Florida Prosecutors have asked a judge to tighten conditions or revoke bond for Marissa Alexander, who faces a second trial for firing a gun to scare off her allegedly abusive husband.
The Jacksonville woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison despite arguing before trial that her actions were justifiable under Florida's controversial "stand your ground" self-defense law.
She was released on $150,000 bond in November after an appellate court struck down her 2012 conviction.
In court papers filed Monday, prosecutors argued that Alexander "repeatedly flouted" the limits of her bond by running errands, taking shopping trips and taking relatives to the airport. Under the terms of her release, Alexander was only allowed to leave her home for medical emergencies, court appearances and other pretrial functions, they argued.
In a scathing response, Alexander's lawyers wrote Tuesday that each trip had been approved by the sheriff's official supervising her release. "Obviously, including those omitted facts would expose the frivolity of the state's motion," they wrote.
Alexander's case had drawn the attention of civil rights leaders, who say nobody was hurt and the sentence for the mother of three was too harsh.
Alexander said she was attempting to flee her husband on August 1, 2010, when she picked up a handgun and fired a shot into a wall. She said her husband had read cell phone text messages that she had written to her ex-husband, got angry and tried to strangle her.
State Attorney Angela Corey had said the case deserved to be prosecuted because Alexander fired in the direction of a room where children were standing.
Corey had said she offered Alexander a plea bargain that would have resulted in a three-year prison sentence -- but Alexander chose to take her chances at trial, where a conviction would bring an enhanced sentence for the use of a firearm.
Today a Florida Judge set George Zimmerman's Bail at $1 Million Dollars because he said it appeared that Zimmerman was trying to Flee the United States to Avoid being Prosecuted for Murdering Trayvon Martin in Cold-Blood!
A Florida judge on Thursday set a $1 million bond with new restrictions on George Zimmerman, saying he believes the suspect may have been planning to flee the country to avoid prosecution in the killing of Trayvon Martin.
Judge Kenneth R. Lester Jr. found that Zimmerman's deceit over cash holdings at his first bond hearing in April was not enough to hold him without bail.
"This court has, thus far, declined to exercise its contempt powers and the state failed to prove that the defendant may be held without bond," the order said.
Zimmerman will have to post 10% of the $1 million -- or $100,000 -- to meet the requirement for bail.
But an even bigger challenge is finding a bail bond company that will work with the family on the requirement of $1 million in collateral, defense attorney Mark O'Mara said later Thursday.
The family does "not have anywhere near" the collateral amount, according to the attorney.
"We are encouraged we can work this out," O'Mara said in a statement.
Donations to Zimmerman's legal defense fund have dropped significantly while Zimmerman has been jailed, O'Mara said.
"Supporters have told us they were concerned that the court would set such a high bond that getting George out of jail could risk wiping out the entire defense account. It appears that they were right.
However, George needs an aggressive defense and to help with that he also needs to be out of jail with his wife and family assisting his legal team."
The fund has a $211,000 balance, but has $40,000 in payables for defense expenses.
"Paying bond and scheduled expenses would effectively wipe out the existing balance," O'Mara said.
O'Mara argued that Zimmerman should not be jailed because the state's case is weak and his claim of self-defense is strong.
The original bail of $150,000 was revoked last month after Lester learned Zimmerman and his wife, Shellie, had failed to disclose more than $150,000 in donations from the public.
The judge's order Thursday said that the new $1 million bond was not a punishment but an amount that assured the court that Zimmerman would not abscond.
Zimmerman has the money to pay for his release, the court said.
In his ruling, Lester wrote about the first bond hearing and noted an undisclosed second passport kept in Zimmerman's safe deposit box.
"Notably, together with the passport, the money only had to be hidden for a short time for him to leave the country if the defendant made a quick decision to flee," the judge said.
"It is entirely reasonable for this court to find that, but for the requirement that he be placed on electronic monitoring, the defendant and his wife would have fled the United States with at least $130,000 of other people's money." Lester wrote the defendant's plans to flee were "thwarted."
Zimmerman, 28, is charged with second-degree murder in Martin's February 26 shooting death. Under Florida law, second-degree murder is a bondable offense.
Prosecutors had asked for bond to be denied or, if not, for it to be set at $1 million.
Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump said the parents preferred that Zimmerman remain in jail, but "they respect the ruling of the court and the strong message that the judge sent that deference to judicial integrity is paramount to all court proceedings."
"Furthermore, they understand that this is not a sprint to justice, but a long journey to justice that they must bear for their son Trayvon," Crump said.
The order said the evidence shows that Zimmerman and his wife acted together to conceal their cash holdings during the original bond hearing.
"Under any definition, the defendant has (flouted) the system," the order said. "The defendant has tried to manipulate the system when he has been presented the opportunity to do so."
Lester imposed new restrictions on Zimmerman that he did not face when he was out on bond the first time.
Zimmerman must report to officials every two days, cannot open or maintain a bank account and cannot be on the property of an airport.
He also cannot apply for or obtain a passport.
Zimmerman must abide by a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., and like before, will be monitored electronically.
Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda argued before the judge last week that Zimmerman should remain in jail without bail because he was complicit in lying to the court and can't be trusted.
Forensic accountant Adam Magill testified that thousands of dollars in donated funds flowed into and out of Zimmerman's bank account in the days before the first bail hearing.
Magill said it appeared Zimmerman and his wife were speaking in code during recorded jailhouse telephone conversations about the amount of money involved.
He also said that transferring funds between accounts could have been done to make it appear that Zimmerman had less money available for bail than he did.
De la Rionda reiterated that prosecutors believe Martin, a 17-year-old African-American, was an innocent victim who was confronted by Zimmerman without provocation.
Zimmerman, a Sanford neighborhood watch volunteer, acknowledged fatally shooting the unarmed Martin after calling police to report a suspicious person. Zimmerman, who is white and Hispanic, said Martin attacked him.
Marissa Alexandar has been sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for firing a gun at the Ceiling to scare off her Abusive Husband. Where was Florida State Prosecutor Angela Corey for Marissa?
Saying he had no discretion under state law, a judge sentenced a Jacksonville, Florida, woman to 20 years in prison Friday for firing a warning shot in an effort to scare off her abusive husband.
Marissa Alexander unsuccessfully tried to use Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law to derail the prosecution, but a jury in March convicted her of aggravated assault after just 12 minutes of deliberation.
The case, which was prosecuted by the same state attorney who is handling the Trayvon Martin case, has gained the attention of civil rights leaders who say the African-American woman was persecuted because of her race.
After the sentencing, Rep. Corrine Brown confronted State Attorney Angela Corey in the hallway, accusing her of being overzealous, according to video from CNN affiliate WJXT.
"There is no justification for 20 years," Brown told Corey during an exchange frequently interrupted by onlookers. "All the community was asking for was mercy and justice," she said.
Corey said she had offered Alexander a plea bargain that would have resulted in a three-year prison sentence, but Alexander chose to take the case to a jury trial, where a conviction would carry a mandatory sentence under a Florida law known as "10-20-life."
The law mandates increased penalties for some felonies, including aggravated assault, in which a gun is carried or used.
Corey said the case deserved to be prosecuted because Alexander fired in the direction of a room where two children were standing.
Alexander said she was attempting to flee her husband, Rico Gray, on August 1, 2010, when she picked up a handgun and fired a shot into a wall.
She said her husband had read cell phone text messages that she had written to her ex-husband, got angry and tried to strangle her.
She said she escaped and ran to the garage, intending to drive away. But, she said, she forgot her keys, so she picked up her gun and went back into the house. She said her husband threatened to kill her, so she fired one shot.
"I believe when he threatened to kill me, that's what he was absolutely going to do," she said. "That's what he intended to do. Had I not discharged my weapon at that point, I would not be here."
Alexander's attorneys tried to use the state law that allows people to use potentially deadly force anywhere they feel reasonably threatened with serious harm or death.
But a previous judge in the case rejected the request, saying Alexander's decision to go back into the house was not consistent with someone in fear for her safety, according to the Florida Times Union newspaper.
A jury convicted Alexander in March and Judge James Daniel denied her request for a new trial in April.
Daniel handed down the sentence Friday after an emotional sentencing hearing during which Alexander's parents, 11-year-old daughter and pastor spoke on her behalf.
Several people had to be escorted from the courtroom after breaking out singing and chanting about a perceived lack of justice in the case, but Daniel made a point to say that he had no choice under state law.
"Under the state's 10-20-life law, a conviction for aggravated assault where a firearm has been discharged carries a minimum and maximum sentence of 20 years without regarding to any extenuating or mitigating circumstances that may be present, such as those in this case," Daniel said.
Brown, the Jacksonville congresswoman, told reporters after the sentencing that the case was a product of "institutional racism."
"She was overcharged by the prosecutor. Period," Brown said. "She never should have been charged."
Brown has been more complimentary about Corey's work in the Trayvon Martin case, where her office filed second degree murder charges against neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the February 26 death of the unarmed African-American teen-ager.
That case provoked nationwide protests demanding Zimmerman's arrest after an initial police investigation released him under the "stand your ground" law.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! President Obama thinks the American BLACK Community will eventually quiet down about Trayvon Martin's Death, like we did soon after Troy Davis' Wrongful Execution. WRONG! This time its different because Trayvon was a Child. An Innocent BLACK Child! Even Most White People Admit This Was Murder As A Result Of Racism. WE ARE TIRED MR. PRESIDENT! We Need Your Help, Your Support & Your Voice as a BLACK Man to Stand with Us! This time its different! We Want All Those RACIST “Stand Your Ground” Laws Repealed. We Want The Unnecessary Racial Profiling To Stop! We Won't Shut Up! We Won't Forget! We Won’t Stop Rising Up Until We Can Live Free In This Country Just Like All Other Ethnic Groups! We Want Respect! We Won’t Shut Up! We Won’t Forget!
WE ARE TIRED! WE WANT OUR LIBERTY & WE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE! What the Devil meant for Evil, God is using to bring Positive Change for the American BLACK Community! In 2011 Troy Davis' WRONGFUL Death sparked International Outrage about Racism & the Death Penalty. In 2012 Trayvon Martin's WRONGFUL Death sparked International Outrage about Racism, Police Misconduct & Racial Profiling! We are Tired of Our Young Men Dying like Animals for NO REASON when we should already be FREE! Here we are living in the 21st Century & still being treated as if we are living in the 18th Century. We Can't Even Walk Down The Street Or In Wal-Mart Without Being Followed Or Chased Like Animals. And Our Slack, Scared BLACK "Leaders" have allowed us to be Mistreated this way for Decades to preserve their own Comfortable lives. Well Guess What??? Its Over! WE ARE TIRED! WE WANT OUR LIBERTY! WE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE! WE ARE FREE HUMAN BEINGS MADE IN GOD'S IMAGE! NOT SLAVES! NOT ANIMALS! WE DON'T WANT CRUMBS! WE DON'T WANT WELFARE CHECKS & FOOD STAMPS! WE WANT EQUAL & FAIR OPPORTUNITIES! WE WANT RESPECT! WE WANT TO OWN BUSINESSES & PROVIDE ABUNDANTLY FOR OUR FAMILIES. WE ARE TIRED! WE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE! NO MORE OF OUR CHILDREN & YOUTH WILL DIE OR BE WRONGFULLY IMPRISONED BASED ON RACE. NO MORE! Trayvon Martin's & Troy Davis' Deaths Will NOT Be In Vain!!!
Florida Governor Rick Scott officially entered the Trayvon Martin murder investigation Thursday evening when he appointed Angela Corey as the newly assigned state attorney for the case and created a task force on citizen safety and protection.
Scott, and attorney general Pam Bondi, both talked with state attorney Norman Wolfinger Thursday and after the conversation Wolfinger decided to step down from the Martin investigation.
“This request is being made in light of the public good with the intent of toning down the rhetoric and preserving the integrity of the investigation,” Wolfinger wrote in his letter to the governor.
At the same time, Governor Scott also announced the formation of a task force while convene following the conclusion of the investigation by State Attorney Corey.
“As law enforcement investigates the death of Trayvon Martin, Floridians and others around the country have rightly recognized this as a terrible tragedy. Like all Floridians, I believe we must take steps to ensure tragedies like this are avoided.
After listening to many concerned citizens in recent days, I will call for a Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection to investigate how to make sure a tragedy such as this does not occur in the future, while at the same time, protecting the fundamental rights of all of our citizens – especially the right to feel protected and safe in our state,” Scott said in a statement.
Scott and other members of the GOP and the NRA have come under fire for Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law which George Zimmerman, the shooter of Trayvon Martin, is using as his defense.
Zimmerman claimed under the law, passed in 2005, that he was acting in self-defense when he shot Martin, 17. Zimmerman made the claim despite getting out of his truck and pursuing Martin after 911 dispatchers told him not to do so.
Scott’s task force will review the law and any other laws, rules, regulations or programs that relate to public safety and citizen protection, the governor’s office said Thursday.
The task force will be led by Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll and the Reverend R.B. Holmes, Jr. Legislative leaders and Bondi will recommend other members to join the task force.
The Congressional Black Caucus wants the Justice Department to investigate the shooting death of a 17-year-old, unarmed black Florida high school student as a potential hate crime.
“This case compromises the integrity of our legal system and sets a horrific precedent of vigilante justice,” Congressional Black Caucus Chair Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) said in a statement. “Members of the Congressional Black Caucus stand together in the name of justice for Trayvon. As a nation we cannot, should not, and will not ignore, Trayvon’s brutal murder and the inconceivable fact that his killer remains free. Contrary to the flippant way this case has been handled, his life had meaning and purpose. Trayvon had a family, friends and a future all taken away because of the color of his skin.”
George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain and criminal justice student in Sanford, Fla,. shot Trayvon Martin on February 26 as he was walking home from a neighborhood 7-11 to his father’s house. Before the shooting Zimmerman told a police dispatcher there was “a real suspicious guy” who looked “like he was up to no good or on drugs or something” in his neighborhood. He told the dispatcher Martin had “something in his waistband.” At the time, Martin was carrying Skittles and an iced tea he had just purchased. Against the dispatcher’s advice, Zimmerman pursued Martin on foot, and eventually shot him.
Zimmerman, who has not been charged with a crime, told police he was acting in self-defense after Martin started to fight him. The case has drawn national outrage, driven by an apparent history of racial bias by local police. A change.org petition asking for Zimmerman’s prosecution has drawn more than 420,000 signatures and an attorney for the Martin family has asked for an FBI investigation.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Trayvon Martin' s family. But obviously we're not going to wade into a local law-enforcement matter,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said when he was asked about Martin’s death at today’s briefing.
The sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is now over. The judge has granted the prosecutors' motion to dismiss the case against the former head of the International Monetary Fund. But for all the complex legal machinations, one simple question remains unanswered: What happened between Strauss-Kahn and Nafissatou Diallo, the housekeeper at the Sofitel in New York, on May 14?
The answer -- or nonanswer -- explains something about our legal system. Cyrus Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, moved to dismiss the case against Stauss-Kahn because his staff came to believe that Diallo could not be trusted as a witness.
"The nature and number of the complainant's falsehoods leave us unable to credit her version of events beyond a reasonable doubt, whatever the truth may be about the encounter between the complainant and the defendant," the prosecutors wrote in a 25-page brief filed Monday. "If we do not believe her beyond a reasonable doubt, we cannot ask a jury to do so."
Notice the key phrase, "whatever the truth may be." Like any prosecutor, Vance is concerned above all with what he can prove, not "the truth." As the prosecutors detailed in their brief, Diallo's credibility problems were extraordinary. In their account, she lied about the chronology of events with Strauss-Kahn, about her background, about her finances, about her associates and much else besides.
The prosecutors do not say that she lied about what happened in the hotel room with Strauss-Kahn. Their judgment is narrower; because of her lies about other subjects, a jury would never believe her account of the events in question.
If Diallo had taken the stand at a trial, she would have been subject to ferocious cross-examination by Benjamin Brafman, who is one of the best lawyers in the business. But what would Brafman have been trying to do? He would have tried to persuade the jury that Diallo was not worthy of belief, and based on the prosecutors' submission, he would have had a great deal of ammunition to make that case.
But Brafman's task, by design, would have been destructive, not constructive. His only duty would have been to tear down the story that Diallo told, not to build a credible one of his own. That's what the burden of proof means. Prosecutors have to prove their case; the defense need only poke holes, not present an alternative.
The prosecutors' account of the actions of Strauss-Kahn are similarly narrow. The picture they paint of him is an ugly one. Within minutes of Diallo's arrival in his hotel room, she was spitting out his semen in the hotel hallway. But the prosecutors say that, at this point, they cannot prove that Strauss-Kahn assaulted Diallo. At a minimum, it seems, Strauss-Kahn behaved like a cad and a creep, but that is a moral, not legal, judgment.
In sum, then, none of the parties in the case are principally concerned with determining the "truth" of what went on in that room. (Journalism, in its imperfect way, is concerned with determining truth.) The prosecution and defense are concerned only with what they can prove, or disprove, in a courtroom. That's not a criticism, just a reflection of how our system works. So what happened in that hotel room? Chances are, we'll never know.
A judge formally ordered the dismissal of all criminal charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Tuesday, but he said his order would be stayed until an appellate court decides whether a special prosecutor should be appointed.
Prosecutors in the office of Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, told Justice Michael J. Obus of State Supreme Court in Manhattan that they could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt because of serious credibility issues with the hotel housekeeper who had accused Mr. Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her as she entered his suite to clean it.
The dismissal brought some semblance of vindication to Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 62, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, after his stunning arrest more than three months ago. He was taken into custody aboard an Air France jet at Kennedy International Airport and then paraded before news cameras, looking disheveled and in handcuffs.
For his accuser, Nafissatou Diallo, a 33-year-old Guinean immigrant, the result caps a precipitous fall. Prosecutors initially portrayed her as a credible and powerful witness, only to say that her myriad lies about her past — which included a convincing, emotional but ultimately fraudulent account of being gang raped by soldiers in Guinea — ended up undermining the case.
Ms. Diallo, who has made her identity public, still has a civil lawsuit pending against Mr. Strauss-Kahn for unspecified monetary damages, and her lawyer, Kenneth P. Thompson, has been relentless in his assertion that Mr. Strauss-Kahn sexually assaulted his client and that Mr. Vance’s office abandoned the case too soon.
Mr. Thompson made one last desperate attempt to keep the criminal case going, filing a motion on Monday asking that Mr. Vance’s office be disqualified. But about an hour before Tuesday’s hearing started, a court clerk handed out a one-page decision in which Justice Obus denied Mr. Thompson’s motion. However, Mr. Thompson has appealed the decision, which led to Justice Obus’s staying the dismissal.
After the hearing, Mr. Strauss-Kahn issued a statement, characterizing the past two and a half months as “a nightmare for me and my family,” and thanking the judge, his wife and family and other supporters.
He added that he was “obviously gratified that the district attorney agreed with my lawyers that this case had to be dismissed.”
“We appreciate his professionalism and that of the people who were involved in that decision,” he continued. Mr. Strauss-Kahn added that he looked forward to “returning to our home and resuming something of a more normal life.”
The case has attracted international attention ever since the arrest of Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a leading figure in the Socialist Party who was considered a top candidate for the French presidency; each appearance in court has drawn a carnival-like atmosphere outside, with journalists and camera crews mixing with protesters. The scene on Tuesday was no exception: Well before Mr. Strauss-Kahn arrived at 11:03 a.m., about three dozen protesters gathered. The bulk of the sentiments were decidedly against Mr. Strauss-Kahn.
There were chants (“D.S.K., shame on you,” and “Whatever we wear, wherever we go, yes means yes, no means no”). There were placards (“All rape victims deserve a fair trial,” “Stop victim blaming of rape victims” and one with an illustration of a police officer admonishing a top-hatted plutocrat and the slogan “Go to jail”).
And there were a few speeches in which people condemned Mr. Strauss-Kahn as a serial sexual abuser and criticized Mr. Vance for ending the case against him.
The judge in the Casey Anthony murder trial handed the case to the jury on Monday and members left the courtroom to begin deliberations.
The jury of seven women and five men will consider whether Anthony is guilty of first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. If convicted of that charge, the 25-year-old could get the death penalty or life in prison.
Prosecutors in their rebuttal closing argument earlier Monday said the defense's assertion that Caylee's death was an "accident that snowballed out of control" makes no sense.
Anthony's attorneys say the girl drowned in the family's pool. They have said Anthony panicked and that her father, a former police officer, decided to make the death look like a homicide by placing duct tape over the child's mouth and dumping the body in some nearby woods. George Anthony has denied that.
Prosecutor Jeff Ashton told the jurors that no one makes an innocent accident look like a murder.
"People don't make accidents look like murder, that's absurd," said Ashton, repeating a phrase he had previously uttered in the trial. "Nothing has been presented to you to make that any less absurd."
He also spent significant time reminding the jurors about the forensic evidence that he says links Anthony to her daughter's death, including the smell and chemical signature of decomposition in her car.
Ashton spoke for more than an hour before thanking the jury for their "sacrifices."
Anthony is charged with first-degree murder and six other charges. The seven women and five men of the jury were chosen from the Tampa Bay area because of pretrial media coverage of the case and have been sequestered in an Orlando hotel.
The state contends Anthony was a party girl who killed Caylee because the toddler got in the way of her love life.
"What do guilty people do?"
Lead prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick followed Ashton, telling the jurors that prosecutors presented every piece of evidence they promised during opening statements back in May. Without saying it, she was pointing out to them that defense attorneys never presented direct evidence backing up their contentions that the child drowned and the death was made to look like a murder.
She then hammered on the lies Casey Anthony told during the 31 days between when her daughter was last seen on June 16, 2008, and before the police were notified a month later. Those include telling her parents that she couldn't produce Caylee because she was with a nanny named Zanny, a woman who doesn't exist; that she and her daughter were spending time in Jacksonville with a rich boyfriend who doesn't exist; and that Zanny had been hospitalized after an out-of-town traffic accident and that they were spending time with her.
"Responses to grief are as varied as the day is long, but responses to guilt are oh, so predictable," Drane Burdick said. "What do guilty people do? They lie. They avoid. They run. They mislead, not just to their family, but the police. They divert attention away from themselves and they act like nothing is wrong. That's why you heard about what happened those 31 days."
Anthony sat stone faced during much of the prosecutors' arguments, but occasionally shook her head in disagreement and spoke under her breath.
Anthony is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and four counts of providing false information to law enforcement. The child abuse and manslaughter charges each carry a 30-year prison term if she's convicted. She has pleaded not guilty.
Defense attorneys contend that after Caylee drowned, her troubled mother's lies and erratic behavior were brought on by her grief over her dead child and the sexual abuse she suffered as a child from her father. George Anthony denies that allegation, and Judge Belvin Perry said no evidence has been presented to support it.
'Fantasy' evidence?
Defense attorney Jose Baez said during his closing argument Sunday that the prosecutors' case was so weak they tried to portray Anthony as "a lying, no-good slut" and that their forensic evidence was based on a "fantasy." He said Caylee's death was "an accident that snowballed out of control."
Baez began his closing argument Sunday with his biggest question: How did Caylee die? Neither prosecutors nor the defense have offered firm proof.
He attacked the prosecution's forensic evidence. He said air analysis of the trunk of Anthony's car, which allegedly showed air molecules consistent with decomposition, could not be duplicated. No one could prove a stain found in the trunk was caused by Caylee's body decomposing there. And witnesses showed maggots found in the trunk came from a bag of trash that was found there, he said.
"They throw enough against the wall and see what sticks. That is what they're doing ... right down to the cause of death," Baez said. He conceded his client had told elaborate lies and invented imaginary friends and even a fake father for Caylee, but he said that doesn't mean she killed her daughter.
Baez also attacked George Anthony as unreliable. He said a suicide note that George Anthony wrote in January 2009 that claimed no knowledge of what happened to Caylee was self-serving and the attempt was a fraud. He said George Anthony claimed he was going to kill himself with a six-pack of beer and some high-blood pressure medicine.
Two months after un unsuccessful bid for Charlotte mayor, Republican John Lassiter is considering a race for Mecklenburg County district attorney.
“There are people who are encouraging me to look at that race,” Lassiter said today. “I initially dismissed that idea. But I've told folks I'd take a little bit of time to look at it.”
Democratic D.A. Peter Gilchrist is retiring this fall after 36 years on the job.
Republican attorney Andrew Murray has already announced that he'll run. Democrat Michael Barnes, a member of the Charlotte City Council, also is expected to run.
“There are significant needs in the criminal justice system and one of the pivotal players in that is the role of the prosecutor and the district attorney's office,” Lassiter said.
He said the job requires somebody with managerial skills and who “understands intergovernmental relations.”
“It's going to require somebody who has some vision to make sure we do the kind of things to make sure this system works effectively,” he said.
Nearly seven months after Michael Jackson's death stunned the world, the official investigation of his death is edging toward conclusion with prosecutors prepared to seek an indictment of Jackson's doctor on a charge of involuntary manslaughter, The Associated Press has learned.
The fate of Dr. Conrad Murray has been the subject of speculation since he found Jackson unconscious in his home in Los Angeles last June. Jackson was preparing for a strenuous concert comeback in London, and Murray, a cardiologist, had been hired as his personal physician for the tour.
A law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation remains open said Friday that Murray would be prosecuted on a theory of gross negligence alleging that his treatment of Jackson was an extreme departure from the standard of care normally followed by physicians.
Court documents filed last summer concerning a search warrant said police were seeking evidence of manslaughter.
The coroner has ruled Jackson's death at age 50 was a homicide caused by acute intoxication by the powerful anesthetic propofol, with other sedatives a contributing factor.
Propofol depresses breathing and heart rate while lowering blood pressure, so it's supposed to be administered by an anesthesia professional in a medical setting.
The singer died after Murray administered propofol and two other sedatives to get the chronic insomniac to sleep, court documents state. Murray told police he left the room to use the bathroom, and phone records show he also made calls for 47 minutes around the time Jackson encountered problems.
When Murray realized Jackson was unresponsive, he began frantic efforts to revive him, but Jackson never regained consciousness.
The coroner found the propofol was administered to Jackson without any medical need and that recommended resuscitation equipment was missing.
As the police investigation neared an end, criminal attorney J. Michael Flanagan said Friday he had been hired to join Houston attorney Edward Chernoff in representing Murray.
In addition, Chernoff released a statement saying he had not received notice that a grand jury was hearing the case or inviting Murray to testify.
Chernoff spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik said earlier that Murray neither prescribed nor administered anything that should have killed Jackson.
Flanagan previously worked in the media spotlight representing Britney Spears in a hit-and-run case. He said he tried a propofol case several years ago, representing a nurse who was acquitted after it was shown she played no role in administering propofol to a patient who died.
Flanagan said there was a difference between a nurse's role and "a very sophisticated doctor making a medical judgment."
To prove gross negligence, he said, prosecutors would have to show a conscious indifference for life.
"This trial could end up being a trial of medical practice," he said. "The question is what discretion does a doctor have to treat a patient, and if a doctor makes a mistake, is it a crime?"
Jackson family spokesman Jesse Derris said he had no immediate comment from the family.
A final legal action could be weeks away, after the case is formally transferred to the district attorney's office by the Los Angeles Police Department. In a grand jury proceeding, testimony is presented in secret hearings and the panel has the final decision on whether to bring charges.
An involuntary manslaughter conviction carries a potential sentence of two to four years in prison.
The district attorney's office is waiting for Los Angeles police to turn over the case before presenting it to a grand jury, the source said.
However, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office denied that any decisions have been made.
"We have been working closely with the Los Angeles police during the pendency of this investigation," spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said. "There is no case before us at present, and no final decision has been made."
To prove a charge of involuntary manslaughter, authorities must show there was a reckless action that created a risk of death or great bodily injury. If a doctor is aware of the risk, there might also be an issue of whether the patient knows that risk and decided to take it.
A large number of witnesses have been interviewed by police, including those who were present during Jackson's last days and those who worked with him in preparation for his comeback concert, "This Is It."
Authorities have also lined up medical expert witnesses to testify about the normal standard of care in a situation such as Jackson's and to give opinions on why Murray's actions constituted gross negligence, the source said.
Murray's professional history is expected to be explored during a trial with an emphasis on whether he had the required expertise in administering propofol.
The timing of an indictment would be dictated by two factors – how long it takes for the district attorney's office to conduct an internal review of the evidence and when the grand jury will be available to hear the case.
The person said it was thought that it would be more efficient to go to a grand jury than to charge Murray and proceed by way of a preliminary hearing. A presentation to the grand jury could take three to five days.
An indictment also avoids the adversarial process of a preliminary hearing in which the defense can respond and a judge decides if there is enough evidence for charges to proceed to trial.
A third woman is accusing police officer Marcus Jackson of sexually assaulting her during a bogus traffic stop, and police admitted Tuesday they botched a background check that should have prevented Jackson from becoming an officer.
Also on Tuesday, a 17-year-old girl and a witness in the assaults reported last week described two separate encounters with Jackson, who was fired last week and is now in jail.
The teen told the Observer that Jackson ordered her into his patrol car during a traffic stop, drove her to another location and sexually assaulted her.
"I was terrified...," she said. "I was thinking about ways to get out, but the back doors were locked."
At a news conference Tuesday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe said Jackson, 25, should never have been hired in 2008 because of a 2005 domestic violence incident.
Monroe didn't explain how the police department's background checks missed the 2005 complaint and restraining order granted by a judge in that case. But he said it was "not very efficient work."
A police source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to talk about the case, also said that Jackson was twice recommended for suspensions over incidents that occurred before the alleged attacks on the women. One incident involved allegations that Jackson was speeding, the source said, and the other incident involved allegations that he broke into his estranged wife's apartment.
Police have repeatedly declined to spell out details of Jackson's discipline history, although Monroe acknowledged that Jackson had been disciplined for speeding.
Police have also refused to release written incident reports about the sexual assaults but have twice held news conferences to lay out allegations against Jackson.
Police have also declined to release the exact location of the assaults, but have said two occurred in the Eastway Division that Jackson patrolled. It stretches from the Belmont neighborhood near uptown to just beyond Eastland Mall.
Meanwhile, Mecklenburg prosecutors said Tuesday they may have to dismiss more than 50 criminal and traffic cases that Jackson was involved in. They are reviewing all cases in which Jackson was the primary witness.
Said Monroe: "Everything he touched is ... jeopardized."
Jackson's most recent accuser says he assaulted her on two occasions, according to Monroe.
Monroe said Jackson stopped the woman on Nov. 2 and fondled her during an unlawful search, according to their investigation. Jackson again stopped the woman on Dec. 29 and again fondled her, Monroe said.
During the second stop, a male companion tried to intervene by challenging the traffic stop, and then tried to call 911. But Jackson interrupted the emergency call, Monroe said, and unlawfully arrested the man for obstructing and delaying a police officer. Those charges have since been dropped, and the man has been released from jail.
Jackson is charged in the latest reported case with two counts of sexual battery, one count of felonious restraint and one count of interfering with an emergency communication, police said.
Jackson was initially arrested and charged Dec. 30 after two other women accused him of sexually assaulting them in the weeks before.
In both cases, police say, Jackson pulled the women over on traffic stops, while on duty in his marked patrol car.
The first reported case involved the 17-year-old girl. She told the Observer that Jackson stopped her about 11:30 p.m. Dec. 18 near 10th Street and Seigle Avenue close to uptown.
"He told me I looked like a suspicious driver," the teen said.
When she told Jackson she didn't have a driver's license, she said he ordered her into his patrol car and began driving around.
"He told me he didn't want to take me home if I would get in trouble with my parents," she said.
Then, she said: "He just asked me for a favor. ... He asked me for sex, and did whatever he was gonna do. Then he told me I could go."
The girl declined to give details of the alleged assault, but an arrest warrant says Jackson forced her to perform oral sex.
The teen says she has been too afraid to leave her house since the incident.
"I haven't actually been doing anything," she said. "I've been terrified of running into him."
The second reported incident involved a 21-year-old woman and her male companion.
Police say Jackson stopped their car Dec. 28 and sexually assaulted her.
Reached by the Observer on Tuesday, the male companion involved in the incident said Jackson stopped the couple about 2 a.m. After asking for their identification, Jackson told them to follow him to a nearby apartment complex, where he demanded to frisk the woman. She asked for a female officer.
"He said 'No. If you don't let me check you, I'm going to arrest your boyfriend and take him to jail,'" according to the male companion.
"She said, 'I don't want you to arrest him,'" he said.
The companion said he saw Jackson touching his friend's breasts, and that when she returned to the car, she told him that Jackson wanted her to take off her dress but she refused.
In connection with those incidents, Jackson was charged with three counts of sexual battery, second-degree sexual offense, kidnapping, extortion, indecent exposure and felonious restraint.
At Tuesday's news conference, Monroe continued to urge the public, as well as any other victims, to contact police if they information.
Monroe said he's investigating how the department's background checks failed in the Jackson case.
Police said they were aware when they hired Jackson in 2008 that he had been accused of domestic violence in 2003. In that complaint, the mother of a 15-year-old girl Jackson was dating wrote that Jackson had threatened her daughter, pushed her into a locker and tried to hit her with a car.
It's unclear whether those allegations should have prevented Jackson from being hired, but police noted that he was found not guilty of violating the protective order in that case and that his arrest record had been expunged.
Police said they were not aware of the 2005 domestic violence incident.
In that complaint, Jackson's then-girlfriend claimed, "The defendant grabbed me by the face several times, screaming and yelling. ..."
"The defendant hit me in the back of the head, slapped my face, pushed me down in the floor, forcing (me) in (a) walk-in closet," she wrote in the complaint.
A judge in that case ordered Jackson not to own or carry a firearm during the two weeks of the restraining order.
Monroe said Jackson would not have been hired if police had known about the 2005 incident.
"The information was there for us to see," Monroe said. "It concerns me greatly."
The third woman accusing Charlotte police officer Marcus Jackson of sexual assault says he pulled up beside her as she headed home from work, and stared at her for three blocks as they drove side-by-side down Eastway Drive.
"He kept looking at me," she said Wednesday, crying. "He kept looking at me."
Then, she says, he turned on his lights and pulled her over. Jackson ordered her out of her car and grabbed at her breasts, she says.
About eight weeks later, on Dec. 29, the 37-year-old Mexican woman says she was driving home at the same time, along the same route. Again Jackson appeared, this time pulling in behind her as she parked near her apartment.
Her boyfriend, Abel, arrived at the same time. He says he tried to call for help when the officer began frisking her, and Jackson arrested him. The charges were dropped, but Abel may be deported.
Jackson was initially arrested and charged Dec. 30 in connection with alleged assaults on two other women, one of whom is also Latino. Those alleged assaults also happened during traffic stops.
Jackson appeared in court Wednesday to face four new charges in the third case.
Mecklenburg District Judge Hugh Lewis told Jackson that if he can post his $423,000 bond, he will be placed under electronic monitoring and 24-hour house arrest.
Mecklenburg Public Defender Kevin Tully, who has assigned a staff attorney to defend Jackson, said Wednesday: "There have been statements by public officials on the front page of the newspaper expressing their opinions that he's guilty of these charges. That threatens the integrity of the system, which is a person is innocent unless proven guilty."
With two of Jackson's accusers being Latinos, some members of that community say some police prey on immigrants because they may be in the country illegally.
"The police take advantage of the fact that so many of us are afraid," said Marco Rodriguez, a landscape worker in East Charlotte. "The possibility of deportation prevents us from speaking out."
Other Latinos applaud Chief Rodney Monroe's handling of the case. They're encouraging the chief to root out officers who may abuse power.
Police declined to answer specific questions about the Latino community's concerns about police treatment.
Latino leaders say the case hurts police efforts to bridge ties with a community that doesn't fully trust them.
Monroe, as part of his 2009 strategic plan, launched a campaign to repair what he called the "damaged" relationship between the groups. He met with Latino media and organized community meetings that other officers attended.
Many immigrants see the police as an arm of immigration enforcement.
While police are not directly involved with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's 287(g) program that identifies illegal immigrants, police make the vast majority of arrests that lead to deportations through the program.
Jorge Medina, co-host of "La Voz de Charlotte" on Radio Formula (1310-AM), said listeners want Monroe to take steps to stop any police abuses.
"Hopefully this will raise the standard of police work when dealing with Latinos," he said.
Jordan Forsythe, a Charlotte immigration attorney, said she's looking through her list of clients to see if any were arrested by Jackson.
If she finds any, Forsythe said she'll file for a U-Visa, which is designed to give crime victims temporary legal status and work eligibility in the United States.
At the Dec. 29 traffic stop, Abel, 29, said he confronted Jackson, and the officer ordered him to go into the apartment while he questioned his friend. Abel said he called 911 when he says the officer began frisking his friend.
"I dialed the number," said Abel, who asked that his last name not be used because of his immigration status, "but he grabbed the phone before I could say anything."
Jackson unlawfully arrested Abel on a charge of resisting a public officer, authorities said.
Abel spent six days in jail. The charges were dropped, but he was run through 287(g) and found to be undocumented. He said he lost his job because his boss didn't believe he had been wrongly jailed.
The sheriff's department said immigration officials told Abel he will have to appear before an immigration judge.
Forsythe, who isn't involved in Abel's case, says Abel could be eligible for a U-Visa, but he still faces deportation.
"Once you get to the jail," she says, "you can't unring the immigration bell."
Despite Jackson's arrest, the 37-year-old woman blames herself for Abel's legal problems.
And she still fears the police and Jackson's release.
"He recognized me and my truck ...," she said. "He knows where I live. He followed me here."
Royce Anthony Mitchell, named as a “person of interest” in the shooting death of 15-year-old Tiffany Wright on Monday, has been fired from his job with the City of Charlotte, city officials said Wednesday.
Mitchell, who has been charged with statutory rape and indecent liberties with a minor, had worked in the Charlotte Department of Transportation.
Kim McMillan of the City of Charlotte said Wednesday morning that “after administrative review, the City of Charlotte has terminated the employment of Royce Mitchell for falsifying his employment application, which is in violation of city policy.”
Mitchell, who was hired by the city in 2007, earned $25,808 annually with the street maintenance department, McMillan said.
McMillan did not say in what way Mitchell falsified his employment application, but city officials said Wednesday that as a result of the Mitchell case, they plan to expand background checks to include a search of federal offenses around the country. Mitchell served time in a federal prison on drug charges.
Until now, city officials' criminal background checks have included local and state records, and federal records in the Justice Department's Western North Carolina District.
Wright, who was eight months pregnant, was shot in the head Monday morning while waiting for a school bus.
Police are trying to determine if Mitchell was the father of the baby, who was delivered by doctors and is still alive.
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