Harry "the Hook" Is Dead

Harry "the Hook" Aleman, a legendary Chicago hit man is dead at 69.  Aleman died in an Illinois prison while serving a 100 year sentence for the 1973 shotgun murder of Teamster union official William Logan. At the link you'll find the Wikipedia entry on Aleman.  Aleman may have murdered more than a dozen victims, but he wasn't saying.

The Chicago Tribune article on Aleman's death is at the second link. 

The most interesting aspect of the notice of Aleman's death is the connection to the public corruption in Chicago.  You see at one time you could buy your way out of a murder rap, and in fact Aleman bribed the trial judge, Cook County Judge Frank Wilson for the grand sum of $10,000. He was acquitted after a bench trial (meaning the case was tried without a jury.)  The defense lawyer, Charles Cooley turned snitch, and Judge Wilson blew his brains out while awaiting federal charges.  Since Aleman beat the rap on a bribe, his second trial, a jury trial, was not deemed "double jeopardy." 

Aleman was until May 15, a survivor of a wild era of union and public corruption in the Second City.

Why Vigilantism Is a Bad Idea

Vigilantism (taking the law into your own hands) is a bad idea and if you needed this story  from the Orlando Sentinetal  should do the trick.  The following is from Bianca Prieto account of the homicide of an elderly Floridian beaten to death because he was wrongly suspected of molesting a child:

An elderly Bithlo resident was beaten to death with a black Louisville Slugger baseball bat because the killer mistakenly thought the man was a sex offender, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies arrested 20-year-old Robert Pascale on Thursday on a charge of first-degree murder with a weapon after deputies with dogs tracked him to a muddy pond near Sixth Street in Bithlo, where he was hiding. Pascale was submerged in the water, only his face exposed.  The dead man, Hugh Edwards, 78, had no criminal history. It's unclear why anyone thought he was a sexual offender.  Details about Edwards' killing became public in the arrest report for Pascale's friend, 32-year-old Michael Garay, charged with accessory to murder.

Deputies were alerted to a possible homicide when Christa Limerick called 911 early Wednesday and said she thought her acquaintances had killed a man inside a trailer, reports show. Officers were dispatched to Fifth Avenue in Bithlo around 4:24 a.m. and found Edwards dead in a pool of blood. Officers noted signs of a struggle.  Limerick told deputies she was drinking with a group of friends when Pascale asked her what she would do if she had kids and lived next door to a sex offender, the report shows. Limerick said she would kill the person, according to the report.  Shortly after that conversation, Limerick said, she watched Pascale and Garay walk into the elderly man's fenced yard and return a short while later.

Garay later told deputies they returned to the home to get a baseball bat. Then they walked back over to the man's trailer, and Pascale "jimmied" the lock open, the report says. Garay told deputies he waited outside while Pascale went inside.  Garay told deputies that he heard several "thumping" sounds come from the trailer.  After the beating, Garay, Pascale, Limerick and another woman, Amber Baker, got into Limerick's car. The group drove to a nearby retention pond where Pascale dumped the baseball bat, according to the report.  Next, the group drove to Pascale's mother's house so Pascale could change clothes. Once back in the car, they drove over to an area known as "Dead Man's Trail" where the two men got out of the car, reports show.  Garay told deputies he and Pascale walked along a dirt path and Pascale walked into the woods to ditch the bloody clothing. Garay's jacket, which also had blood on it, was discarded, according to the affidavit.  The men then met up with the women at a nearby Circle K convenience store about 20 minutes later.

Deputies have recovered the bat and the clothing, the report says.

Records show Garay's criminal history includes arrests on charges of battery of a law-enforcement officer. Pascale has a violent criminal past and spent two years in a state prison for stealing a car, burglary, robbery with a deadly weapon and battery on a detention-facility staff member, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
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There's a lot of darkeness in the world.

Vigilantism is actually the very act described in the killing of Hugh Edwards, the summary punishment of someone for a perceived crime.   Purely evil stuff.

Judge Turner's a Creepy AV-Rated Jurist

Judge N. James Turner, a family law Judge for the Ninth Circuit in Osceola, Florida has been removed because his Honor thinks massaging, hugging and kissing staff is appropriate and his court staff and the presiding Judicial authorities disagree.  This is from the report at the Orlando Sentinel:
"The state agency that polices judges Friday expanded its case against Orange-Osceola Circuit Judge N. James Turner, accusing him of massaging, hugging and kissing the women in his office. The new allegations also accuse Turner of taking cell phone calls while on the bench, checking his Facebook page during court proceedings and unexpectedly getting up and walking out while court was in session.
Those allegations are tacked onto another set that were filed against him in July. They accuse him of a series of campaign violations, including being an open supporter of Democratic candidates in other races in 2008 while conducting what was supposed to be a nonpartisan campaign for judge.  Those charges are pending.Turner hasn't been on the bench since Orange-Osceola Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. last month ordered him to stop working. Perry did not explain his actions at the time. Neither would Turner. m Friday's disclosure, though, provides a general explanation.  Although he has been on the bench just 16 months, Turner has had four secretaries, called judicial assistants. Some judges can have one judicial assistant throughout a career."
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The publication, Matindale-Hubbell is a lawyer listing and rating service that pre-dates "Super Lawyers." Turner describes himself as a "A-V rated" lawyer and jurist.  This ought to tell you how reliable lawyer ratings are.  He also lists himself as an author of two articles on Employer Liability for Sexual Harassment in the workplace in the Florida Bar Journal. 

The Homicidal Hitchhiker Didn't Go Quietly--He Prayed

The Homicidal Hitchhiker didn't go quietly according to the Columbus Dispatch.  This is Alan Johnson's report:

"[Michael Beuke] held death at bay for [seventeen minutes.]

From 10:27 to 10:44 a.m., Beuke recited the rosary of the Roman Catholic Church while strapped to the lethal-injection table at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville. Warden Donald R. Morgan held a microphone inches from Beuke's face so witnesses in a nearby room could hear his last words. Family members of two of his victims watched in silent frustration as Beuke, crying and clutching rosary beads in one hand, went through the five Glorious Mysteries, the Apostles' Creed, several accompanying prayers and  'Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee...' repeated 53 times.  A Catholic priest sat nearby, silently saying the devotion along with Beuke. After Beuke finished, Morgan gave a signal and the killing chemical, thiopental sodium, began flowing into Beuke's veins.

At 10:53 a.m., nine minutes after his final 'Amen,' Beuke was dead.

Beuke's 'last words' were by far the longest uttered by any of the 38 killers executed since Ohio resumed capital punishment in February 1999. The previous longest final statement was nine minutes, by Vernon Smith on Jan. 7.  Prison officials said they had no inclination to stop Beuke. However, Greg Trout, staff attorney for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said he will check state law for guidance on how to deal with such situations in the future. Prison execution procedures say, 'There will be no restriction on the content of the condemned prisoner's statement and no unreasonable restriction on the duration of the prisoner's last statement.'

Beuke, 48, of Hamilton County, was executed for the June 1, 1983, abduction and slaying of Robert Craig, 27, who had picked up the hitchhiker while on I-275.  Susan Craig, the victim's widow, watched the execution from an observation room, separated by glass but less than 20 feet from Beuke.

'It was long,' she said later. 'But this was his last couple of minutes on Earth.'

Dawn Wahoff, daughter of Wayne Wahoff, who was paralyzed after Beuke shot him in the face and back, also was a witness, along with her brother, Paul.

'You're stalling,' Dawn Wahoff said she thought when Beuke launched into his prayers.

In addition to Craig and Wahoff, Beuke shot and wounded Bruce Graham, 34, of West Harrison, Ind., after Graham picked him up hitchhiking in June 1983.  Beuke's attorney, Dale Baich, a federal public defender from Arizona, filed numerous unsuccessful appeals in the past week.

'The man who was executed today was not the same person who committed those crimes 27 years ago,' Baich said. 'His time in prison was a story of remorse and redemption.'

Officials said Beuke was emotional from the time he arrived Wednesday morning. Prison logs show he cried frequently, took communion, participated in a cell-front Mass and played a keyboard he was allowed to bring with him from the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown.He was the fifth Ohioan executed in five months this year and the 38th since capital punishment resumed in 1999."
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"He's stalling." 

Imagine having that thought.  Is it that sort of lack of empathy that governed Michael Beuke's thinking at some point in his life pathetic life?

A Really Bad County Commissioner

Since this video report, Stephen Nodine was indicted for the murder of Angel Downs, a Mobile Alabama-area realtor;  and,  a Mobile County Grand Jury "impeached" commissioner Nodine according to AI.Online.  Alabama law is very interesting, if you watch he video you'll see that County Commissioners can not only be issued vehicles for their use, but County officials are issued guns!  It'll be remarkable if Angel Downs proves to have been slain by a county-issued firearm.  Of course, in Alabama, killing your girlfriend with a county-issued handgunn is probably some sort of protected right under the state consitution. 

Nodine who carried on an extramarital affair with Angel Downs was seen partying with her at a local beach on the day of her homicide.  The Commissioner's county issued "pick up" was seen speeding away from the scene or Angel Down's fatal shooting.  Marijuana was seized from the county-owned truck;  and,  after the shooting Nodine hospitalized himself. 

In March, Nodine, a Republican  accused the democratic District Attorney of "hurting crime fighting" becuase of efforts by the District Attorney to crack down on illegal gambling.

One of the more interesting aspects to this story is that the "impeachment" proceeding appears to be embedded in the indictment procedure before the County Grand Jury.  

Oh well, I guess, Stephen Nodine had some unresolved issues.  They appear to be resolved. 

Uh, Boss, That $40 Reimbursement Check from the Firm Bounced . . .

Joan Sanchez, a long time office manager for the Chicago business law firm of Kelly, Olson,
Michod, DeHaan & Richtere went on vacation to Hawaii when an attorney in the firm sought to cash a $40 reimbursement check for expenses, bummer insufficient funds.  Turns out, Joan, the office manager had embezzled nearly a million dollars from the firm over a number of years according to a report at the Chicago Sun Times (with a tip of the Borsalino to the ABAJournal website).  Joan returned from Hawaii and is now decompressing in the Cook County jail. 

This story is so common, and not unique to law firms; although lawyers risk ethical violations for these acts.  In the Bad Lawyer's situation, I was so out of touch with my checking accounts, my "office manager" had pegged payment of her utility, furniture rental, and Home Depot accounts to my IOLTA (trust account.)  Talk about willful blindness!  Mine. 

Business law firms tend not to get disciplinary attention when these sorts of malfactoring support staff steal from the law firm.  It's one of the double standards, like when legendary clergy sex abuse attorney Jeff Anderson gets bashed in the the Wall Street Journal for earning lots of money as a result of suing pedophiles and perpetrators in the Church; while, Big Law firms are celebrated for their million dollar plus partner profits and their posh law office digs almost always featured at their websites, check the link for Kelly, Olson!

Bangin' the Mayor, that'll Get You Supsended

The lovely woman to the left is the Mayor of Milford, Ohio a town somewhere near the Queen City.  The Cincinnati Enquirier is reporting on the Milford police officer who drew a 15 day suspension for providing services to the Mayor while on duty.  This is from Jennifer Baker's report:

"Milford Police Chief Mark Machan said Mayor Amy Brewer told him during an internal police investigation that she met more than once with Milford Police Officer Russell Kenney while the officer was working nights between November and mid-January.

The police department used GPS software to confirm Kenney’s marked police cruiser was parked outside Brewer’s condominium after the agency received a tip and began investigating, the chief said.  The department indicated Kenney’s car was at Brewer’s condo on six different dates and was parked there for periods ranging from 48 minutes to 1 hour and 53 minutes.  The cruiser’s presence raised suspicions, he said, because the mayor’s neighborhood is not one that typically generates police calls.  Among other evidence gathered during the probe, the chief said, is a cruiser camera recording of Kenney having a sexually explicit conversation with a woman named 'Amy.'

Initially, Brewer denied having sexual encounters with Kenney, according to the chief’s investigative report. Once he told her the agency had taken the tape from Kenney’s cruiser cam, the mayor 'became visibly shaken,' the chief wrote. The mayor was 'very apologetic' during the interview and 'very ashamed of her actions,' the chief wrote.’’
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The one issue making this story noteworthy is that the Officer Kenney was supposed to be patrolling Milford, and not Mayor Brewer's bed linens.  The sex part--have at it.  Likewise, the streets department will plow the snow after a snow storm, there would probably be a similar objection if it were discovered that one of the drivers was plowing the Mayor...'s driveway.

Correction:  the Original post had the wrong photo for Mayor Brewer, my apologies.

Gotta Love Those Tomatoes!

One of Bad Lawyer's favorite bad boys is Frederick Scott Sayler, the now incarcerated former Tomato King, or as the SacBee calls him, the Tomato Titan is in the news again today.  According to an article at the SacBee.com, Sayler's continuing adaptation to life behind bars continues to be stressful.  As you will recall from an earlier report, here, on Bad Lawyer federal  prosecutors allege Sayler was unloading adulterated tomatoes on the processed tomato foods industry.  Sayler was the CEO of SK Foods a multi-national food producer.  At the time of his arrest, Sayler had just stepped off a plane at JFK airport in New York after returning from overseas in what prosecutors suspect was a mission to establish a life on the lam.

Recently from his jail cell Sayler was recorded crying over the phone to his daughter about the quality of the jail food and his ex-wife's refusal to pony up the millions of dollars he would need to meet the astronomical bond the federal judge has imposed in an effort to guarantee Sayler's appearance in US District Court when his case goes forward.

Today, the SacBee tells us that jail officials confiscated certain items Sayler apparently arranged to have sent to him by a girlfriend labeled "attorney-client" privileged communications including what every well-manicured CEO needs in jail, an emery board.  But also a nude photo of the girlfriend depicted in the photograph seductively holding two tomatoes out in front of her.  Gotta love Frederick Scott Sayler!

Sleazy Profiteers

The ABAJournal is reporting on the efforts of the Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce to defeat the nomination of a lawyer to the US District Court because he is a "sleazy profiteer," (pic), in other words he was a "tort lawyer."

The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering the nomination of Motley Rice lawyer, John “Jack” McConnell Jr. for a US District Court appointment in Rhode Island. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal "Reform" is urging a no vote.  Opponents claim McConnell’s losing argument in public nuisance suits seeking to hold lead paint manufacturers liable for lead poisoning caused by their products should disqualify him for a judgeship! The Institute for Legal Reform refers to McConnell’s “controversial legal theories” and questions whether he can be fair to business defendants. The Moonie-owned Washington Times denounces McConnell as “one of those sleazy profiteers” who “chase big bucks” in civil actions.

I'm always amazed that this sort of crap is given any gravitas by business people and politicians.  The civil law exists for businesses and if anybody is making the big bucks its their lawyers at BigLaw where a recent report indicates that the average profit per partner at BigLaw firms was $1million dollars annually.  But let me say it again, civil and tort law exists for the BENEFIT of business and capitalism.  If tort law did not exist, these businesses would descend into anarchy, chaos and destruction the moment they blow, let's say an oil platform off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.  Tort law is the rule of law, or put another way the orderly and predictable way to shift the burden of loss. 

People who call other people "sleazy profiteers," typically are sleazy profiteers--in my experience.

Beckerman Goes To Jail

The Hartford Courant has the report of the elderly arsonist off to jail for 10 years for torching the family dwelling for the insurance.  Apparently, Mr. Beckerman, a vain man, who wore a toupee and dyed his hair and facial hair black, had a penchant for burning down his various homesteads.  A suspicious fire in the 1973 claimed a previous house.

Beckerman was a West Hartford businessman, and his story is one of financial mess, upon financial mess and the arson fire was a last gambit to avoid further disgrace.  The Judge was not moved by family pleas for mercy.  Judge Thomas V. O'Keefe who convicted Beckerman on overwhelming evidence of arson, said he took no pleasure in sending an elderly man to prison for what could turn out to be a "life sentence," but that the crime was so dangerous particularly as it related to the firefighters who responded to the blaze that he felt that he needed to send a message with his sentencing decision to deter financial planning through arson fires. 

There was an area of OurTown in the Heights near the Universities that had a succession of businesses in one specific corner of a retail street that seemed to go boom, bust, fire, boom, bust, and fire.  Arson is a hard crime to prove because it usually depends on circumstantial evidence.  In Beckerman's case there was a lawnmower with a hand-fashioned wick sticking out of the gas tank and paper with accelerants wound through out the house and in and over furniture.  There was a $300,000 lien against the residence at the time of the fire. 

I like this story because Beckerman is an interesting figure.  If you have a moment, click on the link to the Hartford Courant coverage of the arson trial with the various pictures of Beckerman.  I'll leave it to my Jewish friends to supply the appropriate appellation from Yiddish for who Beckerman is. . .?