on down the street.

When I talk on Bad Lawyer about the twists and turns in this adventure I'm not sure I say all that much about the specific feelings and sensations of disappointment and sometimes, rage and resentment welling up.   With all my problems I am for the most part a happy and fortunate man.  Still there is a legacy of false pride and anger that is familial inheritance.  It is crippling.  I struggle with rejection and rarely rage over the most trivial things. 

Where do I go from here?

On this blawg, I documented injustices, outrageous miscarriages of justice, scoundrels and lunatics. Sometimes I told you about fleeting moments of justice, mercy and grace.  Have no doubt, every story was about me.  They are a documentation of the seven deadly sins, or in the parlance of AA, my 4th and 5th steps to recovery.  From the most extreme, to the most miraculous--this has been my life and experiences.  I am trying to see the symmetry and perfection in my situation and go forward.  Just saying so, does not make it happen.  I need to change, to abolish all darkness.

I resolve to change, to bring light.